S12.E19: The Inspiration Deprivation

[Bort]

Quote

The concept of what it would mean for women everywhere if Amy were to win a Nobel Prize causes Amy to have a meltdown. Also, Raj and Howard try to relive the good old days after Howard buys a scooter that looks like the one he had years ago.

Airdate: Thursday, April 18, 2019

[Spartan Girl]

Loved seeing Regina King return as the head of HR. Her scene with her and Amy sneaking a drink in the office was great.

Aww, Sheldon singing Soft Kitty to Amy.

[Chit Chat]

Sheldon finally learned that sometimes a woman just wants her man to listen to her.  She doesn't necessarily want him to solve the problem, but to be there to listen to her and offer a hug.  

I can understand why Bernadette was upset about Howard buying the scooter, but she's become such a shrew about things.  Him cowering and handing the money back to her was very emasculating.

Mr. Chat did something similar a long time ago.  I calmly stated my fears for him riding that big motorcycle, but given time, he got tired of it and sold it.  Bernadette should've let him have his fun, then I have no doubt the novelty would've worn off and it would've been parked in the garage. 

And to Lorre and his vanity cards, after promising in the beginning of the season not to get political, well, I wish you'd quit your bitching and whining on them.  You're coming off as a big 'ole crybaby.  I know, don't read them.  I read them in case there's anything pertinent to the show that I don't want to miss.   He does have an amusing one (non-political) from time to time. 

[shapeshifter]

I've lost track of how many show boards on which I posted this, but, once again:
Everything is better with Regina King.

[Yeah No]

Only 5 episodes left to the series and the only plot they're moving forward with is the Nobel prize.  And Sheldon is showing some signs of real growth.  Otherwise it's business as usual.  I hate it when shows do that then wrap everything up neatly  in the last 5 minutes of the final episode.

Would be nice if Bernadette gifted Howard back the scooter in the final episode to show that there's some hope for her and their relationship for the future.  But I won't hold my breath.

[Mystery]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I've lost track of how many show boards on which I posted this, but, once again:
Everything is better with Regina King.

Preach. I knew she'd have "something stronger"! She's wonderful. 

34 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

Would be nice if Bernadette gifted Howard back the scooter in the final episode to show that there's some hope for her and their relationship for the future.  But I won't hold my breath.

Yeah, she's really been diminished. 

I don't like the way the show is handling this storyline. Surely the scientific community would be interested in getting the correct information about who deserves s a Nobel. Especially when only 3 people can get it, and one will be left out. I can't believe that even in that social setting, some scientist wouldn't have said "Let's settle this right now!" and asked some hard questions. Instead, we get the usual crap about women being too emotional to work in the hard sciences. 

[hnygrl]

I kept waiting for Sheldon to do something dickish...even counting down...3..2...1..awwww he’s holding her and stroking her hair! Get ready,won’t last. He’s gonna say something dickish in 3...2..awww soft kitty!!! What’s happening???

I hated seeing Howard so emasculated. It was just so damn sad.  Why’d they have to make him marry his mom?

From the previews looks like Leonard quit his job. Interesting....

Edited April 19, 2019 by hnygrl

[Browncoat]

Sheldon should have also offered Amy a hot beverage.

[Frost]

Not even a mention of Anu.  There could of been a line dropped in when Howard and Raj were talking about the scooter.  Just to make sure the audience remembers her!  Especially if that is the end-line for Raj's story.

Loved Sheldon crooning Soft Kitty to Amy.  Is this the first time Sheldon has sung it to someone other than Penny?  And that was under duress!

I love Regina King's HR Manager, but shaming Amy as blowing her chance to be a role model for a world wide cohort of girls that will now have no one to look up to was a low blow.  I would think Cal Tech would be strongly defending the work of their scientists, not standing by silently while others basically co-opt their work.  Especially when a Nobel is in the mix.  I know, I know.  Sit com!  Not real life!  I was glad Amy got to stand up for herself at the end of the episode. 

I want both her and Sheldon to be able to defend their work and earn the Nobel, not have some comedy hi-jinks that result in them getting it over the other guys.

[Bort]

4 minutes ago, Frost said:

I love Regina King's HR Manager, but shaming Amy as blowing her chance to be a role model for a world wide cohort of girls that will now have no one to look up to was a low blow.

She (Janine?) didn't say that. She repeated what Siebert said about how they were blowing their chance at a Nobel. And pointed out to Amy that she'd be a role model if she won, but that whole part about girls having no one to look up to was from Amy's psyche in the deprivation tank.

I liked Howard's HR tips from his past with the inappropriate comments. He really has come so far.

[Magnumfangirl]

Boring episode.  

[shapeshifter]

30 minutes ago, Magnumfangirl said:

Boring episode.  

Except for Regina King? (HR lady)

[Bronzedog]

This show is going out like The Middle did.  Badly.  Weeks and weeks of repeats and then an occasional lousy new episode.  By the time it ends, no one is going to care.

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, Frost said:

Loved Sheldon crooning Soft Kitty to Amy.  Is this the first time Sheldon has sung it to someone other than Penny?  And that was under duress!

He and Penny once sang it "in the round."  I think it was an early episode when she threw her shoulder out while in the tub.  He took her to the hospital and then tucked her into bed when they got home.  I'm pretty sure it was that episode.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong!  

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, Bronzedog said:

This show is going out like The Middle did.  Badly.  Weeks and weeks of repeats and then an occasional lousy new episode.  By the time it ends, no one is going to care.

I was thinking the same thing.  They wasted the Middle's final season on meaningless fluff, then at the very end did some half-assed wrapping up that left fans feeling let down.

[snarkylady]

Somehow I thought that Mrs Davis had been moved (promoted?) from HR, perhaps to a dean or some other academic position.   No? 

[iMonrey]

Quote

Sheldon should have also offered Amy a hot beverage.

That's for when you have guests. 🙂

Quote

This show is going out like The Middle did.  Badly.  Weeks and weeks of repeats and then an occasional lousy new episode.  By the time it ends, no one is going to care.

The only through-line seems to be this Nobel prize. Leonard and Penny have been playing second banana to Sheldon and Amy for a long time now. It's really a shame the writers have no interest in giving them a story of their own. Howard and Bernadette have more of a presence on this show than Leonard and Penny do. It's weird. It's like Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco did something to piss the writers off so they aren't giving them any material. Kind of like what Shonda Rhimes does to her characters when she thinks the actors have dissed her somehow.

[LoneHaranguer]

31 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

He and Penny once sang it "in the round."  I think it was an early episode when she threw her shoulder out while in the tub.  He took her to the hospital and then tucked her into bed when they got home.  I'm pretty sure it was that episode.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

Yes, The Adhesive Duck Deficiency. TBS just reran it the night before last,

35 minutes ago, snarkylady said:

Somehow I thought that Mrs Davis had been moved (promoted?) from HR, perhaps to a dean or some other academic position.   No? 

She became Dean of HR. From what we've seen, it looks like it was just a title change with a higher salary, rather than actually moving up within the organization.

[Capricasix]

I haven’t watched show in a long time...when did Bernadette become a screeching harpy? She’s just like Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond now.

[snarkylady]

16 minutes ago, LoneHaranguer said:

She became Dean of HR. From what we've seen, it looks like it was just a title change with a higher salary, rather than actually moving up within the organization.

Thanks....I worked at a college where they didn't have such a position.  Usually a dean is ancademic and HR is administrative.  Since this is a sitcom what they did is just fine.

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, ChitChat said:

He and Penny once sang it "in the round."  I think it was an early episode when she threw her shoulder out while in the tub.  He took her to the hospital and then tucked her into bed when they got home.  I'm pretty sure it was that episode.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong!  

Yep, and she was high on pain meds. 

[MissLucas]

Oh give them the Nobel prize already - so that we can finally have an episode that's not more or less eaten alive by this plot.* I love Regina Hill and I'm glad she was invited for a final episode (I guess). But could we give one of the other main players a decent episode? And by that I don't mean another variation of 'Bernie crushes Howard's balls to dust once again'.

*I don't think they deserve the Nobel prize (although Amy deserves tons of awards for putting up with Sheldon) but I've resigned myself to the idea that TPTB want to go there. But this is the final season and they're wasting way too much time on this.

Edited April 19, 2019 by MissLucas

[HurricaneVal]

I think part of that "Soft Kitty" bit there at the end was some improv or near-blooper that they decided to leave in.  I think the scene was supposed to end after the first verse, but then Mayim Bialik murmured "That's nice..." and still half in character, Jim Parsons quietly admonishes "Shhh.  I'm singing" and keeps going into a second verse.  Mayim then starts silently giggling and it looks like Jim is going to lose it, then they fade to black.  

I've never been to a taping of this show (or any other show, ever) but as a viewer, part of the fun is how all the actors all seem to be enjoying their jobs and working off each other.  Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Mayim Bialik, and Simon Helberg in particular all occasionally seem to be right on the verge of busting out of character and cracking up.  Kaley most of all, but it works with her character as being kind of an observer of this nerd culture.  I wonder if this is all just for show, or if they're all really like that.  Has anyone here been to a taping, and can comment on that?

[biakbiak]

I get it makes sense for the show but I am going to be fucking annoyed if Sheldon and Amy win the Nobel Prize. 

[SmithW6079]

7 hours ago, Capricasix said:

I haven’t watched show in a long time...when did Bernadette become a screeching harpy? She’s just like Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond now.

Shortly after she and Howard started dating seriously. It's only gotten worse and they've expanded her emasculating behavior toward her husband to a general all-around shrew who relentlessly bullies everyone in her orbit.

[Winston Wolfe]

6 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

I've never been to a taping of this show (or any other show, ever) but as a viewer, part of the fun is how all the actors all seem to be enjoying their jobs and working off each other.  Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Mayim Bialik, and Simon Helberg in particular all occasionally seem to be right on the verge of busting out of character and cracking up.

I've never been to a taping, but it does seem that on more than one occasion Simon has had Johnny on the verge of breaking character with unplanned laughter.

[LoneHaranguer]

7 hours ago, snarkylady said:

Usually a dean is ancademic and HR is administrative.

If you had enough students getting academic credit as well as a paycheck for their work (e.g. lab/research positions) a college could potentially put HR on the academic side. CalTech hasn't IRL.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

11 hours ago, Capricasix said:

I haven’t watched show in a long time...when did Bernadette become a screeching harpy? She’s just like Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond now.

Shortly after she and Howard started dating seriously.

I thought it started when Howard's mom was in the hospital, and, IIRC, that was when Bernie met his mom for the first time, and came out of her room talking with the same voice. No?
 

[sigmaforce86]

13 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I get it makes sense for the show but I am going to be fucking annoyed if Sheldon and Amy win the Nobel Prize. 

I'm trying to decide, and it's the only thing that makes me curious about watching through to the end (not that 5 more episodes is a terrible burden).  Some shows you see the wrap up coming but not this plot line as far as I can tell.  Either they win, their theory wins but one or both of them is shut out by the other science team or, they totally lose to another nominee.  An outlier possibility, interesting but unlikely- they're forced to share the nomination with the other team and Sheldon bows out to let Amy be the third nominee.

The interesting part for me is to Sheldon this is just an expected part of his career, his character has always believed he'd win a nobel prize it was just a matter of time so he doesn't see the nomination as a surprise and he fully expects to win.  Losing would be a blow because even with the other team challenging them I don't think he really believes he can lose; stepping aside of his own free will would be huge growth arc for the character.

At this point though I'm not sure the writers can or will come up with a unique resolution.   It's like the Raj and Anu story which they seem to have just dropped; even though they had the whole season to plan an ending for each character they seem to be taking the easy way out no shakeups or twists.  Maybe they're saving it for the last few episodes but the way they've been going I'm not going to get my hopes up.  

[shapeshifter]

46 minutes ago, sigmaforce86 said:

. . . It's like the Raj and Anu story which they seem to have just dropped; . . .

I agree with your entire post^ with regards to the possible ways the Nobel arc may play out, @sigmaforce86, and also the Anu arc — which I think parallels the Nobel arc even more than you describe — likely because TBBT arcs have kind of fallen into a comfortable pattern — like a favorite pair of shoes, as Sheldon might say. That is, with Anu being a relative latecomer to the show who doesn't warrant (or is not contracted to have) appearances in (or even mention) the entire season, likely Raj will just reveal in passing that either it didn't work out (and maybe that she is marrying someone else), or he will announce they got married by a Justice of the Peace because of their friends and families having already spent a fortune on the non-wedding.

Edited April 20, 2019 by shapeshifter

[wknt3]

17 hours ago, snarkylady said:

Thanks....I worked at a college where they didn't have such a position.  Usually a dean is ancademic and HR is administrative.  Since this is a sitcom what they did is just fine.

9 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

If you had enough students getting academic credit as well as a paycheck for their work (e.g. lab/research positions) a college could potentially put HR on the academic side. CalTech hasn't IRL.

I've always thought of a dean as an academic administrator. And different institutions use the title differently. In some it's only for faculty academic leadership. Some hand it out pretty freely, using it in place of director for any management/admin position that involves faculty/students. I agree that for a sitcom it's fine especially if it just means she's now in charge of faculty/research HR. There must be a  large academic HR staff to manage given that this is a sitcom fictional university that hires huge numbers of scientists to just do research or theorize with no teaching responsibilities!

[ctlady]

My take-away from this episode: if Amy doesn’t win the Nobel, then women everywhere will be destined for a life of servitude as wives, mothers and bakers.  As a woman with a great job ( who can also miraculously juggle a husband and baking) I sometimes find these female empowerment PSA nuggets quite teeth grinding 

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, ctlady said:

My take-away from this episode: if Amy doesn’t win the Nobel, then women everywhere will be destined for a life of servitude as wives, mothers and bakers.

I don't know why they didn't have either Penny or Bernadette offer some words of support to Amy along the lines of "Sure, you lost your cool for a moment, but your research and work speak for itself.  It's out of your hands anyway.  It's up to the committee to decide,  so find other ways to reach out to young women (if you want to) and help them get interested in science."  Penny is usually the one with the common sense advice, so I wish they would've had her help Amy in that instance. 

I was really hoping that these last episodes would introduce us to Leonard's siblings, but I'm losing hope that that will happen.  I'd love to see one last appearance by  Sheldon's Mom.  I love her character.  Of course I'd like a resolution with Raj & Anu.  It's odd that they aren't even mentioning her now.  I liked her!  Please show, don't disappoint us now!!

[EtheltoTillie]

Just one of the worst episodes ever.  I really did not care about those sensory deprivation tank visions. 

[Trey]

2 hours ago, GussieK said:

I really did not care about those sensory deprivation tank visions. 

They did it better on The Simpsons.

Loved seeing Regina King again, and that she brought out the "something stronger" for Amy:)

The scooter plot was terrible - only saving grace was that Bert met an emergency room nurse and they exchanged phone numbers.

[Lady J]

On 4/19/2019 at 12:51 PM, Capricasix said:

I haven’t watched show in a long time...when did Bernadette become a screeching harpy? She’s just like Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond now.

But look what they have to work with, man children.

[thosme]

The scooter made me laugh because I  flashed back to Sheldon riding behind Howard and the horror on his face.

[Sarah 103]

I liked "Soft Kitty." I saw it coming, but I still thought it was sweet. 

[MaryMitch]

1 hour ago, thosme said:

The scooter made me laugh because I  flashed back to Sheldon riding behind Howard and the horror on his face.

I remember the first time I drove a scooter - I drove it straight into a hedge. They don't handle like a bicycle!

[SpiritSong]

3 hours ago, thosme said:

The scooter made me laugh because I  flashed back to Sheldon riding behind Howard and the horror on his face.

Yeah, back when BBT was actually funny. I'm so glad they rerun this on multiple stations.

[Wanda]

Brilliant strategy by the show runners. Parse the new episodes out sporadically so no momentum can grow Nd even better, make the storylines boring and only about the Nobel prize theme, something that’s infuriating. I can’t be the only person annoyed by Kal Penn (whom I normally adore) and Sean Astin being jackasses who have done nothing to win such a prestigious scientific award? This is funny? I want to see Anu and Raj now that they are actually trying to have a earl relationship (I thought). Will Penny end up staying in the job she hates? The wolowitzes are pretty well done. What about Stuart and Denise? I’m bored with Amy and Sheldon and I used to watch this show for Amy.

[wendyg]

On 4/19/2019 at 4:57 PM, iMonrey said:

It's like Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco did something to piss the writers off so they aren't giving them any material. Kind of like what Shonda Rhimes does to her characters when she thinks the actors have dissed her somehow.

More likely it's just that the people running the show now are more attuned to/intersted in the characters and couples they had more to do with creating. Leonard and Penny were the original show. After Steve Molaro took over as showrunner the focus shifted. Lorre credits Molaro for opening the show out and making its long run possible. (I still prefer the early seasons even though I think Amy and Sheldon are a highly original TV coupling.)

[Whimsy]

On 4/19/2019 at 9:39 AM, Frost said:

Not even a mention of Anu.  There could of been a line dropped in when Howard and Raj were talking about the scooter.  Just to make sure the audience remembers her!  Especially if that is the end-line for Raj's story.

Loved Sheldon crooning Soft Kitty to Amy.  Is this the first time Sheldon has sung it to someone other than Penny?  And that was under duress!

I love Regina King's HR Manager, but shaming Amy as blowing her chance to be a role model for a world wide cohort of girls that will now have no one to look up to was a low blow.  I would think Cal Tech would be strongly defending the work of their scientists, not standing by silently while others basically co-opt their work.  Especially when a Nobel is in the mix.  I know, I know.  Sit com!  Not real life!  I was glad Amy got to stand up for herself at the end of the episode. 

I want both her and Sheldon to be able to defend their work and earn the Nobel, not have some comedy hi-jinks that result in them getting it over the other guys.

On 4/19/2019 at 12:37 PM, LoneHaranguer said:

Yes, The Adhesive Duck Deficiency. TBS just reran it the night before last,

She became Dean of HR. From what we've seen, it looks like it was just a title change with a higher salary, rather than actually moving up within the organization.

On 4/20/2019 at 6:34 AM, wknt3 said:

I've always thought of a dean as an academic administrator. And different institutions use the title differently. In some it's only for faculty academic leadership. Some hand it out pretty freely, using it in place of director for any management/admin position that involves faculty/students. I agree that for a sitcom it's fine especially if it just means she's now in charge of faculty/research HR. There must be a  large academic HR staff to manage given that this is a sitcom fictional university that hires huge numbers of scientists to just do research or theorize with no teaching responsibilities!

I work for a medical school.  It seems we have a gazillion Associate & Assistant Dean's.  There are three schools (the medical school, graduate school of nursing and graduate school of biomedical science) on our campus, so there are only three actual Dean's but there's lots of "under" Dean's.  For the HR, though, it falls under the Chancellor's office and she is an Associate Vice Chancellor, but she doesn't handle the actual day-to-day HR stuff.  So, I guess it just depends on the institution for the titles.  And, also this is TV.  😉

But, we also have a nobel prize winner and it's a HUGE deal.  So, I agree that CalTech would be fighting for their faculty to get it. 

[LoneHaranguer]

On 4/20/2019 at 10:30 PM, Wanda said:

Will Penny end up staying in the job she hates?

Does she hate it? She was apprehensive about taking her new position, but seems to have embraced it, and it doesn't involve doing what she said she hated about her old job there.

[Homily]

3 minutes ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Does she hate it? She was apprehensive about taking her new position, but seems to have embraced it, and it doesn't involve doing what she said she hated about her old job there.

Unless she's said something recently I get the impression Penny is pretty happy with her job now.  I really disliked the scenes a few weeks ago when she was browbeating her team and channelling her inner Bernadette but based on that episode at least you do get the feeling she likes feeling that she's good at her job and has made her peace with it.

[nx74defiant]

Loved when after the HR lady just repeated what the Dean said, and Amy states you just repeated what he said.

Then the HR women said, "Yes, but I said it in my soothing HR voice"

[proserpina65]

Bernadette used to be one of my favorite characters, but she was an absolute emasculating bitch in this episode.  Yes, Howard probably shouldn't have bought the scooter without telling her.  Still, he is an adult who makes his own money, and it was just a stupid scooter.  Plenty of people with children do things way more dangerous than riding scooters.  And then to demand all the money he got when he sold it to Burt - that was so unnecessary.

[ProfCrash]

I don't like the way that Bernadette treats Howard most of the time but there is no way in hell Howard should be buying a scooter without consulting Bernadette. Ignoring the safety issues, a scooter costs a good amount of money. Each family can figure out how they run their accounts, but Bernadette and Howard seem to have a joint account which means that larger purchases need to be coordinated.

Howard is impulsive with their money and buys stupid shit, see the 3D printer and now the Scooter. That is a several thousand dollar purchase, minimum. I can get why Bernadette would be annoyed with him.

Bernadette knows who she married, a Mama's boy with impulse control who is kind of stuck in his early teen years. Howard has a good degree and holds a job of some sort, I am not sure what that job is. He has been to space but we have never heard of him being promoted at his job or advancing in any real way. Knowing that, Bernadette married Howard and I think she gets that she has to be the responsible one financially.

For all that Howard has accomplished, he is still a Mama's boy who wants someone to take care of him. Maybe if he more legitimately stepped up to the plate and accepted like a fiscally responsible adult he would feel more like an equal, instead he acts like a teenager trying to hide crap from his Mom.

That said, Howard seems to be a good Dad and he loves Bernadette. Their dynamic is weird but that is because one of the two is not fully on board with some of the sacrifices you make as an adult. And Bernadette could probably bend a bit but that would be easier if Howard approached these things as a conversation and not a "I am thumbing my nose at my Mom substitute."

Seriously, the Howard Bernadette dynamic is not that different then the Howard and his Mom dynamic. Which both Howard and Bernadette knew when they got married and had to agree to, even if it was implicitly.

The only time Howard pouts is when he can't buy a 3D printer or a scooter.

[LoneHaranguer]

30 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Howard has a good degree and holds a job of some sort, I am not sure what that job is. He has been to space but we have never heard of him being promoted at his job or advancing in any real way

Howard is an engineer, and based on the types of things for which he's been responsible, he's at the top of his profession. To "advance" he'd have to leave what he likes doing, although he could probably make more money if he left the university for a job at a big company.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

Bernadette knows who she married, a Mama's boy with impulse control who is kind of stuck in his early teen years. Howard has a good degree and holds a job of some sort, I am not sure what that job is. He has been to space but we have never heard of him being promoted at his job or advancing in any real way. Knowing that, Bernadette married Howard and I think she gets that she has to be the responsible one financially.

We’ve never seen him advancing because he started the show already at the top of his field. He’s a NASA engineer and in the real world his salary would be low six figures. 

Bernadette’s actions make sense for the characters but I still hate that this is the direction the show decided to take for them. The Henpecked Husband trope is one of the least creative choices they could have made.