S02.E01: A High-Pitched Buzz and Training Wheels

[formerlyfreedom]

Season Two premieres Monday, September 24, and moves back to Thursdays on September 27.

After Sheldon dismantles the refrigerator to stop an annoying hum, he gets a paper route to pay for the repairs.

 

[Katy M]

I still love Missy.  "I knew the answer. I got excited."  And, then she has her sweet moments.

And, even though Sheldon totally deserved it and really needed to hear it, I still felt bad for him when his father said he was disappointed in him. The first time a parent says that to a kid, it's pretty devastating.  

My sister had a paper route.  She made me do it a lot.  The papers came in the afternoon, though.  No getting up at 5.  Thank goodness.

And, for someone who is supposedly so smart, Sheldon wasn't being very smart about the route.  At the speed he was riding his bike, even pulling a wagon behind him, he could have walked it faster.

[Spartan Girl]

Yay, the show is back!

Ignoring things that irritate me is not my strong suit either.

Man, the part with George yelling at Sheldon and Sheldon crying after was such a great moment. It was one of the rare times where he actually acts like a little boy. And who doesn't remember that happening to them in their childhood? It was such a vulnerable moment that even Missy stopped gloating to hug him.

LOL at the delivery montage.

[Frost]

I was tearing up right along with Sheldon.  Maybe it was the camera angle, but George looked downright menacing when he was scolding Sheldon.  I'm glad Missy came to give Sheldon a hug, rather than continue to gloat.  Especially since she encouraged him in the first place!  

The end scene was cute, but somehow I think Billy Sparks' mom would find out he was doing Sheldon's paper route...and would make her feelings about that perfectly clear!

[chocolatine]

25 minutes ago, Katy M said:

And, for someone who is supposedly so smart, Sheldon wasn't being very smart about the route.  At the speed he was riding his bike, even pulling a wagon behind him, he could have walked it faster.

Yeah, I expected major geeking out like applying Eulerian paths or Dijkstra's algorithm, and was disappointed (don't cry, Chuck Lorre) that all we got was some OCD stuff about folding the paper.

I liked that there was just enough Meemaw; I prefer her in small doses. I hope this season we'll get some story progression about Sheldon's education - if the show is adhering to the BBT canon, 

Spoiler

he should be going to college soon.

Edited September 25, 2018 by saoirse
added spoiler tag

[Frost]

I just noticed that they've changed the naming convention for the episodes!  Only two things!

[Kimmmmmm]

Have to admit I melted with Missy's reaction to Sheldon's crying.

[jewel21]

So happy to have this show back. I loved this episode. There was a nice amount of Missy in it too. And I liked the scenes with the other brother, too. I forgot his name, heh. 

[aemom]

I was really surprised that Sheldon was trying to just throw the papers on the porches after so fastidiously folding them. I figured that he would carefully place them in front of each door.

[Frost]

19 minutes ago, AEMom said:

I was really surprised that Sheldon was trying to just throw the papers on the porches after so fastidiously folding them. I figured that he would carefully place them in front of each door.

Georgie gave Sheldon specific instructions to throw the papers at the front door.  Sheldon was trying to follow the proper paper boy protocol!

I was surprised Mary didn't just drive Sheldon around the route.  She was up anyway.  My mom - who did NOT coddle her children - used to drive my brothers on their paper routes if it was raining.  Seeing Sheldon trying to peddle into a monsoon was adorable.

[AnnaRose]

37 minutes ago, Frost said:

Georgie gave Sheldon specific instructions to throw the papers at the front door.  Sheldon was trying to follow the proper paper boy protocol!

I was surprised Mary didn't just drive Sheldon around the route.  She was up anyway.  My mom - who did NOT coddle her children - used to drive my brothers on their paper routes if it was raining.  Seeing Sheldon trying to peddle into a monsoon was adorable.

My mom drove my brothers around on their paper route too, especially in the winter and other times when the weather was bad. 

I felt so bad for Shelley when his father was yelling at him. George Sr. was intense.  That whole scene totally made me tear up too.  I was relieved that Missy went over and hugged him.

The montage was funny, and I have to admit that I laughed out loud at the Sunday edition.  Thwaap!  "Oh dear!"

So happy this show is back!

Edited September 25, 2018 by AnnaRose

[HazelEyes4325]

I'm so glad this show is back.  Like many of you, Sheldon crying broke my heart...but Sheldon sneaking into Meemaw's house (and bed) was more than a little bit creepy.

Georgie does seem much older this year.  I get that the actor is of that age physical development ebbs and flows and he must have had a growth spurt during the hiatus.  That being said, I think it actually works better now that he less like a kid.

[Sarah 103]

Do we know what year it is within the world of the show? Have they decided to make seasons 1 and 2 the same school year? Missy has a heart. She enjoys seeing her brother get punished, but not seeing him miserable or upset. It's like she has a line or a limit. It seems like when it really matters most, she will side with Sheldon over her parents. 

[rmontro]

2 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

Georgie does seem much older this year.

Maybe they should replace him with Jerry O'Connell at mid season.

I didn't quite get why Billy Sparks was delivering the papers for him.  Sheldon said he was still making money, so what's in it for Billy?  Is he getting a cut of the profits, or is he just doing it for free?

[Katy M]

7 hours ago, Frost said:

I was surprised Mary didn't just drive Sheldon around the route.  She was up anyway.  My mom - who did NOT coddle her children - used to drive my brothers on their paper routes if it was raining.  Seeing Sheldon trying to peddle into a monsoon was adorable.

Yeah my mom would drive the route during the rain also.  I think most parents did.

 

4 hours ago, rmontro said:

I didn't quite get why Billy Sparks was delivering the papers for him.  Sheldon said he was still making money, so what's in it for Billy?  Is he getting a cut of the profits, or is he just doing it for free?

Maybe he's getting the tips.

[Chit Chat]

7 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I was relieved that Missy went over and hugged him.

That was a sweet moment.  I noticed that when Missy hugged him, Sheldon reached up and held onto her arm.  IMO, that's a pretty big deal for Sheldon.  We know that Sheldon doesn't like to hug or touch people, so that small gesture towards his sister shows just how much he cares for her, even though he wouldn't admit it!  Remember, she's like string beans.  String beans are there, but they're not something that you think about!

[Snow Apple]

Sheldon knocking on the bed headboard, "Georgie....Georgie."

No third one yet.

[anna0852]

I'm really glad to see that George sets firm boundaries with Sheldon. Mary lets him get away with absolute murder!

Spoiler

I wonder how Sheldon might have turned out if George had live longer.

Edited September 25, 2018 by saoirse
Spoiler tag added

[CherryAmes]

8 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

Georgie does seem much older this year.  I get that the actor is of that age physical development ebbs and flows and he must have had a growth spurt during the hiatus.  That being said, I think it actually works better now that he less like a kid.

Agreed.  It always took me out of the show a bit last season when they would talk about and treat Georgie like a teenager when he looked so young.  I checked the actor on IMDB so knew he was actually the age Georgie was supposed to be but it still threw me!

[CherryAmes]

6 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I'm really glad to see that George sets firm boundaries with Sheldon. Mary lets him get away with absolute murder!

Spoiler

I wonder how Sheldon might have turned out if George had live longer.

 

She does?  She's not harsh with Sheldon but I don't see her as a complete pushover either.

[Katy M]

6 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I'm really glad to see that George sets firm boundaries with Sheldon. Mary lets him get away with absolute murder!

Spoiler

I wonder how Sheldon might have turned out if George had live longer.

 

I wouldn't say she lets him get away with murder.  She did tell him he couldn't talk to his father that way. And, she didn't actually let him in the car even though any sane-minded mother would have during that torrential rainstorm.  She threw all his comic books out that one time.  She told George to tell him he wasn't allowed to go over to Mee-Maw's and congratulate her on her first sleepover and ask how coitus was after George already said he could.  She just picks her battles.  If you made everything into a battle with Sheldon, you'd never get anything else done.

[Yeah No]

I love this show and how it's usually pretty spot-on with the realism from that era, but I have two minor nitpicks having been an adult in that time frame - First is that for $200 they could have probably not paid much more and gotten a whole new fridge.  The one they have wasn't new even by that era's standards and probably not worth spending that much on.  Second is that cash registers generally didn't tell you what change to give.  Not quite yet, anyway.  Maybe at some new McDonald's, but not at a typical gas station.  Hah, I worked at a gas station mini mart back then and still counted change.

There's obviously more than a little Sheldon in me.  I was always the one annoyed by sounds and smells no one else noticed!

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

Yeah my mom would drive the route during the rain also.  I think most parents did.

I agree, but I wish they would have put a scene in where Shelley's mom offers to drive him and he declines based on it being too easy or taking away from the "penance" aspect of doing the job.

[mammaM]

"Don't cry, if you cry I can't enjoy your pain"

Best line ever. Perfectly encapsulates sibling relationships. My sibling and I are very close...now, but I swear I can remember both of us saying that when we were growing up??

[Katy M]

48 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

agree, but I wish they would have put a scene in where Shelley's mom offers to drive him and he declines based on it being too easy or taking away from the "penance" aspect of doing the job.

I don't see Sheldon doing that at all.  Especially seeing as how the episode ended.  George just said he had to pay back the money.  He put no stipulations as to how Sheldon should get the money.

 

49 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

Second is that cash registers generally didn't tell you what change to give

 Yes, they did.  This is the late '80s, right?  I started working at McDonald's in 1988 and the cash register most definitely told me what the change was.  And I don't really recall anybody oohing and aahing about how that was new technology.

[Runningwild]

I worked at a grocery store in the early 80s and the cash register told me how much change to give. 

 

So happy the show is back! Love this show and this episode. 

[Zoe]

13 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

Do we know what year it is within the world of the show? Have they decided to make seasons 1 and 2 the same school year? 

It hasn't been stated yet, but they did say last year that they'll have to progress slowly

Spoiler

because if they do it real time then too many things are right around the corner like Sheldon going to college and George dying.

Edited September 25, 2018 by saoirse
added spoiler tag

[Katy M]

3 hours ago, Zoe said:

It hasn't been stated yet, but they did say last year that they'll have to progress slowly

Spoiler

because if they do it real time then too many things are right around the corner like Sheldon going to college and George dying.

 

On the othe rhand, they're also dealing with fairly young children who will be aging in real time.  

[CherryAmes]

56 minutes ago, Katy M said:

On the othe rhand, they're also dealing with fairly young children who will be aging in real time.  

Yep!  I think they can still get away with having Sheldon and Missie be 9 yrs old but as we can already see with Georgie time is not standing still!

[anna0852]

They can probably get away with this for the first two seasons but as we've already seen with Georgie, slowing time isn't going to work for long. The children are going to age too quickly to be believable.

Spoiler

I hope this is taken into consideration when they wrote up Lance's contract.

Edited September 25, 2018 by saoirse
added spoiler tag

[HurricaneVal]

3 hours ago, mammaM said:

"Don't cry, if you cry I can't enjoy your pain"

Then Missy went to comfort him.  Best moment of the show so far. 

These tender family moments, including Dad being all stern and then Dad being all understanding when he saw that Sheldon was struggling with those very adult 'workaday world" problems were also very well done. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

Hurricane Val said:

Quote

These tender family moments, including Dad being all stern and then Dad being all understanding when he saw that Sheldon was struggling with those very adult 'workaday world" problems were also very well done. 

Yes!  And it was fun to watch Sheldon act like every other adult who is having a bad day at work:

"Before you ask,"  Shows the coffee mug  "I'm NOT the world's best Grandpa."

"I had a hard day, is it too much to ask for a little peace and quiet?"

And as he's telling George,  "I'm exhausted.  Everything hurts.  I get up in the morning to do this job I don't even like, and I'm doing it just for the money, and it's not even a lot of money.   I keep trying harder and harder but it doesn't make a difference."   Sheldon realizes he just described George's typical day.

Then the payoff. . .

"My father's wisdom touched me deeply.  Which is why to this day, no matter what I'm going through, I'm never annoying or abusive toward my friends."

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Edited September 25, 2018 by TheLastKidPicked

[BlossomCulp]

1 minute ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

My father's wisdom touched me deeply.  Which is why to this day, no matter what I'm going through, I'm never annoying or abusive toward my friends."

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I love that Sheldon genuinely believes this.  It's just so Sheldony of him :)!

[formerlyfreedom]

A reminder - this is the spot to discuss this episode. Discussion of what happens in the future, or on The Big Bang Theory belongs in the topic TBBT vs Young Sheldon.... which you can find in the main forum.

Posts may be edited to add spoiler tags or removed entirely if they talk about things that happen in the future of the show. The exception to this is if it's specifically mentioned in the voice over; however, please err on the side of caution when discussing these, because things may be referenced there in passing, but not in detail. Thank you.

[CherryAmes]

7 hours ago, ChitChat said:

That was a sweet moment.  I noticed that when Missy hugged him, Sheldon reached up and held onto her arm.  IMO, that's a pretty big deal for Sheldon. 

I love these little reminders that Sheldon really does love his family.

[Yeah No]

5 hours ago, Katy M said:

 Yes, they did.  This is the late '80s, right?  I started working at McDonald's in 1988 and the cash register most definitely told me what the change was.  And I don't really recall anybody oohing and aahing about how that was new technology.

Yes, I did account for McDonald's but they were more advanced than most stores at that time.  The average gas station mini mart would not have had cash registers that computed change.  I worked on a gas station mini mart cash register in the late 80s so it was on my mind.  It wasn't until a few years later that the average family run store started to change over in a big way, including the station where I worked.  The changeover occurred earlier and faster in big urban areas than other places, plus older establishments took longer to update themselves too.  I kind of doubt that Sheldon's friend's family was like a big corporate giant that could afford new cash registers that did that at the time.

5 hours ago, Katy M said:

I don't see Sheldon doing that at all.  Especially seeing as how the episode ended.  George just said he had to pay back the money.  He put no stipulations as to how Sheldon should get the money.

No but Sheldon seemed hell bent on working way too hard in order to make up for his mistake, I suppose to show his parents he was in earnest plus put on a little bit of a martyr act.  I think it would be more like him to refuse any offer of help from his mother in achieving that.  He did eventually find a way to take advantage of his neighbor, though, but I think he would see that differently.

Edited September 25, 2018 by Yeah No

[UsernameFatigue]

4 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

Yep!  I think they can still get away with having Sheldon and Missie be 9 yrs old but as we can already see with Georgie time is not standing still!

 One thing I wonder about, is having Sheldon and Missy sharing a bedroom. Is/was that really a thing? I know they do the same thing with Jack and Diane on Blackish. (Or at least they used to - I haven't watched that show in a couple of years). I have a niece and nephew who are twins, and they never shared a bedroom at any point. I don't know anyone who has shared a bedroom with a sibling of the opposite sex, even in families that had big families and not big houses. I assume it is done on these TV shows for the sake of having scenes between the siblings, but it still bugs me. 

Edited September 25, 2018 by UsernameFatigue

[CherryAmes]

4 minutes ago, UsernameFatigue said:

One thing I wonder about, is having Sheldon and Missy sharing a bedroom. Is/was that really a thing? I know they do the same thing with Jack and Diane on Blackish. (Or at least they used to - I haven't watched that show in a couple of years). I have a niece and nephew who are twins, and they never shared a bedroom at any point. I don't know anyone who has shared a bedroom with a sibling of the opposite sex, even in families that had big families and not big houses. I assume it is done on these TV shows for the sake of having scenes between the siblings, but it still bugs me. 

I grew up in a family of four, 3 girls and one boy.  My brother and youngest sister shared a room until they were probably about the same age as Sheldon and Missie.  It was only when we moved to a bigger house that my brother and I (lucky me being the oldest) got our own rooms.  I'm not sure what would have happened if we hadn't moved, I expect Dad would have fixed up a bedroom in the basement for at least one of us or possibly the three girls would eventually have had to squash into one room.  

[Browncoat]

6 minutes ago, UsernameFatigue said:

One thing I wonder about, is having Sheldon and Missy sharing a bedroom. Is/was that really a thing? I know they do the same thing with Jack and Diane on Blackish. (Or at least they used to - I haven't watched that show in a couple of years). I have a niece and nephew who are twins, and they never shared a bedroom at any point. I don't know anyone who has shared a bedroom with a sibling of the opposite sex, even in families that had big families and not big houses. I assume it is done on these TV shows for the sake of having scenes between the siblings, but it still bugs me. 

My niece and nephew (not twins!) shared a room until the older one was about 11 or 12.  My cousin has boy/girl twins, and they also shared a room until about that same age.  My brother moved house so the kids could have their own rooms, but I'm not sure how my cousin solved the issue.

[Quark]

I've missed this show so much. Great premier, although it would have been nice to see more Meemaw. Loved her line about Sheldon throwing the same way as his Mum.

[ams1001]

52 minutes ago, UsernameFatigue said:

 One thing I wonder about, is having Sheldon and Missy sharing a bedroom. Is/was that really a thing? I know they do the same thing with Jack and Diane on Blackish. (Or at least they used to - I haven't watched that show in a couple of years). I have a niece and nephew who are twins, and they never shared a bedroom at any point. I don't know anyone who has shared a bedroom with a sibling of the opposite sex, even in families that had big families and not big houses. I assume it is done on these TV shows for the sake of having scenes between the siblings, but it still bugs me. 

I've thought about that, too. When I was in high school I babysat for a family whose kids shared a room, but I think that was the kids' choice because they did have a third bedroom. But the boy was 7 and the girl was 4 at the time. My (2½ years older) brother and I shared a room until we were about 5 and 3, but that was because we lived in a 2BR house; we moved to a 3BR when I was 2½ and they moved me into my own room about 6 months later, so I don't even remember sharing with him. But at 9, I would not have wanted to share a room with a boy. Not sure it would have made a difference if we were twins. You'd think at least in a couple more years Missy won't want to share with her brother...but then Sheldon might be off to college by then.

[HazelEyes4325]

1 hour ago, UsernameFatigue said:

 One thing I wonder about, is having Sheldon and Missy sharing a bedroom. Is/was that really a thing? I know they do the same thing with Jack and Diane on Blackish. (Or at least they used to - I haven't watched that show in a couple of years). I have a niece and nephew who are twins, and they never shared a bedroom at any point. I don't know anyone who has shared a bedroom with a sibling of the opposite sex, even in families that had big families and not big houses. I assume it is done on these TV shows for the sake of having scenes between the siblings, but it still bugs me. 

I know people who will have opposite-sex siblings share a room if needed.  My guess is that the Cooper house has 3 bedrooms, so Sheldon would either have to share with Missy or with Georgie and I think there are possible issues with both scenarios, although--at this (prepubescent) point--less with him sharing with Missy.

[CherryAmes]

1 minute ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

I know people who will have opposite-sex siblings share a room if needed.  My guess is that the Cooper house has 3 bedrooms, so Sheldon would either have to share with Missy or with Georgie and I think there are possible issues with both scenarios, although--at this (prepubescent) point--less with him sharing with Missy.

I expect that the Coopers have kept the twins together as long as they have because inflicting Sheldon on Georgie would have led  to all sorts of conflicts. I like that they are respecting the fact that as a teenager the last thing he'd want is to share a room with a much younger sibling.  I guess if they are thinking long range they are assuming Georgie will be out of the house before Sheldon and Missie hit puberty.  

I'm guessing the Cooper house doesn't have a basement so no extra space to make a room  for a teenager.  When they hunkered down during the tornado they were in the bathroom. 

[SpiritSong]

10 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

Yep!  I think they can still get away with having Sheldon and Missie be 9 yrs old but as we can already see with Georgie time is not standing still!

I thought the most notable difference in height/growing up was in Billy Sparks. He seemed much taller to me than he did last season.

[Sarah 103]

On 9/25/2018 at 12:49 PM, anna0852 said:

They can probably get away with this for the first two seasons but as we've already seen with Georgie, slowing time isn't going to work for long. The children are going to age too quickly to be believable.

Depending on how the children grow as they get older, they could do the first two seasons as one year. Ideally, the show would want to get 4 seasons so they can syndicate it and make more money. 

19 hours ago, UsernameFatigue said:

 One thing I wonder about, is having Sheldon and Missy sharing a bedroom. Is/was that really a thing? I know they do the same thing with Jack and Diane on Blackish. (Or at least they used to - I haven't watched that show in a couple of years). I have a niece and nephew who are twins, and they never shared a bedroom at any point. I don't know anyone who has shared a bedroom with a sibling of the opposite sex, even in families that had big families and not big houses. I assume it is done on these TV shows for the sake of having scenes between the siblings, but it still bugs me. 

I think it's pretty common for twins, at least when they are babies/really little. I have heard about other families doing this It's so much easier to have both babies in the same room. 

18 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

I expect that the Coopers have kept the twins together as long as they have because inflicting Sheldon on Georgie would have led  to all sorts of conflicts. I like that they are respecting the fact that as a teenager the last thing he'd want is to share a room with a much younger sibling. 

I think part of is that Sheldon hates change and the unfamiliar. In other families, they might have had Sheldon move in with Georgie by now, but because Sheldon does not do well with change and he does get along slightly better with Missy, it made more sense to keep them together. 

[HazelEyes4325]

39 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

I think part of is that Sheldon hates change and the unfamiliar. In other families, they might have had Sheldon move in with Georgie by now, but because Sheldon does not do well with change and he does get along slightly better with Missy, it made more sense to keep them together. 

 

Plus, I doubt that Georgie really wants to be sharing a room with Sheldon.  He already has to share classes with him.

It also seems from what I've seen that the Coopers tend to parent in 2 groups.  Either they parent Georgie one way and Sheldon and Missy another (which makes sense, given the ages) or they parent Georgie and Missy one way and Sheldon another (which isn't fair, but...Sheldon).  Both scenarios separate Georgie from Sheldon and the room situation is one more example.  That being said, isn't Georgie supposed to be 14?  If so, they would probably expect him to be out of the house in 4 years, which would put Sheldon at 13, when he would get a room separate from his sister's.

There is also a case to be made that Sheldon and Missy sharing a room allows the show to give those two characters more time together, which is something that works well in this show.  It might be no more than a convention to up the number of Sheldon and Missy scenes.

[BlossomCulp]

It would be funny though I have to admit if they had some scenes with Sheldon and Georgie trying to share a room.  They might decide to go that route eventually just to have some good stories.  Sheldon eternally cleaning and Georgie taking advantage of that even as it drives him crazy.

Edited September 26, 2018 by BlossomCulp

[hoodooznoodooz]

On 9/25/2018 at 10:40 AM, mammaM said:

"Don't cry, if you cry I can't enjoy your pain"

Best line ever. Perfectly encapsulates sibling relationships. My sibling and I are very close...now, but I swear I can remember both of us saying that when we were growing up??

Also, before that, when Sheldon proudly declares that he will disassemble the refrigerator in order to determine the source of the noise, Missy’s delivery of her response is absolutely perfect. She says something like, “That’s a really good idea.” But it’s not sarcastic. It’s a balance of faked enthusiastic support and joyful gratitude that Sheldon provides so many opportunities for her to be entertained by her parents’ reactions to his pursuits. 

[Sarah 103]

On 9/26/2018 at 1:55 PM, BlossomCulp said:

It would be funny though I have to admit if they had some scenes with Sheldon and Georgie trying to share a room.  They might decide to go that route eventually just to have some good stories.  Sheldon eternally cleaning and Georgie taking advantage of that even as it drives him crazy.

I could see this as a fantastic episode. Missy is sick for a week or two so Sheldon moves in with Georgie. 

4 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

Also, before that, when Sheldon proudly declares that he will disassemble the refrigerator in order to determine the source of the noise, Missy’s delivery of her response is absolutely perfect. She says something like, “That’s a really good idea.” But it’s not sarcastic. It’s a balance of faked enthusiastic support and joyful gratitude that Sheldon provides so many opportunities for her to be entertained by her parents’ reactions to his pursuits. 

I think Missy is also entertained by Sheldon as well, not just how their parents react to him. She may not understand him, but she wouldn't want to miss anything. 

[rhys]

Why is Sheldon still using training wheels?

[Katy M]

6 minutes ago, rhys said:

Why is Sheldon still using training wheels?

Because he had more important things than to learn to ride?  And he doesn't have good balance?