Some of television’s goofiest inventions, like Howard Wolowitz’s internet kissing machine from The Big Bang Theory, have been invented in real life. In fact, many movies and TV shows have predicted the future or inspired real inventions over the years. Some of these inventions take years to materialize as research and technical studies must be conducted to ascertain their viability and feasibility.
From the smartwatch in Star Trek: The Next Generation to the tablet in Stanley Kubrick’s A Space Odyssey, filmmakers have imagined boundless technological possibilities. While many of their ideas seemed impractical and sometimes silly, some have made their way to the real world, but that’s a tale for another day. Here are the top 5 goofiest inventions from television shows.
1. Mr Garrison’s IT From South Park
South Park’s “The Entity,” Season 5, Episode 11, features one of television’s goofiest inventions designed for transportation. The episode revolves around the stressful and chaotic nature of air travel after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In search of an alternative fast means of transportation, a frustrated Mr. Garrison invents IT, a gyroscope-powered vehicle. IT was to rival air travel, but Garrison’s demonstration of how the craft works suggests he’s insincere about what inspired IT. He might have been fed up with the airlines’ shenanigans, but IT seems like an excuse to sate a freakish appetite.
2. Howard Wolowitz’s Internet Kissing Machine From The Big Bang Theory
Howard Wolowitz’s (Simon Helberg) solution to his friend’s long-distance relationship delivered one of television’s goofiest inventions. Following Leonard Hofstadter’s (Johnny Galecki) struggle with long-distance love making, the Caltech engineer introduced him to one of his inventions — a kissing machine with two interfaces that stimulates a human mouth. Essentially, he invented internet kissing. Watching him and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) demonstrate how the machine works ranks among the show’s most memorable cringe and funny moments. It is, perhaps, what inspired a Chinese firm to invent a long-distance kissing machine in early 2023, over 11 years after the episode aired.
3. The Wolowitz Programmable Hand
The Caltech engineer has crazy ideas for fulfilling his cravings for intimacy. From a robot girlfriend to a robot prostitute, his ideas before meeting Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) are almost always about inventions he could have sex with. The field of robotics indeed took a hit when Howard met his wife. However, before he fully committed to Bernadette, he had an unforgettable experience with the programmable hand he invented.
Originally designed for the International Space Station, Howard found other functions for the robot hand. Upon discovering the hand could give a good massage, he tried to do more with it, but found himself seeking medical assistance to free his dingdong from the robotic hand. While a robot hand isn’t a strange invention, what Howard tried to do with the hand and the embarrassing situation that followed earns the Wolowitz programmable hand a spot among television’s goofiest inventions.
4. Mr. Meeseeks From Rick and Morty
Think of a box you could press for a blue humanoid creature to emerge, fulfill your request, and vanish. But there’s a catch: you must keep your request simple so that a Meeseeks wouldn’t have to summon another for it. When a Meeseeks can’t fulfill a request, he summons another Meeseeks, and that could go on and on until that singular purpose for which they were summoned is fulfilled. After the character’s introduction in “Meeseeks and Destroy,” Jerry quickly realizes that the creatures would go to any length to fulfill a request. And when they can’t, those who summoned them and everyone around are in for major trouble.
5. A Fart Bomb From Rick And Morty
Another goofy invention from Rick and Morty, “The Old Man and the Seat,” Season 4, Episode 2, is built around a tale that reveals a mechanized fart bomb as one of Rick’s many inventions. The episode follows the mad scientist as he tracks down a fellow shy pooper using the private toilet he built for himself on an alien planet. Rick finds Tony the toilet thief, but realizes that killing him wouldn’t bring the satisfaction he hoped for, so he leaves him with a fart bomb that shits out a trud shaped like a hand holding up the middle finger. The absurd storyline leading up to Rick’s use of the weapon earns the fart bomb a spot among television’s goofiest inventions. Check out the most memorable TV portrayals of characters on the spectrum.
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