From the very first scene of tonight’s episode, we learn there two of the most important rules regarding Sheldon Cooper. One, he should not be let out in public unsupervised, and two, he should not be allowed to dress himself. Decked out in a blue shirt, a yellow striped tie and a green-checked suit, Sheldon is a guest lecturer this week for a class of graduate physics students. Seeing himself as a science messiah rather than an insufferable pain in the neck, Sheldon cracks jokes nobody understands, mentions principles nobody’s ever heard of, and belittles everybody who meets his gaze.

But does Sheldon get depressed? Does he get mad at his students’ insolence? Does he burst out of the room bemoaning the class’ ignorance? Of course not; he’s Sheldon Cooper. He lives in his own private bubble of self-grandeur. He beams about his ability to spread the good word of topological insulators. However, the collected tweets and blog posts from his students tell the real story. Tweets such as “Dr. Cooper has taken a relatively boring subject and managed to make it completely insufferable. Plus he looks like a giant insect.” And “Does Einstein’s theory explain why time flies when you’re having fun, but when you’re listening to Dr. Cooper, it falls out of the sky dead.”

Solemnly, Sheldon accepts defeat. He ruefully accepts his failure at teaching his first failure since high school gym class. Apparently, he considers his previous failures with driving, bowling, drinking liquor, living in Montana, eating an exclusive cruciferous vegetable diet, etc. inconsequential.

Prodded by his don’t-call-her-a-girlfriend Amy, Sheldon decides he should make an effort to become a better orator. After all, an educator must not only be a fount of knowledge, but an engaging speaker. And with that clumsy segue, Sheldon turns to Penny for acting lessons. Frankly, I believe Sheldon is overreacting. Those derogatory Twitter posts are clearly falsified, as their highly complicated syntax and verbiage are way beyond the typical Twitter user. A real Twitter post would look like, “OMG, this guy sux, lol. [X [X [X [X [X. #professerFAIL”

The main storyline proceeds as well as expected. Penny is a talentless actress and tries to impart her sparse acting skills on an unreceptive, disrespectful Sheldon. We’ve seen this Mad Lib storyline before.  Sheldon is critical and unapologetic, but Penny begrudgingly tries to help Sheldon out, partly because she’s a good person, partly because she pities Sheldon, partly because she has nothing better to do.

Rejecting the classic Tennessee Williams play ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,’ Sheldon provides his own literary source for a scene exercise: a fanfic Star Trek episode he wrote in high school (We can now add teleplay production to the list of Sheldon’s failures). It’s your typical fan fiction; it’s written through the eyes of a fanboy, it treats the characters like infallible Gods, the plot revolves around the author who has inserted himself into the series, and the plot is a poorly-written catharsis for the author who cannot cope with his real world problems.

And what problems did Sheldon have in high school? Lots, considering his analytical scientific mind and nerdy interests were repressed by an overbearing, Christian mother, an alcoholic father, and his East-Texas environment. But Penny, ever the professional (for lack of a better word), soldiers on… and then stops. Quite literally, the episode ends here unresolved. Sheldon doesn’t learn how to act, he doesn’t learn how to interact with people, and he doesn’t learn how to teach students. The episode just stops. In essence, this entire plotline was a big, wet sack of pointless nothing.

Well, not entirely. Where tonight’s episode really shines is the B-story. Ever unlucky in love, Raj bemoans his eternally single status, seemingly unprovoked. Fortunately, ever the upper, Bernadette is nearby to give him kind words of support. She thinks Raj has massive sex appeal, and is a real hottie. Of course, Bernadette is in love with Howard, so her opinion should be taken with several, large grains of salt.

Despite having a doctorate, being gainfully employed, having close friends, numerous hobbies, and a childlike optimistic outlook on life, Raj still can’t get it together long enough to make forward strides in the world of romance. All his relationships seem to flounder in less than an episode. Perhaps that’s why he misinterprets Bernadette general friendly support as full-on flirting.

Throughout the episode, Raj has moments of fantasy where he and Bernadette wind up together. But, being the eggshell-walking awkward mess he is, Raj only imagines situations where Howard becomes permanently indisposed, then willingly allows Raj to begin canoodling Bernadette. Such instances include Howard being transferred to Israel and Raj being asked to treat Bernadette’s sudden onset nymphomania, Howard being in a car accident and surviving long enough to ask Raj to pursue Bernadette’s latent affections, and most spectacularly, a choreographed Bollywood dance number wherein Bernadette and Raj sing each others praises. I’m no psychiatrist, but anybody with such elaborate fantasies needs to get on medication, and fast.

While the B-story also ends without any semblance of resolution, it at least has the excuse of being a comedic distraction. We the viewer are expected to focus on the exploits of Sheldon and Penny, and simply follow Raj’s disturbing fantasies in brief intermissions. As such, Raj’s storyline gets a free pass for having no formal conclusion. All in all though, tonight’s episode was just pointless. Clearly there were ideas to be had, but none of them were executed to their full potential. Instead, we get jokes about India, Spock and the SyFy channel’s name. If the writers weren’t going to focus on preparing a quality episode, couldn’t they at least check to see how Twitter worked?

Over the past few months, I’ve heralded The Big Bang Theory for boldly exploring new territories without actually jumping the shark. And yet, despite my happiness for this development, tonight the show pulled a complete 180-degree turn, making all the changes for naught.

Tonight’s episode seemed eerily reminiscent of the first season: Penny was dating the latest in a series of interchangeable, boneheaded musclemen, the four lead geeks were involved in a very geeky hobby, and Leonard was sheepishly trying to find an opening to sweep Penny off her feet. Even new cast members Bernadette and Amy are nowhere to be seen. I honestly don’t know whether this episode was cryogenically frozen and thawed for tonight’s purposes, or if the writing staff simply chose to ignore the prior three seasons of development.

Penny’s blank-slate boyfriend is Zack, last seen in the Season 3 episode “The Lunar Excitation.” Zack was quickly made the butt-monkey of Howard, Raj, Sheldon and Leonard for his slow wit and vocal ignorance.  Memorably, he was unable to tell the difference between laser beams, death rays, and telescopes. The chiding continues in tonight’s episode as Zack’s intelligence is frequently likened to a dolphin’s… with the dolphin always coming out on top.

Penny puts the kibosh on the barbs and zingers, commenting on the hypocrisy of the four nerdy individuals shamelessly bullying someone inferior. Apologetic, Leonard makes amends with Zack, discovering they actually share a common interest: comic books. Sure, Leonard prefers standard superhero-based action stories and Zack leans towards the lighthearted adventures of Archie and the Riverdale gang, but it’s a start.

Pretty soon, the pair begins sharing other interests, such as the desire to cream the competition at a New Year’s costume party. Leonard practically drools at the opportunity to perfect his long-coveted Justice League team costume with Zack, an authentically muscular individual, playing Superman. Even better, if Penny would dress as Wonder Woman, they could win by default for bringing the only woman under 200 pounds.

But Penny isn’t interested. Leonard has forgotten all his interpersonal skills and is incapable of recognizing how deep a divide is forming between them. Penny wasn’t dating Zack for emotional reasons. She doesn’t love him, and can barely stand being around him. She just wanted someone to be with on New Year’s. Very humble plans, and yet, Leonard has single-handedly uprooted them entirely. Feeling obligated to stay behind, Zack bows out just hours before the party, reducing Leonard’s Dream Team of superheroes to “Skinny Flash, Indian Aquaman, near-sighted Green Lantern and a teeny-tiny Batman.”

Eventually, after a heart-to-heart with Penny, Leonard convinces her to come out and be sociable. Even more impressive, Leonard convinces her to do so in full Wonder Woman regalia. As I said, the entire episode is an unintentional callback to a simpler time. A time when the writers and producers of The Big Bang Theory didn’t know where to take their characters, or how to get them there. As such, the characters were free to stumble around and do whatever until something finally struck a chord with the audience. This explains why we are having such a formalist departure here and now. Once again, Leonard and Penny are back to their season one states with no apparent direction.

Where would they go from here? Either Leonard and Penny get back together, or they stay separated. Either way, we’re sailing charted waters. The Big Bang Theory may not have jumped the shark yet, but I hear the Jaws theme, and I see The Fonz trying on water skis.

I have a very strong affection for movies. I wouldn’t classify myself as an addict (although my father would argue different), just a healthy, dedicated patron to cinema and the world surrounding it. As such, it warms the cockles of my heart anytime those around me express their love of movies, even if they’re fictional characters from a TV show.

The main cast of The Big Bang Theory have shown obsessive, geeky devotion to a number of subjects. Mathematics, card games, kites… I’m sure there’s a full list somewhere online. But tonight, for all intents and purposes, they were film geeks like me. The film in question was Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was showing for a one-night limited engagement. The first film in the Indiana Jones saga isn’t a geeky film in any sense, but one of Hollywood’s finest. It is the definitive action movie. Perhaps for empathy’s sake, the writers wanted a crossover film everybody could identify; the type of mass appreciation not attainable with cult classics such as Flash Gordon or Serenity.

Sheldon is normally the most nit-picky member of the group; his adherence to arbitrary protocol (usually protocol he himself creates) shames anal-retentive individuals everywhere. But tonight, he was the voice of reason. Raiders of the Lost Ark is a very popular film; it would be folly not to get tickets in advance. But Leonard, Raj and Howard want nothing to do with Sheldon’s worrywart tendencies.

As predicted by Sheldon, the show did indeed sell out. Many, many people turned out to see the midnight movie, selling out the theater moments before their own admittance. The much-hyped additional 21-seconds of footage brought forth every Indiana Jones loving cinephile in southern California, and every one of them queued up while Sheldon and company dined at The Cheesecake Factory. The misfortune is only amplified with a gloating Wil Wheaton taunting from the front of the line.

(Note: The 21 seconds of footage purportedly resolved the “highly controversial submarine paradox.” In a moment of simultaneous film-loving pride and shame, I know exactly what they are referencing. After the Nazis steal the Ark of the Covenant from a cargo ship, they load it onto a submarine. In pursuit, Indiana Jones discreetly swims onto the submarine, which then submerges with Indy clinging to the hull… and then the film cuts to reveal Indiana Jones watching the ark being unloaded at a secret base. The deleted scene reveals the submarine never fully submerged, and Indy simply rode on the outside of the u-boat for the entire trip.)

While it is fun having an entire episode of a TV show catered to my specific interests, it’s a double-edged sword. For every reference to the film community, I spy a factual error or plot hole. Most egregious among these being why nobody in attendance would consider to reserve tickets online or in advance. Second, why would everybody be waiting in line in the first place? Wouldn’t the line for tickets and the line for entrance be two separate lines? Wouldn’t the ticket vendor hang a sign clearly stating when the show was sold out, so as not to waste the time of those waiting? And finally, with such a steep difference between supply and demand, how could there not be a single ticket scalper?

As passionate as I am about film, it’s countered by tonight’s b-story, concerning girls’ slumber parties, a subject I know and care little about. I’ve speculated before Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik were destined for the full-time cast, thus stabilizing the guy/girl ratio and opening new possibilities for story lines. Tonight my theories were proven valid. Both actresses have officially been added to the main cast, and the first plot line devoted solely to the fairer sex was enacted.

It goes as smoothly as one would expect; Penny invites Bernadette to a girls’ night. Amy, not understanding the concepts of invitations, forces herself into the event and slowly converts it into a slumber party. The laughs are plentiful and character-driven, which is always a plus. However, the storyline did bring to light one issue this season has been dancing around. In a methodic game of truth or dare, Amy addresses the all-important elephant in the room: What is Penny’s opinion of Leonard, post-breakup?  Sadly, we never get an answer; Penny runs crying from the room without any resolution. Coincidentally, the boys’ story provides no resolution either. Simply, Sheldon steals the Raiders of the Lost Ark reels from the theater in spite, and is then chased by an angry, Wheaton-led mob.

In conclusion, tonight’s episode of The Big Bang Theory is distilled sitcom concentrate. The jokes are good, the laughs fly quickly, the plot progresses fast, an inkling of the season-length storyline is addressed, but pushed aside for more wacky shenanigans. It’s not a terrible by any means, but too frenetic to be considered great. It bounces around like a six year-old on a sugar high. Really, it’s the perfect episode to show someone who’s unfamiliar with the series and needs a sample. Or instead, it’s the perfect episode for a hater to begrudgingly watch while in the dentist’s waiting room. I may be over thinking and over analyzing this, but that’s just my nature as a film fan.

The Big Bang Theory’s original pilot was simpler than its current incarnation. Originally, the show only featured Leonard, Penny, Sheldon, and was terrible. While this original pilot is unavailable to the public (save for a three-minute clip available on YouTube), sources suggest the major problem was a reliance on tired sitcom roles; a male and female lead to spark sexual tension, and a wacky side character to deliver the yuks. After much retooling, pushing the science and nerd-culture to the forefront, and the addition of Howard and Raj’s characters, the show exists in its current incarnation.

I bring up this history lesson in response to the current patterns of Season 4. For the first three seasons, Johnny Galecki could easily be considered the star of the show. It was Leonard’s relationship with Penny and other endeavors in love which drove the majority of episodes. However, since the culmination of season three, Leonard has been pushed to background.

Maybe the writers wish to chart new territories with the Sheldon-Amy relationship, maybe the cast wishes to reinforce their ensemble classification, or maybe the producers wish to capitalize on Jim Parson’s Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Whatever the reason, Leonard was once considered the main character, but now seems almost an afterthought; appearing inconsequentially, delivering a few snarky lines, then disappearing.

This week’s episode brings Leonard back into the light. After their regular Wednesday night rendezvous at the comic shop, Leonard stumbles onto a disturbing revelation. Sheldon has Amy. Howard has Bernadette. Raj has overcome his crippling shyness and selective mutism by dating a deaf woman. Even Stuart, the comic shop proprietor, has a girlfriend. She’s an obese cosplayer with an unhealthy predilection towards Wonder Woman, but she still reinforces Leonard’s fears. Leonard is the only one from his social circle without a girlfriend.

Mishandling the situation as only they can, Sheldon and Amy offer Sheldon their advice. While it’s true many men meet their mates in bars, Leonard lacks the distinct advantages beneficial in such environments (namely, height, strength, attractiveness, and/or the ability to hold one’s liquor and throw darts). As compensation, Amy and Sheldon offer alternative locales, such as juice bars, sushi bars, salad bars, oyster bars, or the Apple Genius Bar. Such ludicrous suggestions.

After being forcibly removed from The Apple Genius Bar for impersonating the staff, Leonard sheepishly seeks help from Howard. Calling in a favor, Leonard invokes the girlfriend pact; a rare pact/promise not officiated by Sheldon. Simply, Howard asks Bernadette to set Leonard up with one of her single friends. Let the blind/double-date hijinks ensue!

Meanwhile, Sheldon, continuing his staunch nomenclatural enforcement of Amy as his girl-who-is-a-friend, is thrown for a loop. After a brief discussion of fun words (specifically, cornucopia and mellifluous), Amy asks if Sheldon would be willing to meet her mother. After a moment of deep thought, Sheldon does what every man in his position would do; excuse himself from the room and flee in absolute terror.

As Leonard prepares to meet Joy, Bernadette’s friend from a Krav Maga class, Sheldon prepares to drop off the grid. He goes to extreme lengths to avoid meeting Amy’s parents and thus advance his relationship. Sheldon changes his e-mail address, deactivates his cell phone and even removes the address numbers from his building. There is only one small flaw in his plan; Amy knows where Sheldon lives because she has previously visited his apartment.

Apologizing for her ambiguous syntax earlier, Amy explains to Sheldon her true intentions. Amy only wants to introduce Sheldon to her mother in an attempt to falsify a relationship. Those with good memories will recall Amy and Sheldon first met after Amy’s mother prodded her into pursuing a boyfriend. Sheldon is delighted Amy wishes to remain strictly platonic, and agrees to the charade. Perhaps overdoing it with a slew of TV-PG allusions to sex, Sheldon mortifies Amy’s mother into ever investigating her daughter’s love-life again.

As for Leonard, his date is the date from hell (TV sitcom staple #33). Joy is loud, overbearing, takes pride in her body odor, and makes frequent jokes about castration. As Joy excuses herself, Leonard has a revelation. He may desire love, but he’s far from desperate. He still has standards, and Joy violates them all. At least, until Joy admits she is unabashedly easy when drunk. Joy may not be the most mellifluous person, but to Leonard, the promise of free sex is a cornucopia of delight.

We are now four episodes into the season, and with that, The Big Bang Theory departs from the previously established “Shamy” arc to address two other seemingly-abandoned plotlines.

I’ve mentioned previously about the surprising rise in popularity of minor character, Bernadette. Originally intended for a five-episode stint, Bernadette (played by Melissa Rauch) was introduced as a girlfriend for the socially inept and morally questionable Howard. Bernadette’s role primarily consisted of restraining Howard’s deviant behavior, as well as supplying the cast with a second female character, especially one Penny could relate with.

For no overt reason, Bernadette struck a chord with fans. Message boards and fansites began to fill with adulation of either the character, or Rauch’s performance of the character. Unusual, yes, but not unprecedented. Urkel was never intended as a main character on Family Matters, Mimi was never supposed to exist beyond the pilot episode of The Drew Carey Show, and roughly 80% of recurring South Park characters were designed as one-off jokes.

After her fifth episode, Bernadette was discarded as intended. Howard broke up with her off-camera, and seemingly forgotten. In this week’s episode, however, Bernadette makes her fan-sanctioned return.

Ashamed and intimidated by the prospect of seeing his ex every time he dines at The Cheesecake Factory, Howard’s guilt begins to affect his nighttime fantasies. Katee Sackhoff returns as herself, frequent visitor to Howard’s id-driven fancies. Unfortunately for Howard, Sackhoff’s standard routine of sweet talk whilst wearing her Battlestar Galactica flight suit is interrupted by visions of Bernadette and George Takei, also playing himself.  The two sci-fi alumni depart, sharing their disappointment with Howard’s lifestyle choices, leaving him alone with his guilty conscience. Burdened with the memory of a scorned lover, Howard decides to man up and win Bernadette back. Even if it means apologizing to her.

The reason for Bernadette and Howard’s break up were hand-waved away following her original five-episode arc. But after some prodding by Penny, Howard finally reveals the details. In the game of World of Warcraft, Howard’s character befriended another user called Glacinda the Troll. After an apparently successful raid, the two characters had in-game sex (A time saver to all perverts:  World of Warcraft does not actually have a sex feature). Caught engaging in avatar-based cyber-infidelity, Bernadette dumped Howard.

Elsewhere, Sheldon and Raj continue their on-again/off-again storyline. Since season 3, the two scientists have begrudgingly collaborated on Sheldon’s specialty; String Theory. Tonight, rather than arguing over quantum mechanics or mathematical proofs, Sheldon and Raj instead bicker over a much smaller issue: office politics. Despite working out of Sheldon’s office for the better part of a year, Raj has no desk to call his own. Finally succumbing to Raj’s tireless pleading, Sheldon relents and allows Raj to move a desk into his side of the office. But out of spite, Raj purchases the largest desk he can find; one accustomed to a Forbes 500 CEO rather than a theoretical physicist. Breaking all rules of logic and spatial relations (just how did the desk fit through the door?), the Sheldon and Raj storyline is pretty basic. It’s a single sight gag fleshed out in typical sitcom fashion. To its credit, the storyline does culminate in a fun, off-screen prank war complete with marshmallow-shooting guns.

Wrapping up the main plot, a broken and apologetic Howard meets with Bernadette to discuss their relationship and breakup. Bernadette explains the World of Warcraft incident was not the lone cause of their romantic strife; it was just the final straw. Bernadette was upset Howard couldn’t communicate his feelings and would never take the first step physically. Howard plays the role of a ladies’ man, but knows nothing of the actual process. When Bernadette caught him fooling around on the internet, it proved he preferred facsimiles of sex to the actual act.

Realizing the dumb mistake and promising to be upfront with all feelings in the future, Howard and Bernadette reignite their romance with one caveat: Howard must start his courtship over from the beginning. Meaning no sex until he’s earned it. It’s a big price to pay, but at the very least, his Katee Sackhoff fantasies are back to normal.

I like to harp on Sheldon a lot in this column. He does stupid things under the guise of being smart, and he never learns from his mistakes, ever. But sometimes, like this week, we get reminders that he is human.

This week’s episode begins with Sheldon and Amy further differentiating and separating themselves from the remainder of the world population. Whether it be devising a board game consisting of hypothetical questions concerning alternate Earths, or discussing the misnomer of the rather un-factory like operation of The Cheesecake Factory, The Sheldon/Amy duo seem destined for longevity.

But as Sheldon continues to insist to his increasingly incredulous circle of friends, Amy is not his girlfriend. Even Penny’s cutesy portmanteau of the couple’s names, “Shamy,” isn’t enough to encourage romance. She is simply a friend of the female persuasion with whom he shares interests, philosophies, and an appreciation for science.

To a degree, that is. One thing well-known about Sheldon  is his devotion and allegiance to physics. Likewise, Amy has an unyielding appreciation of biology. Here lies the treacherous ground where “Shamy” now treads. Both are quick to defend their respective scientific fields to the degree of impugning all others. Sheldon, as a theoretical physicist, sees physics as the basis for human life and existence as a whole; physics is the trump card of all sciences. Amy, as a neurobiologist, feels the real-world application of her field supersedes anything in the theoretical field; physics is important on paper, but is mostly irrelevant as a field of study.

Reaching an impasse in their bizarre, robotic modes of operation, “Shamy” determines they are incompatible, and effectively split. Raj, Howard and Leonard briefly enjoy the notion their lives will be filled with 50% fewer Sheldonesque individuals, but their joy is short-lived. While Sheldon has no basis on how to interpret or express feelings, the feelings still exist. Overcome with what he cannot understand as heartbreak, he succumbs to the tried and true method of the heartbroken all over America. He gets a cat.

His new feline friend, dubbed Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, begins to accompany him everywhere. Soon after, the lone cat expands into an entire clowder (which Sheldon insists is the proper name for a group of cats). Each is named for a different member of The Manhattan Project with the notable exception of “Zazzles,” Sheldon’s favorite and named as such for her abundant levels of zazziness. Realizing his displacement has gotten out of hand, Leonard turns to his hailmary defense. He treats Sheldon like a human.

Encouraging Sheldon’s mother to visit from Texas (played once again by Laurie Metcalf), Leonard stages an intervention to help Sheldon through his trying time. The pair invites Amy, asking to help give Sheldon a sense of closure. Amy accepts, but only out of sheer curiosity to Sheldon’s mental state.

While the trio of Leonard, Amy and Sheldon’s mother initially try ineffectually to make him see the error of her ways, it’s Sheldon’s mother who offers the strongest argument. Publicly and derisively, she claims Amy and Sheldon are terrible together. Dumping her was the smartest thing Sheldon has ever done in his rich, studious life. Scoffing, Sheldon immediately reignites the relationship, offering to take his friendship with Amy to another level, purely out of spite. As the newly acquainted pair leave the room, hand in hand, Sheldon’s mother reveals her plan to Leonard: Reverse psychology. Let it be known, any man, no matter how smart, will never be as smart as his mother.

The episode ends with Amy and Sheldon selling the cats to eager cat lovers, seemingly enjoying their newly restructured social pact. While it’s a satisfying conclusion and a characteristically appropriate way to force Sheldon into an actual romance, I’m left with one small question. How did Sheldon, physics lover that he is, not name his cat Erwin Schrödinger?

I once read somewhere online that all technology, no matter how insignificant, goes through four stages; how it can be made, how the public can use it, how the military can use, and how the pornograpy industry can use it. In tonight’s episode of The Big Bang Theory, sad sack and hopeless bachelor Howard Wolowitz has a programmable robot arm. With this information, you can probably guess where this week’s episode heads.

Before we delve into the creepy details of cybernetic gratification, let’s discuss Sheldon. Last season, Sheldon met a young woman named Amy through an internet dating site. Amy (played by Mayim Bialik of Blossom fame) is, for all intents and purposes, a female Sheldon. Same vocal patterns, same gravitas towards science and same condescension for social standards. As such, both Amy and Sheldon enjoy each other’s company, but reach the consensual agreement that a romantic relationship is folly. However, the socially clueless couple does realize the unique opportunity present. After four months of internet-assisted communication, ignoring any societal or social standards, the pair decides on a lofty goal: they need to procreate.

As disgusting as a miniature Sheldon may seem, Sheldon assures his and Amy’s genetic material and accompanying upbringing would produce a not just a child, but the first in a line of overlords who would lead humanity. As Sheldon explains, society needs such a gift in these uncertain times. As Howard explains, future generations will condemn society for not killing Sheldon at this very moment.

Because Amy would be responsible for an overwhelming portion of their future child’s rearing, Sheldon agrees to go on a single date to establish a bare minimum level of intimacy. However, since Sheldon has still refused to obtain a driver’s license, and the single date was Penny’s idea, he compels Penny to chauffer.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The best parts of The Big Bang Theory involve Penny and Sheldon together. Tonight’s episode was a privilege in that we get Penny interacting with double Sheldons. As relationships are one of the few areas Penny is an authority over Sheldon, Penny attempts to drive the socially stubborn Sheldon and Amy from their stoic exploratory experiment towards a more, perceptively normal night out. Needless to say, Penny’s endeavors go poorly; throughout the course of the evening, Penny’s sexuality is questioned by Amy, she is insulted for both her Nebraskan and her Muggle heritage, and through a complex but alarmingly accurate mathematical algorithm, she is estimated to have had intercourse with 31 different men. But for what it’s worth, Amy and Sheldon did appear to enjoy themselves.

Delegated to the B-story are Howard, Raj and Leonard. After a night of playing with a robotic arm designed to assist astronauts in a low gravity environment, Howard takes the arm home to… let’s just say he played a much more private game. Mistakenly loading a program designed to torque a screwdriver instead of gently caress, Howard calls Raj and Leonard for the most embarrassing tech support ever.

Fearing his overbearing mother will burst in at any second with cookies and Hawaiian Punch, only to witness her son receiving a Vulcan nerve pinch to the groin, Howard implores his friends to come up with a swift and gentle solution. Fearing any attempt to dismantle the robot would likely result in a second circumcision, Raj and Leonard escort the incapacitated Howard to the emergency room, robot hand still in tow. Howard retains his insistence that he slipped and fell into the machine.

Fortunately, the nurse is more familiar in Occam’s razor than our three protagonists. She spies the obvious solution almost instantaneously: deactivate the robot. With one swift keystroke, the robot releases its death grip on Howard’s privates, and the trio celebrates. Most likely with cookies and Hawaiian Punch.

After such a monumental weekend for Chris Nolan, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and crew..what did you think about the film?

The rest of the United States thought it deserved the top spot in 3 different record breaking categories. Did you?

18.5 million on Thursday night alone brought The Dark Knight into 1st place for highest grossing midnight showings record. Second place goes to “Revenge of the Sith”.

66.4 million on Friday put “The Dark Knight” into 1st place for highest grossing opening day. “Spiderman 3″, which was a terrible movie, is now second with a 59.7 million record last year.

155.3 million for the weekend also brought down the mess that was “Spiderman 3″, and put atop the list a deserving film. “The Dark Knight” is a classic movie in its 5th day at the box office!

Last but not least “The Dark Knight” broke another record, do we care? Not really, but the 4,366 theaters it was shown is was a new record also in Hollywood.

With all of this said, do you really care? Do you want to see it again (I saw it twice already)? Did you even see it?

Let us know what you thought. “The Dark Knight” review is here if you haven’t read it yet. Some great responses in those comments also.