REVIEW: The Big Bang Theory 5.22 -- The Stag Convergence

Coming up with smart things to say in a review of a half-hour comedy is harder than it looks -- especially considering I'm not very smart to begin with.

I figured I should begin this review by criticizing myself, because the vast majority of the comments I receive on my Big Bang Theory write-ups do that already. You BBT fans certainly don't take too well to my critcisms, do you?

Well you can rest easy, folks, because I thought "The Stag Convergence" was a solid episode. I can't complain about Raj this time -- because he didn't overwhelm too much of the screen time and when he was on, he was quite funny. I can't complain that there was no nerd humor, because there was. Other than those common complaints, I've also noted that the show hasn't been very funny lately. Which, you know, is kind of a problem in a comedy.

But this one was pretty humorous -- Sheldon's toast was classic Sheldon, Barry's speech impediment is always entertaining, Raj's diatribe was funny and also brought back some fun memories from series past. There were some good quotes throughout and despite my occasional annoyances of any Penny/Leonard storylines, this episode had some good moments between the two.

Having said all that, this doesn't mean I think the show is back on track and as good as it used to be. However, this episode does get me excited for the final two episodes of Season 5, and it's been quite some time since I've been genuinely looking forward to the next installment of The Big Bang Theory.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES:

HOWARD: "I'd be Kanga-Jew, the first of my people to dunk a basketball."

HOWARD: "She was my second cousin."
SHELDON: "And the first person you disappointed sexually -- bada-bazinga!"

BERNADETTE: "Zip it, pervert!"

PENNY: "I mean the warnings signs were there, this is definitely on you."

BERNADETTE: "I heard -- your voice, not unlike your mother's, travels through walls."

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

--Nice to visit with characters like Wil Wheaton, Barry Kripke and Stuart. A little bit of those characters, as with Bernadette and Amy, really add to the show.

--Enjoyed the opening conversation of the episode. It's always nice when they have nerdy conversations that I don't fully understand. No, really.

--Howard's speech to Penny, directed at Bernadette, was actually quite beautiful. But that doesn't mean I don't miss the old, creepy Howard. He was a character that was fun to hang out with. This one? Not so much.

THE SCORE: 80 out of 100

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The Big bang Theory 5.21 -- The Hawking Excitation

Channeling my inner Alan Sepinwall, this review will start as soon as I learn how to speak in binary code ...

I've been ripped on this Web site numerous times for being critical of certain shows -- Big Bang Theory being chief among them. So with that said, I will begin by saying all the positive things I can think of regarding this episode ...

...
...
...

OK, I'm done.

But hey, on the bright side, they didn't spend half of the episode talking about whether or not Raj is gay when there are over 100 previous episodes firmly establishing that he is not.

So there's that.

It was a fair episode, I guess, but kind of strange in that almost the entire episode consisted of just Sheldon and Howard. There was about 30 seconds of Penny, and only a few scenes that really involved Leonard and Raj. Heck, Howard's mom's disembodied voice got more screen time than Penny. 

I liked the concept of Sheldon being Howard's slave and they got a few good laughs out of it, but that's all that happened in the episode. There was no "B" story to speak of, just 20 minutes of Sheldon sucking up to Howard.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE:

--BERNADETTE: "Sheldon doesn't know when he's being mean, because the part of his brain that should know is getting a wedgie from the rest of his brain."

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

--Any excuse to see Howard do his Hawking expression works for me.

--Didn't think I'd ever feel sorry for Sheldon. But hot damn! I did a little bit in that episode.

THE SCORE: 68 out of 100

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The Big Bang Theory 5.20 -- The Transporter Malfunction

I laughed a few times, I rolled my eyes a few times and I got annoyed a few times. Yup, another new episode of The Big Bang Theory!

Confession: even though I write for Geek Furious, I'm not a normal geek. I don't enjoy movies like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games or Avatar and I've never seen any of the Star Trek's and barely remember anything about any of the Star Wars films. So even though I know nothing whatsoever about Spock, I still got a kick out of Sheldon's dream sequences.

But that's essentially all I liked from "The Transporter Malfunction." I know I keep complaining about this show and harping on the fact that it's getting tired and lazy, but 10 minutes of gay jokes? Can we be more creative, please?

Heck, even if the jokes were funny, I don't want to spend half of the episode on Raj. He's better in small doses as a supplementary character. I can't remember the last good storyline involving his character. Can you?

I swear, 19 of the 22 minutes of the show was dedicated to Raj is gay jokes and Sheldon lying over and over again to Leonard and Penny. There's only so much a person can take.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES:

SHELDON: "Hot darn!"

LEONARD: "Once you open the box, it loses its value."
PENNY: "Yeah, Yeah -- my mom gave me the same lecture about  my virginity. Gotta tell you, it was a lot more fun taking it out and playing with it."

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

--If someone is ever stupid enough to marry me, I demand there be a make-your-own sundae station at my wedding.

--Nosey O'Donnell. I got to start using that.

--Did Raj's father complain about being interrupted during the cricket semifinals? Those matches take like 10 days to finish. I think he can spare a few minutes.

THE SCORE: 57 out of 100

You can't have my e-mail address, so you can save your hate mail for the comments section. Thanks!

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The Big Bang Theory 4.19 -- The Weekend Vortex

In my two reviews (found HERE and HERE) for The Big Bang Theory, I've been pretty critical of the show and the down season I believe it's had.

While many of my frustrations of Season 4 persist, I thought "The Weekend Vortex" did some nice things with Sheldon, while also re-affirming why I've always liked this show.

As the show got more and more popular, it seemed to get less and less nerdy/geeky to draw a more diverse audience to the show. Which is understandable, but at the same time disappointing because it changed the tenor of the show a little bit.

This week's episode was a throwback of sorts with the guys all hanging out, playing games, talking about Star Wars, making stupid jokes and burning on one another. I always found the show more amusing when they were pathetic geeks who were perpetually alone and couldn't even dream about having a girlfriend that wasn't Leslie Winkle (and judging by Raj's freak-out at the end of the episode, it appears that he longs for those days, too).

But now that Leonard, Sheldon and Howard are involved with women on the show (to varying degrees), it's interesting and important to the show to see how those stories are dealt with. At this point, it's just essentially same old, same old regarding Leonard and Penny and Howard and Bernadette, but it's good to see Sheldon's character evolving a bit.

Who knew that it would take a weekend of video games, junk food and sleeping bags to turn Sheldon into a real man?

I enjoyed him trying to wiggle out of the relationship agreement so he could ditch Amy -- it was like watching a normal human being be a douche to his girlfriend. He's still Sheldon, but he's starting to evolve -- be it ever so slowly -- into a typical dude. And as the older Sheldon probably never would have realized that he was acting like an ass or just not care, he seemed genuinely sorry afterwards.

Just an overall entertaining episode that demonstrates the best of what this show has to offer.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE:

LEONARD: "Clear your weekend, starting Saturday morning. Starwars marathon."
SHELDON: "Movies or videogames? Or boardgames? Or trading card games? Or legos? Or dress-up? Or comic books? Or dramatic readings of novelizations? Yes to all!"

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

--It took me over 100 episodes to fully realize how much taller Sheldon is over everyone else on this show.It's crazy.

--Why did I laugh EVERY TIME that the "whip app" was used? I gotta download that shit.

--I enjoyed Raj's rant at the end, but it reminds me of why I don't like his character: he reminds me of me. This is not a compliment to myself.

SCORE: 84 out of 100

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The Big Bang Theory 5.18 -- The Werewolf Transformation

It's almost getting to the point where I don't even remember why I ever liked this show in the first place.

But on the plus side, Kaley Cuoco is still very pretty!

Turning to "Chuck" for a second, some people were saying that after five seasons it was just time to end things. It was a natural time to stop and there were no more stories left to tell. Now I don't agree with that, but I understand what they were saying.

They simply meant to say "The Big Bang Theory" instead of "Chuck".

Because judging by the last season or two, there are simply no good stories out there in the land of Sheldon, or Penny, or Leonard, or Raj, or Howard.

Heck, I'm more interested in Howard's mother's disembodied voice than what any of these people are doing.

It's the same thing every week. Leonard pines for Penny. Maybe they're together, maybe there aren't. Maybe they are fighting, maybe they are getting along. Whatever. Raj has been the most useless character on TV for some time now and Howard isn't nearly as creepy, pathetic and hopeless as he used to be -- and that's just a sad revelation.

There's been over 100 episodes now and we're past the point of diminishing returns with the ridiculousness of Sheldon Cooper.

I'm annoyed. And I'm guessing you are too. But we'll still watch, because we are suckers and TV addicts.


NOTABLE QUOTABLES:

SHELDON: "Fine. But if I come out of this looking like a dork, it's on you."

PENNY: "If I move my horsie there, isn't that checkmate and I win?"

AMY: "There's not a hair on my body I wouldn't let this woman trim."


RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

--Sadly, the best part of this episode was the fact that the nurse from the pilot episode returned and that Jill's father from Chuck was the barber.

SCORE: 28 out of 100

Yeah. Not a typo.

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Big Bang Theory 5.17 -- The Rothman Disintegration

I've made a terrible mistake.

I volunteered to start reviewing this show on a weekly basis. And there wasn't even a gun to my head.

I've been a big fan of this show since the pilot aired in 2007. Maybe it was my crush on Kaley Cuoco from her time on 8 Simple Rules, the uniqueness of the show in general, the laughs it provided or my wish to see the nerd with the girl (since it just doesn't happen often enough in real life).

But despite the ratings for this show being at an all-time high, this series is at a real low-point for me. I miss Howard being a completely hopeless creep, almost all Leonard-Penny storylines at this point just bother me incessantly, Sheldon's character is starting to get a little old and over-the-top (OK, perhaps it's still humorous) and I've felt like Raj's character has been utterly pointless and uneventful for at least two seasons at this point.

We've had over 100 episodes of this show now, so things getting a bit stale is to be expected. But this show has enough talented people on screen and off that no episode should have no Howard whatsoever, be centered around making fun of someone with an extreme lisp, not one scene involving both Leonard and Penny (good or bad) and just a terrible final few minutes.

Having Kripke and Leonard battle it out for the office was a good-enough idea, but of the 10 minutes of screen time it took up -- only about two of it was funny. And the Penny-Amy painting storyline was a little ridiculous, but at least it made me chuckle a few times. It's a bit crazy to say it, but the addition of her character has saved this show from being a utter disaster this season.

I think the best part of this episode was the fact the the Penny-Amy painting made me think of THIS.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES:

Sheldon: "Kripke, you're in my spot." I'm surprised Sheldon even uses a urinal. He seems like the type that would use the stall and put 100 layers of paper on the seat.

Leonard: "First person to five wins the office, any questions?
Sheldon: "Five what?" C'mon, there was an entire episode showing off Sheldon's knowledge of football, he couldn't possibly not know what Leonard meant by that. I need to learn to let stupid crap like that go.

Leonard: "You know all those terrible things bullies used to do to us? I get it."

Bernadette: "My company is testing a new steroid that supposedly doesnt shrink testicles." Someone give Barry Bonds a call immediately.

ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS-LIZARD-SPOCK

In case you forgot how to play America's favorite game, here is a reminder of the rules from Sheldon.

SCORE: 67 out of 100

Dear Head Geek Furious, you wanna review Big Bang Theory next week? [editor's response: You broke it, you bought it]

Hey, I had to try.

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Drive-By Review: Big Bang Theory - 'The Friendship Contraction'

If a show isn't getting the amount of hits on its review articles that I find to be worthy of making an effort, it will fall into the drive-by review category until the hits improve. That means that I will give a very quick impression and an overall score. Ready? Here is the first one ever.

Leonard and Sheldon's roommate agreement is nullified and then reinstated, with conditions, and Howard's attempt to get himself a cool astronaut nickname turns out badly for him when his mother's screaming gets him tagged as "Fruit Loops."

If I had to rate this one I'd give it:

84 out of 100

It was an average episode with very few laughs. The Leonard and Penny semi-romance element is still boring. Leonard is more interesting when miserable.

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The Big Bang Theory - 'The Beta Test Initiation'

The 101st episode of the series gives us a nice little episode where very little happens, the jokes are mostly stale, and the writing is lame. So, obviously, the CBS audience must have loved the shit out of it.

Okay, here are the three "essential" plot lines in the episode.

Penny and Leonard are still going out on dates and decide to utilize the software designation method for their relationship. It's super boring. Break them up again, please.

Sheldon and that chick he's dating, Amy something, try to record a YouTube video series about flags. Kill me now.

And Raj falls in love with his iPhone's Siri. This part of the show is actually kind of funny and entertained me at times. Raj develops what appears to be an actual relationship with his Siri and it all ends with him dreaming about meeting the human form of her as she offers him sex at a moment he loses his ability to speak.

Like I said, if you dry hump the CBS lineup on Mondays and Thursdays, then this episode was probably genius to you. If you have a habit of switching over to the superior writing over at NBC, then this was mostly mediocre.

If I had to rate this one, I'd give it:

70 out of 100

Let's see if the next one delivers more of what this show has been able to deliver in the past. I would usually do quotables but this episode's not worth any more of my time. If you loved it, cool. But if you have taste, then you weren't impressed.

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The Big Bang Theory - The 100th Episode

Yep, it has taken 100 episodes for me to write about this show. Why? It's not because I don't dig the show, because I do, but because writing about any CBS show makes me feel a little sick. It is the biggest network with the most uninspired shows. The masses sure do like shit spoonfed to them stupid.

However, THE BIG BANG THEORY is one of maybe two shows on CBS that is actually, dare I say, original, well written, and well acted. Sure, at times I cringe at how generic they can make such a unique show feel, but many times I do think it is a show made by nerds and geeks for nerds and geeks.

Let me just quickly sum up this episode. Leonard and Penny go out on a date, having broken up 2-years ago. Things don't work out because Leonard sees right through Penny's bullshit and she doesn't like it. However, she still bangs the shit out of him later that night. After, the two decide not to tell anyone about their new relationship and instead pretend their date resulted in nothing but bad blood. The gang can't see through their ruse and totally buy into their later argument at the Cheesecake Factory, which results in another bout of late night post-fight sex.

Tossed in the episode is a poor-man's timeline where both Penny and Leonard envision scenarios of either the past or future. After seeing a brilliant COMMUNITY episode tackle seven different timelines, this one just feels like an afterthought. Plus, the episode comes off as nothing more than a dream sequence anyway.

For the 100th episode, it was surprisingly light on story or shock value. Sure, Penny and Leonard hooking up again, or starting a new relationship, was newish, but I guess I expected more from this show. The episode did have some fun bit of a dialogue though.

QUOTABLES

When Sheldon receives his life-size cardboard Mr. Spock he opens it up only to discover an error.
Sheldon: Oh no! They sent the wrong Spock! Live long and suck it, Zachary Quinto!

The boys discuss Leonard's affection for Penny.
Sheldon: The reason you're fixated on a good-natured simpleton like Penny, is that she's the exact opposite of your first romantic attachment. Your brilliant yet intimidating mother.
Leonard: Where on Earth did you get that from?
Sheldon: It's in her book, 'Needy Baby, Greedy Baby.'
Leonard: That doesn't make it true.
Sheldon: It's called non-fiction for a reason, Leonard.

After Leonard leaves, the boys continue the conversation.
Raj: If they ever make a movie version of that book, you know who should play Leonard's mother? Sandra Bullock.
Howard: [flippantly] Why?
Raj: [defiantly] Because she's great in everything.

After Leonard and Penny argue at the Cheesecake Factory and she rushes off to get the gang a different waitress, Sheldon has a request.
Sheldon: Leonard, promise me that when our new waitress comes over, you will not start a complicated on-again/off-again relationship with her, because I'm very very hungry.

If I had to rate this one, I'd give it:

82 out of 100

Interesting but not anything to write home about... which is why I wrote it here.

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