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S08.E05: The Focus Attenuation

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By photo fox
in The Big Bang Theory [V]

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AD35

AD35

(edited)

In the last 5 minutes or so the guys are back at Leonard & Sheldon's apt watching Ghostbusters while Penny, Bernadette and Amy are at the show with the male Australian strippers (Bernadette puts some money in a stripper's g-string).  It ends with Penny getting up and openning the drapes to let the sun shine brightly on a clearly hung-over Bernadette and Amy in bed together.  Penny leaves the room while Amy falls to the floor in an attempt to close the drapes.

Edited by AD35
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Chit Chat

Chit Chat

Thanks AD35!  Hopefully I can catch it on the CBS website.  The full episode isn't up yet.  I like that they're having the guys hang out together again without the ladies.  Not that I don't like Penny, Amy or Bernadette, it's just nice to see the guys getting back to nerdy stuff and having fun.  The time travel talk always blows my mind. I don't know how Jim Parsons kept all of that dialogue straight!  I wonder how many takes that took!

  • Love 2
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CleoCaesar

CleoCaesar

This was the first BBT I've watched live in a while. It struck me just how many commercials there were, and how thin the plot of the episode was. It seemed like a handful of jokes and some semblance of a plot but not really. Already great episodes like "The Adhesive Duck Deficiency" seem like stupendous achievements in comparison.

 

I like it when the show splits the guys and girls up. I mostly ignore the guys' plot, since their interests bore me senseless, but love Penny, Amy, and Bernadette together.

  • Love 3
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Bort

Bort

(edited)

I give Penny props for the discipline it took to not go out on a bender in Vegas, sorely tempting as I'm sure it was. I always get a kick out of the girls' scenes, especially tonight where I'm pretty sure Melissa Rauch almost lost it in one scene but managed to hang on and not break.

Also hilarious? Penny finally going with them but studiously working away on her laptop at the strip club, every once in a while checking out the strippers.

Edited by kariyaki
  • Love 10
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CherryAmes

CherryAmes

I liked this episode and actually laughed out loud a time or two.  I am going to be seriously ticked off though if after showing Penny take her job so seriously they screw up her character, again, and make her do this job the same way she did her waitressing job.

  • Love 1
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mojoween

mojoween

I hope Penny was not planning to go to the casino in those shorts because those were pajama bottoms, not formal shorts. I did like her hair again, it must be at that growing-in stage.

Amy's hair was covering her shirt, was that a sequined Batman logo? I did love her sequined long skirt and Bernadette's shoes were killer.

I looked at a map, I don't think Austria looks like a wiener.

  • Love 1
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Rhetorica

Rhetorica

(edited)

I hope Penny was not planning to go to the casino in those shorts because those were pajama bottoms, not formal shorts. I did like her hair again, it must be at that growing-in stage.

Amy's hair was covering her shirt, was that a sequined Batman logo? I did love her sequined long skirt and Bernadette's shoes were killer.

I looked at a map, I don't think Austria looks like a wiener.

I think he said Denmark, and yeah, it does.

This was the first BBT I've watched live in a while. It struck me just how many commercials there were, and how thin the plot of the episode was. It seemed like a handful of jokes and some semblance of a plot but not really. Already great episodes like "The Adhesive Duck Deficiency" seem like stupendous achievements in comparison.

I like it when the show splits the guys and girls up. I mostly ignore the guys' plot, since their interests bore me senseless, but love Penny, Amy, and Bernadette together.

Yeah, we watched the Professor Proton episode from last year that followed this one. It was longer and funnier.

But I did laugh out loud a few times. I love when they mix sci-fi and science. The girls were cute too. Interesting how they reversed roles.

This one reminded me of the episode where Amy spoiled Sheldon's viewing of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I can just imagine the writers watching old movies together for a plotline.

Edited by Rhetorica
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BooksRule

BooksRule

Thanks for the recap of the last few minutes, AD35.  My station cut out for a severe weather report too.  I know that's important information, but I think he could have told us what we needed to know in less than 8 minutes (I timed him).  I'll have to catch what I missed online.

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Rhetorica

Rhetorica

They made the "Austria looks like a wiener" joke twice (the second time they went to the internet for corroboration). The gentleman's pic that Raj clicked on had a wiener that looked like Denmark.

Thanks, I guess I'm just seeing penises everywhere!

  • Love 2
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Beach Party

Beach Party

Thanks AD35!  Hopefully I can catch it on the CBS website.  The full episode isn't up yet.  I like that they're having the guys hang out together again without the ladies.  Not that I don't like Penny, Amy or Bernadette, it's just nice to see the guys getting back to nerdy stuff and having fun.  The time travel talk always blows my mind. I don't know how Jim Parsons kept all of that dialogue straight!  I wonder how many takes that took!

One detail AD35 left out was Penny wearing a revealing bikini top.  Lots of skin showing.  Hot! 

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CaliforniaLove

CaliforniaLove

I hope Penny was not planning to go to the casino in those shorts because those were pajama bottoms, not formal shorts. I did like her hair again, it must be at that growing-in stage.

I think if you're fully clothed in a Vegas casino you're already ahead of the game.

Bernadette mimicking the counterclockwise "stripper schwing" because they're Australian was awesome.

  • Love 4
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WickedTuna

WickedTuna

Thanks for the recap of the last few minutes, AD35.  My station cut out for a severe weather report too.  I know that's important information, but I think he could have told us what we needed to know in less than 8 minutes (I timed him).  I'll have to catch what I missed online.

Our weather people have taken up to 30 minutes to let us know about severe thunderstorms. Thunderstorms! Ugh.

I must have gone back in time to my 12 year old self because I was giggling like crazy at the guys ripping off the tape. I read somewhere there's special tape that can be taken off really easily. If that isn't true than they earned the million dollars just for that scene.

Our local station ran the episode where Sheldon and Amy first meet. I sure liked that Amy better than the drunk one who wanted to know what size Bernadette' s boobs are.

  • Love 1
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hnygrl

hnygrl

Hole Lee Crap on a cracker. An episose I actually enjoyed!!!!!

 

Thank you GOD. My show's not (quite) dead yet!!! This one was good!!! Funny!!! Worth watching!!!

 

The first time this season. Hopefully, this is the start of an up-swing.

  • Love 3
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jjj

jjj

Yes, we also had "The Lunar Excitation" this evening -- love Amy's first appearance!

The flaw in the arm tape was that they would all have to rip off their arm hair at the end. How did that not occur to them?

  • Love 4
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chocolatine

chocolatine

(edited)
I hope Penny was not planning to go to the casino in those shorts because those were pajama bottoms, not formal shorts.

 

 

Those are "formal" shorts. It's an ill-advised trend I've seen pop up on the Bachelor/Bachelorette shows; let's hope it goes away by next year. 

 

Speaking of fashion, it's always nice to see Bernadette in something other than the floral dress/cropped cardigan/dark tights ensemble. A high-earning professional woman like her should have a sharp, grown-up wardrobe. I know it's hard to find clothes for a petite AND curvy frame, but it looks like they show's stylists are not even trying.

 

Amy's outfit was hideous. She's been friends with Penny and Bernadette for a few years, I'm sure by now they would have taken her shopping and helped her pick out some flattering going-out clothes, if not for girls' weekends, then at least for her date nights with Sheldon. (I know Sheldon wouldn't care either way, but I think it would be in character for Amy to want to look pretty for him. We know she likes girly stuff like tiaras and bridesmaid dresses.)

 

I'm a trained linguist and Sheldon's Back To The Future verb tenses made my head hurt. 

 

The flaw in the arm tape was that they would all have to rip off their arm hair at the end. How did that not occur to them?

 

 

I know, right? I also expected to see some irritated forearm skin, a la the waxing scene in The 40 Year Old Virgin.

Edited by chocolatine
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buffynut

buffynut

This one was pretty good.   I liked the guys on their own doing sciency things again. Though it was odd seeing Sheldon being the one losing focus. Guess Amy really has changed him.  

 

I also liked seeing the girls on their own.   It is especially nice seeing Penny acting like a grown up for a change. I was sure she was going to give in to her party side and blow off her studying.  Wonder if the writers were planning on maturing Penny this season or if Kaley's haircut inspired them.  I guess she was starting to change last season, but it is really obvious now.  

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vibeology

vibeology

This was the first BBT I've watched live in a while. It struck me just how many commercials there were, and how thin the plot of the episode was. It seemed like a handful of jokes and some semblance of a plot but not really. Already great episodes like "The Adhesive Duck Deficiency" seem like stupendous achievements in comparison.

 

All 19:34 minutes of it, including the theme song is just not enough time to build a complete show. Every other sitcom on air is over twenty minutes and its hard to believe that so little time makes a difference, but it does. For the millions of dollars each episode makes for everyone involved, you'd think they could put in the regular amount of work that other shows do. 

 

I think I'm even more upset about this because I liked this episode. Sheldon's shooting down of retreat locations culminating in the callback to Sheldon and Penny watching The Lakehouse was awesome. I loved the tape scene, the Ghostbusters thing, Penny taking work seriously, Amy and Bernadette getting drunk there was so much to enjoy. The tense thing was incredible and both JP and JG deserve huge props for pulling that off.

  • Love 1
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peeayebee

peeayebee

I did enjoy the tense thing and how well the actors said the lines. I wonder how hard that was for Jim. I believe he's said in interviews that he has to work hard to learn all the scientific dialogue. However, I kind of tune out discussions of the science of time-travel movies because it just can't make sense, at least not to me.

 

When the guys first decided to have a science retreat I was excited. I thought there'd be a montage of all the sciency things they were doing, so I was disappointed it was mainly about them being unable to focus.

 

I liked that Penny is taking her job seriously and was able to resist temptation. Her cursory glance at the strippers was pretty funny. 

 

I loved when Amy rolled out of bed.

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AriAu

AriAu

Drunk Bernadette was pretty hilarious. I agree, one of the better episodes in awhile. Maybe because it seemed a bit more balanced and everyone got a lot of lines as opposed to a Sheldon-heavy plot.

 

It was a basic TBBT episode in format and the jokes were pretty good, but most importantly, it was MUCH better than the last few and at least had the feel of the show I love. They even brought back skeevy Howard, or at least memories of skeevy Howard. The "tense" thing and the Back to Future alternate universe showed us how smart they are unlike recent episodes that merely told us what smart nerds they are.

Loved Bernadette playing with the straw-classic and perfect drunk behavior for Bernadette. However, I had trouble understanding the bubble voice from her when pretending to be drunk-I always have some issue, but really had it here.

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Artsda

Artsda

I liked it, wanted to see more of them in Vegas. Liked the guys being on their own too without the girls, more like early seasons before the cast was this large.

 

When Penny opened the blinds, you saw the Eiffel tower outside, good touch to show where they were on the strip and which hotel since all the other Vegas scenes looked so fake and no like Vegas. 

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Julie23

Julie23

(edited)

I really enjoyed this episode. I laughed out loud at the tape-pulling scene, and was actually trying to figure out if the tenses were correct for Back to the Future. (English Major, and still not sure)

I too liked the "Girls do Vegas" part, and Bernadette and Amy were great. Although I certainly want Penny to be more than a poor waitress, and like her new-found seriousness about her job, I would much rather have seen her get her big break and become a famous actress. That would turn things around with her and Leonard if she was the one making more money.  I also would have liked the guys to invent something cool.

Edited by Julie23
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LoneHaranguer

LoneHaranguer

 

The flaw in the arm tape was that they would all have to rip off their arm hair at the end. How did that not occur to them?

How do you know it didn't? We've heard the guys talk about adhesives, so they ought to know what kind of tape to use so that a little solvent from the chem lab would take it right off.

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AnnaRose

AnnaRose

The flaw in the arm tape was that they would all have to rip off their arm hair at the end. How did that not occur to them?

 

Yeah, that was the first thing that I thought of when I saw that scene.  How did they miss something so obvious?

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ari333

ari333

Other than the tiara eppy, I've never seen Amy so sparkley. Although she was still not particularly stylish by any stretch (imo), (and she totally could be;) but they're not going for that so I get it. I enjoy any eppy of the girls in Vegas or any of the out of town eppys by the girls and /or guys.

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msani19

msani19

I mostly like this one. I liked the focus on the guys doing (or trying to do) science things and the realization they've lost focus since the girls came into their lives. Nice acknowledgement that the relationship focus on the show has been distracting and not that fun.

The guys and girls on their own was good...I didn't even realize I preferred that until this episode. Maybe a bit more emphasis on separate stories may be nice. No over the top jerky Sheldon, more like season 1-3 Sheldon - a positive.

I was cracking up at drunk Bernie trying not to fall over, the way her legs were all twisted up in her drunken attempt to not fall over, since you have so sense of balance. So real, I may have even done something similar a time or two. Amy's outfit was so crazy looking compared to the other girls. I know she's conservative, so they won't put her in anything too revealing, but she couldn't have had on more clothes! I kinda liked what Kaley had on, it was cute and her hair was styled well too. Bernie looked cute.

It's like they read these comments about the constant "Penny is so pretty" crap and addressed how silly and annoying that is.

  • Love 1
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LoneHaranguer

LoneHaranguer

 

I liked the focus on the guys doing (or trying to do) science things and the realization they've lost focus since the girls came into their lives. Nice acknowledgement that the relationship focus on the show has been distracting and not that fun.

Since the guys found they were still being distracted without the girls around, were the writers really saying that the relationship focus of the show isn't to blame for any perceived deterioration of the show? It could just be the writers are getting stale and the change in focus was a failed attempt at rejuvenation.

  • Love 3
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TV Anonymous

TV Anonymous

Amy's outfit was hideous. She's been friends with Penny and Bernadette for a few years, I'm sure by now they would have taken her shopping and helped her pick out some flattering going-out clothes, if not for girls' weekends, then at least for her date nights with Sheldon. (I know Sheldon wouldn't care either way, but I think it would be in character for Amy to want to look pretty for him. We know she likes girly stuff like tiaras and bridesmaid dresses.)

 

There is a restriction from the actress' point of view. Because of her religious belief, Mayim Bialik can not wear revealing clothes. She needs to wear long sleeves and long skirt. But I get your point. There are elegant night dresses out there with long sleeves and long skirt. I guess TPTB still portrays Amy as someone who is socially awkward thus does not know how to dress up?

 

On a separate note, Kaley Cuoco was seriously smoking hot in the bikini on the epilogue, particularly with that short hair.

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AriAu

AriAu

On a separate note, Kaley Cuoco was seriously smoking hot in the bikini on the epilogue, particularly with that short hair.

 

Amen to that. And her figure has changed as she has matured...for the better.

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Enjay

Enjay

I'll make the popcorn!

 

I too enjoyed this episode more than any other this season, but Penny isn't amusing me at all.  I like that she's growing up and becoming more mature, but the real Penny would have been conflicted about going to Vegas and not going out.  She would have gone out for a few drinks and called it an early night.  I think we would have seen her cramming on the plane slightly hung over but still trying to study.

 

More mature Penny doesn't have to be boring, blah Penny.

  • Love 1
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Miss Scarlet

Miss Scarlet

I liked this episode and I think it was because I thought the idea for the guys' storyline was good. It was something new that didn't feel like a re-tread of what they've done before, but it was relatable and funny. I did question how much Sheldon would join in on the procrastination activities. I guess we've seen him do that before when he gets obsessed with a train or something, but I sort of felt like he would be like Leonard and try to keep the group on track. Having them read off their old ideas for the sex robots just makes me think it would be great if they could stop portraying nerds as sex-obsessed and sex-starved. They've back off a bit in the past few years (and especially with Howard), but there's a lot more to being a "nerd" than that, even if they think it's a defining characteristic.

 

The girls' storyline was okay. I did like the role reversal and Penny becoming serious about her job. I don't think they need to include dialogue in every storyline like this about the changes they've all made since high school (e.g. the popular girl is studying, the nerds are partying). They seem to comment on this almost as much as how pretty Penny is.

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Quof

Quof

Because of her religious belief, Mayim Bialik can not wear revealing clothes. She needs to wear long sleeves and long skirt. But I get your point.

 

Mayim will not wear "revealing" clothes, but I've seen her in short-ish sleeves and knee length skirts.  Nothing flashy or trashy, but something many other women her age would wear.   The "frump" is the character's choice, not the actress'.

  • Love 3
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chocolatine

chocolatine

(edited)

There is a restriction from the actress' point of view. Because of her religious belief, Mayim Bialik can not wear revealing clothes. She needs to wear long sleeves and long skirt. But I get your point. There are elegant night dresses out there with long sleeves and long skirt. I guess TPTB still portrays Amy as someone who is socially awkward thus does not know how to dress up?

 

I think Mayim Bialik is just conservative, not orthodox. She doesn't dress overtly sexy, but not too restrictively either. Here she is in a very nice daytime outfit for the PaleyFest:

 

red-carpet-bialik1_321x500.jpg

 

And on the Emmys red carpet:

 

emmys-bialik1_399x500.jpg

 

So the writers/wardrobe department definitely have enough room to evolve Amy's look.

 

ETA: Quof beat me to it. 

Edited by chocolatine
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LoneHaranguer

LoneHaranguer

 

On a separate note, Kaley Cuoco was seriously smoking hot in the bikini on the epilogue, particularly with that short hair.

A suspicious person might think her attire in that scene was a blatant ploy to keep more viewers tuned in. Not that I'm complaining.

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