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Check out the full breakdowns of each episode of The Big Bang Theory: 'The Big Bang Theory' Breakdown Master List. Also, here is a quick list to each seasons individual links to every breakdown -- forty-three (and counting) -- for easier finding if you just want to go directly to a specific one.



- SEASON ONE
- SEASON TWO
- SEASON THREE

Okay, I pretty much figured that I was done with Ugly Betty. Last season started out with great promise, but just went so drastically downhill, there were no words. It became almost a chore to watch it, but I held on because I love the chemistry between America Ferrera and Eric Mabius (Betty and Daniel) and love, love, love their relationship and Matt and Molly seemed obvious stand-ins for Daniel and Betty as signs that the originals were getting closer to being ready for one another. Then exec producer Silvio Horta flat-out, categorically stated that Daniel and Betty would NEVER get together. So, yeah, I was done because the quality of the show sure wasn't keeping me around. But, I didn't take it off of my DVR, the two-hour premiere was last night and I thought, eh, why not? This will be my deciding factor once and for all.

So I watched it and .... wait, first, I found out AFTER watching it that Horta changed his tune a wee bit. In an interview he was asked to clarify the Daniel/Betty remark and his response was: "Every other version has [had them end up together]. At this point, I actually know what's going to happen. I thought I knew when I made that quote, but you re-evaluate and reassess. What I said before may or may not still be true." There are rumors that ABC was not happy with Horta's statement and thus he's just appeasing the masses, however ... it sure doesn't look like that's the case after watching the premiere. It all but screamed BETTY AND DANIEL WILL BE!! Anvils, nuggets galore.

- Betty's joy at seeing/hearing from Daniel.
- Betty was the only one who could really help him, calm him down.
- Daniel attempting to help Betty (even if he royally screwed things up).
- Betty -- once again -- choosing Daniel over everything else.
- Betty getting Daniel to sleep.
- Matt suggesting that Betty and Daniel are sleeping around which ...
  a) Has never really been suggested seriously before.
  b) Was not scoffed or 'ewwed' by anyone, but rather.
  c) Led to Daniel punching Matt out- Daniel telling every single person at that shoot that to mess with Betty is to mess with him.
- Betty getting Daniel to back down and leave with her.
- Betty telling Daniel he was wrong to hit Matt, but at the same time, but showing that she appreciated him doing so for her.
- Daniel telling Betty she was wrong to choose him over her job, but showing that he appreciated her doing so for him.
- The recall to the Bridge scene from s1 (there's no way that every single D/B shipper did NOT flashback to that scene).
- Betty and Daniel clearly defining they are no longer boss/assistant, but friends so taking that squick factor out.

So, yeah, LOADS of Daniel/Betty potential. I LOVED IT!

However, even better, was that overall the show itself was season-one awesome, so good! I liked all of the characters, they were all season-one in character. I didn't hate Hilda -- who I pretty much loathed through all of season three; I liked Ignacio, I LIKED Betty and she's been an insufferable, holier-than-thou, immature child for much too long. Not last night. I loved the fact that we got the hint of the braces coming off, the make-over itself was wonderful at the end. Seeing Betty witness herself through the eyes of others (including Daniel) and her horrid outfits was a lovely way of showing why Betty finally kind a wake-up call. And it was about damn time too. Also, the butterfly/caterpillar parallel earlier with the lovely Lynn Redgrave wasn't too over the top, but instead helped plant the seed.

So, except for being a little meh on the Willi/recast-Nico storyline, I loved everything. The characters, the heart, the humor, the quotes, the quips, the storyline, THIS was the Ugly Betty I fell in love with. YAY!

Oh, show, please, please keep it up and don't fall apart on me like last season!

I'm so disappointed that Eastwick is getting practically ignored by the press and promoted not that highly by ABC because it really is quite adorable. I genuinely love all of the characters -- even played by actresses I've never been particularly fond of (including all three leads!); the setting is charming and quaint, but not in an overkill manner. Some real stories are being told amidst the witchy good and the characterization and relationships (so many different types -- new friends, old friends, older/younger, mother/daughter, romance beginning, ending, somewhere stuck between) are so deftly handled. Four episodes in and I'm enjoying it as much as the first premiere.



First, the show's premise: Adaptation of the book/film The Witches of Eastwick, in which three women discover their powers as they find themselves drawn to a wealthy, charismatic and mysterious stranger.

The characters:

Rebecca Romijn as Roxie Torcoletti - (The blonde in the icon) She has a teeny bit more of a lead role than the other two witches, but just barely. I'm not the biggest fan of Romijn; I don't dislike her, but she's never done anything for me as an actress. Until now; she's perfectly cast as Roxie. There's a warm, experienced, earthy quality about her. She's an old soul, a free spirit, who's bogged down a bit by the realities of life, and her own disappointment but she still maintains a humorous outlook on the whole thing. Her relationship with her daughter is lovely and refreshing, her romance with her now-boyfriend, Chad, is charming. And even though he's not a regular cast member, Chad is -- like all of the characters -- real and three-dimensional. Instead of just being the young stud, the older, experienced, gorgeous woman is sexing up, he's not a throw-away joke, he's just as "real" as the regular cast.

Lindsay Price as Joanna Frankel - (The bespectacled brunette in the icon) Again, not an actress I'm generally impressed with, but I love Joanna. I love her diarrhea of the mouth, and her insecurity and inquisitiveness. I love how she's still a bundle of nerves and neuroses despite gaining some strong self-confidence in the premiere episode. She's still the same character we met in the premiere, she just has a growing strength about her now. And I ADORE her relationship with best friend, Penny. The "Like a Virgin" riff from a few episode back was so ridiculously charming and SO REAL. Their are so many little moments like this one between these two that could come straight out of real life. And I love how they go off on tangent about other entertainment-related things (Stakeout, for instance). It's just so real.

Jaime Ray Newman as Kat Gardener - (The redhead in the icon) Once upon a time I could NOT stand this actress. She was terrible on General Hospital, terrible in other things I saw her in and then got involved in a fandom of mine in a horrible way. Ugh. So on my IHATEHER list, and then time passed, she all but disappeared before showing up on the third season of Veronica Mars. I didn't like her, but for the first time I didn't hate her. And I saw her pop up in guest-starring roles here and there, and didn't dislike her anymore, just was rather meh. Still, she was the main reason I was initially had no intention of watching this show (Romijn and Price just added to the do-not-watch list), but then I randomly decided to give it a shot. I'm not sure why, but I did. And lo and behold! not only do I not hate, dislike or am meh on Newman in this, I love her! Her Kat is my favorite character. I love Kat, I love how Newman plays her. I love her relationship with Roxie and Joanna, the struggles in her marriage and how deftly it's playing out. She's sweet, and funny. There is a small-town innocence about her as the only one of the trio who grew up in Eastwick. Love her.

Paul Gross as Darryl Van Horne - He's good, but while I know that he's a lure for many who *are* watching this, I'm not completely sold on him, but I like him more with each passing episode. It's not that he's no Jack Nicholson, it's that he doesn't have the level of charisma that I think is necessary for this role, erm, ala Nicholson.

Sara Rue as Penny Higgins - Love her. Will always love her. I've loved her in EVERYTHING I've ever watched her in. My only complaint is that we don't see more of her, but I love everything we get. I love her friendship with Joanna, I love the realism of her character. I, of course, love how Rue plays her because Sara Rue is AWESOME! I also love the little reveal at the end of the most recent episode that she's got something going on with whatever the hell is going on with Jaime. Hmm .....

Veronica Cartwright as Bun Waverly - She was Felicia in the movie version, and while her Bun is a different characer, but she's still fabulous. The first scene of the series featuring her was so beautifully done, it is what sold me on the show as a keeper from the get-go. And seeing the different type of relationship she had with Kat (as a nurse) and the respectful relationship that she had (may have again -- Bun lost her memory) with Roxie is marvelous.

Johann Urb as Will St. David - He's sweet and perfect and so nice; and it's just lovely having a straight-forward straight-arrow guy. He's the white knight, in a nebbish-y, kinda nerdy way. (Although, he can definitely look outrageously sexy ... as seen by his modeling shots.)

Jon Bernthal as Raymond Gardener - And he's not. He's a loser and a blowhard, but the intricacies of his relationship with Kat is being played out so beautifully. He's not a villain or a bad guy, he's just a small-town popular in high-school kid who never really grew up despite marriage to his high school sweetheart and five kids. And yeah, he's a jerk and does awful things, but he's not an awful guy and the writing of the character and the acting by Bernthal is just very wonderfully done.

Ashley Benson as Mia Torcoletti - Roxie's daughter, she's not a huge player, although a near-rape by her boyfriend, led to some major consequences. Still, she's not a stereotype and the moments we're seeing with her -- and her recent connection with her mom's boyfriend's younger brother in the third episode is showing, yet again, how the small-town co-mingles.

So, overall, the characters are deftly, realistically written, there's drama, genuine shocks, humor galore -- of a gentle, real-life type, romance and the beauty of the varied relationships left and right. Yes, there's the magic also, but it's just woven in the background, and we're seeing how it's helping, hindering, but definitely changing who these women are. Also really nice? They're -- all three -- completely three-dimensional characters. Roxie's an artist, mother, lover and friend. Joanna's a reporter, friend and has some bad luck in her love life, and just made a whopper of a mistake in the last episode, but it also brought about a new awakening in her self-confidence, while hurting her potential romance with Will. But it wasn't farcical; it made sense and you felt for all of the characters. Kat is a nurse, mother of five, wife, and friend.

All in all, it's just a darling little show and I'm quite bummed that due to its lack of promotion, lack of press buzz/praise, it will likely be canceled after only thirteen episodes. *Sigh* If you haven't checked it out, do give it a try. It's only four episodes in and it's just positively charming.

Alrighty then, I'm going to start with the Doctors. I admit I haven't re-watched season one in two years (but I'm working on getting it), and if you've been reading my journal for any length of time and have read my Who posts, you know it isn't because I didn't like S1. In fact, I loved it. I was completely hooked by the third episode and fell head over heels for Christopher Eccleston's Doctor. He created such a mixture of joy and sorrow, goofiness and seriousness in such a beautifully nuanced package. This is the awesomeness of Eccleston.

And, of course, because I'm a silly, silly shipper at heart, I rather fell head over heels for the relationship between the Doctor and Rose as well. I loved Eccleston's Doctor and the Rose/Nine relationship so much that when the reveal of David Tennant as Doctor #10 appeared at the end of the season, I was upset, angry, annoyed, frustrated, saddened, you name it. And it was a little over two full years before I actually watched another episode because the Doctor was ... Christopher Eccleston. Period.

I've now seen all of season two and three, and what's aired thus far of season four. I don't LOOOOOOOOOVE Tennant's Doctor like I did Eccleston's, but I do like him very much and I love his relationship with Rose as well. It's different, but the same. Which makes sense considering the Doctor is different, but the same. I do think Tennant tends to get a tad, erm, okay, a LOT, yelly at points, but I think he does the fun of it quite well and I like the introspective, bad-ass moments also.

He's not my Doctor -- that will always be Eccleston -- but he's a fine, fine Doctor none-the-less and I enjoy watching him very much indeed. And because the second season was the Doctor and Rose already knowing each other and having been through such an emotional experience (the end of season one), there was a richer, yet lighter feel to their relationship in season two. Needless to say, if you're familiar with my leanings, it won't surprise anyone to know that by the end of season two, I was pretty much a die-hard Rose/Doctor (Nine or Ten) shipper ... yes, this was even knowing that Billie Piper was gone after season two before I even sat down to watch it. But more on the whole Doctor/Rose relationship later.

First, let's take a look at the Companions. This show is so oddly set-up in terms of creating actor/character/shipping fandoms because the Doctor CAN easily be replaced at any time should something change with the current actor due to the whole regenerating thing when he "dies." As well, the companions can just be set along their merry way for any number of reasons and it's all so logical and makes sense that the almost transient nature of the actors on the show makes it an interesting one for me to glom onto because I'm SO entrenched in loving my favorites and any replacement BE DAMNED!!! Yet, this show makes it work ... likely, in my opinion, due to the already-set-in-place structure of the show, as well as the almost routinely excellent casting and writing.

My first companion was, of course, Rose. I didn't love love her by even the end of the first season, but some time throughout the second season, I did grow to love love her and her departure at the end of that season left me a literal bawling mess. I loved her fiestiness, her ignorance, yet willingness to explore anything and everything. I loved her dedication and loyalty to the Doctor. Hah, I actually just figured it out when I realized I love loved Rose because of typing that last statement: It was in the two-parter ending with "Satan's Pit." She was so awesome on her own, fighting and doing everything that had to be done while still remaining steadfastly loyal and devoted to the Doctor. Loved it, and loved her.

Anyhoo, back to my Rose love. I even loved her selfishness because it just made her more real. When viewers (and I'm talking mostly TWoP commentary here as I've yet to find another Doctor Who community where I can just dig in and read good, meaty thoughts on the show -- but I'm looking) complain about "Saint Rose" or "Mary Sue Rose" rearing her head in season three and thus far in season four, I seriously wonder if they've watched season one and two recently. Seriously. Because not only was Rose NOT a saint OR a Mary Sue; she was never written as one (nor was she portrayed as such in season three, or season four thus far). She was ignorant, and selfish, and jealous, and stupid, stupid, stupid sometimes. However, she was also capable of greatness. Great acts of sacrifice, great thoughts, great love, great compassion. Many of the kick-ass awesome qualities we see in Martha and Donna were in Rose: a bit of the humor, the action, the smarts, the compassion, the heart and soul. Rose was fucking awesome. I love her.

I don't, however, love Martha. I like her. I think Freema Agyeman is lovely, but I just never connected to Martha the way I did Rose. That very well may have been because the Doctor kept her at arm's length, something he never did with Rose, and so she felt like she was at arm's length from me as well. There were moments with Martha where I loved her (and I do have Torchwood on my Netflix so I can get caught up on that, I might like her better when she shows up there -- I quite liked her and Jack), but overall, I just kinda, you know, liked her.

I'll be honest, it didn't help that I kept waiting for the show to screw up (in my opinion) and make Martha into another Rose in terms of how the Doctor felt about her. To me, what was between the Doctor and Rose was special (more on that later, I promise) and it would have just infuriated me to see Martha just take over Rose's spot. All of the moments of jealousy that Martha had, the continued bringing up of Rose, the continued crush that lasted the whole season really had me believing that the final episode of season three would basically feature the Doctor showing that Martha was just another Rose to him, ie, just another companion, one he valued and felt great fondness, but just another companion ... thus Rose wasn't special at all. That didn't happen and I may actually be able to go back and rewatch season three with a different eye that is more appreciative for that fact.

It's not something I'll be doing all that soon though, because, overall, season three was subpar to seasons one and two in my book, and that's not because Rose wasn't there. I did like Martha, I really did, she just didn't connect to me and thus make me connect to the show the same way I had in seasons one and two. In fact, my favorite episode was the incredibly awesome "Blink" which barely featured Martha and the Doctor at all. However, I DID really like her spark with Tom Milligan in the season finale and was really, really happy to see his return (or at least mention of him) as her fiance in Martha's first appearance back on the show in season four. A Martha not mooning over the Doctor may make me like her all that much more. Still, I'm not sure. I kinda think if she was gonna grab me like Rose did, it woulda happened. I mean, I may not have love loved Rose by the end of season one, but I loved her and it was before the last episodes that I was there already. So, who knows?

Well, I do know that my opinion about Donna came pretty quickly, faster than even with Rose. See, I hadn't watched the show in two years, but I would see posts on ONTD about it and I would note them simply because it WAS a show I had loved. And lately I'd been seeing this (I'm being honest here) mean, bitchy, scarecrow-looking, kinda unattractive red head in all the promo shots with David Tennant and I thought, 'What the hell?!?! They went from Billie Piper to Freema Agyeman to, uhm, that?!?!?! Oy. I don't know.' Flashforward to season two, I watched "School Reunion" (with Anthony Stewart Head!!!) and there was an older redhead woman, Sarah Jane, and I thought ... "Oh, I bet THAT'S the redhead chick. Oh, she looks much better onscreen. Just not photogenic." Did a teeny bit of research and found out, nope, totally different actress. So I was back to thinking 'Oy vey! Crap. This is gonna suck. I don't like the way she looks. I'm not gonna like her.'

Then came the season finale of season two. As mentioned above, I'm a bawling mess and the Doctor is crying himself and then all-of-a-sudden familiar scary, mean-looking redhead woman pops into the Tardis wearing a wedding dress and I was like, "That's her!!!" I was leery, but "The Runaway Bride" was the next episode to watch. So I watched it. And in about, oh, fifteen minutes ... maybe even ten, I fell completely, totally, absolutely, mind-boggled IN LOVE WITH DONNA NOBLE!!!! OH. MY. GOD! Is she like the COOLEST character ever!?!?? Why, yes, I do believe she is. She isn't just the awesome. She isn't just made of the awesome. She isn't just the very definition of the awesome. No, Donna Noble is everything in the universe put together that is good and right and cool, creating a brand-new definition of awesome that has never before been witnessed.

I love Donna. I love Donna so much. Donna? is, well, there is no other word to accurately describe her. Donna ... is Donna. So, so Donna. I love her. So much. My God, the charades scene in "Partners in Crime?" Funniest damn thing I can recall seeing ever!!!! Catherine Tate is so beyond awesome. Her comic timing, her delivery, her pure awesomeness -- seriously, she must sweat liquid beads of awesome -- she's just WOW!!!!!!!!!! Love her.

Funny thing, though, Donna's my favorite character on Doctor Who ever -- meaning, yes, I like her more than I like Christopher Eccleston's Doctor ... I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!! -- but, Rose is still my favorite companion. Which brings us to ...

Part II

I wrote above that I'm basing this bit on fandom as read at TWoP about the Rose/Doctor relationship -- if anyone knows of the thoughts in the overall fandom outside of that evil place and know that they are, in fact, in the minority, do let me know. I mentioned how Rose is referred to as "Saint Rose" and "Mary Sue Rose" (ridiculous, but I already groused about that in above) and this is mostly done because of posters annoyed that Rose is brought up as much as she was in season three and four (so far). For me? I would have been not annoyed, but damn right PISSED! had Rose not been brought up in season three, so I was actually giddy and thrilled with every mention because, in my opinion, she damn well should have been for one reason and one reason alone.

The Doctor loved Rose. Period. I don't care what happened in previous incarnations. I don't care if romance has never been part of the show to any degree. I know what I watched happen over the course of two seasons and I damn well know what happened in the last ten minutes of season two. He was screaming her name -- and not the normal David Tennant-screaming -- but in an anguished cry of devastation; she was sobbing uncontrollably. THEY SENSED EACH OTHER THROUGH AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE; they did the whole touching hands through a wall ... THROUGH AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. Final scene: The Doctor was "burning up a sun just to say goodbye," Rose told him she loved him; it sure as hell seemed like the Doctor was going to tell her likewise. Once he lost contact with her, he was crying. In other words, they loved each other. It was love. As how love is seen and shown and produced and stylized on television and in film. The Doctor loved Rose. Rose loved the Doctor. Whether one wants to accept that such is not how Doctor Who worked in the past is all fine and dandy, but what's happened on new Who, what we saw onscreen? The Doctor loved Rose. Rose loved the Doctor. They loved each other. And it wasn't of the sibling sort or like father/daughter.

The reason that Rose was brought up as much as she was in season three was because -- sticking to the storyline that had been crafted through the first two seasons -- the Doctor was mourning a woman he loved. The reason the Doctor was such a dick to Martha is because he knew she fancied him, but he was dealing with a broken heart -- which, based on comments I've read, hadn't happened before with any other companion -- but would never admit it, and just wanted to not deal with it. That? was part of the season's arc ... it was brought up how horribly affected he was by Rose's loss in "The Runaway Bride" (Go Donna!! "Pockets!!") and having a bright, young girl who didn't really know love at that point thinking she loved him allowed him to witness a fresh innocence at work again despite his continued tragedies.

As for chemistry, yes, I thought that Billie Piper had better chemistry with Christopher Eccleston and if it hadn't been for how well they played off one another, the love angle may not have worked in season two with Tennant. However, Piper and Eccleston did have chemistry, they did play off of one another well and the finale in which Rose took on the life force of the Tardis connected Rose and the Doctor in a way that simply could not be dismissed as a schoolgirl crush. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if part of the why of Martha's crush was to show that what Rose felt for the Doctor was NOT in fact a crush, but that she truly loved him. And while, again, Piper had better chemistry with Eccleston, that didn't take away from the fact that she and David Tennant had fine chemistry as well, just different, but yet with the same touch because they were the same characters.

What will happen in the future? Who knows? But that's one of the great things about Doctor Who, anything truly is literally possible. Will the Doctor get Rose back? Will he move on to someone new? Based on his interactions with Martha -- stand-offish, at arm's length -- and Donna -- "I just want a mate" -- I'd like to think that any romantic entanglements will be kept to the one/two-shot deals we've had thus far and thus easily expendable and forgotten. I'm a silly shipper at heart, I know, but I LOVE the fact that Rose is so clearly special to the Doctor. I love that we are still hearing about and seeing (!!!) Rose despite Billie Piper's work on The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl. As far as I'm concerned, it should stay that way because the show made me believe that the Doctor and Rose loved each other -- a true love, a real, once in a (human's) lifetime kind of love -- and I'm sticking to that. I hope the show does too.

Finally, a quick (yes, I am capable of "quick," I swear) look at the finales thus far. One thing that Doctor Who does so well are its finales. Well, normally. I adored the first season finale so much. So much so that I was a crying mess at the end of it. How the show built from this goofy, quirky, silly, time-traveling sci-fi geekfest into this emotionally heartrending, thrilling, dramatic tour de force is amazing. But it did it. I cared so very much about the Doctor and Rose ... and when they both risked so much for, well, so much, it was awesome. And when I say "awesome," I don't mean in the 'ooh, cool!' way, but rather in the literal definition of the word: Inspiring awe. All of the plot points, all of the lines about, all of the build-up of "Bad Wolf" to the season came to a head in this beautiful tapestry of threads sewn together with such love and talent. Ah, it was wonderful.

And then ... and then!!! The second season managed the exact same feat. Starting out light and goofy, with some serious undertones, and then building, building, building to that killer of a finale where Rose became a heroine in her own right, and not just the Doctor's sidekick; and where the Doctor experienced yet another devastating loss -- not comparing losing Rose to an alternate universe to the Time Lord war here, but it was still devastating to lose Rose. It was just ... no words. It blew me away. If I was a crying mess after season one, season two had me bawling in the fetal position.

The third season? Eh, not so much. It was good, BUT, I didn't know Martha's family enough to care beyond normal human compassion (for fictional characters) that they were being held by the Master. The mom I flat-out didn't like; the dad was a cipher to me, and Tish was kinda lame. As for the Master? Hello! John Simm is awesome, but, but ... we shouldn't have been hit with his appearance with only two episodes to go. We should have seen more of the soon-to-be PM, a lot more. We should have been introduced to the Master prior to that. We should have cared more. I was hopeful, very hopeful in the episode where old man Master was introduced and I realized it. I was wowed, and loving it, anticipating an awesome conclusion as I'd gotten the first two seasons.

That episode, "Utopia," really was just fabulous, but the fall-out in "The Sound of the Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords" ... it was too much, too rushed, I didn't care enough about any of the players. And sadly, Martha hadn't endeared herself to me enough so I didn't care about her plight either. (Although, as I mention above, I did like her and Tom Milligan. Nice spark there.) And when the Master died in the Doctor's arms, I didn't feel for the Doctor in being bummed that the Master was letting himself die. I just didn't care enough about the relationship because it hadn't been fully realized for me as a viewer. Unlike Rose and Nine; unlike Rose and Ten. That's where the (good!) devastation came from when watching the finales of seasons one and two. I knew and loved these characters and their relationships. I didn't know nor love the Master; and I certainly didn't love the relationship between the Doctor and the Master precisely because I didn't know the relationship.

I dunno, perhaps if I HAD watched previous incarnations and had more of a feel for the Time Lord war, I would have been more affected, but I just wasn't. I'm hoping that the season four finale will kick ass like seasons one and two. I have faith that it will.

Sigh, okay, so I'm not capable of "quick." Is anyone surprised?

Now, just a few comments about random stuff related to the show.

- The Face of Boe reveal being Jack was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! I loved it so, so, sooooooooo much. It made such perfect sense, was built up perfectly throughout the seasons with the conversations with the Face of Boe. Just awesome. My only wish is that I really would have rather that reveal been done with Rose who had a connection with Jack as well, or with just the Doctor himself. While I did like Martha and Jack's interactions, she wasn't enough a part of the whole background of Jack/The Face of Boe to really hit the full emotional moment there. Ah well. Tis a small complaint for such an awesomely, unexpected (on my part) reveal.

- I pretty much loved EVERYTHING about "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday." Fabulous, fabulous job on those.

- Shipper that I am, I was a bit bugged by the whole "Human Nature/Family of Blood" Doctor falling in love with the Nurse thing. (Partly because I didn't really cotton to the actress, and wasn't impressed with her and Tennant's chemistry, or lack thereof.) Still with that said, I think these were my favorite Martha episodes. She was awesome in them.

- What is it with the Doctor having to kiss every Companion under non-romantic circumstances? There was the Doctor/Rose kiss in "The Parting of the Ways" when the Doctor transferred the Tardis vortex thingie from Rose to him. (Though to be fair, in my opinion, although not technically romantic, I still see it as such, personally. Anyhoo ...) Rose as Cassandra in "New Earth" kissing the (new!) Doctor. Then we have Ten kissing Martha to leave a DNA scent in "Smith and Jones." And finally, the shock of Donna kissing the Doctor in "The Unicorn and the Wasp." I just wonder.

- Despite no Rose (and likely because of the awesome that is Donna), I liked "The Runaway Bride" waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than "The Christmas Invasion."

Episode: The Grasshopper Experiment
Original Air Date: November 12, 2007
Written by: Robert Cohen & Lee Aronsohn (teleplay), David Goetsch & Steven Molaro (story)
Directed by: Ted Wass



While not as hilarious as the last episode, this one still had some hilariously laugh-out-loud moments and unlike the last one, there was nary a moment of discomfort to be found. It was also lovely seeing Raj (Kunal Nayyar) get the spotlight. His parents were a bit cliched, but the mechanics of the plot were marvelously well-done. Everything played into upcoming moments beautifully. Arranged marriages to Fiddler on the Roof to Sheldon singing the song in the tag. Raj's situation to Penny's need for practice to Sheldon's Diet Coke ... to Sheldon's slutty Cuba Libre. Excellent job weaving it all together seamlessly.



Brian George - Dr. V.M. Koothrappali ... Raj's father, whom we meet via webcam.

Alice Amter - Mrs. Koothrappali ... Raj's mother, whom we meet via webcam.

Sarayu Rao - Lalita ... Raj's potential Indian intended, she is in dental school, and finds herself attracted to Sheldon.



Oh boy! Based on "The Dumpling Paradox and this, it appears as if the writers have now established the Sheldon and Penny relationship pattern. It's certainly not romantic in any way, but it sure is fun as heck to watch. The back and forth, the pauses and considering and/or evil looks they give one another, the one-upmanship just ebbs and flows naturally and effortlessly. The last episode and this one have truly begun to capitalize on the infamous Parsons/Cuoco chemistry and, man, is it jumping off of our screens. Their Diet Virgin Cuba Libre exchange is a perfect example. Ooh, when she says "then swim to Cuba." LOVE!

A few things of note ... first of all, the obvious: Sheldon's interaction with Lalita. Yes, he had no clue that he was hitting on her and had no interest in her romantically, but how he approached her, the single-minded intensity with just that bit of emotional distance, was incredibly attractive. Based on not only his words, but how he delivered them, it's no wonder that Lalita was flattered and wanted to spend time with him. He is good-looking -- and Lalita is now the second woman (of only two we've seen thus far) who's shown an immediate interest in Sheldon. The point is that, he has the ability to wonderfully seduce a woman with his words and manner; he just doesn't realize it (or want to go there yet). However, because of this episode, it's officially canon that he can do so and when (yes, when!, damnit) things begin to happen with Penny, we've already seen that when Sheldon approaches a woman with a physical fascination in play, he can say all the right things, and look at her in all the right ways. Heart-stopping and toe-curling ways.

Finally, two small moments: The first was when Penny came over asking for help; Sheldon was the first one to jump in. Now, yes, it had to do with the favor itself, but still, Sheldon was right on it when helping her. What I also love is that even though it was played for comic effect, we still had Penny saying that she would figure out how to talk to Sheldon, which essentially means that she does *want* to figure out how to talk to him and will keep trying until she can. Aww. And also, Sheldon turned to look at Howard in mild perturbance when he asked Penny for a Slippery Nipple; and he continued looking so until Penny handled it. THEN he turned around to get his Diet coke. Interesting.

Lastly, on Penny's end, she sure seemed to get a kick out of Sheldon's performance in the tag, bopping along to his playing and singing. Obviously, part of it was because she was responsible with her experiment and all, but she still was having a blast watching Sheldon have a blast. Nuggets, people, nuggets ... they will build into something greater.



- The boys waxing rhapsodic about Fiddler on the Roof while Raj angst away is hysterical.

- The exchange between Sheldon and Penny about the Diet Coke/Virgin Cuba Libra (and can you make it diet?) remains one of my all-time favorite exchanges. How he so casually whittles it back to his diet coke preference step by step never ceases to amuse the heck out of me.

- Sheldon singing "To Life?" Never not a joy to watch! And check out Penny just bopping along.



- The text on the Chuck Lorre Productions logo card read simply "United we stand," expressing the producer's solidarity with the Writers Guild of America, which was striking at the time of this episode's original broadcast.

- Scrubs is mentioned in this episode; that sitcom starred Zach Braff, and Braff's directorial and writing film debut was the movie Garden State, which featured a beautifully angelic-looking Jim Parsons in knight's armor. He's in only one scene -- almost four minutes long, but it's hilarious. And fair warning, there is some profanity, so NSFW. Watch it on youtube, or if interested, here's the downloadable version: Balls.

- That was definitely Jim Parsons' banging away on the keyboard; if not his best performance. He has actually studied the piano in real life, but says, "That wasn't my best work, I was never any sort of cabaret-type player. I never accompanied myself. I had a lot of help from Simon Helberg [Wolowitz] in figuring out how to simplify the chords so I could sing over them. He's is a very skilled pianist, more so than me."

Episode: The Dumpling Paradox
Original Air Date: November 5, 2007
Written by: Lee Aronsohn & Jennifer Glickman (teleplay), Bill Prady & Chuck Lorre (story)
Directed by: Mark Cendrowski



Ah, what a glorious return to form. This one was laugh-out-loud hysterical. Yes, yes, Penny's "friend" was an uber-slut, and based on her sleeping with anyone for gifts in kind, indeed a whore, but there are some women out there like that, so I wasn't bothered by characterization. And I thought that the writers and Brooke D'Orsay did a fabulous job in giving Christy a sweetness (in how she interacted with Howard) and realism (her fight with Howard's mother), that gave the character a bit more depth. Leonard was a doll, and his frustration with Sheldon was understandable, Raj had some great lines, Howard was given some interesting characterization, clothed in the easy sex jokes, and Sheldon and Penny were sublime. All cylinders were turning sharp and smooth on this one. Loved it ... with one caveat. I wasn't particularly fond of the closing scene if only because it portrayed Penny as *almost* making fun of the guys. If they had heard her, what would have happened? They would have been embarrassed. But, except for that bit there -- and the guys were hilarious in the scene -- this episode was top-notch.



Carol Ann Susi - Mrs. Wolowitz (voice) ... Howard's mother, whose voice we hear loud and clear from outside Casa Wolowitz.


Despite the episode mostly being about Sheldon's idiosyncrasies and Howard's affair messing with the quartet's dynamic, there was some fabulous Sheldon and Penny here. We begin to really see the dizzyingly-fun-to-watch, contentious nature of their relationship take hold, and if I didn't know better, it truly reads as if the Leonard/Penny subplot is the red herring, while Sheldon and Penny is the long-haul couple here. The back and forth bite and banter between the two is just fabulous. Parsons and Cuoco have fantastic chemistry and timing with one another, and the yin and yang of their characters just spices it up even more. Also, I think that their relationship has fallen into this stage at this juncture because Sheldon has come to accept that Penny is a part of his life now. She's not just a neighbor across the hall, she hangs out with them; knows them and is beginning to know their routines. In other words, he has to now adjust his life to include Penny, and that means teaching her the rules. The thing is that Penny doesn't play by his rules and doesn't kowtow to his dictates, which then increases that combative, charged nature of their relationship. And in addition to that somewhat combative interaction -- okay, not quite 'somewhat' as she did keep blowing him up, LOL! -- there were interesting subtextual things going on that only a deluded, die-hard shipper would spot.

First of all, and most obvious, is Sheldon's contention that Penny must be cheating at Halo because "no one can be that attractive and this skilled at a video game." We have Sheldon once again casually referring to Penny's beauty, and the use of "that" takes away an objective point to the statement. She's not just "attractive," which I believe would generally be an accepted fact about Kaley Cuoco. According to our standards of beauty, Cuoco -- and thus, Penny -- is at the very least, an attractive woman. However, Sheldon stepped up from the objective "attractive" and used a qualifier which heightened that level of beauty, and thus added a *subjective* quality to the phrase. She's not just "attractive." No, to Sheldon, she's "that attractive" and in context of the entire sentence that "that" translates to a very attractive woman. That gradiation thus makes the comment subjective. Long story short: Sheldon -- beyond the general, objective acceptance of her beauty -- thinks Penny's hot.

There were three other key things of interest that one could glom onto if one were so inclined while watching the show through the rosy lens of a shipper. Shortly after the above statement, right before Sheldon storms out, he tells her: "You laugh now. You just wait until you need tech support." Obviously, we can assume that all four guys give her tech support now and again, however, based on their relationship thus far and the characterization of all of them, I don't think it's that huge of a stretch to presume that the others no longer give constant tech support. There are a couple of reasons for this. 1) Raj doesn't speak to Penny, so she wouldn't ask him. 2) Howard is a letch and Penny wouldn't willingly ask him for a favor knowing what would follow. 3) Penny knows that Leonard has a crush on her, and at this point, is trying to not exploit it or lead him on. She knows that he could possibly see her asking for his help as such. Which leaves ... Sheldon. He knows all (haha!), he talks to her, he's not a letch, and he doesn't have a crush on her. Therefore, despite the fact that he'd, no doubt, be a bit rude and insulting unintentionally, he'll get the job done with the least amount of fuss for Penny. So, yuppers, Sheldon is her key tech support guy. And those are Penny's reasons for likely going to him, but what are Sheldon's for helping her out? I believe it's because he genuinely does enjoy what she's bringing to their lives, and as discussed above, he's accepted that she IS a part of their lives now and so this is a way that helps them co-exist peacefully.

Another thing I noticed was that when Penny left the apartment after the Halo game and Sheldon -- who had earlier stormed out of the room -- came back with additional dialogue with which to debate Penny, how he acted when he found her gone. His response was "she could have said goodbye." Yes, it could have been his dismay at her lack of manners, but I don't think he really cares about that. Nope; Sheldon was upset that Penny didn't say goodbye to him. Say it with me: Awwwwww. Finally -- and I admit that this is a stretch, but hey! finding the nuggets is partially what this section is for, after Penny went out to go dancing, Leonard commented that they should have asked to join her and her friend. Instead of shooting it down cold -- as I would have expected, Sheldon shot it down *only* because the numbers didn't match up. Ergo, Sheldon wanted to dance with Penny. Uh huh.

Because he thinks she's "that attractive."



- The bit where Sheldon is asking Penny to play Halo with them and she responds "irrationally," Oh dear, Lord, the looks and side-conversation that Sheldon has with Leonard never fails to crack me up. I talk often about the fabulous rhythm between Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco, but it must be said that Parsons and Johnny Galecki play off of each other beautifully as well.



- Despite Sheldon's claim to a regular schedule of Doctor Who watching on BBC America at 6:30, Saturday morning, when this episode originally aired, BBC America did not show Who at that time.

- Although not seen in the episode, this is what actress, Carol Ann Susi, -- who plays Howard's mother -- looks like:

There was a great thread on a soap board I was on once and it popped into my head recently, so I thought I'd do it for Veronica Mars. I'm fairly certain most (if not) all of these are unpopular, but who knows? And it would be interesting to read unpopular opinions from others ...

Here be mine:

# Lamb (Michael Muhney) does absolutely nothing for me. At all.

# I really love Tessa Thompson and think that past her first episode she did a fabulous job with what she was given (especially 'Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough").

# I think that Duncan Kane had the most complex characterization in season 1, but that complexity was greatly dimmed by the actor.

# I really wish that Jason Dohring HAD been cast as Duncan (see why for #3).

# I find the Keith/Veronica relationship a little disturbing. I've been watching season one scenes and it's like both Enrico Colantoni and Kristen Bell play it sometimes like Keith and Veronica are true soulmates and madly in love as opposed to a very close father/daughter. I don't know sometimes, it's just a little bit squicky for me.

# I really prefer Wallace solely as a sidekick to Veronica (or even Logan like in "I am God"). His stories (crushing on the girl from "The Wrath of Con" in season1, his dad, Jackie, Jane in season 2) pretty much bored me senseless and I wasn't horribly impressed with Percy Daggs III's acting outside of that sidekick role.

# I get squicked out by any sexual innuendo of any kind between Veronica and Dick because of what happened in "A Trip to the Dentist."

# I really don't think that Logan and Veronica need to break-up/have other love interests to remain interesting. They've got layers, depth, issues, excellent actors playing them and beyond fabulous chemistry.

# I'm pretty 'eh' about Mac; I would lose Mac and get Meg in her place in a heartbeat. Also, I found Mac/Beaver mildly cute, but mostly boring.

# I really, really hate Logan's puka shell necklace.

Episode: The Middle Earth Paradigm
Original Air Date: October 29, 2007
Written by: Robert Cohen & David Litt (teleplay), David Goetsch (story)
Directed by: Mark Cendrowski



This is not a bad episode, per se, and there are certainly several funny moments in it. However, I find it the weakest of the bunch thus far due mostly to its shallow and cliched interpretation of non-Geeky Californian denizens and the romantic relationship paradigm on display, not to mention Leonard's unattractive actions throughout. The depth of stupidity of Penny's friends was sad; and Penny thinking that Leonard is such a great guy is *very* sad considering that Leonard DID start the fight, Leonard DID approach Kurt aggressively with a confrontational intent, and yet he was lauded as 'the good guy' here. He wasn't; geek or not, he was rather a jerk. Yes, Kurt was a meanie back in the Pilot, but in this episode, until Leonard got up in his face, Kurt wasn't doing anything wrong, and his actions were provoked by Leonard. And so six episodes in, we've now seen two instances (the first being in "The Fuzzy Boots Corollary") where Leonard's interest in Penny has shown less than likable aspects of his character. On the bright side, though, I do want to point out two great things; the first is a bigger presence from Raj. Kunal Nayyar's line deliveries are wonderfully done and (aside from -- who else? -- Parsons), he had the funniest moments in the show. The second highlight was the friendship on display between Leonard and Sheldon, even the painful side where the two discussed Sheldon's embarrassing tendencies. It was handled with a deft touch when brought up by both the writers and both actors.



Very little Penny and Sheldon interaction in this episode, but what we do get is actually pretty cute. First of all, we have the fact that -- as in the Pilot -- when Sheldon greets Penny for the first time, he does the shy-looking-down motion, and then once the discussion of costumes get going, it is just between the two of them, to the point that when Penny leaves, she pats Sheldon's face, directing all energy towards him. (Okay, it's exasperated energy, but still ....)

Their brief bits of interaction throughout the episode continue in that vein, with Sheldon unaware of any social faux pas, and Penny gamely trying to keep up with him. It's cute and, frankly, when Sheldon does his little shimmy for her after defining his costume (the ONLY time he does it when explaining that he's the Doppler Effect), it's the most adorable, 'couple'-related thing we've seen since the show began. And that includes their scenes in "The Luminous Fish Effect," because the shimmy comes across as a Sheldon form of flirting -- and not the Pilot-flirting-Sheldon which was, sadly, out of character for how the character is generally written -- but the current Sheldon Sheldon. And it was just too cute for words.

Episode: The Hamburger Postulate
Original Air Date: October 22, 2007
Written by: Steven Molaro & David Goetsch (teleplay), Jennifer Glickman (story)
Directed by: Andrew D. Weyman



After the brilliance of "The Luminous Fish Effect," this episode did fall short. It didn't help that the central conceit of Leonard hooking up with Leslie hinted at an attraction/affection for Leonard on Penny's side which heretofore hadn't even remotely been in play, therefore resulting in a 'huh?' to her reactions to the Leonard/Leslie situation. Alongside that was the return of a stupid Penny. Sheldon's definitions of "semiotics" made perfect sense and Penny's comeback wasn't funny; it merely made her look like she hadn't two brain cells to rub together. And then there was the return of Leslie Winkle. There's nothing wrong with a sexually-liberated woman, it was just that how they chose to portray her, along with her interaction with Leonard, dismissed any true shot at longevity between the two, which is a shame as Galecki and Gilbert work exceedingly well together.

What also works well is the use of Sheldon in a supporting role as done so here. In the last episode, he was very much the lead character and that was showcased beautifully. Now, it's as if the writers are beginning to fully grasp just how much fun they can have with the character in a supporting role as well. His quirks and lack of social knowledge played well within the story's plot to create some truly hysterical moments, a few of those arising simply out of Jim Parsons' body language. What didn't work so well was having Leslie show Sheldon up ... twice. Yes, it's wonderful having an intelligent female featured on television, but not at the expense of Sheldon. He's lacking in so many other areas that I quite like the fact that his intelligence is truly beyond most around him. Ah well. My quirk, I suppose. Overall, it was definitely a funny episode -- they all have been, it was just a bit of a let-down after the masterpiece that was last week's episode.



The back and forth banter between Sheldon and Penny is beginning to develop now. He's going to her for advice and she's sweetly trying to help him out, but on the other hand, she's also beginning to get to know the real Sheldon and how he's very capable of getting on a person's last nerve. At this point, I think any "nice" interaction that Penny has with Sheldon is based on her manners more than anything about Sheldon himself. There's certainly nothing that would indicate any regard that either could possibly have towards one another, and yet .... Because of the Parsons/Cuoco chemistry, their scenes have a bite and a spark that is missing from the Leonard/Penny scenes and the Sheldon/Leslie scenes as well. It's quite clear in retrospect that it was this episode that got the noodle of the idea for a potential entanglement between these two characters -- which, thankfully, never came to fruition.



- Kaley Cuoco's lower back tattoo can be seen again in tonight's episode in the scene where she explains the semiotics of the tie on the door to Sheldon. As she leaves the apartment, it is visible. Cuoco's tattoo is Japanese kanji -- a Japanese system of writing based on borrowed or modified Chinese characters -- for faith. These characters express the idea of "having a belief," or "trusting in the unseen." This word could also be translated as beliefs or convictions and is considered to be one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues.

This is seriously an amazing, amazing show. Funny, dramatic, moving, hot, smart, witty, everything. It is so very, very, VERY good. Of all of the shows I love and/or think are great, I really do believe this one tops the list simply because I find myself enjoying and appreciating all that is so very, very good about it while watching it and marveling on afterward.

Specifically about the second episode of the second season ("Everything ... All The Time") ... The whole first ten minutes or so I was just giggling and loving the whole "uptight" conversation. I love, love, love the relationship between Crews and Reese. Yes, of course, there's a part of me that ships them because they are both very pretty people, they are both very good actors, they are both quite charismatic and they do have chemistry, but for one of the very few times like ever, I'm totally cool with nothing happening beyond their relationship because they are so very, very awesome together as is. I just love them. The dialogue, the looks, the body language, everything. Were something to change between them I highly doubt that it would be anything other than jaw-droppingly hot (that shower scene from early season one -- despite having no sexual overtones whatsoever -- absolutely showed that), but as they are now is pretty damn wonderful and I'm cool with that.

Besides, after that oh so good, oh so hot Charlie/ex-wife, Jennifer scene outside/in the backseat of the car, I'm sorta kinda shipping Charlie and Jennifer because that? was HOT! With a capital H-O-T! I think I rewound and watched that one about five or six times. So, so hot. And speaking of hot, how incredibly H-O-T does Damian Lewis look when he's not wearing the suit -- not that he doesn't wear the suit well, mind you -- but just jeans and the button-down shirt? First with Jennifer outside the car, and then in the final scene when he's walking toward daddy Reese's car. It was just PHEW! Meltdown of über -hotness.

Okay, random stuffies ...

- I love how we got a callback to the car as object mantra from season one.

- I love how Ted obviously told Charlie what Jack said and how Charlie just so casually let Jack know.

- I love the new Captain. He only had a few scenes, but I'm loving him a lot.

- I don't mind that the oh so annoying Jessy Schram is on this show. Yes, yes, it helps that she looks nothing like she did as Hannah on VM, but still, I'm okay with it because I trust this show so much and know that they knew what they were doing when they cast her.

- Erm, on the other hand, the casting of the little girl in tonight's episode? Not so good. Eh, that was a one-episode stint; I still have faith re: above casting.

- Did I mention that Damian Lewis is hot? If not, he's really hot! Not conventional, no, but DAMN, is he hot!

- Heh, we got fruit. And a WORM!!! Which he, of course, ate. Because it's just protein, right? I love this show.

- The case was good because the characterization is so good and because how Charlie approaches it all is so good and unique. This is unlike any other crime procedural that has ever been.

If you've never watched this show, give it a shot. It's worth it. It is so very, very, VERY good. And once you watch it, it's hard not to get hooked!

Episode: The Luminous Fish Effect
Original Air Date: October 15, 2007
Written by: David Litt & Lee Aronsohn (teleplay), Chuck Lorre & Bill Prady (story)
Directed by: Bob Koherr



The three first episodes of the series were enjoyable with plenty of laughs. Sure, there were a few low spots, but that is expected for a show in its infancy. This one here? Not a low spot in sight (unless in retrospect you've become less than enamored of the Leonard/Penny subplot and therefore weren't entirely pleased with Mary's inexplicable push for them). "The Luminous Fish Effect" is a splendid twenty-two minutes of television. The acting, the writing, the story, the pacing, everything is spot-on perfect. Laurie Metcalf as Sheldon's mother is nothing short of magnificent; she and Parsons are comic gold together and the relationship between Sheldon and his mother is so perfectly encapsulated in snippets of dialogue and their scenes in general. We know how much they love each other, how much Mary has put up with, and how she's learned to perfectly handle her genius, socially-inept son. As well, there is a sweetness and warmth in Sheldon; in his interactions with his mother, with Leonard, and also with Penny. It is made clear in this episode why his friends put up with his idiosyncrasies. Also, I do think it's interesting that the best episode by far! thus far centers so completely on Sheldon, and also, features the first series of scenes between Sheldon and Penny alone and in length.



Laurie Metcalf - Mary Cooper ... Sheldon's no-nonsense, religious mother who knows how to handle her boy.

Mark Harelik - Dr. Eric Gablehauser ... The new head of CalTech is an older man, charming and less intelligent than Sheldon -- something that Sheldon has no problem pointing out.



Ah, at last. This is the first episode with significant Sheldon and Penny action. It's also the first time that we see interaction between just the two of them. Penny is quite annoyed with Sheldon through much of their time together, but that's okay because it is understandable, and we can see just how sweet he was being in his own Sheldon way. And he was, he really was. In the car, his commentary on car safety wasn't to be annoying, but was intended to keep them both safe. And I don't know why, but I've always loved the little bit where he casually asks her if her self-image is tied to her weight and she truthfully responds that it is. Yes, the dialogue was present because viewers were not intended to see anything romantic between them, but (a) seeing that open discourse between them was refreshing and (b) getting an early sign that for Sheldon, Penny's worth has nothing to do with her physical appearance was just awwww!.

And then at the grocery store, he was genuinely enjoying himself and was attempting to make the shopping trip interesting for her by offering the tomato information, and then explaining the waste on multi-vitamins, before trying to help her make her expensive pee. He was just trying to help all-around and was so sweet. In a way, while I love the supercilious Sheldon, I also really do enjoy this sweet, clueless Sheldon. Seeing him come out now and then is lovely. Especially when we see a sweet, clueless Sheldon who had so much fun with Penny that he wanted to go shopping with her again the next day, as well as setting up a putt-putt date. (Where is that fanfiction, folks?)

Also, there were two small things during the scenes with Mary that I noted (we'll just ignore that 'you're a cute couple' bit about Leonard and Penny that was incredibly forced and came out of no where, the two hadn't had any interaction that even remotely called for it). First of all, Penny called Sheldon, "Shelly" after Mary did. Yes, she did it slightly teasingly, but she still did it and so we do have canon that Penny has called Sheldon "Shelly." The second is how Penny was raving about Mary's cobbler dish. Yeah, it was for the joke set-up, but still we had Penny loving it so, and then Mary offering that it was Sheldon's favorite dish. So, they have similar pastry tastes. (Even Penny wasn't terribly pleased to find out that the secret ingredient wasn't love.)

Hey! Every little bit counts.



- Yes, yes, I raved a bit about Laurie Metcalf in the review, but she deserves her own paragraph here. While the character was written as a tad too broad and stereotypical-Southern, Metcalf's delivery and beautifully-played interaction with Sheldon elevated the character to being so real. Viewers got such a complete sense of Sheldon's childhood just from the dialogue and how Metcalf and Parsons' played off of each other. Her casting as Sheldon's mother is an absolutely brilliant choice. Two of my favorite moments -- although, really, all but one was a favorite! -- were her little point about Sheldon's Silicon-DNA based life form, and when she essentially laid down the law.

The former just cracked me up because in one joke, the writers gave a snapshot into the God vs. science complex that Sheldon grew up with and both Metcalf and Parsons portrayed both the humor and pathos in their delivery; the latter because Mary just rocks! She's just so frickin' awesome.

- That final shot of Sheldon lying in bed, staring so contentedly at his luminous fish never fails to make me smile. We so rarely see Sheldon at such complete peace, but we do in this moment. It's lovely.




- Laurie Metcalf, like Sara Gilbert in the episode prior, was also one of the stars of Lorre's earlier hit, Roseanne. She played the title character's sister, and aunt-in-law of Johnny Galecki's character, David. Her Jackie Harris was an often-depressed, single-looking-for love character who garnered four nominations for supporting actress in a comedy for her work on the show, winning the first three times up to bat. Hopefully, we'll see her again as Sheldon's mother.



- Understandably so, this episode was part of the show's Emmy Awards 'For Your Consideration' DVD for this season. It was also one of the two episodes that Jim Parsons considered for his bid as an Emmy nominee in the Lead Actor in a Comedy category. He decided to go with "The Pancake Batter Anomaly" instead. None of the cast, including Parsons, received nominations.

- Kaley Cuoco's lower back tattoo can be seen in tonight's episode in the grocery-shopping scene; it's visible when she turns to the vitamin shelf. Cuoco's tattoo is Japanese kanji -- a Japanese system of writing based on borrowed or modified Chinese characters -- for faith. These characters express the idea of "having a belief," or "trusting in the unseen." This word could also be translated as beliefs or convictions and is considered to be one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues.



- How to make perfect scrambled eggs? Mr. Breakfast knows all.

Episode: The Fuzzy Boots Corollary
Original Air Date: October 08, 2007
Written by: Steven Molaro & Bill Prady (teleplay), Chuck Lorre (story)
Directed by: Mark Cendrowski



Tonight's episode introduced us to a new character, as well as some adventures in Leonard's love life. Leslie Winkle, as played by Sara Gilbert, is a good character thus far -- cerebral and up-front and as they did on Roseanne, she and Galecki have a sweet and warm chemistry. It's a shame that the set-up had the characters unmoved by their romantic foray because in their one brief scene, they were charming and much more believable than Leonard and Penny during their "date," wherein it was underscored very clearly just how Leonard and Penny do not work. Aside from that, Howard and Sheldon have some funny one-liners, and Sheldon spends much of the episode truly being Leonard's best friend. All in all, despite early signs of Leonard future banana-slugdom, great episode and the trend of funny continues.



Sara Gilbert - Leslie Winkle ... Leslie is a scientist, intelligent and to the point, who works at Cal Tech in the same lab as Leonard.



There was literally no interaction between Sheldon and Penny in this episode; however, this one underscored completely why Leonard and Penny do NOT work, in my opinion. Their date is stilted and awkward, the two have absolutely nothing in common and to make matters worse, Leonard shows a lack of respect for Penny. She makes it clear that Doug was a rebound because she is not over Kurt yet, and rebounding is a bad thing she's come to realize. All Leonard gets out of that is: Ooh, 36 hours of sex. And then when Penny is honest, but sweet with him, about whether their evening was supposed to be a date or not, he totally futzes it up. Had he told her: Yeah, it was, but I realize now that you're not ready or something along those lines, it would have gone a long way towards making Leonard more likable (in retrospect) in the Leonard/Penny equation. However, he did what will become a pattern: He lied to cover his own embarrassment, not thinking of her feelings or of being honest with her in return. And then he completely ignored Penny's feelings -- obviously still upset about her break-up -- and told the boys that it was an awesome date.

How? Why? Because she was nice to him to the very end? Because she didn't laugh at the idea that it was an actual date? Because she took care of him when he banged his head on the table? There was nothing "awesome" about the "date." It was awkward and uncomfortable and highlighted (as will be highlighted time and time again), just how shallow Leonard's affections for Penny are. He does not care about Penny as a person; all he cares about is any potential for sex with Penny. And thus -- three episodes into the series -- begins the display of the very real and obvious reasons why Leonard and Penny do. not. work.



- Despite the dialogue that had Leslie deciding she and Leonard had no chemistry, that was not the case. As I spoke of above, their one scene was an absolute charmer. If they ever get past Leonard's myopic-Penny-vision, I believe that how they wrote Leslie in this scene is similar to the type of girl who should be Leonard's true love. They were so on the same page, sweet and delightful. Of course, they'd have to find another actress that Galecki has the chemistry with to the degree that he has with Gilbert. Regardless of what happens (or doesn't) in the future, this one scene was utterly charming, in character and showed the social awkwardness they both exhibit to a degree. Sigh, even if there was no arousal.



- Johnny Galecki and Sara Gilbert previously co-starred on Roseanne as popular teen-age love interests, later marrying on the show. Gilbert played Darlene Conner-Healy, while Galecki played David Healy, joining the cast in 1992 and appearing until the show's finale in 1997. Gilbert played Darlene from the show's premiere in 1992 until 1997. (We're just going to ignore the whole dream-couple-switcheroo at the end there, kay? If you don't know, trust me, you don't want to.)

Yeah, so it's official. I love Billie Piper. Obviously I'm a fan of her work on Doctor Who, and I love her music too. Well, tonight I sat down and watched every episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl and ... seriously, isn't she just adorable? Aside from Billie, I actually do really enjoy the show. The writing, the camera work, the talking to the camera, the casting, all of it, I just love. And the best of all is Billie. She's just amazing. She makes you feel so much, everything that her character is going through. She makes you relate for goodness' sake. I mean, when she called and left the message for Ben that she'd made it as a courtesan, I actually clapped for her before realizing what I was clapping for, LOL! I just care about the character because Billie Piper makes me care. And, my God, she is so BLOODY GORGEOUS!!! How can a person be that gorgeous?! It's not fair!!!

Anyhoo, I just love her, love her, love her, love the show and now am REALLY looking forward to watching everything else she's done that I can get my hands on because it wasn't just Rose that I fell in love with, clearly. It was Piper's portrayal of Rose that got to me so.

As for the show, I just think it's really well-done. And funny! I did NOT expect humor, but it's there, and in large part due to Billie's awesome comic timing. She's just brilliant. And, being me, of course, I'm sorta shipping Hannah and Ben, but then I also really like Hannah and Alex too (although, part of that is admittedly because (a) I like Callum Blue and (b) I get a little kick every time she refers to him as a doctor). I'll just see where it goes and agonizingly wait week after week now instead of watching it all in one fell swoop. Sigh.

Episode: The Big Bran Hypothesis
Original Air Date: October 01, 2007
Written by: David Goetsch & Robert Cohen
Directed by: Mark Cendrowski



Another funny episode; this show succeeds in delivering laughs regarding the most slight of scenarios thanks to the wonderful writing of the characters, perfectly meshing their science/nerdy-qualities into humorous, non-insulting dialogue. A lovely change-up from the first episode is the writing of Penny; she's in no way the genius that these boys are, but neither is she vapidly brain-dead (as portrayed in the Pilot). As well, it was nice getting a little more face-time with Raj.



Very little Sheldon and Penny interaction in this episode; this episode was definitely more Penny/Leonard based. What we did get out of this was that despite the execution of his actions, Penny did admit in the end that Sheldon's clean-up was an improvement. This is an early sign that Penny can adjust to Sheldon's unique way of doing things because she can eventually see that (sometimes) the end result is worthwhile.



- Sheldon's line, "Ah, gravity, thou art a heartless bitch." truly is one of the funniest lines ever. The poetry of the line, combined with the common vernacular paired with Jim Parsons' delivery is just sublime.

- Seeing Leonard walk out with that green lightsaber as an actual weapon to defend himself is just hilarous. A small moment that is not only funny, but also tells us a lot about this character.

Episode: Pilot
Original Air Date: September 24, 2007
Written by: Chuck Lorre & Bill Prady
Directed by: James Burrows



Despite character shadings that hadn't quite coalesced (mainly Sheldon in that he fully engaged in discussions pertaining to sexuality and he flirts (!) with Penny), and the fact that Penny is portrayed as a really, *really* dumb blonde, the show does succeed where it most counts for a sitcom. It's hysterical. Not just funny, but absolutely hysterical. As well, all four male leads have already settled nicely into their characters, with Parsons delivering laugh-out-loud moments from the start. Kaley Cuoco doesn't fare as well, partly due to the execrable writing of Penny, but also due to her weak delivery.



Jim Parsons - Dr. Sheldon Cooper ... A blue-eyed theoretical physicist working at CalTech. Brilliant, socially inept, Sheldon suffers no embarrassment about his "nerdy" past-times and revels in his genius.

Kaley Cuoco - Penny ... A green-eyed waitress at the Cheesecake Factory, she's a struggling actress from Omaha, Nebraska who is Sheldon and Leonard's new neighbor from across the hall.

Johnny Galecki - Dr. Leonard Hofstadter ... An experimental physicist working at CalTech. Brilliant, socially inept, Leonard longs to be less of a nerd and have a shot at a chance with a beauty like their new next-door neighbor.

Simon Helberg - Howard Wolowitz ... Works at CalTech Department of Applied Physics. He's a sleazy flirt who speaks six languages and wears very, very bright, tight pants.

Kunal Nayyar - Rajesh (Raj) Koothrappali ... Scientist who also works in the CalTech Physics department; he specializes in particle astrophysics. Raj is Indian and incapable of speaking in front of attractive women.

Brian Patrick Wade - Kurt ... Penny's very large, muscled ex-boyfriend who's holding her television set hostage.

Vernee Watson - Althea (Receptionist) ... Non-customer friendly, crossword-loving receptionist at the high IQ sperm bank Leonard and Sheldon consider donating to.



Despite Leonard's immediate crush on Penny, it is with Sheldon that Penny flirts. Upon seeing his whiteboard full of scientific equations, she's impressed and pulls out a Beautiful Mind reference which produces a shy smile from Sheldon who is clearly enjoying her admiration. Not enjoying it so much is Leonard, who clearly sees Sheldon as a rival and tries to gain Penny's attention, showing us that -- at least in the original concept -- Sheldon wasn't an asexual being. If so, Leonard wouldn't have felt any jealousy.

What's the most interesting aspect of their interaction here though is not Sheldon, but Penny because Sheldon has become much less sexualized as a character. Penny, although, not as dim-bulb dumb, is still similar enough overall. And until Sheldon's whack-a-doodle nature emerged (his insistence over his "spot"), Penny was clearly interested in him. He was the one she was flirting with. Even after Leonard snagged her attention with his whiteboard, and Sheldon informed her that she was in his spot, she retained that flirty air going so far as to pat the seat next to her, sending him an inviting smile and an offer to sit next to her.

So taking into account that upon meeting both boys, before knowing of Sheldon's, well, Sheldon-ness, she was attracted to him to the degree that he was with whom she was flirting, it's not that huge a leap that such an attraction can be reawakened.



- Sheldon and Leonard are named after Sheldon Leonard (1907 - 1997), a respected and successful television producer, who also wrote, directed, and acted in television and in movies. He appeared in the classic movies It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and To Have and Have Not (1944). But his primary influence was the development of television show, especially comedies. He directed and produced The Danny Thomas Show (1953-1964) and also worked on such series as The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and I Spy.

- Jodi Lyn O'keefe originally played a much-harder Penny in an earlier version of the Pilot who wasn't especially nice to the boys. After seeing the finished product, executive producers Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady realized that her toughness didn't work and they rewrote Penny as sweeter and softer, recasting with, the more appropriate for that version, Kaley Cuoco. And she wasn't the only other actress tapped to play Penny -- who was originally named Katie, then Gilda. The others were Amanda Walsh (when Penny was Katie) and Iris Bahr (when she was Gilda).


- All the whiteboard equations are real equations from quantum mechanics and physics. The writers have a physicist to assist them with the physics jargon.

- The show was supposed to air in 2006, but CBS didn't want to air it during the 2006 fall lineup because they had too many shows during the 2006-2007 season.

- The theme, sung by the Bare Naked Ladies, was written specifically for the show. Originally, the producers had wanted to use their song, "One Week," but the group decided to write one just for "The Big Bang Theory," thus "The History of Everything" ... Download | Lyrics (credit lyrics bolded)...

Our whole universe was in a hot dense state
Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started

Wait!

The earth began to cool
The autotrophs began to drool
Neanderthals developed tools
We built a wall
We built the pyramids
Math, science, history
Unraveling the mystery
That all started with the Big Bang
Bang!

Since the dawn of man is really not that long
As every galaxy was formed in less time than it takes to sing this song
A fraction of a second and the elements were made
The bipeds stood up straight
The dinosaurs all met their fate
They tried to leap but they were late
And they all died
They froze their asses off

The oceans and Pangea
See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya
Set in motion by the same Big Bang

It all started with the big... Bang!

It's expanding ever outward, but one day
It will cause the stars to go the other way
Collapsing ever inward,
We won't be here,
It won't be heard
Our best and brightest figure that it'll make an even bigger Bang

Austrelopithicus would really have been sick of us
Debating how we're here
They're catching deer
We're catching viruses

Religion or astronomy
Encarta, Deuteronomy
It all started with the Big Bang
Music and mythology
Einstein and astrology
It all started with the big bang
It all started with the big...
Bang!