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.
