Howard is teaching Sheldon Chinese (actually, Mandarin to be exact.) It seems Sheldon wants to confront the nearby Chinese place about secretly replacing Tangerine Chicken with Orange Chicken. Watching Jim Parsons deliver Mandarin lines is great comedy.In walks Leonard, whom Sheldon addresses with Mei du lui zi. Sadly, he's accidentally called his roommate a syphilitic donkey.Now a peeved Penny arrives, who's been wronged by the bozo she's been dating. The guy apparently posted details of "driving his point home" with her on his blog. She hurls his iPod at him.Cut to the best opening titles/animation in all of television. Even better than Angie.Leonard's got her right where he wants her. She's emotional, hurt and vulnerable. But he's loudly rebuffed.He's goin' in again. This time, he gets the Hi sign from Penny. She wants to talk. But while perusing bozo's stories on his blog, Leonard somehow convinces her that it's all just an odd yet endearing way that he's expressed his feelings ...
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Penny's plans for a surprise birthday party for Leonard, who doesn't usually mark the occasion, get thrown off-kilter when Sheldon gets a chance to live out one of his biggest dreams. Althea: Vernee Watson. Jan: Judith Moreland. Dan: Ronald Hunter. Stan: Chuck Carter.
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We're at the university. Leonard and Rejesh are strolling along, checking out an ad calling for volunteers for a study about anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia (look it up), and there's Howard staking out a hot woman -- in Sheldon's office? Our Sheldon? Obviously, she's lost, or issuing a summons, or whatever. We learn she's Sheldon, ahem, Shelly's twin sister.There isn't a lot of symbiosis between Missy and Shelly. She's tall and beautiful and kind of normal. He's tall, not and not. And she doesn't speak in scientific tongues. Wait, what's that sound? Oh, yes, the mating call of the 20-something physicist. Leonard, Howard and Rajesh convince Missy to stay at Shelly and Leonard's (she's off to a wedding tomorrow and a hot girl really shouldn't be traversing the freeways during rush hour). So let the games begin.Back at Chez Scientifica, Missy has got the guys mesmerized with stories about childhood (I would have loved to see a demonstration of how Sheldon transformed her Easy Ba...
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The guys are hanging out and they all go in on a $800 bid on a time machine prop from the original The Time Machine movie. Of course, they'll be outbid. Whew! That was close. What in the world would they do with a time machine? Except they won the auction.Why didn't anyone else bid? Oh, because it's about the size of a Renault. Didn't Leonard say it was miniature?Cut to the best animation/opening sequence in all of television.Step by step, Leonard, Sheldon, Howard and Rajesh push and pull the time machine up the stairs. But they're blocking the stairwell and Penny has to get to work. Sheldon suggests she go upstairs to the roof, hop over a few buildings, but don't look down because she might get vertigo. What? Is he kidding? "Oh, I never joke when it comes to vertigo," deadpans Sheldon.You know what, this time machine looks pretty cool. After all, this is the machine that transported Rod Taylor from Victorian England into the post-apocalyptic future with those subterranean Morlocks...
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Holy competition, Batman! The guys are getting together to take on all comers in the Physics Bowl. No way they can be beaten. Except that Sheldon, in his usual self-absorbed alpha maleapalooza, has to provide all the answers and may jeopardize the team for the needs of one. Uh oh, I feel a moral lesson of life coming.Cut to the best animation/opening sequence in all of television.How ironic that while the physics foursome is debating the team name, it's Sheldon, of all people, who insists the vote should be unanimous. But that's where the camaraderie ends. Sheldon's eventual banishment from the team comes in the form of a Batman cookie jar delivered by Leonard.Down a phat medulla oblongata, the guys have to find a replacement — well, if it isn't Leslie Winkle. The last time we saw her, she wasn't taking part in a contest, but more like something related to "The Contest" (and, not for nothing, but when did the FCC approve the use of the word coitus before 8:20 pm?) Props to Leon...
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So Sheldon and Leonard are having another one of their über-scientific conversations in the school cafeteria. I don’t mean to make it sound like a yawner. Jim Parsons delivers science doublespeak dialogue brilliantly, and the word I get from folks who've attended tapings is that he’s a one-taker.Uh oh, here comes trouble. Dr. Gablehauser escorts a kid named Dennis Kim over to their table, and suddenly Sheldon is no longer the center of the scientific universe. Dennis is being recruited, at age 15, to join the university’s physics program. Sheldon’s confidence is quickly being stripped away by a teenager (who dismantles Sheldon’s research to his face.) Then there’s the prestigious Stevenson Award. Is Sheldon the youngest to ever win it? Nope! Guess who is? Oh yeah, this is going to be good.Cut to the best animation/music sequence on television today. Thank you, Barenaked Ladies.Even before precocious Dennis starts day one as a student, demoralized ...
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Sheldon gets sick, but the guys refuse to take care of him because he's such a bad patient, which leaves an unsuspecting Penny to nurse him back to health. Cheryl: Erin O'Reilly.
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Leonard lies to Penny to avoid hearing her sing a second time, but Sheldon extends the lie, which makes things worse, leading Leonard to produce a nonexistent cousin (D.J. Qualls).
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Sheldon and Leonard are asked to a physics conference to present their work together, but that leads to a feud because Sheldon's too arrogant to share the honor. Penny does her best to mediate, but only makes things worse.
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Koothrappali is overwhelmed when his parents arrange a blind date for him, but after a few drinks he discovers he can actually talk to women. Unfortunately, his gorgeous date is more interested in Sheldon.
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Penny temporarily sleeps on Leonard and Sheldon's couch when Wolowitz romances her friend and the lovers take over Penny's apartment. The guys find a big void in their activities without Wolowitz, and even ask Penny to join their video-game team.
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Leonard and Sheldon and their friends attend Penny's Halloween party.
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Leonard has a one-night stand with fellow scientist Leslie Winkle (Sara Gilbert).
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Faced with a life without physics when he gets fired, Sheldon resorts to weaving ponchos, forcing a worried Leonard to call Sheldon's mother for help. Mary: Laurie Metcalf. Dr. Eric Gablehauser: Mark Harelik. Summer: Sierra Edwards.
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With the encouragement of his friends, Leonard gathers his courage and asks a woman out on a date. Leslie: Sara Gilbert. Doug: Allen Nabors.
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Leonard tells Penny he'll sign for a package for her, but when he asks for Sheldon's assistance, his plan goes terribly wrong.
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Pilot
Season 1, Episode 1
Leonard and Sheldon meet their beautiful new neighbor and invite her over for lunch, and Leonard begins to fall for her, even entertaining the idea that they could become a couple. Althea: Vernee Watson. Kurt: Brian Patrick Wade.
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