S11.E06: The Proton Regeneration

[Bort]

Quote

Sheldon goes head-to-head with Wil Wheaton for the role of the new Professor Proton. Also, Penny steps in to take care of Halley when Bernadette and Wolowitz both wind up on bed rest.

[EtheltoTillie]

Our local area (NYC) has football tonight but I noticed quite by chance that all the CBS comedies will be airing on our weird local CBS affiliate channel 55. Anyone else have this problem?

Edited November 2, 2017 by GussieK

[NeenerNeener]

They seem to have forgotten Howard's peanut allergy. He wouldn't order Kung Pao.

[mojoween]

Penny’s makeup when she was taking care of Halley was stupendous.  Also I love her pants, except that I can’t ever find any like that for myself because they’re always a mile too long.

Any time they can get Bob Newhart to guest star is a-ok with me.

[BooksRule]

Quote

They seem to have forgotten Howard's peanut allergy. He wouldn't order Kung Pao.

I thought about that, too!  (Kung Pao is one of my favorites, so I remembered the peanuts in it.)

I'm interested in seeing if they work Wheaton's 'New Professor Proton' scenes in here and there.

[Browncoat]

8 minutes ago, BooksRule said:

I'm interested in seeing if they work Wheaton's 'New Professor Proton' scenes in here and there.

I really hope they do.

[Spartan Girl]

So the Wheaton feud is back on? All right!  Loved hearing Sheldon scream "WHEATON!" almost as much as seeing Jedi Ghost Proton.

[buffynut]

Pretty good episode.  It was nice seeing Will Wheaton again. And, of course Bob Newhart.

My only nitpick was the "play on words" with Sheldon and kids. With everything going on in Hollywood right now, that "joke" seemed more offensive than usual.

[jewel21]

I like that Penny was shown to be competent with the baby, despite everyone's concerns.

[Snarklepuss]

Funniest episode of the season so far.  I laughed like it was Season 2.  I even laughed at the Raj/Howard  innuendo despite it being done ten zillion times already.  Gets me every time.  LOVE it that Will Wheaton is the new Professor Proton and making Sheldon jealous, and that because of that we will probably see more of him and Bob Newhart in the future.  Genius plot idea, and very heartening to see that the show still has some steam left in it.  I hope it's a trend.

I knew as soon as Howard got his vasectomy that Bernadette would need bed rest.  How predictable was that?  But it was good if it meant that Penny can prove that she's actually good with a baby.  Can they be getting the audience used to the idea of Penny as a future mother?  Hmmmm......

[possibilities]

Sheldon's dreams strike me as out of character. Why is he creating a character in his mind, who is disrespectful to him? It's actually pretty sad.

[rmontro]

I don't know if I really like the idea of Sheldon and Wheaton being enemies again.  Seems like a step backwards.  I hope Sheldon comes to his senses on that.  You'd think he'd enjoy watching new Professor Proton shows, even if it has a new host.  I can see that he wouldn't respect Wheaton in that position though, because he's not a real scientist.

The Howard/Bernadette scenes almost seemed like a separate series, The Howard and Bernadette Show.  That baby sounded so bizarre I thought Penny was saying "Mama" to try to trick Bernadette.  Didn't sound like a real baby at all.

[Mystery]

9 minutes ago, rmontro said:

I don't know if I really like the idea of Sheldon and Wheaton being enemies again.  Seems like a step backwards.  I hope Sheldon comes to his senses on that.  You'd think he'd enjoy watching new Professor Proton shows, even if it has a new host.  I can see that he wouldn't respect Wheaton in that position though, because he's not a real scientist.

The Howard/Bernadette scenes almost seemed like a separate series, The Howard and Bernadette Show.  That baby sounded so bizarre I thought Penny was saying "Mama" to try to trick Bernadette.  Didn't sound like a real baby at all.

I agree with Wil that there's not much difference between being friends or enemies with Sheldon. So I'm okay with the feud. 

I was also sure that Penny was saying "Mama!" It sounded so odd. 

I, too, hope that Wil makes some appearances as Dr. Proton. I laughed when he said that if he'd stuck with his show longer, his house would have a pool. 

[rmontro]

Just now, Mystery said:

I agree with Wil that there's not much difference between being friends or enemies with Sheldon. So I'm okay with the feud. 

I was also sure that Penny was saying "Mama!" It sounded so odd. 

I actually think Halley was supposed to be the one saying "Mama", it just sounded so strange it crossed my mind that Penny was saying it.  Maybe this will be followed up on later and we'll find out for sure.

There's one key difference when Wil and Sheldon are enemies:  When they're enemies, Wil Wheaton acts like a jackass.  I'm sure some find that entertaining, but I don't really want to go back to that.

[Traveller519]

How is it that Bob Newhart can deliver the same Sheldon rags as anybody else, but he sells them 40 times better? So simple and obvious and yet his delivery makes me laugh every time. I hope he can continue to pop in from time to time.

I think Wil is going to come to Sheldon down the road as a technical consultant/producer for the show, utilizing both of their talents properly. Sheldon would be terrible on TV, and Wil may not be able to sell the science on his own.

Amy's reactions to Sheldon's audition tape were some of my favourite elements of the show. They joy she was expressing while also providing for the critiques. "Would you say it seemed a touch...psychotic?" 

Edited November 5, 2017 by Traveller519

[Gulftastic]

I loved Penny's revenge. I wish she could have got some payback on the rest of them too. Bunch of jerks.

Is there any actual point to Raj these days? Give him a plot for GGawd's sake.

A shout out for York and it's walls! YAY!

[Browncoat]

I think the baby was meant to sound like Howard’s mother, and that’s why she sounded odd.

[shapeshifter]

23 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I think the baby was meant to sound like Howard’s mother, and that’s why she sounded odd.

Totally! Although I too thought initally it might be Penny.

Now I'm guessing the reason Kaley Cuoco sounded so convincing as a baby whisperer is her real life interactions with pets and rescue animals and horses—it would be the same coochy-coo manner of speaking.

Anyone else dreading that Bernadette will lose the baby? That would be so inappropriate for a show like this, IMO, but the whole pregnancy bed rest plot is much more of a cloud of doom (to me) than a joke manufacturing device.

Newhart is still a natural.

[Badsamaritan]

32 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Totally! Although I too thought initally it might be Penny.

Now I'm guessing the reason Kaley Cuoco sounded so convincing as a baby whisperer is her real life interactions with pets and rescue animals and horses—it would be the same coochy-coo manner of speaking.

Anyone else dreading that Bernadette will lose the baby? That would be so inappropriate for a show like this, IMO, but the whole pregnancy bed rest plot is much more of a cloud of doom (to me) than a joke manufacturing device.

Newhart is still a natural.

Isn't the actress pregnant IRL? And further along than in the show? They could be just giving her a break and hiding her bigger belly until later. 

Loved Amy's reactions with Sheldon's tape. And Penny was fantastic the whole episode. 

[Chit Chat]

Quote

I think Wil is going to come to Sheldon down the road as a technical consultant/producer for the show, utilizing both of their talents properly. Sheldon would be terrible on TV, and Wil may not be able to sell the science on his own.

I was thinking the same thing!  Maybe they could eventually hire Penny in some capacity, thus keeping her acting dream alive.  She and Wil worked together before on the ape movie and had good chemistry. 

I'm sure Howard was sore and all from his vasectomy, but having to go to bed for days?  C'mon now.  Many of you ladies can attest to the fact that whenever we've been sick or have had more invasive procedures/surgeries, we're usually up the next day and keeping the family/household on track.  Howard should've powered through the discomfort in order to help Bernadette, rather than laying there acting helpless, IMO.  

[sigmaforce86]

1 hour ago, Badsamaritan said:

Isn't the actress pregnant IRL? And further along than in the show? They could be just giving her a break and hiding her bigger belly until later. 

Loved Amy's reactions with Sheldon's tape. And Penny was fantastic the whole episode. 

Agreed - she is pregnant for real and has been pretty open about having miscarriages in the past so I think they're just finding ways to keep her in the show without giving her too much stress.  The only info is she's due "in the fall" and they started filming around mid August so she had to be around the 6-7 month mark by the time they got to this episode.

I like how they're addressing the difference in how far along her on-screen pregnancy is supposed to be vs. her belly size asking if she got her dates right and last night Howard's "Please don't be twins"; better than just ignoring it and asking us to pretend we don't notice the difference.

I think it's too early to predict that the Sheldon/Wheaton feud is back on and that their relationship has regressed or stepped backwards.  I think this is just the set up for future storylines.................  Sheldon is mad now but they opened a ton of possibilities here from a Sheldon guest spot on the Proton show to a request to be a regular science "consultant" behind the scenes.  I'd love to see an episode where Professor Proton does a TV show field trip to the university with Sheldon and all the rest of the guys in their different labs.

Edited November 3, 2017 by sigmaforce86

[CherryAmes]

I was glad that Howard actually had the vasectomy!  I've lost count of the number of times a man is going to have a vasectomy on a sitcom only to chicken out at the last minute.  Good for BBT for acknowledging that it's one of the surest forms of BC out there and that if a couple are done having babies there's nothing wrong with going down that road.

[mojoween]

Ha!  Unless you are football player Antonio Cromartie, who has now had three kids since his vasectomy.

I laughed at Wil’s “if I had stayed on the show longer I would have a pool” because if I remember correctly staying on TNG wasn’t really his choice and if he had, there would have been riots at the studio.

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, ChitChat said:

I was thinking the same thing!  Maybe they could eventually hire Penny in some capacity, thus keeping her acting dream alive.  She and Wil worked together before on the ape movie and had good chemistry. 

I'm sure Howard was sore and all from his vasectomy, but having to go to bed for days?  C'mon now.  Many of you ladies can attest to the fact that whenever we've been sick or have had more invasive procedures/surgeries, we're usually up the next day and keeping the family/household on track.  Howard should've powered through the discomfort in order to help Bernadette, rather than laying there acting helpless, IMO.  

I thought that was the same day as the vasectomy.  I'll confess to being a little confused about the timeline of this episode.

36 minutes ago, CherryAmes said:

I was glad that Howard actually had the vasectomy!  I've lost count of the number of times a man is going to have a vasectomy on a sitcom only to chicken out at the last minute.  Good for BBT for acknowledging that it's one of the surest forms of BC out there and that if a couple are done having babies there's nothing wrong with going down that road.

It's not 100% effective because vasectomies do sometimes fail, but you're right about it being rare for a sitcom character to actually go through with it.

[AnnaRose]

37 minutes ago, CherryAmes said:

I was glad that Howard actually had the vasectomy!  I've lost count of the number of times a man is going to have a vasectomy on a sitcom only to chicken out at the last minute.  Good for BBT for acknowledging that it's one of the surest forms of BC out there and that if a couple are done having babies there's nothing wrong with going down that road.

I agree.  Although I was a little surprised that they wouldn't at least wait until after their second child was actually born. 

[eurekagirl mOo]

46 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Ha!  Unless you are football player Antonio Cromartie, who has now had three kids since his vasectomy.

I laughed at Wil’s “if I had stayed on the show longer I would have a pool” because if I remember correctly staying on TNG wasn’t really his choice and if he had, there would have been riots at the studio.

OH Do tell! We want the dirt LOL...I love Will Wheaton. He recommends some killer books on GoodReads.

I was really hoping for PENNY to be the new Dr. Proton. She wants back in acting..she's pretty..heck we have a female Dr. Who coming up in December after 50 years! She would have NO clue what she was talking about but Sheldon and Will could help her and she's sell it and be a smash. 

[Shermie]

Quote

I was glad that Howard actually had the vasectomy!  I've lost count of the number of times a man is going to have a vasectomy on a sitcom only to chicken out at the last minute. 

Me too. I hate the trope of a couple that is clearly done with having kids not wanting to "close that door"; I'm looking at you, Modern Family. Ugh. I don't know anyone over 40 whose family is grown and then regrets not having another baby. There's more to life than raising kids.

Quote

It's not 100% effective because vasectomies do sometimes fail

  Very, very rarely. It's not even a thing. I know many couples who had a V and zero failure rate. Tubals are more likely to fail and even then, very rarely. 

 

I thought Howard and Bernadette were going to hear Penny sing "Soft Kitty" to the baby over the monitor.

Edited November 5, 2017 by Shermie

[Driad]

Quote

I agree.  Although I was a little surprised that they wouldn't at least wait until after their second child was actually born.

Likely Bernadette advised Howard to "go to the freezer before you go to the vet," i.e. to preserve a sample just in case.

[anna0852]

2 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I agree.  Although I was a little surprised that they wouldn't at least wait until after their second child was actually born. 

There's really no reason to wait. In fact it's better to do it now while Bernie is still pregnant and therefore can't get more pregnant, then wait until after she gives birth and potentially risk an oopsy.

 

I was seriously annoyed with how Penny was being treated. She clearly stopped by because she was concerned about her friends and wanted to see if they needed any help. Treating her like an imbecile was just absolutely awful. Unless Halley has medical issues that were not aware of, caring for her for the afternoon *while her parents are still in the house* was not going to be that difficult. If she's hungry, feed her. If her diaper is dirty, then change it. Howard or Bernie can easily fill her in on the baby schedule to make sure she goes down for her naps and whatnot. And what was going to inherently make a me a better caretaker anyway?

I do buy Howard being very sore, as it appeared to be the same day as his surgery. And as soon as Halley started crying he was getting out of bed it should go get her. Penny just offered to deal with it instead.

Edited November 3, 2017 by anna0852

[MaryMitch]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Anyone else dreading that Bernadette will lose the baby? That would be so inappropriate for a show like this, IMO, but the whole pregnancy bed rest plot is much more of a cloud of doom (to me) than a joke manufacturing device.

I hope for the actress's sake they don't do that; she's had miscarriages and that would be cruel.

[bad things are bad]

Quote

I was seriously annoyed with how Penny was being treated. She clearly stopped by because she was concerned about her friends and wanted to see if they needed any help. Treating her like an imbecile was just absolutely awful. 

 

Agreed! 

[Katy M]

19 hours ago, NeenerNeener said:

They seem to have forgotten Howard's peanut allergy. He wouldn't order Kung Pao.

I was wondering about that the week when he and Sheldon were going to launch the rocket and he said at NASA they crushed peanuts all over the floor.  They've definitely forgotten. Or, he did that therapy and it worked.

 

16 hours ago, jewel21 said:

I like that Penny was shown to be competent with the baby, despite everyone's concerns.

Doesn't she have a bunch of siblings.  She must have nieces and nephews.  Didn't she go back home once when a niece of nephew was born, and brought back the flu.

[LoneHaranguer]

13 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Doesn't she have a bunch of siblings.  She must have nieces and nephews.  Didn't she go back home once when a niece of nephew was born, and brought back the flu.

I think the only family they've mentioned that Penny might have experience taking care of is a nephew, but she's been good at handling Sheldon when he's acting like a baby.

[CherryAmes]

Aside from the meth making brother they, very early in the series, reference an older sibling - don't remember if it was a brother or sister - but anyway someone who has produced a nephew who would have been about 12 when that episode aired.  They seem to have decided to forget they ever reference this though because in the episode where we first meet Penny's father he says "I want grandchildren before I die"  so at this point in time Penny only has a brother who is unmarried and childless as far as we are ever told.

[Bort]

Penny has a sister with at least one child. In the episode where Penny was procrastinating telling her father she got married, she mentioned that he didn’t get to walk his other daughter down the aisle because her water broke. 

[CherryAmes]

I'm so confused now!  So first she has at least one nephew, fast forward a few years and there are no grandchildren, fast forward a few more years and there's at least one grandchild again!!  It's almost like the writers don't have back stories for the characters and write whatever works for each episode - we should start a thread for "back story inconsistencies".

[retired watcher]

1 minute ago, CherryAmes said:

I'm so confused now!  So first she has at least one nephew, fast forward a few years and there are no grandchildren, fast forward a few more years and there's at least one grandchild again!!  It's almost like the writers don't have back stories for the characters and write whatever works for each episode - we should start a thread for "back story inconsistencies".

Love your user name. I read all the books when I was a kid. Sorry this is off topic. And yes there should be a book for the writers with all the cannon of all the characters.

[Sile]

21 hours ago, NeenerNeener said:

They seem to have forgotten Howard's peanut allergy. He wouldn't order Kung Pao.

Howard was making a joke.  Like,  "I'm in the shit already, let's just go ahead and finish me off".  But that would mean that the writer was being subtly clever rather than wielding the obvious anvil. 

Okay, they just messed up and forgot about the peanuts in Kung Pao...

55 minutes ago, retired watcher said:

Love your user name. I read all the books when I was a kid. Sorry this is off topic. And yes there should be a book for the writers with all the cannon of all the characters.

I still have all of my Cherry Ames and Vicki Barr books, which were originally my  mother's.  I have some Jean Craigs and Rosamond du Jardins as well.
 

Edited November 3, 2017 by Sile

[BlossomCulp]

28 minutes ago, Sile said:

Okay, they just messed up and forgot about the peanuts in Kung Pao...

 I don't have a peanut allergy so can't say for sure but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that some restaurants offer dishes tailored for people with allergies to nuts just like they offer gluten free pizza crust or the like.  Or, yeah, they forgot, which is way more annoying than screwing up Penny's family back story.  The peanut allergy has been an ongoing plot device for years.

Anyway on to this show - good, good, good!  Honestly I've liked every episode this season.   Lots of good lines but I think what I particularly like is that they have continued to scale back Bernie's meanness and no pathetic Stuart.  Win,  win!

Edited November 3, 2017 by BlossomCulp

[MissLucas]

I'm so glad they did not go down the obvious path of having Raj taking over nursing duties (or rather they did not show that) - Penny stepping in was a surprise twist and Cuoco was hilarious. "Do you hear that suckers? She called me Mama!" made laugh out loud.

I also loved Amy and how she tried to get Penny and Leonard to say all the things about the audition tape she did not want to say.

I'm normally not paying too much attention to Sheldon's wardrobe but that Mauraders shirt was pretty cool.

And I don't mind a return of the feud between Sheldon and Wheaton. I like snarky Wheaton - call it residual 'Chaos' love. They'll probably hash it out over the season but it will provide the show with a good sub-plot. Something Raj is still looking for.

Edited November 3, 2017 by MissLucas

[hnygrl]

1 hour ago, MissLucas said:

I'm so glad they did not go down the obvious path of having Raj taking over nursing duties (or rather they did not show that)

They DID. Raj had to go to work for that little piece of time, so Penny dropped by to see if they needed anything. Raj IS the babysitter/caregiver. I think they just wanted to have Penny seen in a better light for once.

I despise snarky Wheaton. He's the reason Penny and Leonard broke up in the first place. He encouraged the fight and the breakup to win a stupid bowling bet. He's also the one who posted all the nasty things Howard did Pre-Bernie online for all the world to see and hear at the bachelor party. Almost killed Bernadette to hear/see all that.

I hate that guy. He's a snake in the grass bully who uses your weaknesses against you when you least expect it.

But I do agree that an ACTOR can act like a scientist better than a real scientist somethings *cough* Bill Nye *cough*

Bill Nye "the science guy" is NOT a scientist. He's a comedian who did what Will Wheaton did in this show. Auditioned for the part and got it.

[BlossomCulp]

11 minutes ago, hnygrl said:

Bill Nye "the science guy" is NOT a scientist. He's a comedian who did what Will Wheaton did in this show. Auditioned for the part and got it.

Depends on whether you agree with Sheldon that engineers are the oompa loompas of the science world or not but IMO Bill Nye, as a mechanical engineer who worked for Boeing and invented some stuff for them while there,  is way more qualified to call himself "Bill Nye the Science Guy" than he might have been had he only been a comedian before he created that role.

Edited November 4, 2017 by BlossomCulp

[MaryMitch]

Bill Nye has a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Ok, according to Sheldon that's a big nothingburger, but he's not just a comedian.

Ninja'd by BlossumCulp...

[BlossomCulp]

Just checked him out on wiki and he's got a lot of sciency stuff (that Jesus probably gave him) in his background.  Too bad they didn't have him try out for Professor Proton!!

19 minutes ago, hnygrl said:

. He's a comedian who did what Will Wheaton did in this show. Auditioned for the part and got it.

According to wiki he created the role of Bill Nye the Science Guy - no auditioning required unless he was a really good sport :).

Edited November 4, 2017 by BlossomCulp

[SmithW6079]

I like Bob Newhart, but I hate the character of Professor Proton -- alive or dead. 

I wonder how much of Amy's love for Sheldon is related to her scientific curiosity regarding the brain and its functions.

[CherryAmes]

52 minutes ago, BlossomCulp said:

Just checked him out on wiki and he's got a lot of sciency stuff (that Jesus probably gave him) in his background.  Too bad they didn't have him try out for Professor Proton!!

THis was an excellent episode but it would have been awesome if they'd had Bill Nye trying out for Professor Proton!  Especially since he and the original Professor Proton did not hit it off (to say the least) and doesn't Sheldon have a restraining order from Nye in his collection?  Probably too much to throw into the mix for one episode and I liked everything about this episode so wouldn't have wanted them to drop anything. 

[Driad]

Quote

doesn't Sheldon have a restraining order from Nye in his collection?

According to the BBT wiki, yes.

[displayname]

Spoiler

I wonder if Sheldon's friend Tam from Young Sheldon shows up for Sheldon's wedding? Seems like a giant continuity error, though, since "Sheldon never had any friends".

Edited November 4, 2017 by fan94

[rmontro]

14 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I was seriously annoyed with how Penny was being treated. She clearly stopped by because she was concerned about her friends and wanted to see if they needed any help. Treating her like an imbecile was just absolutely awful.

Howard and Bernadette are used to ordering Raj and Stuart around like slaves, so it's little wonder they treated Penny poorly.  Doesn't excuse it, but it's consistent.  Bernadette even treated Sheldon like the help last episode when she tricked him into doing chores in the house.  This episode did make me miss Stuart's absence though, this would have been right up his alley.

[CherryAmes]

I didn't mind the way they treated Penny because it gave the actress a chance to have some great scenes and I loved the way it ended.  Whether she said Mama or the baby actually did Penny got her revenge and it was great payback :).