S09.E18: The Application Deterioration

[shapeshifter]

Sheldon works up contract to split their portion of their guidance system invention royalties, but Bernadette does not like how it's done. Raj must again decide between Emily and Claire when they both cxaontact him.

I think Claire was the better choice. And I wish I'd had the PDF when I was their age.

I liked the way Bernie and Howard worked things out with Sheldon except I think they could've come up with some cryptic legalese instead. The gift was sweet even if Sheldon did have to get one last dig in.

[SmithW6079]

Raj is such a dick. The show would be so much better without him.

[Accidental Martyr]

Raj's love life storyline is dragging this show even farther down the drain. The rest of the episode wasn't bad. Bernadette's usual tone was even brought down a few notches. The interaction between Howard and Bernadette was much more enjoyable than it has been in the recent past.

[Driad]

Yes.  I don't see why they think they have to pair everyone up.  I was glad to see some techie stuff.  Raj could have been involved in that instead.

 

Also I looked up antique sextants (I can't be the only one) and found several for a lot less than $500.

[dustylil]

I found it more than a little surprising that those brainiacs apparently didn't know that their university was likely to take a large chunk of any royalties from their invention. It is a research university, after all.

[OtterMommy]

Ugh...I really thought that we were done with Emily.  Nothing against the actress, but the character just doesn't fit...and she makes Raj less interesting.  Can he please go back to only being able to talk to women (except Penny, Bernadette, and Amy) when he's drunk, please?

 

 

I found it more than a little surprising that those brainiacs apparently didn't know that their university was likely to take a large chunk of any royalties from their invention. It is a research university, after all.

 

This...and the fact that none of them had ever had a patent.  They had been there for what, a decade?  They all should have had at least one patent by now.  Wouldn't Howard have one for his space toilet?

 

But Howard was right about one thing...the PeeWee vibe is strong on a bow-tied Sheldon....

[Kanner]

I always find it weird that Sheldon is held to a higher standard than everyone else. They all put each other down and make fun of each other but when Sheldon does it it's more serious somehow. I'm not defending Sheldon's treatment of Howard but I just don't see it as more than what the others do.

However, kudos to Howard and Bernadette for getting that clause into the contract.

[Latverian Diplomat]

I found it more than a little surprising that those brainiacs apparently didn't know that their university was likely to take a large chunk of any royalties from their invention. It is a research university, after all.

 

Yeah, pretty sure the University would have training on this. 25% is generous, I don't know about academia, but private industry often has just a small, fixed bonus for inventors.

 

Also, usually inventors are told not to check for prior art, but leave that to the lawyers. The reason being that if your are on record at having looked at some related work, those inventors have a stronger case for infringement by your invention.

 

 

This...and the fact that none of them had ever had a patent.  They had been there for what, a decade?  They all should have had at least one patent by now.  Wouldn't Howard have one for his space toilet?

As a theoretician, I wouldn't be surprised if Sheldon hasn't done anything patentable. As an experimentalist, Leonard might have had opportunities to patent something around measurement or lab equipment, I don't know how common that is. And yes, you're right, working as an engineer for NASA, Howard should have been through the patent drill several times by now.

[SmithW6079]

I always find it weird that Sheldon is held to a higher standard than everyone else. They all put each other down and make fun of each other but when Sheldon does it it's more serious somehow. I'm not defending Sheldon's treatment of Howard but I just don't see it as more than what the others do.

When the others do it to each other, they're kidding around. When Sheldon does it, it's because he genuinely believes Howard is inferior, from his education to his choice of career. It's the amount of contempt factor present.

[MissLucas]

The guys legal ignorance was a bit hard to buy but I think they added that for the sake of that part of the audience who's not acquainted with details of patent law.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the A-plot. Reading the plot summary I had been dreading Bernadette was going full-on-shrew complaining that 'Howie' deserves a bigger share in royalties for whatever insane reasons and was really glad when the plot took a different turn. The best thing was the subtle subversion of the 'pregnancy makes women crazy'-trope. I loved Howard repeatedly pointing out that her arguments were rational and logical.

 

There were lots of funny tidbits: Sheldon's love for drafting contracts, Penny pointing out that Amy would also profit from Sheldon's legal enthusiasm, Amy reassuring Howard that Sheldon's OCD was the best guarantee he'd stick to the contract (immediately followed by said OCD kicking in) were my favorites. Sheldon's addendum to the original contract was touching and a great bit of character growth.

 

The B-plot was a mess though. Has Kunal Naayar been caught raiding the cookie jar in the writers' room or is there another reason why the writing for Raj seems to be getting worse and worse?

[mstar1125]

Yeah, pretty sure the University would have training on this. 25% is generous, I don't know about academia, but private industry often has just a small, fixed bonus for inventors.

 

Also, usually inventors are told not to check for prior art, but leave that to the lawyers. The reason being that if your are on record at having looked at some related work, those inventors have a stronger case for infringement by your invention.

 

As a theoretician, I wouldn't be surprised if Sheldon hasn't done anything patentable. As an experimentalist, Leonard might have had opportunities to patent something around measurement or lab equipment, I don't know how common that is. And yes, you're right, working as an engineer for NASA, Howard should have been through the patent drill several times by now.

 

I think 25% is pretty standard for academia. My institution has a similar breakdown. 75% goes to the institution, but that gets divvied up further so that some of it ends up back in the department of the researchers who developed the product.

 

It doesn't surprise me that Leonard and Sheldon didn't understand the patent process, as their work doesn't necessarily lend itself to direct commercialization, but I agree that Howard should have gone through this several times by now. Although if he was designing anything under a NASA-sponsored project or other industry-sponsored funding, he may not have the rights to patent despite it being his IP and design. This is why many of us in academia don't bother with patents or commercializing our products - it's a lot of work (and a lot of expense, although the institution picks that up) for not a lot of profit, and then it limits you to what type of work you can do in the future due to strict conflict of interest policies.

 

I also wondered if the writers got Howard's position with NASA correct. It doesn't make sense to me that he's a federal employee of NASA but still allowed to work at the university. It seems that it would be the other way around - an employee of the university but a contractor to NASA. My understanding is that the majority of NASA "employees" are actually contractors, but I'm not sure whether there are different rules for astronauts versus staff.

[DrLar]

Not only worse but getting hotter women for him.. hehe

 

If I was on Raj's shoes I've would have chosen the bartender, she seems more interesting to me, but Raj I guess chose the "sure to have sex" girl..

[Kanner]

 Sheldon's addendum to the original contract was touching and a great bit of character growth.

 

 

I don't see the child clause as character growth from Sheldon.  I found it in character.  From early on in the show Sheldon has been shown to have no issue with sharing money with others.

[tpel]

The best thing was the subtle subversion of the 'pregnancy makes women crazy'-trope. I loved Howard repeatedly pointing out that her arguments were rational and logical.

 

 

Yeah, I loved Howard's line about, "Is the fetus helping you? Because that's cheating."

[MissLucas]

I don't see the child clause as character growth from Sheldon.  I found it in character.  From early on in the show Sheldon has been shown to have no issue with sharing money with others.

Yes, money sharing has never been a problem for him but admitting that his behavior can be hurtful is another issue - one that was addressed in his explanation for the clause:

"And the very fact that you needed a written guarantee of respect made me realize how dismissive I've been of your contributions." That's what I meant with character growth.

[mojoween]

I feel like they are turning Penny into Joey from "Friends" and I hate it. She started as this sweet but sometimes dim girl and turned into a relatively dumb woman who chews her fingers when the grown-ups are having an intelligent conversation. It is almost exactly the same pattern, it's so annoying.

[Zoe]

I feel like they are turning Penny into Joey from "Friends" and I hate it. She started as this sweet but sometimes dim girl and turned into a relatively dumb woman who chews her fingers when the grown-ups are having an intelligent conversation. It is almost exactly the same pattern, it's so annoying.

On the other hand, she was the only one who caught Sheldon's addendum with the scholarship fund.

[needschocolate]

I feel like they are turning Penny into Joey from "Friends" and I hate it. She started as this sweet but sometimes dim girl and turned into a relatively dumb woman who chews her fingers when the grown-ups are having an intelligent conversation. It is almost exactly the same pattern, it's so annoying.

 

Your post got me thinking...

Joey = Penny ---- good looking but not bright

Ross = Sheldon ---- the nerdiest of the bunch 

Chandler = Howard ---- the one always cracking jokes

Monica = Bernie --- the bossiest

Rachel = maybe Raj?  They are both pampered

Pheobe = Maybe Amy?  More the original Amy

Gunther from the coffee shop = Stuart

??? = Leonard

[Trey]

 

I feel like they are turning Penny into Joey from "Friends" and I hate it. She started as this sweet but sometimes dim girl and turned into a relatively dumb woman who chews her fingers when the grown-ups are having an intelligent conversation. It is almost exactly the same pattern, it's so annoying.

 

On the other hand, she was the only one who caught Sheldon's addendum with the scholarship fund.

   

 

 

Wasn't she also the one who suggested the clause prohibiting Sheldon from making fun of Howard?

Edited March 11, 2016 by Trey

[Kanner]

Obviously I am a fan of Sheldon so my views may be skewed but I do find it interesting the characters on the show and viewers find it ok to make fun of his OCD tendenacies and label it "just kidding" or not a big deal. The show has addressed it a few times that some of the things Shedlon does are out of necessity for him - the knocking, his need for closure, his sticking to contracts, etc.  But since he can be a total jerk at times its ok.  I think one of the my favorite moments on the show is when Sheldon called Penny on dimissing his feelings becasue she felt what he disclosed was trivial. 

[Zahdii]

Regarding the main plot, I was glad the guys went in clueless about finding that the majority of the proceeds from their patent would go to the university, because I'm clueless about that sort of stuff, too.  I guess we all know better, now.  I did wonder about the part where Howard wouldn't get anything because of his association with NASA.  I always thought he was a private contracter that worked with NASA on occasion and what he did with his life outside of that wasn't of interest to them.  I guess that the NASA bit was shoehorned in so the story could have Sheldon write up a contract, and all the other stuff that went with it.

 

Regarding Raj, I was struck by how odd it was that he was so concerned by Emily's feelings when he was the one who broke up with her so he could ask another girl out.  Has he ever broken up with a girlfriend before?  He certainly seemed confused and as pointed out by the girls, easily manipulated.  He started out thinking that Emily leaving him a belated Valentines gift was odd, and given her delight in making jokes about hiding bodies in her closet and stuff, I could see he wondered if the 'gift' was actually something gross designed to punish him for breaking up with her. 

 

When the gift proved to be a thoughtful present for a man of his interests, and expensive to boot, it was obvious Emily was trying to get him back.  Raj appeared to realize this, but he didn't have enough of a spine to shut Emily down, and instead fell for the old "I just want to be friends" line, backed up with tears.  Was he being influenced by guilt, or was a part of him, ehm, indulging in the flattery of having Emily begging for his attention even after he dumped her with no warning?

 

The really disappointing thing was when he was driving to see Emily and the blond bartender (Claire?) called him.  He freely told her he couldn't see her that evening because he was going to salve his ex girlfriends bruised ego, damaged when he cut her loose.  No matter how much guilt he may have felt, there had to be the thrill of being wanted, and when the other woman was trying to convince him to stay away from Emily, that feeling of having two women competing for him had to have an affect on him.  This is Raj, so I expect that soon both women will feel demeaned and reject him.  That could be a good thing if Raj learned something from this, but he'll probably learn the wrong lesson.  It's a Chuck Lorre show, after all.

[CherryAmes]

When the others do it to each other, they're kidding around. When Sheldon does it, it's because he genuinely believes Howard is inferior, from his education to his choice of career. It's the amount of contempt factor present.

 

I never found the way Raj, as one example, behaved when he thought Howard was losing Bernadette was just kidding around.  He seemed to really enjoy the possibility that Howard was about to get his little heart broken.  Same way with Howard on more than one occasion when he seemed to really be enjoying it when his friends are miserable.  The only one of the guys I'd give a pass to here is Leonard.

[anna0852]

I was really impressed that upon finding out about Howard not being eligible for the patent, that all three of them worked out a respectful and mutually agreeable solution. I was also very happy that not only did the idea of a contract come up but that everybody found that sensible as well. It was refreshing not to have to watch a round of my work is more important than yours. It really was the way professionals are supposed to behave.

[Kanner]

I never found the way Raj, as one example, behaved when he thought Howard was losing Bernadette was just kidding around.  He seemed to really enjoy the possibility that Howard was about to get his little heart broken.  Same way with Howard on more than one occasion when he seemed to really be enjoying it when his friends are miserable.  The only one of the guys I'd give a pass to here is Leonard.

I agree. However, the only reason I would not give Leonard a pass is that I think he has done his fair share of non-verbal damage - the North Pole incident, making out with Howard's date, kissing another while datingPenny, etc.

[Latverian Diplomat]

I think 25% is pretty standard for academia. My institution has a similar breakdown. 75% goes to the institution, but that gets divvied up further so that some of it ends up back in the department of the researchers who developed the product.

 

It doesn't surprise me that Leonard and Sheldon didn't understand the patent process, as their work doesn't necessarily lend itself to direct commercialization, but I agree that Howard should have gone through this several times by now. Although if he was designing anything under a NASA-sponsored project or other industry-sponsored funding, he may not have the rights to patent despite it being his IP and design. This is why many of us in academia don't bother with patents or commercializing our products - it's a lot of work (and a lot of expense, although the institution picks that up) for not a lot of profit, and then it limits you to what type of work you can do in the future due to strict conflict of interest policies.

 

I also wondered if the writers got Howard's position with NASA correct. It doesn't make sense to me that he's a federal employee of NASA but still allowed to work at the university. It seems that it would be the other way around - an employee of the university but a contractor to NASA. My understanding is that the majority of NASA "employees" are actually contractors, but I'm not sure whether there are different rules for astronauts versus staff.

Thanks for the info.

 

My master's degree involved a small tech project that also involved an internship and research grant from a private company. The legal wrangling between the Uni and the corporation over any valuable IP that <i>might</i> (and of course, didn't) arise from it almost derailed the whole arrangement. That was many years ago, and I suspect things are more settled now.

 

If Howard works for JPL, he could be a NASA employee, I think. 

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I found it more than a little surprising that those brainiacs apparently didn't know that their university was likely to take a large chunk of any royalties from their invention. It is a research university, after all.

I think what surprised them was that the university would be so greedy about something that didn't have to do with their work, but that they just came up with while employed there. The writers tried to clarify this point by having Sheldon talk about his ideas for mugs and shirts insulting to geologists.

[Artsda]

The head of the University they were talking too said Howard was a Federal employee on loan from Nasa. That's why he couldn't get any money.

Raj was stupid & annoying.

[shura]

I also wondered if the writers got Howard's position with NASA correct. It doesn't make sense to me that he's a federal employee of NASA but still allowed to work at the university. It seems that it would be the other way around - an employee of the university but a contractor to NASA. My understanding is that the majority of NASA "employees" are actually contractors, but I'm not sure whether there are different rules for astronauts versus staff.

 

I used to work for a private company and we had an agreement with Caltech and could use some of their facilities as needed. I'm sure they would easily accommodate NASA employees.

 

I'm a bit confused though. Why would a federal employee be disqualified from having any financial reward from his invention that was not created at his federal workplace during his working hours? It seems questionable to me. 

[Scott]

If Howard works for JPL, he could be a NASA employee, I think. 

 

 

I thought most Lab employees were considered Caltech employees.  

 

The arrangements between various entities can get very confusing.  I can take 15 minutes to answer a simple "for whom do you work?" question--there's the school that issues the paycheck and houses the building, the agency where the funding originates, the organization that sort of bridges the two, but mostly is just another layer of paperwork I need to fill out when I want to take my laptop home to work over the weekend, etc.

[Latverian Diplomat]

I thought most Lab employees were considered Caltech employees.  

 

The arrangements between various entities can get very confusing.  I can take 15 minutes to answer a simple "for whom do you work?" question--there's the school that issues the paycheck and houses the building, the agency where the funding originates, the organization that sort of bridges the two, but mostly is just another layer of paperwork I need to fill out when I want to take my laptop home to work over the weekend, etc.

I tried to figure that JPL/Caltech/NASA thing out. The best I could do before I gave up was find a bunch of JPL job openings in NASA's job listings web pages. Not sure that means anything.

[iMonrey]

I find it hard to believe that Emily would want Raj back or that she couldn't do better than him. He broke up with her because he wanted to date someone else then immediately called her begging her to take him back when he found out the other girl had a boyfriend. Why would she want him back after that? 

Edited March 11, 2016 by iMonrey

[CherryAmes]

I can't figure Emily out.  I mean is she on the level when she says things like she became a dermatologist because she likes cutting people?  Or is this as elaborate joke on her part to freak Raj out with her gruesome Wednesday Adams oddity? Either way I think she's got some major issues and Raj can actually do better.  I get so sick of the guys, and now with them all paired off, it's down to Raj, putting up with dubious girls just so they can get sex.  So not funny anymore, well it never was but even less so now.

[ShelleySue]

Does anyone know how much NASA/JPL/CalTech masters degree engineers make?  I work for an engineering company (I'm not an engineer) and our engineers are the highest paid employees.  We'd pay more for an MIT grad (we're in the Boston area).

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I find it hard to believe that Emily would want Raj back or that she couldn't do better than him. He broke up with her because he wanted to date someone else then immediately called her begging her to take him back when he found out the other girl had a boyfriend. Why would she want him back after that?

He's a wealthy guy with a good job who she can make do whatever she wants eventually; there's enough resistance to make it fun for her.

[shapeshifter]

Obviously I am a fan of Sheldon so my views may be skewed but I do find it interesting the characters on the show and viewers find it ok to make fun of his OCD tendenacies and label it "just kidding" or not a big deal. The show has addressed it a few times that some of the things Shedlon does are out of necessity for him - the knocking, his need for closure, his sticking to contracts, etc.  But since he can be a total jerk at times its ok.

I think it has become socially acceptable for someone to admit having OCD tendencies, and this makes it okay to joke about it. Of course, someone who is severely disabled because of OCD is no joking matter.

[CleoCaesar]

I thought that it seemed to be totally out of character for Emily to be so upset about the Raj breakup.  After all, what was she really losing?  A self-absorbed douche that constantly plays the victim card?  Raj isn't any great prize. 

 

 

Thank you. That whole storyline bugs me to no end. It REEKS of a nerdy writer's fantasy of two hot women fighting over a douchebag for some unexplicable reason. Raj is not someone an Emily would be hung up over. Sorry, but it's true. Kunal is a pretty attractive guy, but Raj isn't. Raj isn't confident. He is clingy and pampered and just altogether ugh. And I guess I just missed it when they mentioned how close and loving best friends Emily and Raj were.

 

I had been dreading Bernadette was going full-on-shrew complaining that 'Howie' deserves a bigger share in royalties for whatever insane reasons

 

You and me both. It seemed/seems like they're doing a mini-arc with the patent storyline, and I could see some manufactured drama over who deserves what more and all of them fighting.

 

 

turned into a relatively dumb woman who chews her fingers when the grown-ups are having an intelligent conversation.

I like Penny, but she's always been dumb. Not understanding long words (not scientific), not following complex sentences, just generally being pretty vapid. People like to excuse all of that saying she has "street smarts" (whatever those are), but I have yet to see those or anything resembling actual intelligence from her. And that's OK.

 

[tenativelyyours]

Mostly bland but otherwise decent show for the season.  I'm still not sure which character as written I find more offensive though.  Raj or Emily.  A bad as he is, in the end Raj seems like a dupe to Emily being some kind of manipulative trap.  I'm not sure though if Raj still edges Emily out as I don;t know yet if he saw her manipulation and simply thought it a means to keep it going to get sex.  Either way, Lorre and his writers really have no business being allowed near women without a first handing out some kind of warning flier.

 

And for the Friends compare, Leonard always seems to have been a Ross clone.   First as the voice of "normal" reason, second as guy who is after, gets, loses, gets the girl Penny/Rachel who is superficial and somewhat dumb and is hammered over and over on viewers heads how she is out of his league and always will be in some way. 

 

I think Sheldon is more of Phoebe.  The really odd one whose idiosyncrasies basically run rough shod over rest and basically create a sort of Stockholm syndrome as the pervasive glue that socially holds the group together.  Or maybe Monica since she pretty much ruled everyone rather early on.

[The Kings Foot]

I find it hard to believe that Emily would want Raj back or that she couldn't do better than him. He broke up with her because he wanted to date someone else then immediately called her begging her to take him back when he found out the other girl had a boyfriend. Why would she want him back after that? 

 

She doesnt know this. We the audience know this.  She,  a character in the show does not know this. 

 

Thank you. That whole storyline bugs me to no end. It REEKS of a nerdy writer's fantasy of two hot women fighting over a douchebag for some unexplicable reason. Raj is not someone an Emily would be hung up over. Sorry, but it's true. Kunal is a pretty attractive guy, but Raj isn't. Raj isn't confident. He is clingy and pampered and just altogether ugh. And I guess I just missed it when they mentioned how close and loving best friends Emily and Raj were.

 

 

I think people are overestimating how successful Emily is at relationships. The majority of this forum hates her and find her horror fetish weird and frightening. I suspect her dating pool has similar reservations.

[TheOtherOne]

Emily's character has been so thoroughly assassinated at this point there's no use trying to make sense of her. There's no real "her" there. Remember when she was first introduced and she and Amy first bonded over their love of Chaucer and quilting? Does that sound anything like the Emily of today?

 

And yeah, Leonard and Penny are totally the Ross and Rachel of this show (not least of which since the show ripped off at least one of R/R's plots a few years back). But then, Rachel was dumbed down in the later seasons too (there was the season finale in Barbados, where everyone came to listen to Ross's lecture, and Joey and Rachel were both laughing at some scientific term--maybe homo erectus--which made her look like an imbecile). (Then again, the show also ripped off one of Joey's plots with the whole gathers-everyone-together-to-watch-their-appearance-on-a-drama-that-airs-on-the-same-network-only-to-find-they've-been-cut-out-of-the-show episode. So Penny has always been a cross between Rachel and Joey, I suppose.)

[Granny58]

Raj has always been the weakest character and is becoming more annoying.    This week was painful.   Writers need to improve here.   I would actually like more Stuart.  

[theatremouse]

I think it has become socially acceptable for someone to admit having OCD tendencies, and this makes it okay to joke about it. Of course, someone who is severely disabled because of OCD is no joking matter.

I was thrown off by the use of the phrase "OCD" in the episode because the producers to date have made a big effort at explicitly not labeling Sheldon with any particular diagnoses, even though as written, there are arguments made for him having any number of things. So to hear him say it in this one, it did seem as though they were presenting as canon that Sheldon does have diagnosed OCD. Which is totally fine by me if that's what they're saying.

But then on the other hand it IS a very common casual thing for people to do, to refer to themselves as "being OCD" (about XYZ) as if it were just an adjective. It really annoys me when people who do not have OCD do this. It's not funny. It's not cute. It's not a good way to get me to relate to whatever they're trying to joke about. It also strikes me as not at all the sort of thing Sheldon would do. So I'm still taking it as this episode confirms Sheldon does have OCD, but if the writers try to backtrack on that I will be very annoyed for no less than three reasons.

Edited March 13, 2016 by theatremouse

[AnnaRose]

Doesn't the fact that Sheldon has had to obsessively, compulsively knock three times on a door and say the person's name each time indicate, since the beginning of this show, that Sheldon is obsessive/compulsive?

[MissLucas]

There was also a whole episode dedicated to the topic in season 6: The Closure Alternative. Amy tried to 'heal' Sheldon from his obsession for closure or rather force him to face the problem. The term was not used there but Amy used it in another episode telling Sheldon that his need to knock three times is 'symptomatic of OCD' and he denied it.

 

Of all his 'quirks' OCD is the one the show's not been shy about and I think having Amy with her medical background giving out the diagnosis twice (IRRC ) makes it pretty canon. What was new here is that Sheldon seems to accept the diagnosis.

 

(Mayim Bialik wrote her thesis on OCD and she said in interviews that she'd diagnose him as a moderate to severe case but she was much more hesitant about placing him on the autism spectrum.)

[theatremouse]

Doesn't the fact that Sheldon has had to obsessively, compulsively knock three times on a door and say the person's name each time indicate, since the beginning of this show, that Sheldon is obsessive/compulsive?

Yeah, I'm not suggesting that any of his behaviour is not obviously OCD. I'm saying, to date, the writers have made a big hullaballoo whenever asked of explicitly avoiding referring to Sheldon as having any particular conditions. They always just say "No, he's Sheldon-ey" so they wouldn't end up hamstrung by having to try to be true to any diagnosis. That's why it was notable that they had the character say "OCD" in this one. They've broken they're own rule about wanting to leave it up to interpretation and not put any labels on any of it.

I know that the whole issue of bringing in what writer's say about their own work vs what we can actually see in the show is its own whole kettle of fish, but that still brings us back round to the point that this was the first time they put the words in any of the characters' mouths, instead of just leaving it up to us to see it and decide "well obviously that's OCD" vs "this is a fictional world and they can claim all the characters are exaggerations for comedic purposes and not beholden to real behavioral standards".

Edited March 13, 2016 by theatremouse

[TheOtherOne]

Yeah, I'm not suggesting that any of his behaviour is not obviously OCD. I'm saying, to date, the writers have made a big hullaballoo whenever asked of explicitly avoiding referring to Sheldon as having any particular conditions. They always just say "No, he's Sheldon-ey" so they wouldn't end up hamstrung by having to try to be true to any diagnosis. That's why it was notable that they had the character say "OCD" in this one. They've broken they're own rule about wanting to leave it up to interpretation and not put any labels on any of it.

I know that the whole issue of bringing in what writer's say about their own work vs what we can actually see in the show is its own whole kettle of fish, but that still brings us back round to the point that this was the first time they put the words in any of the characters' mouths

 

As MissLucas noted above, it wasn't the first time.

 

From Season 5, Episode 2, "The Infestation Hypothesis:"

 

Sheldon: (Knock, knock, knock) Amy. (Knock, knock, knock) Amy. (Knock, knock, knock) Amy.

Amy: Oh… You are aware that your ritualistic knocking behaviour is symptomatic of obsessive compulsive disorder?

Sheldon: Is not. Is not, is not.

Amy: Denial. Denial, denial. Come in.

 

 

 

Transcript

 

Edited March 14, 2016 by TheOtherOne

[Homily]

They always just say "No, he's Sheldon-ey" so they wouldn't end up hamstrung by having to try to be true to any diagnosis. That's why it was notable that they had the character say "OCD" in this one.

 

I don't think they care about people thinking Sheldon has OCD what they care about is those people who claim he must be asexual or that he's got Aspergers. Especially Aspergers.

[Accidental Martyr]

Raj has always been the weakest character and is becoming more annoying.    This week was painful.   Writers need to improve here.   I would actually like more Stuart.

I would like more of the original version of Stuart. The one we have now is not interesting or funny.

[Hecate7]

Your post got me thinking...

Joey = Penny ---- good looking but not bright

Ross = Sheldon ---- the nerdiest of the bunch 

Chandler = Howard ---- the one always cracking jokes

Monica = Bernie --- the bossiest

Rachel = maybe Raj?  They are both pampered

Pheobe = Maybe Amy?  More the original Amy

Gunther from the coffee shop = Stuart

??? = Leonard

 

I'd say more like this:

Joey=Penny, and always was. Not bright, but sexy, attractive, and nice. An actor/actress.

Monica=Sheldon. A control freak, OCD, germ-phobic, very bossy person with very high standards and most of the funniest lines in the show. The main character.

Ross=Leonard. Smart, studious, geeky, but still hot enough to get the girl. The one most invested in having a nice, normal life out of the bunch. A college professor.

Rachel=Howard. Jewish stereotype, but relatable. Rachel runs out on her expensive wedding because her heart's not in it, and discovers that she is a child unready to make her way in the world. Howard is the male version--he has a great job, but lives in his mother's basement. He "can't get a girl" even though he's obsessed with sex, until Bernadette. The one who grows up.

Chandler=Raj. The one everyone thinks is gay. Funnier than the others, richer than the others, and yet more insecure.

Amy=Phoebe, the one who is just a little out of step with the others and with society's expectations, but is often the moral compass.

 

Stuart is definitely the guy from Central Perk, and Bernadette has a little in common with Chandler's recurring drama queen girlfriend Janice, but they're much more developed and fun than their predecessors.

[ari333]

Didn't... laugh... once....

[DrSpaceman73]

At least something happened this episode, unlike the others where a birth announcement and a birthday turns into 19 or so minutes of much.

I don't care at all about Emily and Raj. They don't work as a couple. Raj should just move on. You have another girl waiting for you, take advantage. You have more in common with her.

I'm surprised as well they didn't realize the University would hold much of the rights to their patent. 25% seems pretty generous.

I thought Bernadette was going to ruin things this time. For once Sheldon seemed to be completely transparent and willing to share credit, seemed to be a fair contract. Sheldon is many things but it's been made clear many times he is not about money primarily, which is what the contract was about. He would argue over credit and ego and many things, but not money