Nothing against the holidays, but they sure do mess up my television watching addiction habits! After all, the last new episode of The Big Bang Theory was the New Year’s show which aired before Christmas. So I was ready, pumped and all but wearing my Sheldon-esque t-shirt over a long-sleeve shirt to watch this one. I believe I was even a bit giddy. But let’s not go there. They didn’t let me down.
Having just the five original characters with no romantic interests was just the icing on the cake. Well, there was a veiled reference to the repressed gay relationship between Howard and Raj, but that doesn’t count. I wouldn’t call it a romance, would you? Just a fitting relationship!
Leonard came up with an idea for a new app which would be able to read, store, identify and do other mystical and magical things with equations. I personally don’t see a big market for it, but it is definitely the sort of thing the boys would create. Sheldon, being Sheldon, tried to take over the project and ended up getting booted from it.
That’s the gist of the episode. It doesn’t sound all that interesting on the surface. But the way Sheldon reacted to getting booted — breaking out his theremin first to disrupt the work process, then to sulk while singing “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” — was perfect for the situation. I don’t believe I’ve heard a television character sing that song since Peter Brady sang it on The Brady Bunch. Then there were the bus pants. I love the idea! Pants you wear over your regular pants when taking public transportation because he thought Leonard wouldn’t give him rides to work anymore.
Penny first tried to be nice to Sheldon. But with him still being Super Sulky Pants Sheldon, she just couldn’t do it any longer. Despite his intelligence level, the dude is way too gullible. Penny got him to apologize to Leonard under the guise that it would all be sarcasm. It only worked to a point, then he got booted again from the LenWoloPali Project.
So, in the end, he ended up driving Penny crazy as she went about making her own app. Now, her app I could see being a big seller — using the camera in a phone to identify shoes and getting lowest local prices on them. I wouldn’t personally go for either the equation app or the shoe one, but hers would be a lot more marketable.
Gosh, it’s good to have my Thursday night TV shows on once again! Do you think it was a nice reprieve without romantic partners on the show? Oh, there was Raj’s dream of matching mansions with a tunnel leading from Howard’s front yard to Raj’s backyard. But that couldn’t mean anything … could it?
Clacked by Jackie Schnoop 
on Jan 06, 2011 @ 21:27 EST5EDT
I’ve had Howard’s conversation with his mother about how to use a computer far too many times with my own family.
I think I’m officially over Penny as a character. Granted, she hasn’t been on the show a lot this season because of her injury, but when she has, she’s just been so negative. When the guys questioned this week why she hangs out with them, her best answer was they give her free stuff. I know it was part of the joke, but I’m starting to wonder about that myself.
Also, sometimes a tunnel is just a tunnel.