Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! This week, I’m continuing my look at The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019, CBS), which is currently available on DVD/Blu-Ray and streaming!

The Big Bang Theory stars JOHNNY GALECKI as Leonard, KALEY CUOCO as Penny, SIMON HELBERG as Howard, KUNAL NAYYAR as Raj, and JIM PARSONS as Sheldon.

Big Bang’s second season is great. There’s still an inherent novelty that keeps the premise easy to explore on a weekly basis, while a more cultivated understanding of the characters — primarily the central trio — is able to bolster ideas with situation-specific support. Sheldon, in particular, has gotten more solidified since Season One, becoming the ensemble’s dominant force. He’s also assisted a lot this year by Penny and Leonard. Although the main lovers’ “will they, won’t they” dynamic never escapes the rom-com clichés affiliated with this well-worn hangout subgenre, the series itself is still so fresh in Two that its situation remains top of mind with them as well. That is, scripts are better now than they’ll ever be ahead at motivating relationship tension through their characters, and specifically, their premised differences. Discrepancies in perceived intelligence and attractiveness (plus their corresponding insecurities) help keep them apart, thereby allowing predictable narrative beats to at least feel somewhat tailored to them and the show. This is also a direct play to the situation, focusing on the struggles of forming human relationships, especially when one party is (fairly) unaccustomed to them. That idea is literal with Leonard and Penny, but it’s best applied in Two, and in every season (should those seasons take advantage of it), with Penny and Sheldon. Their interaction yields the finest episodes, for Sheldon is the most extreme — the one whose rigidity makes him the most comedically opposed to change, and therefore the strongest ambassador for the premise, since he’s the one who most fights the casual humanity represented by the contrasting Penny. When those two are together in story, the series’ core themes are fundamentally acknowledged, for her sheer existence teaches him, often through conflict, the empathy he needs to actually be a friend — and, by proxy, a human being. Season Two has many episodes that put Sheldon and Penny in direct juxtaposition, displaying a masterful understanding of the series’ thesis with the regulars most primed to play it — a wisdom that’ll carry into Three, where a continued exploration of character amid a rising comic ethos creates peak-like conditions. Two is climbing to that height already and is the show’s second-best collection in its own right — proof that The Big Bang Theory, at the beginning of its life, does have real situation comedy chops.

 

01) Episode 18: “The Bad Fish Paradigm” (Aired: 09/22/08)

Penny regrets confiding in Sheldon about her insecurities regarding Leonard.

Teleplay by Dave Goetsch & Steven Molaro | Story by Bill Prady | Directed by Mark Cendrowski

The second season opens with Leonard and Penny returning from their first date, which was the first year’s culmination of their obvious romantic tension. However, the show doesn’t want the lovers formally paired too early, so this entry’s goal is to contrive a reason for them to essentially call off a relationship before it begins. That objective is clichéd, but the chosen solution is at least rooted in what we know of their characters, with their biggest discrepancy — the fact that he’s a brilliant scientist and she’s not — used to earn, in particular, mutual insecurities that fuel her belief that it could never work. This is smart — for the gulf between them isn’t related to their intelligence, but the way they both view each other as a result of their implied differences. It’s a nuance that keeps Penny from being a stereotypical dummy and allows some of Leonard’s anti-social awkwardness to motivate her anger — a detail that’s not just about their characters, but also the premise, thus making this a genuine example of situation comedy, and a fine start to a season that writes its central rom-com couple better than any season ahead will.

02) Episode 20: “The Barbarian Sublimation” (Aired: 10/06/08)

Sheldon gets Penny addicted to online gaming.

Teleplay by Steven Molaro & Eric Kaplan | Story by Nicole Lorre | Directed by Mark Cendrowski

Season Two now realizes that the winningest combination in its ensemble is Penny and Sheldon, for his extremities make him the most polar opposite to Penny, thereby emphasizing the premise at its boldest and clearest. But this outing, which centers its story around their growing friendship, is less about the way he changes because of her and instead mines comedy from an amusing notion about how she changes as a result of Sheldon. That’s the lesser-explored inverse of the series’ stated situation, and it’s inherently premise-corroborating by proximal default. In fact, that relationship-based spark is why I highlight this one here — for I’m, honestly, less charmed by the jokey and popular (but nevertheless uninspired) logline of Penny getting “addicted” to video games. That’s a generic sitcom idea, tweaked only by the given that these are nerds, so the subject is video games. If not for the implications supplied by the individual characters themselves (the situation’s most vital elements), this would be much less worthwhile.

03) Episode 22: “The Euclid Alternative” (Aired: 10/20/08)

Sheldon’s friends hold an intervention to encourage him to get over his fear of driving.

Teleplay by Lee Aronsohn & Dave Goetsch | Story by Bill Prady & Steven Molaro | Directed by Mark Cendrowski

The premise of this series is that Penny’s addition to a group of socially dysfunctional nerds makes them more capable of having real human relationships, so episodic ideas that spotlight how these guys are not socially “normal” tend to be winners, especially when the conflict involves someone’s efforts to evolve. And most especially when that someone is Sheldon. In this installment, a specific and previously established attribute of Sheldon’s — his aversion to driving — is targeted as a precise example of his dysfunction, representing not only an irrational fear that indicates his resistance to both change and everyday risk-taking, but also accentuates an elemental immaturity that posits evolution on this front as a sign of growing up (while playing into his burgeoning backstory as well). What’s more, driving means literally going out into the world, which means it’s an innately social activity (a “norm”) — the very type of thing that forces a play to the situation. So, this is one of the year’s best displays of the series’ core themes, with its best character anchoring and elevating the proceedings. (Octavia Spencer guests, and heck, I’ll also take this space to note that Jim Parsons received his first Emmy nod this season.)

04) Episode 23: “The Cooper-Nowitzki Theorem” (Aired: 11/03/08)

A graduate student with a Sheldon obsession quickly becomes his proxy girlfriend.

Teleplay by Tim Doyle & Richard Rosenstock | Story by Stephen Engel & Daley Haggar | Directed by Mark Cendrowski

This offering is notable because it’s the first time that the series comes close to exploring the possibility of Sheldon having a form of sexual or romantic relationship — a notion that the writers were initially hesitant to define or meaningfully address. That is, there was a contingent behind the scenes the thought he should be depicted as sexless (or even asexual) — the most extreme contrast to Penny. But, of course, this is an ensemble hangout show featuring singles that already has a pronounced rom-com engine, like so many others before it — and it can’t fight its own DNA. Also, with a premise about human connection being a symbol of growth for previously anti-social characters, it’s only natural that its primary ambassador’s arc would be shaped around his ability to create a serious romantic partnership with someone whom he comes to love and who loves him back. I note all that here because this, again, is the first time it’s discussed — when Sheldon gets an obsessed devotee who takes over his life as a manager, with much comedic tension framed around the implication that he is in a de facto relationship with this woman (Ramona, played by Riki Lindhome). Accordingly, it’s a really fresh, revealing story for his character in this era, with a funny logline that proves to be formative.

05) Episode 24: “The Panty Piñata Polarization” (Aired: 11/10/08)

Sheldon and Penny feud when he bans her from the apartment after breaking his rules.

Teleplay by Jennifer Glickman & Steven Molaro | Story by Bill Prady & Tim Doyle | Directed by Mark Cendrowski

Here we have the quintessential Sheldon vs. Penny episode from this quintessential Sheldon-‘n-Penny season, where they’re paired more regularly than they’ll ever be in the middle or late eras of the show, when all the romantic couplings come to dominate the storytelling, taking Big Bang further away from its nucleus, and, specifically, the premise as best examined when these two opposing characters are directly juxtaposed. This week, the extremely inflexible and therefore socially dysfunctional Sheldon bans Penny from the apartment after a series of minor infractions, as she breaks his rigid but nit-picky rules. To get back at him, she decides to disrupt his routine — something that obviously frustrates Sheldon in accordance with his well-defined characterization, which is mainly premised on his resistance to change. As such, this is a brilliantly exact view of both his character, and the situation at large, where conflict is derived from Penny’s added presence in his life, and the way she forces him to be more empathetic, a better friend and human. One of the series’ most essential — an MVE contender.

06) Episode 26: “The White Asparagus Triangulation” (Aired: 11/24/08)

Sheldon intervenes to help Leonard’s new relationship with Stephanie, of whom he approves.

Teleplay by Stephen Engel & Richard Rosenstock | Story by Dave Goetsch & Steven Molaro | Directed by Mark Cendrowski

Sara Rue has an arc this year as Stephanie, a surgeon who proves to be a brief love interest for Leonard. She’s not terribly well-defined (relatively speaking), and in general, the Stephanie entries are not among this season’s best. Well, except for this — the middle of the trilogy, which works because it’s centered around Sheldon, whose social dysfunction is on full display… but in a unique and comical way. That is, rather than maybe going the more predictable route of seeing him struggle to adapt to the change of Leonard having a girlfriend, Sheldon embraces it, for Stephanie actually meets his high and very particular standards. This is amusing for it’s also character-reinforcing, highlighting his rigid and often black-or-white thinking. What’s more, his delusional efforts to prevent the pair from breaking up (because he believes Leonard isn’t good enough for her) reiterates his further lack of experience in human relationships and the missing interpersonal tact that makes him a funny and situation-exemplifying force.

07) Episode 28: “The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis” (Aired: 12/15/08)

Sheldon reluctantly goes Christmas shopping for Penny.

Teleplay by Stephen Engel & Eric Kaplan | Story by Bill Prady & Richard Rosenstock | Directed by Mark Cendrowski

My choice for this season’s Most Valuable Episode (MVE), “The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis” is a Christmas-themed outing that manages two stories with a premise-oriented focus on the series’ key relationships: Leonard/Penny and Sheldon/Penny. Regarding the former, Leonard grapples with his insecurities when Penny begins dating a rival scientist who’s nevertheless hunkier and more conventionally attractive — thereby stirring up feelings of inadequacy both intellectually and even physically, which is always an implied undercurrent for Leonard, based on how he carries himself in the world, and in particular, with Penny, who is conventionally attractive and noted for it. Accordingly, this subplot — which culminates in a sweet moment between Leonard and Penny that reinforces the inevitability of their eventual pairing — is another example of how Big Bang in this era, Season Two, is still able to find comic conflict in its primary rom-com dynamic with support from their characters’ core differences, which are situated in the premise. Meanwhile, Sheldon’s story is sort of a sequel to last year’s “The Peanut Reaction,” where Penny had to take him shopping to get a birthday present for Leonard. Here, when he learns that she intends to exchange Christmas gifts, he is forced to deal with the social conventions of reciprocity — something that’s tough for him and therefore a prime illustration of his un-emotive thinking and basic struggle with interpersonal norms, things Penny is ever-so-slowly correcting via natural empathy. And indeed, the show concludes with a beloved scene where he showers Penny with gifts, and a hug(!), after she gives him an autographed napkin used by Leonard Nimoy… which means he has Spock’s DNA. It’s great — so unique to the Sheldon character and in evidence of the series’ situation, which is wonderfully explored.

08) Episode 32: “The Maternal Capacitance” (Aired: 02/09/09)

Leonard and Penny bond when he’s visited by his cold psychiatrist mother.

Teleplay by Richard Rosenstock & Steven Molaro | Story by Chuck Lorre & Bill Prady | Directed by Mark Cendrowski

No stranger to a Chuck Lorre sitcom, Cybill’s Christine Baranski debuts in this excursion as Leonard’s mother. She’ll recur throughout the series, improving every half hour in which she appears. But this may be her best, for it’s automatically the most revealing. Her cold, unemotional, and often harsh demeanor as a brilliant psychiatrist tells us so much about the Leonard character, allowing us to fill in a backstory that not only explains the diminutive way he comports himself in the world, but also individualizes him to an extent, helping him become more comedically and dramatically precise. Heretofore, he’s mostly been the “straight man” and “most normal” of the guys, existing primarily to uphold the rom-com A-story of the series. And sadly, I’m afraid that’s mostly how he’ll continue to be used — especially after the show’s peak. However, every time Dr. Beverly arrives, we’ll be reminded of personal details that render Leonard more of a character, and that’s thrilling. Her presence is also fun because she’s framed in relation to Sheldon, as the two naturally bond, sharing a clinical attitude that reiterates just how much Sheldon and Leonard are distinct (Leonard bends to please others, unlike Sheldon, who stubbornly maintains his rigid shape, often to his own detriment). So, this is a great installment for the leads, with the memorable (and Emmy-nominated) Baranski a happy bonus.

09) Episode 33: “The Cushion Saturation” (Aired: 03/02/09)

Penny ruins Sheldon’s spot on the couch while Howard begins dating Leslie.

Teleplay by Bill Prady & Lee Aronsohn | Story by Chuck Lorre | Directed by Mark Cendrowski

The A-story here has Penny freaking out after she accidentally ruins Sheldon’s spot on the couch — a disruption that we all know will send him into a tizzy, not just because of his general difficulty with handling changes to his unbending routine, but also because, right from the pilot, Sheldon having a regular seat was used as a seminal example of his obsessive fastidiousness, and therefore his larger anti-social rigidity (for he was unable to handle someone else sitting there). Accordingly, this idea alone is a straightforward display of his character, even predicating itself on the audience’s well-understood conception of his personality and thus the expectations that have been established. That’s situation comedy, and especially so in this case, since it plays to the premise as well. Meanwhile, Howard starts seeing Sara Gilbert’s Leslie — it doesn’t bring much, but their pairing is the beginning of the Howard character’s maturation, evidenced through his ability to carry on a real romantic relationship. (And Carol Ann Susi brings lots of laughs!)

10) Episode 38: “The Vegas Renormalization” (Aired: 04/27/09)

As the guys take Howard to Vegas, Penny lets Sheldon stay the night after he locks himself out.

Teleplay by Steven Molaro | Story by Jessica Ambrosetti & Nicole Lorre & Andrew Roth | Directed by Mark Cendrowski

This episode — which I actually saw taped live in March 2009 — is a textbook sample of the series in Season Two. For starters, it pairs Sheldon and Penny one-on-one for a subplot that reiterates their growing friendship along with the premise at large, where their two polarities emphasize the overall situation of her proximal social empathy rubbing off on the guys and making them more capable of having real human relationships of their own. Here, this duo’s scenes are relatively simple — and Sheldon is less socially rigid as he is immature, a softer but still somewhat dysfunctional side of his character that builds upon what we already started to learn about him last year (like when we met his mother). Speaking of last year, the “Soft Kitty” song also makes its return — a bit of continuity that will come to symbolize this childlike aspect of his characterization, almost becoming shorthand for the show when it wants a call back related to Sheldon’s infantilized qualities. Additionally, the subplot of the other guys taking Howard to Vegas to help him get over his breakup puts them in a social scenario where they can be awkward and inexperienced — a basic reflection of who they are as characters and why the premise for them is what it is. (Of note: Jodi Lyn O’Keefe guests. She was the first actress cast in the role that would become Penny, but she was let go before the first pilot was even shot.)

 

Other notable episodes include: “The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition,” which explores the premise literally by having another “hot girl” move into the building and infringe on Penny’s turf, along with “The Terminator Decoupling,” which deals with both human connection and the male characters’ nerdy interests, and “The Hofstadter Isotope,” which introduces Kevin Sussman’s Stuart, who dates Penny (and it also has a fun subplot of the guys at a pickup bar). I’ll also take this space to cite “The Friendship Algorithm,” where Sheldon tries to befriend a rival (Kripke) whose computer access he wants, thereby highlighting his social awkwardness, and “The Work Song Nanocluster,” where Sheldon obsessive compulsively takes command of Penny’s small business — a decent showing for his character.

 

*** The MVE Award for the Best Episode from Season Two of The Big Bang Theory goes to…

“The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis”

 

 

Come back next week for Season Three! And stay tuned tomorrow for a new Wildcard!