The Big Bang Theory: The Grasshopper Experiment

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @8:30PM ON CBS

Tonight on "The Big Bang Theory" Raj speaks! Okay, so it doesn't sound all that interesting upon first glance but if you've been watching the show all season you know that this is actually a VERY big deal. See the thing is that Raj (as one of the nerds) has always been able to talk to his friends and family but never to women, especially beautiful women. Needless to say this makes scenes with Penny quite interesting as she tends to talk while he sits there looking frightened. Anyway, last night Penny told everyone she started bar tending and wanted to practice mixing drinks for the group. Raj, however, had never had a drink before in his life and low and behold the grasshopper Penny made him was some sort of magic talking elixir. Raj immediately began talking to Penny and couldn't shut up! It was amazing and actually funny since he started talking to her like they'd been friends for 20 years.

What was funny about Raj's transformation was that his usual nice, calm demeanor turned into a truth telling ass. His parents, who were broadcasting themselves from India to his laptop, set him up on a date with a girl he knew when he was younger back home. Given his issues with speaking to women, Raj decided Penny's cocktails were a necessary addition to his date so he wouldn't look like a complete moron. Sadly, the fact that he also tells the truth got him into a lot of trouble; although funny for us to watch. You could tell the date wasn't going to end well when he constantly reinforced the fact that his date used to be very, very fat. Even Leonard and Sheldon knew this was horrible as they watched from the bar.

Interestingly though, Sheldon actually has some skills of his own. Granted he was utterly clueless about his flirting but nonetheless he actually said the right thing for once. I knew it would happen someday. I was actually pretty impressed with his smooth taking ways as he explained to Raj's date that she reminded him of a beautiful and elegant fictional Hindu goddess. This apparently swept her off her feet and she ditched Raj to go have dinner with Sheldon. Now, you're probably saying to yourself, "no way, Sheldon always screws things up. This can't possibly be the end of the story." Oh how right you are. The guy has a great date with great conversation but somehow it completely eluded him that he was even on a date to begin with! Sheldon explained it to him and yet he still had no idea he had just been on a date. Oh well, it's pretty obvious at this point that although Sheldon is brilliant he's extremely immature. Somewhere along the way he became so immersed in his own intellect that he forgot to grow up. Personally I love his humor and innocent sarcasm but at times you have to wonder how much longer he can go on this way.

I also think the animosity between Penny and Sheldon is one of the stronger points of the show. Their back and forth jabs are extremely comical. For instance, this exchange took place last night between them:

Sheldon (arriving late to Penny's restaurant for her first night bar tending): "Sorry I'm late"

Penny: "What happened?"
Sheldon: " Nothing...I just really didn't want to come."

A quick mention about Howard before I wrap up. His quick interjections of inappropriate sexual humor has become a stable of the show and very funny, especially when Penny shuts him down completely. For instance, she asked him what he wanted to drink and he asked for a slippery nipple Penny replied with a quick, "okay you're cut off." They've become very funny together as she does whatever she can to ignore basically everything that comes out of his mouth. He was especially funny tonight when he impersonated Raj on the phone with his date. His Indian accent mixed with American slang was brilliant.
Tonight's episode was amazing and if you stuck around for the end you saw something we'll probably never see again, a drunk Sheldon singing Fiddler on the Roof in the restaurant! Penny secretly spiked his Virgin Cuba Libre (rum & diet coke). He's a really awful singer and even worse if it's Fiddler on the Roof but fantastically hilarious. Until next week, matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match...

The Big Bang Theory: The Dumpling Paradox

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8:30PM ON CBS

As the title of this episode suggests, dumplings played a big role in tonights episode. Well, not exactly although it played a role. Wolowitz took advantage of the loose pants on Penny's sort-of friend who was staying at her apartment to get laid. She totally used him to buy her things but he didn't care so long as he got to have sex with her. And to be honest I don't blame him, did you see her? She was gorgeous! Anyway, while Wolowitz spent the episode with Kristy the other three guys wanted to play the new Halo 3 video game. Except Sheldon, in his usual OCD manner, couldn't play with just three because you needed four players for even teams.

This led to the "Dumpling Paradox." Sheldon, Leonard and Koothrappali went to their usual Chinese Restaurant except Sheldon couldn't order the dumplings. It was tradition to order them except they came in fours and without Wolowitz they couldn't be divided evenly. This is a huge problem for Sheldon and typified the theme of the night where nothing went well because the group was uneven without Wolowitz. Penny took a surprising interest in the video game and ended up destroying Sheldon. I was laughing out loud as Penny single handedly took out Sheldon during her first time playing. As Penny was killing him Leonard said to Penny:

Leonard: "Penny you're on fire"

Penny: "So is Sheldon!"

Sheldon: stands there with a scowering look

But by far the best line of the night goes to Penny. Penny came back to the guys apartment asking if they could let her sleep on the couch because Wolowitz and Kristy were having sex in her room. When Leonard suggested they may not be Penny said:

Penny: "Look, I grew up on a farm. Either they're having sex or Howard's caught in a milking machine."

I never knew this before but according to Sheldon only invalids and women on Mother's Day can have breakfast in bed without being weird. I don't agree at all though. Breakfast in bed is great and eating breakfast while watching tv in bed is totally normal. Sheldon just happens to be ridiculously odd.

My second favorite line of the night took place at the Chinese restaurant. While Sheldon was annoyingly explaining his Dumpling theory Koothrappali said:

Koothrappali: "Not only are the children in India starving, there's an Indian starving right here."

So Kristy had her first Jew, Wolowitz got lots of sex from a girl way out of his league, and Sheldon was driven nuts by Penny yet again. Another excellent episode from "The Big Bang Theory." Before I end the review for the night I just want to point out how great Penny has been. She's gotten much funnier and the best example was at the end of tonight's episode. While the guys were playing the video game she brought home four gorgeous friends, entered their apartment and said she brought them all there to have sex with them. When noone responded she said "told ya." I love how well she's getting to know them and it's making for some incredibly funny jokes. Until next week, enjoy the review!

The Big Bang Theory: The Middle Earth Paradigm

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 830PM ON CBS

Excellent Halloween episode! This was probably the best Halloween themed episode I've seen so far. I honestly didn't think it was going to be this funny but, as usual with this show, I was pleasantly surprised. As the title suggests, Middle Earth played a role in last night's show and for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a reference to the country in which the Lord of the Rings books/movies took place. Penny invited all the guys to her Halloween party and Leonard attended as Frodo Baggins, the ring bearer from The Lord of the Rings. And, if you saw tonight's episode, you know that Leonard was a very important part of the storyline.

There were some interesting moments as the guys prepared for their first cool person's Halloween party. Each of them originally showed up at Leonard and Sheldon's apartment dressed as the flash. Watching four nerds argue over who could go to the party as the Flash was hilarious. Even funnier were the events at the party later that night. The naivete of the group is probably the best part of the show and Sheldon's dry humor really rounds out the comedy.

At the party, Penny's ex-boyfriend showed up once again and Leonard got more than a little bit jealous. If you don't remember, Penny's ex-boyfriend stole Leonard and Sheldon's pants when the first time they met him. Well tonight wasn't all that much better. Leonard basically picked a fight with the monster and ended up being embarrassed at the party. Before you feel bad for him though, Leonard certainly ended up with the last laugh. Penny, as drunk as she was, felt terrible about what happened and went over to see Leonard during the party. She apologized and eventually gave a pretty long and intense kiss. Leonard though stopped it because he knew she was very drunk. I don't know if this was the best move but when she left she kissed him again in the hallway right in front of her ex-boyfriend. Hence the title to the episode.

Leonard made some big steps with Penny tonight but I don't think they're ready for each other just yet. Plus, I don't know how much she'll remember after this episode given how much she had to drink. Even so, it was great for Leonard and at least we know he has a shot. Sometime before the end of the season I foresee a confrontation about their feelings and maybe some good news for Leonard.
Here's a few great lines from the episode:

- Leonard is discussing how to socialize with the people at Penny's party and says that what you do is walk up to the group and say: "How wasted am I?" and then the group will say: "Duuude..."

- When Leonard was standing up to Penny's ex-boyfriend, Sheldon suggests the following: "Why don't you text him that & see if he backs down."

- Leonard says Penny's ex can't even spell the word confrontation and so Penny's ex tries to spell it out: "C - O - N....frontation"

- When Penny's ex sees her kiss Leonard in the hallway, Leonard responds with: "That's how we roll in the Shire."

- Penny said to Leonard: "Why can't all guys be like you?" and Leonard responds: "If everyone were like me the human race wouldn't be able to survive." Lastly, a quick word on everyone's costumes. Sheldon -- the doppler effect, really? Only he could go as the doppler effect and think everyone else is crazy. Walowitz -- Robinhood, wait Peter Pan. It was hilarious that everyone thought he was Peter Pan when he really intended to be Robinhood. Maybe if he lost the green tights and wore more rugid clothes it would have worked. Koothrapalli --Thor; this would have been a good costume if the long blonde hair didn't look so ridiculous.

Great episode tonight. Hopefully the guys will stay away from paintballing for a while, they don't see to really have the hang of it just yet. When you lose to "Kyle Berstein's Bar-Mitzvah Party" I think it's time to hang up your paintball guns. In the meantime, lets keep our fingers crossed for Leonard and hope that he eventually gets everything he wants. Until next week, enjoy the review.

By the way, congrats Koothrapalli. I never would have guessed he'd end up in bed with someone, especially since he still can't say a word to women.

The Big Bang Theory: The Hamburger Postulate

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8:30PM ON CBS

Okay, so although I was exaggerating a bit last week it seems that "The Big Bang Theory" really is turning into a "Roseanne" reunion. In consecutive episodes we saw Sarah Gilbert (formerly Darlene), Laurie Metcalf (formerly Jackie), and Sarah Gilbert again last night. Not that I'm complaining or anything. Both of them have been incredible and really brought a lot to the show. The one thing I like is that "The Big Bang Theory" hasn't fallen into the "Will & Grace" trap where they get so caught up in just having guest stars that they forget to back the appearances quality. Sarah and Laurie's characters have been both funny and deep which is a formula for success on any comedy and even more so when you're trying to establish your show in its first season.

As I mentioned above, we had another visit from Sarah Gilbert, Leslie, last night. If you remember, she's Leonard's co-worker at the lab and two episodes ago they kissed in order to determine if they should even bother going on a date; for if there are no sparks in the kiss which is the ultimate determinative of the success of the date then there's no need for the date to begin with. Tonight though she wanted to practice playing orchestra pieces with Leonard and was turned on by his skill. This excitement ended up in the two of them sleeping together while Sheldon nervously enlisted Penny's help to figure out what he should do while they were locked in Leonard's room listening to Bryan Adams. This was absolutely hilarious and really shows just how immature and sheltered Sheldon is and has been his whole life. His sarcasm his too funny but I find his naive attitudes towards relationships with women that much funnier.

So, Leonard hooked up with Leslie but the big story of the night was Penny's reaction. She played it all cool with Sheldon when he dragged her over to the apartment but you could tell that she was definitely jealous. She might be pretty and popular but she seems to think Leonard may be too good for her. She's appears to be just as scared and insecure about her feelings as if the tables were reversed (she were the nerd and he was the hot one). I think it's a nice twist to see her being the one whose insecure rather than Leonard who we would expect to the be the only one feeling that way.

Great all around episode with many funny moments. Sheldon's hamburger decision at the restaurant was great! - who wouldn't want a Big Boy Burger if they could get one? Hopefully we'll see more of Leslie here and there even if she's "good until at least New Year's."

The Big Bang Theory: The Luminous Fish Effect

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8:30PM ON CBS

Is "The Big Bang Theory" a front for a "Roseanne" Reunion? Last week we had a visit from Sarah Gilbert who played a coworker of Leonard's. This week Laurie Metcalf visited the set as Sheldon's mother, Mary. Not that I mind seeing the old "Roseanne" crew working together again but they should spread it out a bit. Anyway, Mary showed up these week after Sheldon was fired from his job. As we've come to know, Sheldon has a bit of trouble keeping his mouth shut and not telling people the absolute truth. It happened again except this time he told his new boss that he was a fraud. Thus, FIRED.

I wish I had more to talk about with this episode. It was only mildly funny and not all that much actually happened. The only storyline of tonight deal with Sheldon's antics after being fired. With so much time on his hands he attempted to develop the perfect batch of scrambled eggs;

breed luminous (glow in the dark) goldfish; and weave ponchos using a loom.

While all these activities were somehow funny, the only truly funny scene was his trip grocery shopping with Penny. Sheldon was beyond rude and annoying which made the trip that much better.

With the all of Sheldon's ridiculous activities taking place, Leonard decided to enlist the help of Mary to snap Sheldon out of it and get him back to work. At first she used appeasement which did nothing but keep Sheldon locked in his room for days. Then, well, she decided to kick his butt and force him to go back to work and apologize to his boss. Which he did... Unfortunately (or fortunately for Mary depending on how you look at it), Sheldon got his job back after his boss was "taken" with his mother. I liked the idea of the storyline but the writer's just didn't come through with the humor.

The big thing I'd like to point out about tonight though was it's effect on the Penny-Leondard relationship. Two things are significant: 1) When Mary said Penny and Leonard made a good couple BOTH of them had awkward but smirky looks on their faces. This could mean that Penny does think Leonard is interesting. 2) Penny clearly can't stand spending time with Leonard (at least alone) which means that she hangs around their apartment for some other reason. Maybe that reason is Leonard. Hmmm...interesting.

Hopefully next week will be much better than last night's episode. I'd hate to think the writer's peaked four episodes into the first season. In the end, Sheldon actually did create a luminous fish - sadly, this was the funniest scene of the night.

The Big Bang Theory: The Fuzzy Boots Corollary

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8:30PM ON CBS

This was a decent episode from the team over at "The Big Bang Theory." I felt the first two episodes for were significantly better but this one definitely had it's moments. Leonard finally decides he should ask Penny out on a date, unfortunately Penny doesn't realize they're actually going on a date. Mainly, this is because Leonard told her everyone else would be coming too and then somehow forgot to tell them about the dinner. Nice move to get her alone but it would probably help that she knows she's on a date if he wants her to be his girlfriend.

The opening of this episode was only mediocre until the writers threw in the EBAY reference. For someone like me who doesn't know all that much about computer games I was pretty bored the first couple minutes. Then when Sheldon left everyone high and dry to sell the game secret on EBAY I laughed. When Wolowitz bought it on EBAY two seconds later I actually found myself laughing out loud. These are the little things that the writers on this show have done which has made "The Big Bang Theory" an early favorite of mine.

For all those "Roseanne" fans out there you probably loved the cameo from Sarah Gilbert as Leonards co-worker. I wish it lasted longer but their theories about dating and thus skipping to the kiss right then to determine the success of the date was hilarious. Their chemistry together as actors was immediately apparent; maybe she'll join the cast as a regular oneday, it could be pretty interesting to see them back on screen together. I also liked Sarah's use of the word "Spiddle" in describing the quality of Leonard's kiss (she told him his kiss didn't have any).

Leonard's routine when he gets rejected by a girl was hilariously explained by Sheldon. I love that he listen's to Emo while mopping around the apartment and forcing Sheldon to look at cats in pet stores with him. Meanwhile, Leonard's date/non-date with Penny (after he realized she never actually rejected him) was extremely awkward. He actually almost had her attention in a with his olive-glass trick but cracking your head open under the table is never a good thing on a date. At least Penny was sweet when they got back to the apartment and didn't make him feel bad for trying to get her out on a date.

"Score one for liquor and poor judgment." Favorite line of the night from Sheldon when Leonard said his date with Penny was awesome. I love Sheldon's sarcastic humor. See you all next week.

Big Bang Theory: The Big Bran Hypothesis

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS AT 8:30PM ON CBS

I didn't get a chance to review this show last week when it premiered so I'm going to combine my thoughts into this one. Honestly, I LOVE this show! It is so smart and the writing is so brilliant that it's easily one of the top five comedies on television already. I might be a bit slanted towards hoping this show is around for a while since I had the chance to actually walk on the set of this show last month; but truthfully the show IS THAT GOOD!!

First off, the writing is beyond intelligent. The knowledge needed to write the lines for this show is beyond anything required for just about any other show. Of course this is necessary given that four of the five main characters have genius IQ's. The true quality of this show however, lies in the fact that on top of having to write genius level lines the writers have been able to make them funny. This is no easy task and they have done it superbly in the first two episodes.

Secondly, the actors have great chemistry. I wasn't sure how well a group of nerds and one hot girl would play out. But the actors bring so much to the screen in the way of timing and likability that it works and it works very well. The center of the show in my opinion lies with Sheldon. Jim Parsons (Sheldon) comedic ability and believability as a nerd carries over to everyone else. His sarcasm is fantastic and the way he can keep a straight face as he delivers each and every line makes them all the more effective.

In this second episode, Sheldon and Leonard are given Penny's key to let in the moving men when they arrive with her furniture. When they bring Penny's box into her apartment (with more than a herculean effort needed to do so) Sheldon see's that she is a pig! Her apartment is a disaster zone. Later that night Sheldon decides that it would be a good idea to sneak into her apartment as she sleeps and organize the mess. Yes, Penny was right, this is creepy; very creepy actually. But as she soon realizes, you can't hold these guys to the same standard as everyone else. They're so innocent that you can't help but give them some slack and understand that they really just can't help themselves. Granted Leonard knew it was wrong which is why he may one day, in the very distant future, have an actual shot with Penny.

The genuis of this show doesn't lie in any recap I could give in a review. It just doesn't translate to paper. You need to watch it to understand and I hope that you do. You can already see the potential of the show as the characters become more familiar with each other. I want to know your opinions so leave some comments and I'll see you next week.