“The Big Bang Theory” prides itself on being a show about a bunch of dorks who engage with all sorts of pop culture with a near-religious fervor. Considering they all live in California too, it makes sense that the series would eventually have Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Raj (Kunal Nayyar), Howard (Simon Helberg), and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) make the trek to the geekdom sanctuary that is San Diego Comic-Con, aka Comic-Con International.

Starting as a relatively small gathering of comic book geeks, Comic-Con International has grown exponentially to become a global phenomenon. It’s now one of the premiere locations for highly anticipated developments in the world of movies, television, and, well, comic books. There are panels, vendors, cosplayers, and bizarre corporate branding as far as the eye can see. You can practically envision the main characters from “The Big Bang Theory” causing chaos on the convention floor.

The season 7 episode “The Convention Conundrum” sees the “Big Bang Theory” gang scrambling to secure tickets while Sheldon is off on his own James Earl Jones-centric adventure. There’s also “The Comic-Con Conundrum” from season 10, which sees Raj attempting to secure the money for tickets, in addition to a dilemma surrounding Penny’s (Kaley Cuoco) ambivalence about going with Leonard. However, the thing that’s perhaps most notable about the sitcom’s reverence of SDCC in these two episodes is that its characters certainly discuss making time for it, yet are never actually shown attending the event.