The Past Seasons Discussion Corollary

[springtime]

The Scavenger Vortex, because Mayim Bialik and Simon Helberg singing Neil Diamond might be my favorite TV moments ever.

 Have seen this a few times and again tonight- but apparently have always missed Amy's great line "To The Neil Mobile" (as they are leaving the comic book store.) 

[Phebemarie]

I really disliked the episode where Bernadette and Howard fix Leonard up. That Leonard had so little self-worth that he would go on a second date with the woman seemed very out-of-character.    

Edited August 1, 2015 by Phebemarie

[CherryAmes]

It was a typical Lorre episode.  A guy will put up with *anything* if it means he's going to get some sex (insert rolling eyes here).

[LADreamr]

That brings to mind one of my least favorites: when Penny and Leonard went out to a movie as friends and he tells her that the only reason he went along with what she wanted to do on dates when they were together, was to get sex.  It just ticked me off, because she had spent so much time watching and learning about the things that were special or important to him, not seeking anything in return.  I wish she had said that to him, but she never brought it up.

[mansonlamps]

Least favorite episode ever - the Sheldon/Amy spanking one.  I die of embarrassment watching that, even when I'm by myself.  It's just so cringeworthy.

[LADreamr]

I don't like that one, either, but I was at least ok with the fact that from Sheldon it was innocent, and from Amy it was consensual. I just hate it when it's I Love Lucy-style, where it is meant to humiliate and infantilize a fellow adult you're supposed to love and respect. Still, I never rewatch that episode.

[redlaces]

The first few episodes with Penny feeling so very entitled. That isn't your seat bitch.. Move your ass. Then having them do insane rescue missions for her shit.. F right off Penny. 

[mansonlamps]

The first few episodes with Penny feeling so very entitled. That isn't your seat bitch.. Move your ass. Then having them do insane rescue missions for her shit.. F right off Penny.

I thought I was the only one that felt this way. Telling Sheldon to "just sit somewhere else" in his own apartment was so incredibly entitled and rude. Regardless of his reasons. I mean she had just meet them for God's sake.

[redlaces]

But but.. She's so pretty!!! UGH 

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Telling Sheldon to "just sit somewhere else" in his own apartment was so incredibly entitled and rude.

It was Leonard who said that, knowing that none of the reasons why Sheldon preferred that spot were relevant at the time. Penny had offered to move, phrasing it in such a way as to invite being told where.

[mansonlamps]

But but.. She's so pretty!!! UGH

Well that's true lol.

[CherryAmes]

Telling Sheldon to "just sit somewhere else" in his own apartment was so incredibly entitled and rude. Regardless of his reasons. I mean she had just meet them for God's sake.

 

 I disagree that she spoke to Sheldon like this, my recollection was that she was very sweet and a little puzzled by his attitude (as most would be I think) but however the incident actually went  I find it funny that anyone would consider Penny entitled and rude when they are describing an encounter with Sheldon, king of the entitled and rude! 

Edited August 18, 2015 by CherryAmes

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I find it funny that anyone would consider Penny entitled and rude when they are describing an encounter with Sheldon, king of the entitled and rude!

She has a long history of being entitled and rude when it comes to food. The worst was probably in Panty Pinata Polarization when she helped herself to an onion ring from Sheldon's plate while he was in the kitchen and refused to accept that there might be anything wrong with that.

[stealinghome]

The Whore of Omaha episode is on right now--too great! I always love when Penny one-ups Sheldon. His disbelief about the video games is awesome.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

His disbelief about the video games is awesome.

He neglected to take into account the relatively rural area she's from. I have no doubt Penny spent countless hours playing the types of video games you find in bowling alleys, pizza parlors, and other places she would have been hanging out with friends or on dates.

[CherryAmes]

All true but this show has spent how many years now acting like women don't read comics, watch science fiction or any kind of movie or tv show that would appeal to geeks or nerds (in other words Sheldon or Leonard) or play video or computer games.  They really lost me in this regard when we are supposed to believe that Penny has never even seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer until Leonard introduced her to it.  Do the writers of this show really think the entire fan base for Buffy was nerdy teenage boys/nerdy men?

Edited August 25, 2015 by CherryAmes

[Indy]

All true but this show has spent how many years now acting like women don't read comics, watch science fiction or any kind of movie or tv show that would appeal to geeks or nerds (in other words Sheldon or Leonard) or play video or computer games.  They really lost me in this regard when we are supposed to believe that Penny has never even seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer until Leonard introduced her to it.  Do the writers of this show really think the entire fan base for Buffy was nerdy teenage boys/nerdy men?

While I totally agree that there are women who love comic books and sci fi stuff and that this show for the most part completely ignores that, I can buy that Penny had never seen Buffy.  I've never seen it. One of my college boyfriends was super into it but somehow I managed to never be around him on Buffy night. I'm not surprised she was good with video games but I buy that she didn't watch the same TV shows that Leonard did.  

Edited August 25, 2015 by Indy

[CherryAmes]

Penny is a trend follower, she knows all the Kardashians :) the idea that a show that would have been a huge hit when she was in high school was a show she never watched is a little hard for me to believe and something I think the writers of the show never even thought about.

[Indy]

Penny is a trend follower, she knows all the Kardashians :) the idea that a show that would have been a huge hit when she was in high school was a show she never watched is a little hard for me to believe and something I think the writers of the show never even thought about.

Fair point, especially since she hadn't watched it at all not just that she wasn't a huge fan or hadn't seen every single episode.  

[Bort]

Penny is a trend follower, she knows all the Kardashians :) the idea that a show that would have been a huge hit when she was in high school was a show she never watched is a little hard for me to believe and something I think the writers of the show never even thought about.

I don't know about "huge hit." Friends was a huge hit. Buffy was on a fledgling network that might not have had an affiliate yet in Nebraska at the time Penny lived there. I can buy that she didn't see it.

For example, 90210 was fairly popular when I was in high school. I never saw it, my town didn't have a FOX affiliate.

[LoneHaranguer]

Watching Buffy may not have been an option for Penny in Nebraska. She described her small town as "mostly family farms, a few meth labs", the type of place where television service could be limited or nonexistent. Even in my suburban area, I couldn't watch Buffy until late in its fourth season because the WB took a long time to build its network.

[CherryAmes]

The impression I get from BBT isn't that Penny couldn't watch this show, it was that she wouldn't have wanted to watch it because it's a show that only people like Sheldon and Leonard would have liked.  I suspect if they ever  talked about shows Penny did watch Friends and 90210 would have made the list.  I've given up being annoyed that in BBT land women don't watch Star Trek or Star Wars but it did throw me that they don't even watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[SmithW6079]

I didn't care for Priya either. But I did like the episode where she demolished the Roommate Agreement.  It had drunk Amy (dancing with Sheldon!  "I really need to talk to smart Amy now.") and Sheldon showing how an honorary graduate of Starfleet Academy can beat an international attorney!

That was on last night on my local TV station. Pryia was great in that, and I loved Leonard's digs: "Schooled!" "Superseded!" But Sheldon ends up being his usual asshole self at the end -- threatening your roommate and his girlfriend because you got bested? Dick move.

 

She has a long history of being entitled and rude when it comes to food. The worst was probably in Panty Pinata Polarization when she helped herself to an onion ring from Sheldon's plate while he was in the kitchen and refused to accept that there might be anything wrong with that.

I love the Panty Pinata Polarization episode, although Sheldon was right -- Penny did start it. But it is chock-full of examples of Sheldon being a dick to his friends.

[chocolatine]

That was on last night on my local TV station. Pryia was great in that, and I loved Leonard's digs: "Schooled!" "Superseded!" But Sheldon ends up being his usual asshole self at the end -- threatening your roommate and his girlfriend because you got bested? Dick move.

 

I know that Priya picking apart the roommate agreement was supposed to make the audience like her, but I had the opposite reaction. However eccentric the agreement is/was, it was an agreement between Sheldon and Leonard (that Leonard signed) - Priya had no business butting in, much less "schooling" anyone.

[CherryAmes]

I never felt though that the roommate agreement was something Sheldon and Leonard worked out together.  Leonard went along with it initially because he wanted to move into the apartment, after that it was a "keep the peace" type thing where he never challenged Sheldon on the clauses that disadvantaged him.  I liked Priya intervening on Leonard's behalf even though you knew from the start it was doomed to failure!

[Driad]

I took this as another example of Sheldon thinking that as a brilliant theoretical physicist, he would obviously be brilliant at all "lesser" pursuits such as law.

[CherryAmes]

He basically said as much to Priya when he told her the agreement was complicated and she might not understand it (or something like that).  She's a hot shot corporate lawyer but even she isn't as smart as Sheldon when it comes to the law and contracts!

Edited September 18, 2015 by CherryAmes

[caligirl50]

The Barbarian Sublimination.  Hands down, favorite episode.

It's Kaley's best work on this show. 

Edited September 20, 2015 by caligirl50

[amensisterfriend]

I haven't seen every single episode, but I still feel pretty comfortable nominating last's episode as an all-time least favorite of mine. I often love shows about moderately dysfunctional people and their resulting dysfunctional dynamics (the first two seasons of Community are favorites of mine, and you could argue those characters and their relationships are even more flawed and messed up than this group's overall), but for some reason last night's episode was horribly depressing for me. I found myself thinking that I don't really like ANY of these people and, worse yet, don't feel like they genuinely like each other. Most of the intra-group friendships and especially the two 'endgame' couples we're supposed to root for strike me as being so horribly mismatched in every way that I feel like they'd all be sincerely better off, happier and more likable apart. Bernadatte and Howard came close to making me smile---but if those two are the most functional, likable and relatable characters who have by far the healthiest relationship, what does that say about the overall state of the show?! 

 

I don't always have to find sitcoms hilarious---many of my favorite comedies delight me because they're warm, insightful, and just plain entertaining even when I don't find them especially witty---but last night's episode just left me feeling hollow and depressed, which is not exactly what I want from this show!   

[stealinghome]

The episode where Leonard and Leslie Winkle hook up for the first time is on right now, and I forgot how utterly hilarious it is. Their instrument playing! Penny explaining to Sheldon the tie on the door! Leslie fixing Sheldon's equations! Watching the early seasons makes me so sad to watch the show now...it used to be so clever.

Edited October 1, 2015 by stealinghome

[7-Zark-7]

I think the show was at its peak in the 4th season. Most of the episodes I refuse to erase from my TiVo are from there: "The Zazzy Substitution", "The Justice League Recombination", "The Love Car Displacement", "The Herb Garden Germination", "The Agreement Dissection", "The Wildebeest Implementation", and "The Roommate Transmogrification".

[HelenBaby]

I hate the story arc with Sara Rue as Dr. Stephanie. I'm glad it was short lived. Not too fond of Priya either.

I love just about any episode with Brian Smith as Zack. He's so clueless but hilarious.

I really hate the episode where Bernadette fixes Leonard up with her acquaintance from the gym.

Love the episode where Leonard goes to the wedding with Amy.

I also adore Bob Newhart's episodes.

[Winston Wolfe]

"Panty Pinata" is one of my favorites for so many elements: "Oh no, not junior rodeo..." "This will shorten the war by five years and save millions of lives." "With great power comes great responsibility."

"The Cooper-Nowitzki Theorem," where Sheldon realizes he's in a "relationship" with Ramona. Again, for some of the great lines:

Leonard: We're going...

Howard: To watch, right?

Those two episodes were on in syndication last night, back to back.  They both reminded me of why I fell in love with this show.  As much as some of us have ragged on this show for the past two seasons, BBT, when its on its game, is as good as any sitcom in history.  Great insights here on Penny and Sheldon.  After reading many of the comments here, it strikes me that they are both very entitled in their own ways.  The difference is Penny's entitlement is very subtle and Shelly's is (of course) OTT.  Could be each subconsciously recognizes that trait in the other, and this leads to the characters' chem.  As a big Sara Rue fan, the Dr. Stephanie antipathy stings, but I get it.  Not a particularly endearing character.  I too was always rather meh on Pyria.  Probably the most manipulative of Lenoard's GFs.

[TWP]

Worst of Big Bang Theory: The unaired pilot. I don't know if it's been posted here, but the show had a failed pilot before the successful one.

Link:

What was bad? First, Sheldon was not asexual. He needs to be, or he comes off as a serial killer.

The rest? You decide.

[Rhetorica]

Thanks. It was a bit crude for the 8:00 time slot. I liked Sheldon. He still had his quirks. I also liked a female nerd. And Katie's backstory wasn't that much different than Penny's. I would hope that Howard, Raj, and Amy were added later.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Rhetorica

[hnygrl]

I finally figured out what it was about Priya that got my goat so hard.

 

For her, Leonard was just "something to do" while she was in America. She knew she didn't have to work that hard to get him or keep him, he'd be so damn grateful that a beautiful, charming, elegant, well-read and well-traveled woman actually wanted HIM that she could be lazy in the relationship and do diddly squat to keep him. He'd stay because she's Priya.

 

Which is why the first thing she did when she got home was boink her REAL boyfriend.

 

That's also a lot of the problem I had with Penny in the beginning too. None of his girlfriends really "got" him. They all used him on some level and he had such a low opinion of himself (thanks, mommy) that he was happy to just get laid every night.

[Canada]

I'm glad they went with Penny, not Katie.  Katie seems kind of rough and dull.

[DrSpaceman73]

I finally figured out what it was about Priya that got my goat so hard.

 

For her, Leonard was just "something to do" while she was in America. She knew she didn't have to work that hard to get him or keep him, he'd be so damn grateful that a beautiful, charming, elegant, well-read and well-traveled woman actually wanted HIM that she could be lazy in the relationship and do diddly squat to keep him. He'd stay because she's Priya.

 

Which is why the first thing she did when she got home was boink her REAL boyfriend.

 

That's also a lot of the problem I had with Penny in the beginning too. None of his girlfriends really "got" him. They all used him on some level and he had such a low opinion of himself (thanks, mommy) that he was happy to just get laid every night.

I couldn't STAND Priya. She was manipulative and selfish the whole time. Seriously if the situation was reversed and Leonard :

Made her stop being friends with an ex-boyfriend she was still friends with

Refuse to tell his parents they were dating solely because of her nationality

Neglect to tell her he was leaving the country until the last minute

Cheated on her once he was out of the country, and fail to tell her about it until she admits a similar near indiscretion

One would consider him not only just a "bad" boyfriend but downright abusive, and rightfully so. She completley used him the whole time and screwed him over.

Penny has her faults and I have always had a hard time believing her and Leonard as a couple, but I much prefer her to Priya. Penny is not just using him, at least

imo there was a moment where the show could have put Penny and Sheldon together, but that moment passed and now I don't think it would work, they've been platonic too long and are too invested in other people (Leonard and Amy). But I do think there was a time when it could have worked, or at least been fascinating to watch!, and I'll kind of always be sad the show never went there. I like Amy and really enjoy what MB has brought to the show, but her relationship with Sheldon has become painful over the last few seasons and Penny would in some respects be a much better match for Sheldon.

I would never in a million years buy a Penny/sheldon match. I am glad it never happened. It would be like Liz/Jack on 30 Rock, they worked great as friends and glad they never went further on the show

[DrSpaceman73]

My favorite moments are actually from Sheldon, some of them where they get serious and actually make him human.

There is one, I think it was a Christmas episode, where he opens up about his grandfather and how he was the only one in his family to encourage his scientific interest and hwo upset he was when he died

Then there is also the one where he has a secret room he goes into every day, and Raj and Howard are trying to figure out what he does there. He tells them how just day to day interactions are so hard for him and he uses this place just for some time each day away from people to kind of settle down.

Both are so heartfelt and make understandable, for a brief period actually makes one empathize with Sheldon

Also the episode where Howard gets the letter from his dad, and they all make up versions of the letter to tell him, but he doesn't know which one is real

[DrSpaceman73]

That was on last night on my local TV station. Pryia was great in that, and I loved Leonard's digs: "Schooled!" "Superseded!" But Sheldon ends up being his usual asshole self at the end -- threatening your roommate and his girlfriend because you got bested? Dick move.

 

I never had a problem with Sheldon there because the "threat" was telling her parents she was dating Leonard, which she should have done herself already by then. You're a grown damn woman, with a PROFESSIONAL woman, a lawyer, and you can't tell your "daddy" who you are dating because of his nationality?

Leonard should have dumped her long before they broke up.

[stealinghome]

Also the episode where Howard gets the letter from his dad, and they all make up versions of the letter to tell him, but he doesn't know which one is real

Yeah, I'm not a big Howard fan, but this is one of my favorite episodes and definitely among the best of the later seasons. The way the whole group is so sweet to him (Sheldon excluded) reminds you that these people genuinely really care about each other, and that's why I want to watch the show.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

You're a grown damn woman, with a PROFESSIONAL woman, a lawyer, and you can't tell your "daddy" who you are dating because of his nationality?

Everything we saw of Dr. K suggested that he was pretty accepting of whomever Priya (and Raj) wanted to date, going so far as to support the idea of her having a relationship with Howard. It was Priya's mother who would have objected, although I'm not convinced it was really an issue, rather than an excuse Priya was using to string Leonard along.

[chocolatine]

Wow, those unaired pilot scenes are bad! Imagine if Lorre had gone with that direction and the Katie character - the show would have been a disaster. Or is that a thing for TV shows to have a crappy unaired pilot, kinda like "the first pancake always turns out bad" rule?

[savannah1985]

I really like the shows that have Wil Wheaton and Kripke in them but my two favourites are the Bath gift one where Penny gives Sheldon Leonard Nemoys DNA, and the adhesive duck deficiency, when they get high in the desert. And I never liked Prya.

[rab01]

Huh, I guess I'm the only person who liked Priya. The way they broke up made her look bad but other than that my only issue with the relationship was that she seemed a bit too good for him. I don't blame her for distrusting his interactions with Penny because she was right about his feelings. Also, her pwning Sheldon and his roommate agreement was one of my favorite episodes (except for the ending - the coerced contract was not binding and she should have told Leonard that at some point).

[Runningwild]

I liked Dr. Stephanie. Especially the one where Howard kept calling her and leaving voicemails. Or the one where Eaj makes that little noise because Stephanie has changed her relationship status and Penny says, "What is it, Lassie? Timmy fell down the well?"

[TheOtherOne]

I liked Priya, too, though I suspect a lot of that is how I usually resist when I feel a show trying to make me feel a certain way toward a character. In her first appearance she was light and fun and showed good comedic chops. When they brought her back, she was immediately slathered in more makeup (Behold the evil dragon lady!) and was more stiff, and it became obvious she was supposed to be less a character than the bitch standing in the way of Leonard and Penny. So the more the show tried telling me, "She doesn't fit in! BITCH! She's trying to change Leonard! What a BITCH!" the more I took her side. Because I don't like being spoonfed how to feel, and what they were doing was too obvious (and lazy, instead of making her a viable alternative that a love triangle could be believable, without the ending being a foregone conclusion), that it just turned me off.

Edited November 6, 2015 by TheOtherOne

[DrSpaceman73]

Everything we saw of Dr. K suggested that he was pretty accepting of whomever Priya (and Raj) wanted to date, going so far as to support the idea of her having a relationship with Howard. It was Priya's mother who would have objected, although I'm not convinced it was really an issue, rather than an excuse Priya was using to string Leonard along.

Wether it was her dad or mom was not really the point. She either was too much of a wimp herself to tell them or as you say may very well have been using it to string along Leonard.

Either way its a crappy way to treat a boyfriend.

[The Kings Foot]

I never had a problem with Sheldon there because the "threat" was telling her parents she was dating Leonard, which she should have done herself already by then. You're a grown damn woman, with a PROFESSIONAL woman, a lawyer, and you can't tell your "daddy" who you are dating because of his nationality?

Leonard should have dumped her long before they broke up.

 

 

Everything we saw of Dr. K suggested that he was pretty accepting of whomever Priya (and Raj) wanted to date, going so far as to support the idea of her having a relationship with Howard. It was Priya's mother who would have objected, although I'm not convinced it was really an issue, rather than an excuse Priya was using to string Leonard along.

 

Colour/ethnicity/religion still plays a big deal in India. And its a big difference between what sons are allowed and what daughters are allowed. 

 

And we did see that Raj's parents or at least his mom had an issue with him having a relationship with a white girl. Even his dad if memory serves had the idea that anything in America would just be a fling and Raj should settle down with an Indian girl.

 

To take a quote from the movie Bend it like Beckham .

 

 

Teammate: So, could you choose a white boy?

Jess: White, no, black, definitely not, a Muslim, eh-eh!

Teammate: You'll marry an Indian, then!

Jess: Probably.

 

Edited November 7, 2015 by The Kings Foot

[JasminePhyllisia]

I really like the shows that have Wil Wheaton and Kripke in them but my two favourites are the Bath gift one where Penny gives Sheldon Leonard Nemoys DNA, and the adhesive duck deficiency, when they get high in the desert. And I never liked Prya.

 

I love both of those episodes also!  The ER Scene in the adhesive duck deficiency where Sheldon fills out the forms for Penny is hilarious.

 

I also love the one with Leonard's mom's first visit, and the Penny Blossom episode where all the guys help her out with her business, although what ever happened to that?