S08.E14: The Troll Manifestation

[photo fox]

Leonard and Sheldon publish a paper which is widely accepted except for comments from an internet troll. Meanwhile, the girls reminisce about embarrassing incidents from their past.

[CherryAmes]

Not bad at all.  I enjoyed the guys storyline but I really liked the way the girls bonded over their embarrassing moments.  Bernadette as a beauty pageant contestant was particularly inspired.

Edited February 6, 2015 by CherryAmes

[shapeshifter]

IMO, best episode in a year! Lots of LOLs, one being when Leonard burst in on the girls to share his news of Hawking's approval while they were in the middle of Amy's shades of gray fic, and they all yelled: Get out!

I'll leave it to others to recall the other inspired moments.

Or maybe it was just me?

I hope in a future episode that Leonard gives Penny credit for inspiring him by listening to him talk about his work.

[Bronzedog]

Will Montana become a state?

[Kanner]

I really really enjoyed this one. I love it when the guys get to "do" science. Ragging on each other can be funny but nothing beats when they are working well together.

[Chit Chat]

I loved this episode!  It's so great to see Sheldon & Leonard being best friends.  Often times we only see Leonard's frustration with Sheldon, and Sheldon being annoying,  so it was such a nice change of pace seeing them this happy and excited about the paper.  I figured it was Kripke harassing them just for fun, so having it be Steven Hawking was icing on the cake!

 

I'd love to see the outtakes of Melissa Rauch filming her beauty pageant scenes.  That was hilarious.

[Crucial]

Bernadette you will forever be etched into my mind with that dress, lol.  Love it!  I loved this episode and Penny didn't bother me at all - yay!  I would be so much happier if Penny was now an afterthought of the gang or 'go-to' for the girls.  Tired of her and Leonard.  I didn't think it would be Hawking but loved that it was.  Nice one.

 

I feel bad that I am so no Penny mode but if Penny isn't drinking then whatever else she does is not believable to me.  She's great at her new job she has no experience in at all.  Ok she flirts a few clients but she can't do that with everyone.  And I have serious doubts that a crappy waitress and a crappy actress can be successful in a field she doesn't know at all.  Are we to believe Leonard is paying her rent still?  No way she makes rent but then again she couldn't have made rent before with no jobs acting and her being sucky at the Cheesecake Factory, lol.

[Runningwild]

Penny now makes good money and pays her own rent. I loved this episode. I thought it was very funny. I loved all the girls getting embarrassed by each other. And it was great to see Sheldon and Leonard working together and being successful. And being ragged on by Stephen Hawking! That was awesome.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Runningwild

[CherryAmes]

And I have serious doubts that a crappy waitress and a crappy actress can be successful in a field she doesn't know at all.

 

Penny wasn't a successful actress but we are never given to believe she was intended to be a crappy actress.  She didn't get the breaks, which is a pretty realistic way to approach having an aspiring actress as a character on a sitcom. 

[Eri]

That was a nice throwback to Amy's interest in Little House on the Prairie. Not only was Sheldon nice and supportive of Leonard's idea but the girls had a fun time sharing embarrassing moments. When the girls screamed at Amy's opening fanfiction story, I smiled and cringed at the same time because I was so embarrassed for her.

[peeayebee]

I too thought it was Kripke trolling Sheldon & Leonard, though before the actual reveal I thought it actually might be Hawkins or another real scientist.

 

Very enjoyable ep. It surprised me how much I liked it. Seeing Leonard and Sheldon working together and getting along was wonderful. I love how when they clicked the mouse together they both actually said, "Click."

 

And the plot with Penny, Bernadette, and Amy was fun too. 

[Goldmoon]

I was pleasantly surprised that Sheldon didn't try to steal the credit from Leonard.  They functioned as a team and it was a joy to see them like that.  Amy's story was a bit touching at the end there.

[chocolatine]

I too thought it was Kripke trolling Sheldon & Leonard, though before the actual reveal I thought it actually might be Hawkins or another real scientist.

 

 

I thought the exact same thing. At first I thought "that's Kripke trolling" but when they said that anonymous surely doesn't publish any important papers, I thought "now it's going to be someone who publishes a shitload of important papers, like Hawking." So funny to think of him as an internet troll.

 

Also, I loved Amy's fanfic. I was in stitches at "will Montana become a state?"

 

Best episode in a long time! Though as a Russian AND a University of Edinburgh graduate I could have done without Raj's cliched fake comments.

Edited February 6, 2015 by chocolatine

[Beach Party]

I didn't like that the Cooper-Hofstadter collaboration had Sheldon's name first.  This was conceptualized by Leonard.  Maybe it was alphabetical order, but most likely due to Sheldon's ego.  That makes Sheldon a target of ridicule since he has already embarrassed himself publicly in the scientific community.  So they publish this paper without peer review or in a science journal, but in an online forum?! 

Edited February 6, 2015 by Beach Party

[Gulftastic]

Good episode. I loved Amy reading her fan-fiction.

 

And I echo the above comments about how nice it was to see Leonard and Sheldon being scientists and working together.

[buffynut]

I really, really, really enjoyed this episode.  I kept waiting for something to happen to spoil my enjoyment, but nothing happened.   Sheldon didn't try to hog the spotlight or make fun of Leonard's idea.  And I was right in guessing the troll was Stephen Hawking.  I also enjoyed the girl's storyline.   In fact, I can't think of anything I didn't like about this episode.  Hope we get more of the same.

[ari333]

I agree with so much already said. I really love the women on this show and what they add. The plots can expand. I loved Amy from the start and Berny has totally grown on me. Not loving Emily even tho we barely see her and I did want Raj to find love. I guess I wish it was someone else playing the part or maybe it's the character. IDK, but I didn't love weird, shy, quirky Lucy either or whatever her name was; so maybe it's me. :)  

[DrSpaceman]

I figured it would be someone famous trolling them, should have known it would be Hawking. 

 

Was nice to seen Sheldon sharing credit and getting along so well for once with Leonard. 

 

The girls stories were amusing as well. 

 

Bernadette you will forever be etched into my mind with that dress, lol.  Love it!  I loved this episode and Penny didn't bother me at all - yay!  I would be so much happier if Penny was now an afterthought of the gang or 'go-to' for the girls.  Tired of her and Leonard.  I didn't think it would be Hawking but loved that it was.  Nice one.

 

I feel bad that I am so no Penny mode but if Penny isn't drinking then whatever else she does is not believable to me.  She's great at her new job she has no experience in at all.  Ok she flirts a few clients but she can't do that with everyone.  And I have serious doubts that a crappy waitress and a crappy actress can be successful in a field she doesn't know at all.  Are we to believe Leonard is paying her rent still?  No way she makes rent but then again she couldn't have made rent before with no jobs acting and her being sucky at the Cheesecake Factory, lol.

 

 

It is hard to believe she is so good at her job so quickly.  However depending on her product she only may need a handful of doctors to prescribe a lot in order to be successful. 

 

I wish they would at least say what she sells.  I admittedly don't always follow closely the details of what she says or her stories, but have they stated what her product/prodcts are?  They would obviously be fake and not real pharmaceuticals, but I would still like to know.  She may have mentioned one in the fake pitch to Raj's girlfriend, but I forget

[tominboston]

Leonard does actual science! And Sheldon isn't a complete jerk and actually acknowledges that Leonard had a good idea! That's quite a change from the way this show has been going lately.

 

I think it's pretty neat that Steven Hawking does cameos on a sitcom; I know that he's been on BBT before. The guy must have a great sense of humor despite his extremely challenging physical situation.

[Whimsy]

I didn't like that the Cooper-Hofstadter collaboration had Sheldon's name first.  This was conceptualized by Leonard.  Maybe it was alphabetical order, but most likely due to Sheldon's ego.  That makes Sheldon a target of ridicule since he has already embarrassed himself publicly in the scientific community.  So they publish this paper without peer review or in a science journal, but in an online forum?! 

I agree with this completely.

 

I have some experience in this since I work in a medical school and my job involves reviewing tons of CV's with publications, etc.  I don't actually write or submit publications, though.  Since Sheldon wrote the paper, I think that's why he put his name first.  There are few papers (that I've seen) with only two people as authors/collaborators.  Usually the first and last author are those that contributed the most.  So, technically they both got the credit since Sheldon was first and Leonard was last. 

 

The thing that took me out of it is that there was NO WAY they would've wanted that paper published on some sort of blog-type thing.  I didn't understand where they published it where it was up immediately.  That's not how it works at all.  Sheldon, with his huge ego, would've wanted that in a top tier journal.  That requires tons of work with a submission, editing, peer review, etc, and THEN publishing.  This is not an instantaneous thing.  Usually I can check everything at the door and these details don't bother me, but that seriously bothered me.

[FineWashables]

 

I think it's pretty neat that Steven Hawking does cameos on a sitcom; I know that he's been on BBT before. The guy must have a great sense of humor despite his extremely challenging physical situation.

Yes!  Unlike many posters here I was shocked when Steven Hawking showed up again.  With all he's got going on, taking time to mock himself on a sitcom is so endearing.  I love that he's a fan of this show and is willing to celebrate geekdom.  I love that he makes an effort to let the world know that in addition to being a genius who's earned his place in history, he's also a regular guy who watches tv and goofs around.

 

Hey, Bill Gates, why not get in on this too?

[buffynut]

Yes!  Unlike many posters here I was shocked when Steven Hawking showed up again.  With all he's got going on, taking time to mock himself on a sitcom is so endearing.  I love that he's a fan of this show and is willing to celebrate geekdom.  I love that he makes an effort to let the world know that in addition to being a genius who's earned his place in history, he's also a regular guy who watches tv and goofs around.

 

I'm not even sure I'd know who Steven Hawking was if not for TBBT.    And I definitely would never have heard of Schrödinger's Cat. :)

[Browncoat]

I kind of hoped the troll would be Kripke, but it was a pleasant surprise when Stephen Hawking showed up!

[LoneHaranguer]

 

It is hard to believe she is so good at her job so quickly.

I don't think Penny would dare do less than her best after Bernie got her the job. I like seeing a smart/competent Penny. If I wanted to see people being dumb, there are plenty of other shows I could be watching instead. It went by a little too fast to be sure; was her napkin note spelled correctly?

[Traveller519]

Yes, it certainly seemed like the forum they submitted the paper to was intended as a sort of pre-peer review system, which makes sense. They'd turned that concept around pretty quickly, but at least they get their name on it.

 

Like many, I think I called Hawking when they started lamenting about, what have Trolls ever done. Still good to see him show up. Hawking's sense of humor is pretty well documented these days. Between his appearances on the Simpsons, this show, and LWT I've seen how witty he can be. He kind of trumps up a Sheldon persona of arrogance that you can tell is all in jest.

 

I was feeling a bit uncomfortable with how snarky the girls were getting, but Bernadette stating that it was her Pagent training that taught her to tear down other women, and the fact that they were all into Amy's story at then end put some good spins on it.

[AriAu]

I hope in a future episode that Leonard gives Penny credit for inspiring him by listening to him talk about his work.

 

I liked that she cared enough to really work at the relationship by learning a little or at least figuring out what questions to ask.

 

And I am not surprised that Penny is good at her job. Penny may not be a genius, but she has street smarts to figure out what someone wants and a lot of time acting can help with sales since delivering your lines is not all that different than pitching a sale.

[Spartan Girl]

I had a feeling it was Stephen Hawking.  It's good that he's not afraid of how his condition will be viewed in public, but is it wrong that seeing him that way made me feel sad?  I wonder how much longer he's going to last.

[Isabella15]

Sorry, posted in wrong thread.

 

It was good to see some new territory being explored in this one-- and there were nice moments, but in my heart I fear that Left Shark has jumped over the Large Hadron Collider.  Still I keep watching and hope for the best. 

Edited February 6, 2015 by Isabella15

[shapeshifter]

...Best episode in a long time! Though as a Russian AND a University of Edinburgh graduate I could have done without Raj's cliched fake comments.

I didn't find that bit funny, and it almost seemed like the actors weren't that into it either. Maybe that was the point? That it's not funny? IDK.

[CherryAmes]

I didn't find that bit funny, and it almost seemed like the actors weren't that into it either. Maybe that was the point? That it's not funny? IDK.

 

I wasn't watching closely enough to catch if they were trying not to be funny while trying to be funny - if that's where they were going with Raj and those little scenes I could really buy it.  Mainly because it's Howard who's the one who's known for doing the accents so having Raj do them it would make sense that they wouldn't be done as well - and also because Raj and Howard were kind of the odd men out in this episode and really only seemed to be there to make a couple of funny asides (at least on Howards part) so I dunno, maybe that really was the point.  Raj in character just isn't very funny.

[sinkwriter]

 

Will Montana become a state?

 

I can't believe she didn't finish reading the story! I'm left on a cliffhanger wondering about Montana!  ;)

 

I really liked this episode. I liked Sheldon and Leonard working well together, and Sheldon not trying to steal credit or downplay Leonard's ideas or contribution, I liked that they were happy and excited, and I laughed laughed laughed at the girls getting into Amy's fanfiction. It made me cringe at first, that they were making fun of each other's embarrassing moments, but I liked the twist that they all got into her story and wanted to know what would happen next, so much so that they screamed at Leonard to get out. LOL. 

 

Count me in with those who totally thought it would be Kripke, and didn't think of Hawking until they started going on about "what has this troll ever done in the science world?" Either way, funny. And I'm actually glad it wasn't Kripke, because he would have been doing it out of malice or jealousy, and I was afraid that maybe he was trying to discredit them and their paper. I wanted Sheldon and Leonard to have a potential breakthrough; I didn't want that to be ruined, and I think having Kripke be the troll would have ruined it for me. Having it be Hawking just having a little fun mocking them made it funny, and that he actually gave them an "intriguing theory" compliment warmed my heart.

[Calamity Jane]

I figured it would be someone famous trolling them, should have known it would be Hawking. 

 

Was nice to seen Sheldon sharing credit and getting along so well for once with Leonard. 

 

The girls stories were amusing as well. 

 

 

 

It is hard to believe she is so good at her job so quickly.  However depending on her product she only may need a handful of doctors to prescribe a lot in order to be successful. 

 

I wish they would at least say what she sells.  I admittedly don't always follow closely the details of what she says or her stories, but have they stated what her product/prodcts are?  They would obviously be fake and not real pharmaceuticals, but I would still like to know.  She may have mentioned one in the fake pitch to Raj's girlfriend, but I forget

I seem to have accidentally erased the end of this post - sorry!  Sometimes the tech gets away from me.

I think I remember Penny "pitching" her products to Raj's girlfriend and getting a very cold reception.  Now if I could remember what kind of doctor the girlfriend is, we'd get somewhere. That would be the episode where we'd have found out, most likely. 

[sinkwriter]

Raj's girlfriend is a veterinarian, isn't she? That's how he met her, bringing Cinnamon in for help after the dog ate chocolate under Howard and Bernadette's watch?

 

But that's not the kinds of products Penny was pitching. She just wanted to practice on someone, and Raj's girlfriend mentioned something about how people try to pitch meds to her in her vet office all the time so she would be someone who knows a good "sell" presentation or not.

 

Penny was pitching meds for humans. Medication that was created by scientists like Bernadette. That's what I recall, anyway. Can anyone else confirm?

Edited February 6, 2015 by sinkwriter

[The Kings Foot]

 

The thing that took me out of it is that there was NO WAY they would've wanted that paper published on some sort of blog-type thing.  I didn't understand where they published it where it was up immediately.  That's not how it works at all.  Sheldon, with his huge ego, would've wanted that in a top tier journal.  That requires tons of work with a submission, editing, peer review, etc, and THEN publishing.  This is not an instantaneous thing.  Usually I can check everything at the door and these details don't bother me, but that seriously bothered me.

 

Quantum diaries  where they posted their  paper is a real website. 

 

http://www.quantumdiaries.org/

[sinkwriter]

I liked how Sheldon kept hmmmm-ing at Leonard as he looked over the white board. I knew that Leonard was on to something good, because otherwise Sheldon would have immediately started in on how bad it was or incorrect. 

 

Really loved seeing them work well together and have fun with it too. "Thank you very much, Mr. Intriguing Theory..." Heee.

Edited February 6, 2015 by sinkwriter

[The Kings Foot]

Raj's girlfriend is a veterinarian, isn't she? That's how he met her, bringing Cinnamon in for help after the dog ate chocolate under Howard and Bernadette's watch?

 

But that's not the kinds of products Penny was pitching. She just wanted to practice on someone, and Raj's girlfriend mentioned something about how people try to pitch meds to her in her vet office all the time so she would be someone who knows a good "sell" presentation or not.

 

Penny was pitching meds for humans. Medication that was created by scientists like Bernadette. That's what I recall, anyway. Can anyone else confirm?

 

 

That was a previous girl.

 

Emily is a dermatologist. 

Edited February 6, 2015 by The Kings Foot

[sinkwriter]

Ah, sorry about that. Thanks, The Kings Foot!

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I liked Sheldon and Leonard working well together, and Sheldon not trying to steal credit or downplay Leonard's ideas or contribution

Sheldon gives credit where credit is due; he commented about possibly having to share a Nobel Prize after Leslie fixed an error on his board.

[Chit Chat]

I love how when they clicked the mouse together they both actually said, "Click."

 

IMO, that shows just how much Sheldon values & likes Leonard.  He is very particular about people touching him!  Remember in a past episode where the guys were making a pact about something and they all put their hand on top of each other's hand, and Sheldon got a napkin to put his hand on so he wouldn't get any germs?  He probably wouldn't have let Raj or Howard click the mouse with him.  It's little moments like that where their friendship shines!

 

I'm glad to see Penny doing well with her new job.  We've seen her studying in order to know the products she's selling.  As I've said before, she can look at it like a tv/movie script and pretty much memorize it until she fully understands everything.  I'm just happy to see character more pulled together.  She's dressed nicer and has more confidence.  That's a nice change, IMO.  

[CleoCaesar]

That was actually funny! My favorite moment was when Amy was softly reading her fanfic to a rapt Bernie and Penny and then Leonard bursts in and they shriek GET OUT. I watched that several times haha.

 

I did like Sheldon and Leonard being non-cartoonish this episode and actually working together as friends and adults. Although I will say that Sheldon really took over Leonard's idea quite a bit. Also, publishing a scientific paper overnight on an online blog? Erm...

 

Mayim Bialik, great delivery of every line, as always.

[Whimsy]

Quantum diaries  where they posted their  paper is a real website. 

 

http://www.quantumdiaries.org/

I didn't say it wasn't real. I said it wasn't a top tier journal. But, it gave us the storyline of people commenting on the paper so I guuess it served the purpose.

[CherryAmes]

The thing that took me out of it is that there was NO WAY they would've wanted that paper published on some sort of blog-type thing.  I didn't understand where they published it where it was up immediately.  That's not how it works at all.  Sheldon, with his huge ego, would've wanted that in a top tier journal.  That requires tons of work with a submission, editing, peer review, etc, and THEN publishing.  This is not an instantaneous thing.

 

On a sitcom you pretty much want instantaneous. The episode wouldn't have worked if they had had to wait to see it published months later in a scientific journal.  Plus they made the point that they wanted it published somewhere quickly because they were concerned that someone else would come along who had had the same breakthrough idea and published it first.  Which to this non-scientific viewer made perfect sense. 

[Granimal]

While I'm not a fan of the BBT, Granimal-lover is, so I had the pleasure of seeing this episode. I liked the guy's storyline. I assumed the troll would be Hawking because I had remembered seeing him on a previous episode, so I was really excited for that.

 

The women's storyline however wasn't very funny to me. It seemed like the writers just picked various random things to make fun of and used them for small predictable jokes. How lame that we didn't even get to see Penny's video- just heard a little audio. I feel like they were scraping the bottom of the barrel here. Bernadette doing a pageant seemed to come out of left field. I don't know- my mileage only- but it seemed like they just invented these situations to trot out jokes they were wanting to use. I hate when behavior or scenarios are set up solely for the purpose of setting up a joke and you can see the punchline a mile away. (Yes I dislike all sitcoms.)

 

As I said, I am not a fan of the show, so perhaps I'm biased. Obviously humor is subjective!

 

I thought that Penny "pitched" an erectile dysfunction drug during her practice-run with Emily. (?)

[CherryAmes]

How lame that we didn't even get to see Penny's video- just heard a little audio.

 

I could have sworn we saw something but maybe I'm mixing it up with the episode where Leonard is showing it to his friends when he's on the research ship as I just saw that rerun the other day.

[sinkwriter]

There was an episode where we saw one of Penny's scenes being filmed. She was in a cage and in a costume where she was dressed as half girl and half gorilla, and she went a little "bananas" with gorilla "rage" building inside her. It was pretty funny, in a terrible B-movie sort of way. So I had no problem with them not showing anything in this episode, because to me they treated it as an inside joke for those who are regular viewers. If you'd seen the show, you could already picture Penny in the half-gorilla outfit, and if you hadn't seen the previous episode, you could enjoy it for the clearly cheesy dialogue.

[theatremouse]

The women's storyline however wasn't very funny to me. It seemed like the writers just picked various random things to make fun of and used them for small predictable jokes.

It also felt like a sort of shoe-horned bottle episode. As in, everyone stayed essentially in one place, kinda like a stuck-in-a episode, except no one was stuck. Not that I need them to traipse across LA but the ladies' storyline in particular felt very static. I mean, they literally sat on Penny's couch for the episode.

[Bronzedog]

I don't know how far in advance they write the scripts but maybe some things had to be changed because of Mrs. W's (the actress) death

[MaryMitch]

I loved the women's story line! It was 3 friends drinking wine and finding out more about each other and having a good time.

[Granimal]

It also felt like a sort of shoe-horned bottle episode. As in, everyone stayed essentially in one place, kinda like a stuck-in-a episode, except no one was stuck. Not that I need them to traipse across LA but the ladies' storyline in particular felt very static. I mean, they literally sat on Penny's couch for the episode.

Yeah I think that was another problem I had with it. I need some action, as I find dialogue to not be written particularly well. Women just sitting around laughing at things they "did" in the past didn't do it for me. Especially because those things were written in solely for the purpose of making jokes out of them- MMV. Like Bernie and the pageant thing- unless I missed an episode about her doing pageants, it seemed like this was created merely for the jokes they wanted to tell about it, and not keeping in line with the the character (MMV).

 

And I did see the episode where we saw Penny in the gorilla suit (I've seen nearly every episode by being in the same room as a BBT- lover), yet I thought it would have added immensely to show the dialogue and visuals at the same time.

 

I'm not trying to convince anyone else that it was a bad episode (or offend anyone)- this is merely a matter of personal preference. Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion. Many educated, wonderful people are fans of the show (including Granimal-lover) and I would never try to take that away from them. I'm merely writing the problems I had with  this particular episode. I thought that the writing was stale and sloppy, and the jokes were predictable and unfunny, there should've been more movement and action, and that the "pageant" thing was created specifically to make 3 or 4 throwaway jokes about it. (The plot should be written, and then the jokes come from there- not the other way around). Amy's fanfic was slightly more tolerable- because it seemed in character for Amy.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

There was an episode where we saw one of Penny's scenes being filmed. She was in a cage and in a costume where she was dressed as half girl and half gorilla, and she went a little "bananas" with gorilla "rage" building inside her.

Penny actually filmed two "Serial Apeist" movies. That one was the sequel. We saw the shower scene from the original when Leonard was showing it to his coworkers on the ship. I didn't catch the audio, but the theme of the scene would suggest it would have been from the original.

 

 

IMO, that shows just how much Sheldon values & likes Leonard.  He is very particular about people touching him!  Remember in a past episode where the guys were making a pact about something and they all put their hand on top of each other's hand, and Sheldon got a napkin to put his hand on so he wouldn't get any germs?  He probably wouldn't have let Raj or Howard click the mouse with him.

I think you're right, but for another reason. From the POV of Sheldon's phobia, the apartment has been thoroughly "contaminated" by Leonard, so physical contact with him is moot.