S10.E11: The Birthday Synchronicity

[TheOtherOne]

  "The Birthday Synchronicity"- Howard and Bernadette welcome their new baby and Sheldon and Amy celebrate Amy's birthday, on THE BIG BANG THEORY, Thursday, Dec. 15 (8:00-8:31 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network

Since they're already releasing stories about it, here's a thread.

Big Bang Theory Skipping Bernadette's Delivery Scene — Find Out Why

Promo:

 

Edited December 16, 2016 by TheOtherOne

[Trey]

No birthing scene - good thinking, show!

I liked the article you posted, TheOtherOne.

[Spartan Girl]

I loved this episode. Little Hallie (love the name) sounds just like her grandma, LOL.

My favorite part of the episode was Amy's little smirk when Sheldon was wondering how Howard could conceive a baby in five minutes while it took hours for Sheldon to have sex.

I loved that Sheldon went the extra mile to make Amy's birthday nice by waking her up at midnight to give her a "sexy" brain scan pic. I won't hold him being upset about Amy going to HP Universal without him: I've been wanting to go forever and that would piss me off too. But it's amusing to see that despite not having a constant urge for sex, he can be turned on, just not the same as other guys. 

[roamyn]

3 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I loved this episode. Little Hallie (love the name) sounds just like her grandma, LOL.

My favorite part of the episode was Amy's little smirk when Sheldon was wondering how Howard could conceive a baby in five minutes while it took hours for Sheldon to have sex.

I love the name, too!  I wonder if her middle name is Deborah, to keep the Jewish tradition, somewhat.

And that smirk cracked me up, too!

But Raj is REALLY on my last nerve.  Even Sheldon's matured more than Raj.

[Trey]

1 minute ago, roamyn said:

But Raj is REALLY on my last nerve.

Maybe this will spur him on to do something interesting with his life. We can only hope.

I really enjoyed this one too, love the baby's name, and Amy's smirk. Mr.Trey and I laughed until we fell off the couch when we heard baby Hallie cry.

[anna0852]

I loved that scene of Howard and Bernadette discussing names. You could really feel how much he misses his mom. 

[arcadia63]

Did I miss the mention of Bernadette's parents? They should have at least been mentioned. 

[jewel21]

The baby's cry was great. A nice little shout-out to Mrs. Wolowicz.

[PinkRibbons]

I thought that if they were going to break with Jewish tradition they may as well give Hallie (very sweet name but it drives me crazy because all this time I though it was pronounced HAY-lee's comet) the middle name of "Amy" to mark them sharing a birthday (and making up for a pretty terrible birthday. Seriously, no one wants to spend their birthday in a hospital. Not even newborns). Well, we've still got a Simchat Bat and/or baptism to see, and I can count on one hand the number of kids I know with only one name.

When Sheldon saw the wizard robe tags I was urging Amy to lie her ass off and immediately declare she bought them online. I too would get super pissed if I got left out of seeing HP Wizarding World. And now of course I'm like why would she choose Hufflepuff she is so a Ravenclaw, although I think I would put Sheldon in Slytherin so if she wanted the forbidden angle she should have been in Gryffindor...(and now I mumble to myself about Sorting issues for the rest of the night...)

I was glad to see Raj being put through the wringer after what he did. I actually expected our favorite nurse to point out that looking into the file was out and out illegal and that he should be arrested. (I have this from my sister who's a Nurse Practitioner -- we're very proud.)

[Gulftastic]

So, I guess we're never seeing the cleaning lady again, then? 

Good episode, and like an above poster, I like that there was no clichéd birthing scene. Hooray! Halley's crying made me LOL.

[Isazouzi]

Do they really put babies all in the same room in American hospitals? Why don't they stay in the mother's room with her? And what's with the ice chips?

[roamyn]

18 minutes ago, Isazouzi said:

Do they really put babies all in the same room in American hospitals? Why don't they stay in the mother's room with her? And what's with the ice chips?

They used to and they still might depending on the mother.  When my kids were born (30 & 27 yrs ago), you had the option of leaving them in the nursery, or with you.  It's easier for the nurses to care for the babies & it gave Mommy rest b4 going home. 

Now they encourage Mommies to keep their babies with them.

PS. It is HAYlee's Comet, but the girl's name is pronounced HAlee (short a).

[Crs97]

There is typically a general nursery, but most hospitals strongly encourage moms and babies to stay together in mom's room.  I can remember the nurses telling me I needed a break to sleep or shower, and they took the baby to the nursery for a few hours.

I think ice chips are the compromise for food/drink just in case you need an emergency c-section.

[NutmegsDad]

Okay, everyone -- fans, writers, Chuck Lorre, Vanity Card -- is on the same page: Everyone but Raj and Stuart have evolved and progressed. Well, Raj now can talk to women without being drunk. That used to be a big step.

Now it's time for the writers to work on those two. The clock is running.

[LaChavalina]

2 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Raj is the victim?  Really?  He broke up with a couple of his on air girlfriends.  How is he the victim?  The dude loves to wallow in self pity.  He isn't happy unless he is unhappy.  It is his way of making everything about him.  The attention whore.

They conveniently forget that. Just like they also forget that he has received public recognition of his work--such as when he was named to the 30 under 30. Stuart is believable as a guy who is perpetually single and can't get dates, Raj isn't really. I still think they should go the route of having him have an arranged marriage. At least give him some story arc in the back half of the season.

[MissLucas]

That was a great episode - they ditched most birthing tropes, thanks for that. Loved Amy and Sheldon throughout (her smirk in the car was fantastic). The best, and most unexpected scene was Howard and Bernadette talking about his mother - that was some superb writing.

Raj and Stuart are the show's problem kids though. And I agree the writing for Raj is worse and also full of retcons. He did get recognition for his work and he was hardly stellar boyfriend material. But I think the main problem is that he got separated from the others on both main fronts of the show: professionally because he's not part of the military project and privately since he's the only single (of the main group). This created a lot of problems and the solution to have him creepily attached to Bernadette's pregnancy wasn't a solution at all but made things worse.

As for Stuart: I never understood why an artist with an interest in and a talent for comics who's friends with some major comic book nerds never got better plots. Hell, let Stuart start an on-line strip about some nerds and their problems with love, life and each other - that could be some serious 4th wall-breaking.

At least the writers seem to recognize the problems and hopefully these two characters (and their actors) get better plots.

[DrSpaceman73]

Would people their age (really my age) be that into Harry Potter?  I always got the impression it was more of a next generation younger sort of story.  I know Harry Potter and the story, its OK, but I would not be going to a Wizarding World or upset if someone went without me. 

I was expecting Raj to have tricked them and have it end up really being a boy.  would have been more interesting.  And I knew he was going to let it slip like that about the sex of the baby in that scene.

It was an OK episode.  But like many, much of it was kind of pointless.  Sitting around recapping how they've all grown and changed?  Sure it would happen in such a situation, but you don't need to write it into a TV show.  Unless your writers are running on fumes for ideas, which obviously they are. 

[Chaos Theory]

5 hours ago, MissLucas said:

 

As for Stuart: I never understood why an artist with an interest in and a talent for comics who's friends with some major comic book nerds never got better plots. Hell, let Stuart start an on-line strip about some nerds and their problems with love, life and each other - that could be some serious 4th wall-breaking.

At least the writers seem to recognize the problems and hopefully these two characters (and their actors) get better plots.

The same reason "struggling actress" Penny never got weirdly successful on  a superhero show.   The showrunners/writers don't want any of the characters to change or get too successful.  There were a million plots that The writers could have done with Penny finding a niche success on some underground nerd comic movie but they never went that way because Penny finding success might make it harder to write Leonard/Penny as endgame.

Same with Stuart.  His thing is "sad sack" which works for the most part,  I just don't like "creepy sad sack."

Edited December 16, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[MissLucas]

Yeah, I never understood why they weren't mining the potential of Penny as an aspiring actress was giving them. Her disdain for geek movies (i.e. some of the biggest franchises in the profession she wanted to succeed) also makes little sense - unless she had been shown to be into art-house stuff but she wasn't. Sometimes I think the writers just hate artists/creative characters - must be something Freudian going on there.

[proserpina65]

Upon checking, I see there is some debate about pronunciation amongst historical and scientific circles, so never mind.

Edited December 16, 2016 by proserpina65

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, Isazouzi said:

Do they really put babies all in the same room in American hospitals? Why don't they stay in the mother's room with her? And what's with the ice chips?

Depends on the hospital.  Allegedly "baby friendly" hospitals make the mother keep her baby in her room except in extreme medical circumstances (and apparently just having had your abdomen cut open doesn't count), but other hospitals still use nurseries and will take a baby there if the mother requests it.

[Browncoat]

31 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Would people their age (really my age) be that into Harry Potter?  I always got the impression it was more of a next generation younger sort of story.  I know Harry Potter and the story, its OK, but I would not be going to a Wizarding World or upset if someone went without me. 

I am significantly older than the characters on this show, and I really really really want to go to Harry Potter land in Florida.  I would be terribly upset if my SO went without me -- not only because it would be a major trip, not just a drive to the next town over, but also because I WANT TO GO and ride the magic train! 

[Indy]

34 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Would people their age (really my age) be that into Harry Potter?  I always got the impression it was more of a next generation younger sort of story.  I know Harry Potter and the story, its OK, but I would not be going to a Wizarding World or upset if someone went without me. 

YES! It's absolutely something people their age are into. If my husband went to the Wizarding World without me, it is grounds for a divorce.  And I may or may not be wearing Hogwarts socks right now. 

[BookWitch]

49 minutes ago, Indy said:

YES! It's absolutely something people their age are into. If my husband went to the Wizarding World without me, it is grounds for a divorce.  And I may or may not be wearing Hogwarts socks right now. 

Oh hell yeah. We just went to Hogwarts back in October for my 50th birthday extravaganza!! Loved it! Want to go again!

[DrSpaceman73]

So now I have to ask, the ones who answered yes to being into Harry Potter and over 40, are you male or female? 

I don't think older male sci fi fans are as into Harry Potter as female ones, but I could be wrong. 

Plus I don't recall Sheldon or Leonard or any of them mention much of an interest in Harry Potter.  Certainly not like the other sci fi and comics they are into. 

Maybe its just me though. 

[Indy]

2 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

So now I have to ask, the ones who answered yes to being into Harry Potter and over 40, are you male or female? 

I don't think older male sci fi fans are as into Harry Potter as female ones, but I could be wrong. 

Plus I don't recall Sheldon or Leonard or any of them mention much of an interest in Harry Potter.  Certainly not like the other sci fi and comics they are into. 

I don't believe any of the characters are over 40, but rather in their mid-late 30s. I'm female and in my mid 30s. My husband and a good majority of his friends are just as into Harry Potter as I am. 

Harry Potter has been mentioned quite a few times on the show.  Raj has a wand, they watched Harry Potter and 98% of the Sorcerers Stone on Raj's crappy TV, Quiddich has been mentioned multiple times, and the term Muggle gets tossed around on occasion. I believe Leonard was a late adopter to the books, though.  There was an episode where Leonard was reading Half Blood Prince and Sheldon spoiled a key plot point for him in that book and in the following book. Penny also spoiled something for him, so she's at least read the books as well. 

[Twilight Man]

PinkRibbons

Quote

I thought that if they were going to break with Jewish tradition they may as well give Hallie (very sweet name but it drives me crazy because all this time I though it was pronounced HAY-lee's comet)

 

8 hours ago, roamyn said:

PS. It is HAYlee's Comet, but the girl's name is pronounced HAlee (short a).

Speaking as a man in his mid 40's, I was (obviously) a young boy back in the mid 80's when the comet passed by. The newspaper articles back then (as well as my very stringent teachers) insisted that it was pronounced like VALLEY because they are both spelled the same (Sans the first letter, of course).  The confusion probably is brought on due to the infamous rock star (who even named his band mates the Comets), but his last name is spelled with only one "L".  I know that now-a-days everyone (by which I mean millenials with their I don't care attitude) says "whichever way, it doesn't matter", but it just makes common sense that it is pronounced like VALLEY.

Edited December 16, 2016 by Twilight Man

[azathoth]

Fucking Raj. That sums it up for me.  Oh, and if the baby is baptized Catholic, Raj can't be the godfather, because godparents have to be practicing Catholics.

[roamyn]

20 minutes ago, Twilight Man said:

PinkRibbons

 

Speaking as a man in his mid 40's, I was (obviously) a young boy back in the mid 80's when the comet passed by. The newspaper articles back then (as well as my very stringent teachers) insisted that it was pronounced like VALLEY because they are both spelled the same (Sans the first letter, of course).  The confusion probably is brought on due to the infamous rock star (who even named his band mates the Comets), but his last name is spelled with only one l.  I know that now-a-days everyone (but which I mean millenials with their I don't care attitude) says "whichever way, it doesn't matter", but it just makes common sense that it is pronounced like VALLEY.

In science (and I'm 52), we learned HAYlee.

Guess it depends on the generation. 

Well, their daughter is pronounced with the soft 'a', because Howard said her name.

[Spartan Girl]

Can we appreciate the fact that Sheldon didn't understand the significance of him lasting longer in the bed than Howard?  I guess it's a good thing Sheldon isn't the type to brag about sex, because if he was, he would hang that over Howard's head until the day he died.

[Chaos Theory]

2 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

So now I have to ask, the ones who answered yes to being into Harry Potter and over 40, are you male or female? 

I don't think older male sci fi fans are as into Harry Potter as female ones, but I could be wrong. 

Plus I don't recall Sheldon or Leonard or any of them mention much of an interest in Harry Potter.  Certainly not like the other sci fi and comics they are into. 

Maybe its just me though. 

There was at least one notable joke made early on in the series when Leonard was trying to make a good impression on Penny and was trying to learn football.  Being from Texas Sheldon knew football the joke was that everyone was surprised he knew football.  Quiddich they expected.

Edited December 16, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[Nordly Beaumont]

13 minutes ago, azathoth said:

if the baby is baptized Catholic, Raj can't be the godfather, because godparents have to be practicing Catholics.

For alot people godfather/godmother is just an honorary title which means pretty much nothing. For tv characters it's generally just an "awwww" moment.

[Isazouzi]

58 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

So now I have to ask, the ones who answered yes to being into Harry Potter and over 40, are you male or female? 

I don't think older male sci fi fans are as into Harry Potter as female ones, but I could be wrong. 

Plus I don't recall Sheldon or Leonard or any of them mention much of an interest in Harry Potter.  Certainly not like the other sci fi and comics they are into. 

Maybe its just me though. 

I'm 36, I adore Harry Potter and I would be furious if my boyfriend went without me. Really really furious. But it wouldn't happen cause he doesn't like HP (and he's 32, not that it changes anything). I'm planning to go to London with 2 of my (female) friends to visit the studios. It's huge for us.

 

Thanks to those who answered my question about the nursery. Cultural differences can be puzzling sometimes.

[camom]

Quote

 Oh, and if the baby is baptized Catholic, Raj can't be the godfather, because godparents have to be practicing Catholics.

This Presbyterian is the Godmother of her Catholic niece.  I promised to guide her, but frankly the church didn't care if I was Catholic or not.  Maybe it used to be that way.

[Packerbrewerbadger]

 With my grandchildren, only one god parent had to be Catholic.  

[Packerbrewerbadger]

Funniest BBT's revolve around Shammy coitus !

Edited December 16, 2016 by Packerbrewerbadger

[Cowgirl]

I was glad that Bernadette and Howard called Raj out on his creepiness.  

I still don't understand why the writers dumped both of his girlfriends. They've let Raj a bit rudderless this season.  Maybe they have something big planned for him later?

Count me in with those happy that they didn't have the usual birthing tropes included.

It sounds like I wasn't the only one happy to see the return of the sassy nurse.  Was she in any other episodes besides the robotic arm one?  

[LoneHaranguer]

4 hours ago, LaChavalina said:

Stuart is believable as a guy who is perpetually single and can't get dates, Raj isn't really. I still think they should go the route of having him have an arranged marriage.

Raj's parents have already set him up twice. As has Penny.

4 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Sitting around recapping how they've all grown and changed?  Sure it would happen in such a situation, but you don't need to write it into a TV show.  Unless your writers are running on fumes for ideas, which obviously they are. 

Avoiding all of the tired tropes for a birthing didn't leave them much to work with, but they couldn't just skip the story completely. Having something with Sheldon wanting to buy a gift might have filled the extra time, but the writers had him pegged in the birthday coitus plot.

[MissLucas]

Guidelines for Baptism in the Roman Catholic church:

Quote

Parents are responsible for bringing their child to the Sacrament of Baptism as soon after birth as possible. Except in case of necessity, the church is the usual place of baptism.

In order that a child be baptized, it is necessary that the parents consent, or at least one of them, or someone legally standing in their place, and that there is reasonable hope that the child will be brought up in the Catholic Faith.

GODPARENTS: A person may only have one or two godparents (also called sponsors); if two are chosen, they must be male and female.

In order for someone to be eligible as a godparent they must be chosen by the parents, have the ability and the intention to fulfill the role, be at least 16 years of age, and be a confirmed Roman Catholic, who has already received the Most Holy Eucharist, is leading a life in harmony with the Catholic Faith (including Marriage) and will be a good role model for the one being baptized, and be neither the father nor the mother of the child.

A baptized person who belongs to another Christian community may be admitted only as a “Christian witness” (not a godparent) provided that there is at least one Roman Catholic godparent who fulfills the above criteria. A non-baptized person cannot be a witness (Code of Canon Law, cc. 872-874; Catechism of the Catholic Church 1255).

From my experience most of that stuff gets hand-waved in practice (unless you happen to come across a hardcore priest). I'm Catholic and live in a predominantly Catholic region and I can't remember that those requirements were ever discussed or brought up before the baptisms of my nieces and nephews or the kids of my friends. Some priests are a bit fussy if the chosen first name is not 'Christian' (i.e. there must be a patron Saint around for the kid) and insist on a middle name like Maria or John. Checking those guidelines I was surprised to see that Howard being Jewish is not quite as big a problem as Raj not being Catholic nor Christian. However I doubt this is ever becoming a plot point since the show normally stays away from religious issues (Howard's mother had no problems with Bernadette's religion and the question in which tradition the kid will be raised seems to have been settled already without any drama).

[HelenBaby]

28 minutes ago, Cowgirl said:

I was glad that Bernadette and Howard called Raj out on his creepiness.  

I still don't understand why the writers dumped both of his girlfriends. They've let Raj a bit rudderless this season.  Maybe they have something big planned for him later?

Count me in with those happy that they didn't have the usual birthing tropes included.

It sounds like I wasn't the only one happy to see the return of the sassy nurse.  Was she in any other episodes besides the robotic arm one?  

The nurse was in most episodes that involved a visit to the emergency room. One of them was when Howard ate the nut bar so Leonard would be occupied while the gang gave him a surprise party and another time was when Sheldon's barber was in a coma and he went there to see if he could wake him so he could get a haircut. I know she's probably been in one or two others, maybe.

[proserpina65]

2 hours ago, roamyn said:

In science (and I'm 52), we learned HAYlee.

Guess it depends on the generation. 

Well, their daughter is pronounced with the soft 'a', because Howard said her name.

All the astronomers on tv pronounced it HAL-EE the last time it passed by.  And if you can't trust Neil deGrasse-Tyson . . . ;-)

[ari333]

Didn't laugh once. I almost smiled at, "hank-ius pank-ius" or whatever he said.

Did not miss seeing  the birth scene.

I hope Amy got her birthday boink. 

I was taught "HAY-lee" back in the day. BAH.

[DarkRaichu]

3 hours ago, Indy said:

Raj has a wand, they watched Harry Potter and 98% of the Sorcerers Stone on Raj's crappy TV

What the heck is a sorcerers stone?  Philosopher's stone on the other hand, is a common mcguffin in fantasy genre :P

(ducks the incoming tomatoes)

[Zoe]

29 minutes ago, HelenBaby said:

The nurse was in most episodes that involved a visit to the emergency room. One of them was when Howard ate the nut bar so Leonard would be occupied while the gang gave him a surprise party and another time was when Sheldon's barber was in a coma and he went there to see if he could wake him so he could get a haircut. I know she's probably been in one or two others, maybe.

The robotic arm episode ;)

[DrSpaceman73]

Harry Potter fans tend to skew female (looked it up, various sources), though is not exclusively female by any means, and they (Sheldon and the males, I am referring to mainly) would be at the upper end of the age demographic that grew up with Harry Potter books/movies as kids, was my only point. 

And I didn't recall prior references in the show to Harry Potter, but others have pointed out I must have missed them. 

[Cory]

I'm 41, male, and I really enjoy the Harry Potter universe.  I didn't start reading the books until after watching the first movie, but after that I read them as fast as I could get them. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

Raj is the victim?  Really?  He broke up with a couple of his on air girlfriends.  How is he the victim?  The dude loves to wallow in self pity. 

He deserves to be miserable because he had a perfectly nice girlfriend and ditched her when that chick who wanted to write a Sci Fi movie showed up. And she wasn't even into him.

Quote

If anyone has the right to be depressed, it is Stuart.  He can't catch a break.

I'm assuming he owns that comic book store since he was living there at one point. Why doesn't he sell the building if it's so unsuccessful? 

I still have a hard time buying Sheldon as anything but asexual and an even harder time believing he could have sex for hours the first time he ever did it. He has such a child-like persona it just skeeves me out.

[Cowgirl]

2 hours ago, HelenBaby said:

The nurse was in most episodes that involved a visit to the emergency room. One of them was when Howard ate the nut bar so Leonard would be occupied while the gang gave him a surprise party and another time was when Sheldon's barber was in a coma and he went there to see if he could wake him so he could get a haircut. I know she's probably been in one or two others, maybe.

I can't believe I didn't catch that before! I've seen every episode at least 4 times.  I get the prize for "most unobservant" today apparently.  Thanks for the info HelenBaby!

[OtterMommy]

8 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Would people their age (really my age) be that into Harry Potter?  I always got the impression it was more of a next generation younger sort of story.  I know Harry Potter and the story, its OK, but I would not be going to a Wizarding World or upset if someone went without me. 

 

The biggest Harry Potter fans I know are 40-50 years old...so, yeah, I totally bought that (and I'd be beyond pissed if my husband went to the Wizarding World without me).

 

5 hours ago, azathoth said:

Fucking Raj. That sums it up for me.  Oh, and if the baby is baptized Catholic, Raj can't be the godfather, because godparents have to be practicing Catholics.

I didn't see it so much as a handwave about Catholicism, but of Christianity.  Howard doesn't seem like a super observant Jew, but Jewish custom would be that the child would be raised in the Catholic faith--so it would make sense that Haley (Hallie?)) would have godparents.  Now, the general rule across Christian denominations is that one parent and ALL the Godparents need to be baptized Christians.  There may be some variation among the different denominations, but those are the basic requirements.  So, while there would be no problem with Haley having a Jewish father, she would have a Hindu Godfather.  (Unless, of course, they are using "Godfather" in a very broad sense, meaning special non-parental male, the same way they are using the terms "Aunt" and "Uncle" for the rest of the group.)

[Crs97]

Husband, 49, read the first chapter as a favor to me and became so hooked that we needed two copies of each volume as they were published so that we didn't have to wait for the other.  I would never even consider going to a place like that without him.