S08.E19: The Skywalker Incursion

[kili]

What was most obnoxious about this episode was it kept pounding home the idea that now that Bernadette has a doctorate and a job earning Big Money that completely emasculates Howard and makes her the man of the family and Howard is the fluffy headed woman (insert rolling eyes here).

 

It's also wrong. Bernadette is the adult in the relationship and Howard is the child. He focuses all his energy on playing and his toys. He doesn't worry about where the money is coming from, how food gets to the table or how even the table gets cleaned up. Howard is the equivalent of Rachel's sisters from Friends. The only difference is that he focuses on Science and collecting SciFi tchotchkes and they focus on fashion and collecting shoes. None of them know the value of money or taking care of themselves.

 

Howard moved straight from his mother's house to his wife's and never stopped being a child. Every other character on the show can at least take minimal care of themselves.

 

I don't even think they should be moving in to Howard's Mom's house. Sell it and buy another one. It is always hard for somebody to move into their spouse's house because either the moving-in-spouse completely subsumes their own desires for a home (and change nothing) or the original-home-spouse has to end up changing some of their home (and looks like the one making all the adjustments). With normal adults who know how to compromise, that is hard enough. With Bernie moving into her spouse-child's childhood home and her spouse is a hoarder who does not compromise? That's a recipe for disaster.

 

I always have issues with women/wives who want to get rid of their husbands premarital things/friends.

 

Bernie only has one pre-marital acquaintance in her life (Penny). She appears to spend all her time with her husband's friends (and husband's friends' girlfriends).

Edited April 4, 2015 by kili

[SmithW6079]

Bernie has evolved from strong and confident into bitchy and a bully.

Actually, I think they took her even further. Didn't she used to be quiet and mousy? I think they retconned that she was always strong and assertive.

as Debra once said "You are the reason for the yelling".

So blaming the victim is cool when a woman is the abuser?

[CleoCaesar]

So blaming the victim is cool when a woman is the abuser?

 

Haha. Yeah telling your husband to clean up more and pay attention to his kids is not abuse.

[Crucial]

I liked this episode because it focused on Sheldon and Leonard and their travels. Loved when Sheldon told Leonard the bright spots were his being tazored and Leonard smiling.  I liked the bonding they had, it was nice.  The ping pong was fun to watch, didn't think it would be but it was.  Poor Amy it didn't work out like she planned.  I really wanted to see it with Raj and have it go forward with him. Honestly Sheldon isn't getting into bed with Amy anytime soon and this was kind of a waste.  Penny was a waste - does nothing for the scene yet again.  It's amazing the actress gets a million an episode but isn't even a factor in so many episodes - thank you Mr Parsons and Mr Galecki for her payday.

[CherryAmes]

So blaming the victim is cool when a woman is the abuser?

 

If we're going to define yelling when someone gets you angry as abuse how do we define telling people your wife is an alcoholic and a shopaholic, just to name two of the many lies Raymond has told others about Debra over the years?   The only difference between Ray and Debra as opposed to Bernie and Howard is there are no children in the picture.  Otherwise we've got Ray and Howard playing the eternal manchild who puts their own wants and pleasures above anyone else and we've got Bernie and Debra having to be the wife and the mother in the relationship and not liking it much.  Classic sitcom I guess where as someone upthread noted neither gender comes out looking good.  On the other hand calling anyone in these relationships an abuser is stretching it.

[TV Anonymous]

I don't watch Doctor Who, but that phone booth is gorgeous.

 

Sorry for nitpick, but it is not a phone booth. It is a police box.

[TV Anonymous]

Don't get me wrong I completely hate that they've set things up that Bernadette is making big bucks and by comparison Howard is making peanuts but that's what they've done and Howard is the one bragging about his wife's money.

 

It is one point in the show that bothers me. Bernadette works with a big pharma with her PhD. However, Howard is obviously a very reputable engineer. He has a SM from MIT and he leads high-profile projects with CalTech / JPL. He even went to space, for crying out loud. He has the potential of making good money by doing engineering consulting and by engagements and appearances. Besides, Bernadette was just a new hire not that long ago.

[kili]

He has the potential of making good money by doing engineering consulting and by engagements and appearances.

 

Howard would rather play than get consulting jobs or hustle for speaking engagements. Out of all of them, he should be able to make a pretty impressive income if he was so inclined. Because Bernie makes good money, he is given the freedom to decide to do the research work which doesn't pay all that well (but allows him to do some really cool stuff) as opposed to taking jobs which may not be as interesting but pay better. He may still have made that choice if he had a stay-at-home wife and several kids to feed, but he would probably be buying fewer TARDISs (or his children would be eating fewer meals).

 

Meanwhile, Sheldon and Leonard blow off a speaking engagement because Sheldon decided to act like a whack-a-doodle and get tazered. I bet they didn't even get those t-shirts and caps that Leonard's stalkerless approach was about to get them.

[CherryAmes]

He has the potential of making good money by doing engineering consulting and by engagements and appearances.

 

And really I don't think he actually is making peanuts now!  I know that Bernadette is supposedly pulling down a huge salary but it's not like Howard is working at McDonalds.  He's been at the university for a number of years, they valued him enough to give him his own parking spot after he went to space - I can't imagine they didn't also value him enough not to raise his salary as well, but even if  they didn't he's still earning more than most of us watching this show do!  It's a little insulting now that I think about it that his income is considered paltry.  Only in Hollywood!

[kili]

And really I don't think he actually is making peanuts now!

 

I found this salary information for Caltech at Glassdoor (averages)

 

Researcher - $53,087

Post-doc Scholar - $50,421

Research Scientist - $90,357

Post-doc Fellow - $53,318

Research Engineer - $82,315

 

I'm guessing that Leonard and Sheldon are Research Scientists and Howard is a Research Engineer?

 

Those guys must spend a lot on their comic book habits and take-out.

[chocolatine]

I don't even think they should be moving in to Howard's Mom's house. Sell it and buy another one. 

 

If the house is in a good location for both of them, commute-wise, and in good shape, it wouldn't make sense to spend thousands of dollars in commission and closing cost to sell it and buy a similar house in a similar location. If they clear out the clutter, replace the hideous wallpaper with a neutral paint and the carpet with hardwood, that house would look really nice.

[theatremouse]

Ok am I nuts or is Skywalker Ranch totally not on the way to Berkeley from Pasadena? Didn't they need to overshoot to visit and then go back? And isn't it like an hour away? So I don't see how they could be making "really good time" and decide on that particular diversion. One does not pick up an extra 2 hours during a 6 hour drive unless they left ridiculously early or were accounting for hitting traffic in several major cities along the way, which I guess is possible but I still wouldn't call that "good time". Just accounting for traffic that, yay, you didn't run into. And the excuse about the room probably not being ready was super flimsy too.

I guess I don't mind the adventure plot per se, but when it's that shoehorned in it pisses me off.

Edited April 4, 2015 by theatremouse

[Colinka]

Skywalker Ranch is just west of San Rafael, in Marin County. (Take the Lucas Valley Rd exit west off of the 101) If all of the traffic gods were with you, you could probably get there in about 45 min from Berkeley. I was able to tour Skywalker Ranch, and, believe me, it was worth it. (My husband's cousin was an accountant there, and he gave us the whole tour.) You do have to know somebody to get in, there is a guard gate, and, actually the TV show got the entrance pretty correct. You can't find it from the road unless you know where you are going.It looks just like an entrance to any private wooded area.

You can google pictures of the ranch to see what a magical place it is. The ranch library is absolutely spectacular, and concentrates on a collection of books about film history. There are actual items from many of the pictures just displayed in curio cabinets--like Indiana Jones' bullwhip and hat, and various Star Wars props.

Edited April 5, 2015 by Colinka

[SmithW6079]

Because Bernie makes good money, he is given the freedom to decide to do the research work which doesn't pay all that well (but allows him to do some really cool stuff) as opposed to taking jobs which may not be as interesting but pay better.

But Howard doesn't do research, does he? Hasn't that been part of Sheldon's constant digs at him? Howard builds things; his work is practical, like the toilet on the space station.

[kili]

If they clear out the clutter, replace the hideous wallpaper with a neutral paint and the carpet with hardwood, that house would look really nice.

 

It's Howard's childhood home and his mother just died. He was reluctant to sell the TARDIS he hasn't used for years or throw out the spoiling food. What if Howard doesn't want the  neutral paint or the hardwood because the hideous wallpaper and carpets reminds him of his mother? What if he suddenly cannot throw out his mother's collections of clowns? How do they compromise? Should Bernie just acquiesce to living in somebody else's house forever? If she absolutely insists on changing something, is she a bully?

 

Buying a new house is expensive, but if you are dealing with somebody who has a hard time of letting go of things, it is sometimes worth the money.  Every frayed carpet, piece of cracked linoleum and set of clown wall-paper won't be fraught with memories. The dude doesn't like change, so moving is like ripping off a band-aid and starting over.

 

Of course, this is a comedy and they will play this for laughs. Howard can be pussy-whipped each time Bernie is a bitch and insists they rip off some wall-paper or re-do the bathroom with the lavender toilet.

[DrSpaceman]

In general I just don't like the idea of kids on TV shows moving into or inheriting or buying a parents house. Mainly because It seems like the type of the thing that happens all the time on TV shows and rarely happens in real life. I know there are real life examples, but if you watch TV and believe it as the standard it makes it seem like we all live in homes that have been in our families for a century or more.

Its like weddings at a persons home. Happens all the time on TV and movies, its the norm. Rarely happens in real life, though I know there are examples. Bugs me when they do this on TV.

I don't think Bernadette is abusive and in general if Howard would grow up and stop spending so much of their discretionary income on himself, or coming up with stupid ideas like buying into a comic book store, I'd cut him more slack. I happened to side with Howard on this one, but in general, Bernadette seems to be the only one of the two of them that watches their money. Wasn't he sitting and reading comics while she did the taxes herself a few weeks back?

[shapeshifter]

Anyway, Howard knew what Bernadette was like when he married her--which is a lot like his mother. He may actually want her to make him get rid of some things that he can't make himself get rid of. And keeping the TARDIS within his circle of friends wouldn't be like really getting rid of it. Maybe Bernie sees it that way too.

[CherryAmes]

Bernadette also knew what she was getting when she married Howard.  I don't think though that means she shouldn't mind that he spends money like water and that he's incapable of throwing some clothes in a washing machine.  It's a reasonable expectation, IMO anyway, that people will grow up and change at least a little when they get married.  Most of us do.  That said with regard to Howard knowing what Bernadette was like - I think part of the attraction for him was that although she is like his mother in some ways she also isn't prepared to put up with his crap. She may handle the money but that's the only way she enables his childishness.  I may be wrong but I've always had the feeling that he wants that.

[biakbiak]

It's Howard's childhood home and his mother just died. He was reluctant to sell the TARDIS he hasn't used for years or throw out the spoiling food. What if Howard doesn't want the  neutral paint or the hardwood because the hideous wallpaper and carpets reminds him of his mother? What if he suddenly cannot throw out his mother's collections of clowns? How do they compromise? Should Bernie just acquiesce to living in somebody else's house forever? If she absolutely insists on changing something, is she a bully?

 

Buying a new house is expensive, but if you are dealing with somebody who has a hard time of letting go of things, it is sometimes worth the money.  Every frayed carpet, piece of cracked linoleum and set of clown wall-paper won't be fraught with memories. The dude doesn't like change, so moving is like ripping off a band-aid and starting over.

 

Of course, this is a comedy and they will play this for laughs. Howard can be pussy-whipped each time Bernie is a bitch and insists they rip off some wall-paper or re-do the bathroom with the lavender toilet.

Howard mentioned in this very episode that they were going to renovate the house.

[shapeshifter]

Howard mentioned in this very episode that they were going to renovate the house.

I wasn't paying close attention. Did they specifically say he and Bernie were going to live there after the reno? Sometimes it is cost effect to reno before selling (or so I've been told).

[biakbiak]

Yes, Raj asked when they were moving in and he mentioned after the renovation.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

He was reluctant to sell the TARDIS he hasn't used for years or throw out the spoiling food.

Was that the same TARDIS as we saw at the Halloween party where Sheldon dressed as Raggedy C3PO?

[Frost]

 

Was that the same TARDIS as we saw at the Halloween party where Sheldon dressed as Raggedy C3PO?

That's an interesting point.  There was a discussion during that episode whether Raj should rent a TARDIS or something else for the photo booth.  If Howard already had a TARDIS in his garage, that should have come up.  Howard and Bernadette were already married by that point and I'm sure Howard didn't buy the TARDIS after that.  Me thinks someone on the writing staff goofed up!

[ari333]

Wow. I am truly a doofus. I didnt' know what tardis was and still don't really. It sounded like a bus to me or some form of  public transportation. :)  

 

Amy. Flove her. She could serve the hell outta that ball, but couldn't return cuz she had no friends in childhood. (*sad sigh*) Love Amy. Oh, I said that. Love Bernie too, but don't like the turn the writers have taken her on. Ouch. I wish Raj could get a woman whose character I could love. So far... not so much.

[sinkwriter]

 

Wow. I am truly a doofus. I didnt' know what tardis was and still don't really. It sounded like a bus to me or some form of  public transportation. :)

 

ari333, TARDIS stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's a police box on the outside, but inside it's essentially a time machine and spacecraft (so it's definitely transportation, just not open to the "public," LOL).

 

"The Doctor" (from the TV show Doctor Who) travels inside the TARDIS, going to different times and places in the universe. The running joke on the show is that the TARDIS is "bigger on the inside" -- in other words, it looks like this innocent telephone-booth-like box on the outside, but when you open the door and step inside, the inside dimensions are vast, like a giant spaceship, with separate rooms and a staircase and a massive control panel in the center. 

 

Essentially, it's the Doctor's spaceship. It just camouflages itself as something ordinary.

[CherryAmes]

"The Doctor" (from the TV show Doctor Who) travels inside the TARDIS, going to different times and places in the universe.

 

Was it Amy who said (paraphrased) "For someone who can travel any place and any time period he sure spends a lot of time in present day London".

[SmithW6079]

Bernadette is on my list of characters I can't stand on this show. She and Raj could disappear and I wouldn't miss the shrew and the jerk at all.

Sheldon and Leonard's story was nice. I like when they have scenes that remind the viewers why they're friends.

I think Howard and Bernadette are moving into his mother's house because the set's already built.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

There was a discussion during that episode whether Raj should rent a TARDIS or something else for the photo booth.  If Howard already had a TARDIS in his garage, that should have come up.

It's possible that Howard wouldn't have even considered lending his TARDIS to anyone at the time and that wasn't his we saw, but with the threat of losing it, we should have heard him arguing  the possibility of renting it out (even if the plot demanded that Bernie not agree to it).

[Sile]

In general I just don't like the idea of kids on TV shows moving into or inheriting or buying a parents house. Mainly because It seems like the type of the thing that happens all the time on TV shows and rarely happens in real life. I know there are real life examples, but if you watch TV and believe it as the standard it makes it seem like we all live in homes that have been in our families for a century or more.

Its like weddings at a persons home. Happens all the time on TV and movies, its the norm. Rarely happens in real life, though I know there are examples. Bugs me when they do this on TV.

 

 

It's funny you should use those specific two examples of something that rarely happens in real life.  My sister purchased our childhood home from my parents after she had kids and needed a bigger house and my cousin had his wedding in his (huge) back yard.

 

Then again, there's a house down the street from my mom's that has a Tardis in the back yard, so maybe I'm just in a vortex of rare occurrences.  

 

Or I live in a sitcom and don't know it (a la Truman).

Edited April 8, 2015 by Sile

[PinkRibbons]

Well-placed Los Angeles Real Estate is incredibly difficult to find for a decent price. If Howard and Bernadette want a house and it's in, say, West Hollywood, Hollywood or Silver Lake, then getting one that's been there for years and is free is an amazing thing. Otherwise once they want a house they'll probably be forced to move up into the Hills (expensive even if Bernadette can afford it, far from the metropolis and not to mention hard to live on. My grandmother's friend once accidentally put down a fresh watermelon and when she looked down it had gone. To this day we don't know what happened by the time it stopped rolling down that hill) or out into The Valley (which could mean a very long commute).

 

Honestly if I were Howard and Bernadette I would jump to live in that house. Even the money from selling it wouldn't necessarily get them a different house with the same placement, if it is in one of the many older and/or funner neighborhoods of the city. Not to mention the property tax has a good chance of still being affordable.

[sinkwriter]

 

My grandmother's friend once accidentally put down a fresh watermelon and when she looked down it had gone. To this day we don't know what happened by the time it stopped rolling down that hill) or out into The Valley (which could mean a very long commute).

 

LOL. I've got this hilarious mental picture in my head of joggers on the street or people looking up from their driveways and seeing this watermelon simply rolling on by...

[DrSpaceman]

It's funny you should use those specific two examples of something that rarely happens in real life.  My sister purchased our childhood home from my parents after she had kids and needed a bigger house and my cousin had his wedding in his (huge) back yard.

 

Then again, there's a house down the street from my mom's that has a Tardis in the back yard, so maybe I'm just in a vortex of rare occurrences.  

 

Or I live in a sitcom and don't know it (a la Truman).

 

 

As I mentioned, I know it happens, every time I bring this up someone brings up an example of I did this, someone I knew did this, etc.

 

Its not the norm though and does not happen nearly as much as we see on TV and in movies.  I have never once in my life been to a wedding at someone's house. 

 

How I Met Your mother last year, or the year before, did this exact same storyline, Marshal and Lilly move into some relatives house out in the suburbs.  Its been just done so many times I find it unoriginal and cliche. 

[DrSpaceman]

Was it Amy who said (paraphrased) "For someone who can travel any place and any time period he sure spends a lot of time in present day London".

That was always a big criticism of Star Trek as well. Whenever they did time travel stories it was always about 20th century, or a few times 19th century, United States.

[DrSpaceman]

Bernadette is on my list of characters I can't stand on this show. She and Raj could disappear and I wouldn't miss the shrew and the jerk at all.

Sheldon and Leonard's story was nice. I like when they have scenes that remind the viewers why they're friends.

I think Howard and Bernadette are moving into his mother's house because the set's already built.

I blame the writers for the Raj character. Half the time its like they don't know what to do with him. They try to portray him as some type of metrosexual man, but with a horrible sense of style at the same time.

I don't dispute the reason for them moving into her house is partly budgetary for the show. Same way with the home weddings as well. Its why they do it on all shows. I still find it lazy and annoying.

Some of these houses/sets get reused between shows too. I think it was the Gimme a Break House/set was the same one from All in the family. Plus they all have the same "TV show" floorplan : Going right to left, or left to right, its front door, family room goes into the kitchen in the back of the house, stairs going up from the family room to rest of the house.

[shapeshifter]

It's funny you should use those specific two examples of something that rarely happens in real life.  My sister purchased our childhood home from my parents after she had kids and needed a bigger house and my cousin had his wedding in his (huge) back yard.

 

Then again, there's a house down the street from my mom's that has a Tardis in the back yard, so maybe I'm just in a vortex of rare occurrences.  

 

Or I live in a sitcom and don't know it (a la Truman).

Or you have died and gone to heaven, and now we know that there are message boards in heaven. (I think we already knew the TARDIS would be there, right?)

Wow. I am truly a doofus. I didnt' know what tardis was and still don't really. It sounded like a bus to me or some form of  public transportation. :)  ...

ari333, TARDIS stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's a police box on the outside, but inside it's essentially a time machine and spacecraft (so it's definitely transportation, just not open to the "public," LOL).

 

"The Doctor" (from the TV show Doctor Who) travels inside the TARDIS, going to different times and places in the universe. The running joke on the show is that the TARDIS is "bigger on the inside" -- in other words, it looks like this innocent telephone-booth-like box on the outside, but when you open the door and step inside, the inside dimensions are vast, like a giant spaceship, with separate rooms and a staircase and a massive control panel in the center. 

 

Essentially, it's the Doctor's spaceship. It just camouflages itself as something ordinary.

Like this:

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Was it Amy who said (paraphrased) "For someone who can travel any place and any time period he sure spends a lot of time in present day London".

The Doctor Who writers have partially explained this as being a critical time in human history. Why so many aliens seem compelled to keep visiting Great Britain (it's not always London) is an open question,