S12.E14: The Meteorite Manifestation

[rmontro]

21 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

Don't get me started on how often people leave a public restroom without washing their hands.

The casino is where I notice it.  I'm stunned at how many people use the public restroom and don't wash their hands.  Makes me want to wear gloves to play the slots.

[Crs97]

Please don’t blame the mothers.  “Did you wash your hands?” will be emblazoned on my tombstone along with “Did you use soap and shampoo?” and “Are you wearing deodorant?”.  Why, yes, I have teenaged boys.  How did you know?

Edited February 2, 2019 by Crs97

[shapeshifter]

18 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

Please don’t blame the mothers.  “Did you wash your hands?” will be emblazoned on my tombstone along with “Did you use soap and shampoo?” and “Are you wearing deodorant?”.  Why, yes, I have teenaged boys.  How did you know?

Well, in Leonard's case, blaming the mother is the trope, so I guess he is either rebelling against Beverly's admonishments, or maybe she perversely encouraged him to "let out" the sneezes. Have we ever seen Penny's style of sneezing?
@Crs97, regarding the sanitizing and deodorizing of teens: If you don't get them to do their own laundry, when they get to college, all of that showering will be for naught.

[Kerri Okie]

On 1/31/2019 at 5:30 PM, Browncoat said:

I was distracted by the "Zone Zone" guy -- he is very recognizable!  But I think the only other thing I've seen him in is the CarMax commercials.

My son recognized him right away as Ben Franklin from The Office.

[CherryAmes]

Mixed feelings on this one.  Speaking as someone who has had a crappy intrusive neighbour or two I totally got the deck and permit issue and liked that Sheldon decided to help his friends even though it compromised his ethics but that said it wasn't particularly funny.  Agree with others that the only really funny stuff was Stuart and his girlfriend.

[possibilities]

What I found interesting is that the neighbor seemed friendly, even though he was being grossly inconsiderate. I expected him to be hostile or rude, but he just seemed clueless.

[Edmond83]

Stuart/Denise, Stunice? I think has carried a lot of episodes this season. Not sure what that says about the state of the show...

[CherryAmes]

7 hours ago, Edmond83 said:

Not sure what that says about the state of the show

To be honest I think it's saying they know they ran out of stories and should have stopped before now!  I always respected the people behind Everybody Loves Raymond who not only pulled the plug on the 9th season but made it a short season with a lot fewer episodes because they said they knew they were done.  Too bad the people behind BBT decided as long as the money was coming in they weren't going to stop.  I've been among those who've liked BBT (overall) in these last few years - with last year being especially good- but I concede that this year has been, to be kind, spotty at best.

Edited February 3, 2019 by CherryAmes

[AnnaRose]

4 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

To be honest I think it's saying they know they ran out of stories and should have stopped before now!  I a;ways respected the people behind Everybody Loves Raymond who not only pulled the plug on the 9th season but made it a short season with a lot fewer episodes because they said they knew they were done.  Too bad the people behind BBT decided as long as the money was coming in they weren't going to stop.  I've been among those who've liked BBT (overall) in these last few years - with last year being especially good- but I concede that this year has been, to be kind, spotty at best.

When they announced it I was sad because it seemed like they were still turning out funny, well-done episodes.  The last few have seemed sub-par though, I think, and I do wonder how much of that is because the writers are focused on lining up their next jobs at this point.   I think The Middle suffered from a big decline in its last season as well... probably for the same reason.

[msrachelj]

On 1/31/2019 at 8:37 PM, ams1001 said:

Older-woman-is-cranky-because-menopause jokes are always funny.

 

That's who that was!

off topic. but yeah. when and how did the many horrors of menopause become funny? this had to be started by a man. although i see many women poking fun at the symptoms. hormones, aging, becoming invisible et al. is not funny. pisses me off.

back on topic. this episode wasn't bad.i like stuart and denise. when they mentioned some kind of life, was it, inside the meteorite , i was like, no....you will kill it. so i understand stuart and denise's reaction.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

When they announced it I was sad because it seemed like they were still turning out funny, well-done episodes.  The last few have seemed sub-par though, I think, and I do wonder how much of that is because the writers are focused on lining up their next jobs at this point.   I think The Middle suffered from a big decline in its last season as well... probably for the same reason.

I was disappointed when the announcement was made but I also think the Jim Parsons was right that this is the time to end it. I am glad that we’re getting this season because I want them to wrap up Raj’s story. I just really hope the use the the last episodes to give Penny and Leonard a good ending.

Whenever I get too critical of a final season I remind myself of the disaster that was How I Met Your Mother. 

[theatremouse]

On 2/1/2019 at 4:12 PM, kariyaki said:

Meh, I don’t know a single person who submits a permit for a harmless deck. Most of my neighbors built new decks and I really doubt they got permits for it. 

I'm not in the same county as their house, but down here, there is no permit required for decks below 18" off the ground. I have been suppressing the urge to look up the code in LA but it annoyed me the whole episode that they brought the deck into it. It did not look high enough to need a permit at all. Depending on what they did to the bathroom remodel Sheldon referenced, that may also not have required permits. I mean, based on this episode we'd expect Sheldon to know the building code so if he said it did, presumably it did, but without more detail I'd venture the Walowitzes may not have needed permits for the type of work they did. Whereas a balcony would always require a permit.

[Katy M]

25 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

I'm not in the same county as their house, but down here, there is no permit required for decks below 18" off the ground. I have been suppressing the urge to look up the code in LA but it annoyed me the whole episode that they brought the deck into it. It did not look high enough to need a permit at all. Depending on what they did to the bathroom remodel Sheldon referenced, that may also not have required permits. I mean, based on this episode we'd expect Sheldon to know the building code so if he said it did, presumably it did, but without more detail I'd venture the Walowitzes may not have needed permits for the type of work they did. Whereas a balcony would always require a permit.

It doesn't matter what real-life LA requirements are.  Sheldon knows all the codes.  Why? Because he's Sheldon.  He wouldn't have told Howard and Bernadette they were supposed to have permits if they weren't.  Howard and Bernadette didn't come back with "we checked before building and we didn't need permits."  Therefore, I think it's safe to assume that in the BBT world, permits were required.

[theatremouse]

I get that, but I'm saying because I live in Southern California and have remodeled a house, the writers writing it that way took me out of the episode.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Anyone can report a code violation,  since it is a safety issue which theoretically could affect all citizens, but only the property owners who are encroached upon have standing to complain about encroachment, since that is a property rights issue that doesn't affect anyone else. Therefore,  if there was a permit for the balcony, any encroachment complaint would need to be filed by Howard or Bernadette.

If there was no permit for the balcony, making it a safety issue, then the zoning people should  certainly not reveal the identity of the person making the complaint.

Why did Leonard have to sleep on the couch? What happened to their second bedroom?

[Bort]

14 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Why did Leonard have to sleep on the couch? What happened to their second bedroom?

If there’s no bed in it, probably can’t sleep there.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

28 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

If there’s no bed in it, probably can’t sleep there.

Sure, but did they turn the bedroom into something else after Raj stayed there? You don't discard a bed for no reason. 

[shapeshifter]

15 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Sure, but did they turn the bedroom into something else after Raj stayed there? You don't discard a bed for no reason. 

Maybe it's their Penny's workout room.

--unless, as @Dani recalls below, it's still Sheldon's work room.

Edited February 4, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Sure, but did they turn the bedroom into something else after Raj stayed there? You don't discard a bed for no reason. 

It hasn’t been mentioned since but Sheldon is supposed to be renting his old room as a work space. 

Edited February 4, 2019 by Guest

[CherryAmes]

4 minutes ago, Dani said:

It hasn’t been mentioned since but Sheldon is supposed to be renting his old room as a work space. 

That's right!  I'd forgotten that.  I was just coming to post that Leonard was using it as a place to store all his collectibles but that pre-dates the episode where Sheldon rents the space.  OF course both these storylines never get mentioned again so who knows what the room actually contains.

[Bort]

17 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Sure, but did they turn the bedroom into something else after Raj stayed there? You don't discard a bed for no reason. 

Raj brought his own bed and took it when he left? As people have said above, there have been many other indications for the room’s usage that makes it seem like it doesn’t have a bed in it.

[marypat57]

16 hours ago, Dani said:

Whenever I get too critical of a final season I remind myself of the disaster that was How I Met Your Mother. 

After watching the series finale of HIMYM, I vowed never to watch another episode. It was awful.  If I remember, didn't the last season all take place during the same weekend?

[axlmadonna]

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 9:05 PM, Dani said:

I forgot about that one. It reminded me of when he organized Penny’s closet and found the battery operated chew toy. 

Let's not forget the bang-up job he did of reorganizing Howard & Bernadette's closet as well. And found the letter that Howard's dad had written him. That was one of the best episodes of this show, in my opinion.

 

On ‎2‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 8:18 AM, CherryAmes said:

To be honest I think it's saying they know they ran out of stories and should have stopped before now!  I always respected the people behind Everybody Loves Raymond who not only pulled the plug on the 9th season but made it a short season with a lot fewer episodes because they said they knew they were done.  Too bad the people behind BBT decided as long as the money was coming in they weren't going to stop.  I've been among those who've liked BBT (overall) in these last few years - with last year being especially good- but I concede that this year has been, to be kind, spotty at best.

Seinfeld famously made this choice as well, to go out on top. Although I would love to have had more, I'm glad I never saw them go downhill. (Plus, we got a pseudo-reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm... and it was great!)

 

20 hours ago, Dani said:

I am glad that we’re getting this season because I want them to wrap up Raj’s story. I just really hope the use the the last episodes to give Penny and Leonard a good ending.

I suspect it will end with a big Indian wedding, and that would be a really cool way to go out.

 

On a side note, contrary to ubiquitous representations on television and in movies, hot tub sex (and pool sex) are NOT sexy. It is awkward and uncomfortable because the water removes one's natural lubrication.

[chaifan]

On 2/1/2019 at 7:12 PM, kariyaki said:

Meh, I don’t know a single person who submits a permit for a harmless deck. Most of my neighbors built new decks and I really doubt they got permits for it. 

But who the hell builds a second floor balcony that overlooks the neighbors’ backyard and installs a giant motion triggered spotlight to shine on them? That’s weird. And creepy. 

Who the hell doesn't notice a second floor balcony that will overlook your backyard being built?  Those don't go up in a day.  It's like the balcony itself was the surprise, not the giant flood light. 

I agree with most other comments - this episode was rather dull, and with just 10 episodes left a filler episode isn't necessary. 

[Bort]

2 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Who the hell doesn't notice a second floor balcony that will overlook your backyard being built?  Those don't go up in a day.  It's like the balcony itself was the surprise, not the giant flood light. 

I got the impression that it wasn't that they didn't notice, but that they weren't bothered by it until the spotlight went in. And if that were the case, if I were them I would've gone over there and put out the ultimatum that either the spotlight goes, or they report the encroachment and the whole thing has to come down. They probably would've just taken the light down.

It's best to avoid bad feelings as much as possible -- it's neighbors and you've got to live next to those people. Because if the neighbors figure out that Howard and Bernadette are responsible for the report and they know that their deck was also built without needed permits, I bet they tattle on them really damn fast.

[Deskisamess]

On 2/1/2019 at 6:43 PM, ams1001 said:

When I worked in a bookstore I had a woman come in to pick up something she had put on hold. The person who answered her call hadn't gotten it up to the cashwrap yet and while we were waiting for them to bring it up she was coughing all over my counter. Then she off-handedly mentioned that the book was something her daughter needed for school, and she was waiting in the car because she had mono. 😷 I broke out the Lysol as soon as she left.

A few years back I worked part-time in a hair salon, doing receptionist work. One of the reps came every two weeks, and checked stock and got an order together. Sometimes he would use the salon phone at the back to call a rush order in. So he came in one morning, and proceeded to tell us all about how his stomach and bowels had been upset earlier that day, and how many times he had to rush to the bathroom. All this while walking around handling stock, and then using the phone.

I grabbed the alcohol spray they used and pretty much followed him around, while he was oblivious to how gross he was being talking about it AND spreading his germs all over the place.

How can anyone not get how wrong that is? A customer called once to see if it was ok to keep her appointment even though she and her family had all been down with the flu. Her stylist was 7 months pregnant at the time, so I told her no, that would not be ok. I asked if she wanted the pregnant stylist to get sick, and she said  "I didn't think about that."  Clueless.

[Aliconehead]

My employee is at work sick right now. I don’t work mondays so not a problem for me.  He called my mother (who also works there) to not come I. But my mom is in the middle of chemo and now I have to go and spray down the whole office so she does not get sick. To say I am pissed is an understatement. If you are sick STAY HOME. 

[Katy M]

28 minutes ago, Aliconehead said:

My employee is at work sick right now. I don’t work mondays so not a problem for me.  He called my mother (who also works there) to not come I. But my mom is in the middle of chemo and now I have to go and spray down the whole office so she does not get sick. To say I am pissed is an understatement. If you are sick STAY HOME. 

My sister was telling me she had a friend who called in sick and he got written up. He looked in the employee manual and found that it said right in there if you call in sick you'll be written up and fired after 3 write ups.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

27 minutes ago, Katy M said:

My sister was telling me she had a friend who called in sick and he got written up. He looked in the employee manual and found that it said right in there if you call in sick you'll be written up and fired after 3 write ups.

Yes, I definitely believe that employees should stay home when they’re sick, but it’s on employers to make sure they have the ability by making sure there are reasonable sick days and policies. I used to work at a hospital, and HR wouldn’t let me call out for the week when I had pneumonia. I had to call every day, and every day they tried to convince me to come in. 

[Katy M]

5 minutes ago, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

Yes, I definitely believe that employees should stay home when they’re sick, but it’s on employers to make sure they have the ability by making sure there are reasonable sick days and policies. I used to work at a hospital, and HR wouldn’t let me call out for the week when I had pneumonia. I had to call every day, and every day they tried to convince me to come in. 

That actually reminds me of one time when I was working somewhere and someone called in sick and then came in the next day. Our supervisor told him (or her, I don't remember) that they should come in and the company would determine whether they should be sent home.  I remember thinking "forget that.  I live 40 minutes away and I'm not driving here feeling like crap the whole time just for you to send me home."  Luckily I only worked there 10 months and didn't ever need to call in, but I thought that was incredibly ridiculous for a company where they know darn well a lot of the employees didn't live locally. 

[Bort]

Ok ok, the sickie stories need to go into the Small Talk topic, please.

[hnygrl]

8 hours ago, marypat57 said:

Whenever I get too critical of a final season I remind myself of the disaster that was How I Met Your Mother. 

 

8 hours ago, marypat57 said:

After watching the series finale of HIMYM, I vowed never to watch another episode. It was awful.  If I remember, didn't the last season all take place during the same weekend?

When I read this? 

 

There's this visual in my head of the writers, producers, directors, etc. all saying "hold my beer..."

[Guest]

14 hours ago, marypat57 said:

After watching the series finale of HIMYM, I vowed never to watch another episode. It was awful.  If I remember, didn't the last season all take place during the same weekend?

Yes it did. I had the same reaction to that series finale. 

Edited February 5, 2019 by Guest

[MissLucas]

HIMYM crashed so badly because the creators had defined an end-point for the show from the get-go (the scene with the kids had to be taped before they were grown-up) and when the narrative had outgrown their vision they did not adapt it. Nothing indicates that this show is heading a similar path. 

[LoneHaranguer]

22 hours ago, kariyaki said:

It's best to avoid bad feelings as much as possible -- it's neighbors and you've got to live next to those people. Because if the neighbors figure out that Howard and Bernadette are responsible for the report and they know that their deck was also built without needed permits, I bet they tattle on them really damn fast.

Bernie said that they left the permits up to her father, and Sheldon assumed the worst. We don't know that Mike didn't get them.

[trudysmom]

I was distracted the entire episode by Leonard's hair.  What the heck, he and Raj had the same stylist, because in the same scene together, they looked the same.  Weird.  I liked Sheldon not ratting out Howard about the deck, especially considering their history.  But hey, Sheldon't grown up (finally).

[rmontro]

On 2/2/2019 at 9:56 AM, shapeshifter said:

Well, in Leonard's case, blaming the mother is the trope, so I guess he is either rebelling against Beverly's admonishments, or maybe she perversely encouraged him to "let out" the sneezes. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Leonard was rebelling against both his mother AND Sheldon when it comes to his nasty sneezing ways.

[Winston Wolfe]

On 2/3/2019 at 3:51 PM, Dani said:

Whenever I get too critical of a final season I remind myself of the disaster that was How I Met Your Mother. 

Yeah that was rough.  The last 2-3 seasons of HIMYM basically ruined what should have been an all-time, top ten sitcom.  I read where most of that cast wanted to come back for one more season and CBS nixed the idea.  BBT has been running on fumes for the last two years also, occasionally cranking out a good episode.

Edited February 6, 2019 by Winston Wolfe

[wendyg]

BBT, unlike HIMYM, was substantially reinvented in the course of its run. Chuck Lorre credits Steve Molaro with opening up the show in directions he wouldn't have thought of. The addition of Amy and Bernadette definitely made the show less funny to me, but without them BBT would have cratered long ago, and Amy's and Sheldon's relationship for a long time was unique on TV. HIMYM never took that approach: it just kept recycling the original premise and cast of characters. MOM, similarly, is a very different show than it was at the beginning.

btw, the first instance of menopause symptoms in a sitcom that I can recall was in CYBILL, I think while Lorre was still in charge of it. Maude, on MAUDE, thought she was menopausal but in fact she was pregnant.

[Katy M]

43 minutes ago, wendyg said:

btw, the first instance of menopause symptoms in a sitcom that I can recall was in CYBILL, I think while Lorre was still in charge of it. Maude, on MAUDE, thought she was menopausal but in fact she was pregnant.

On the Golden Girls, Blanche thought she was pregnant, but was in fast menopausal.

[possibilities]

I think Edith Bunker went through menopause on All In The Family.

[Kerri Okie]

On 2/3/2019 at 5:15 AM, Edmond83 said:

Stuart/Denise, Stunice? I think has carried a lot of episodes this season. Not sure what that says about the state of the show...

Probably not going to happen, but I've wondered if they could be setting up a Stuart/Denise spin off, although more likely that everyone just gets a happy ending.