# Big Bang Theory: The Bakersfield Expedition 1/10/13 SPOILERS



## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

Really laughed a lot at both storylines. Excellent episode. 

I thought I would hate the girls exploring the world of comic books, but as soon as they started arguing about Thor's hammer it got perfect. 

And the guys posing for self-portraits was priceless.


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

Yes, really good episode for a change!

I think what appealed to me about this episode is that it didn't really rely on the stereotypical rolls that they have the characters usually play. Yes, there were hints here and there, but overall the rolls seemed fresh.


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## mdougie (Mar 9, 2009)

I agree it seemed rather different. I thought the guys were far less interesting than the girls as far as dialog and story, but the costumes were awesome. The girls were just plain funny.


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## scooterboy (Mar 27, 2001)

waynomo said:


> but overall the rolls seemed fresh.


Mmmmm...fresh rolls...


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

waynomo said:


> but overall the rolls seemed fresh.





scooterboy said:


> Mmmmm...fresh rolls...


TY! 

Friggin' English [email protected]!#$

And what's worse is that I actually thought about it before I typed the first one.


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## Maui (Apr 22, 2000)

Good episode. I thought the girls plot was infinitely better than the guys. their appearance in the Comic Book store, the way they eased into the argument abut Thor. It was all very well done.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

Peter000 said:


> And the guys posing for self-portraits was priceless.


"Charlie's Angels!"

Good episode.
I was also impressed the Vasquez Rocks backdrops.


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

I loved it. Laughed out loud a few times and knew they had hit the mark when they girls got into the discussion about Thor's hammer. Oh yeah.


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

I bet Bob hated half of this episode.


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## madscientist (Nov 12, 2003)

The "sexy dancing" (esp. Sheldon) was the funniest part of the episode.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

The comic book shop stuff was awful (really, that kind of stereotyping became outdated around the 90s), but once the girls got home it was great.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

And at least the felony was not committed by Penny! 

I loved that the car thieves were getting excited by the GPS quizzes.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

eddyj said:


> I loved that the car thieves were getting excited by the GPS quizzes.


Which makes no sense whatsoever, which is part of what makes it so funny.

Because, really, nobody but Sheldon would get excited by the GPS quizzes.


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## Hot4Bo (Apr 3, 2003)

"Can we at least rent a car from Enterprise?"


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

Hot4Bo said:


> "Can we at least rent a car from Enterprise?"


I laughed so hard I had to pause the TiVo and I startled the dog sleeping next to me and he barked at me. That was perfectly played.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Which makes no sense whatsoever, which is part of what makes it so funny.
> 
> Because, really, nobody but Sheldon would get excited by the GPS quizzes.


Exactly, it was totally incongruous, and that made me laugh.


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## MLR930 (Dec 26, 2002)

It was a great episode, I nearly spit my water out of my mouth because earlier yesterday I was in the car with a friend talking about GPS voices and I mentioned how funny it would be if Sheldon had one! lol


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

Too bad Sheldon couldn't have gone as Wesley Crusher.


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## wouldworker (Sep 7, 2004)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> The comic book shop stuff was awful (really, that kind of stereotyping became outdated around the 90s), but once the girls got home it was great.


Hits a little too close to home, does it?


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

wouldworker said:


> Hits a little too close to home, does it?


No, it actually doesn't. It's been decades since girls were rare in comic book shops.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Maybe I was too tired to enjoy the episode, but I found it disappointing compared to what I thought it could be like. To me, the best scene was the girls going into the comic book store and the guys in the store staring at them.


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## Alfer (Aug 7, 2003)

We enjoyed it. But yeah, I think the girls stuff was a bit more entertaining than the guys. I guess the whole Star Trek dress up stuff just isn't that funny to me.


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## mdougie (Mar 9, 2009)

Hot4Bo said:


> "Can we at least rent a car from Enterprise?"


That was super funny. Tied for funnies with Red hulk being worthy.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> No, it actually doesn't. It's been decades since girls were rare in comic book shops.


Is someone spending a little too much time in comic book shops these days?


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

JYoung said:


> I was also impressed the Vasquez Rocks backdrops.


Really? My immediate reaction was "omg, those are so obviously backdrops!"

Sure, they were _nice_ backdrops, but jarringly obvious.

That's the one downside to HD, they can't get away with some of the tricks they were able to in the past.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

Hot4Bo said:


> "Can we at least rent a car from Enterprise?"


Before he said that, I just assumed that it was going to be from Enterprise, because they would deliver the car to the diner.

The ST connection didn't even occur to me until Raj said it.


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## MikeCC (Jun 19, 2004)

Bierboy said:


> Is someone spending a little too much time in comic book shops these days?


I would suspect so, too. I would guess once a week on comic book night. Not pizza night, Tandoori Palace night, laundry night, nor even Klingon Boggle night. But on comic book night.


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## GDG76 (Oct 2, 2000)

They even showed more personal growth from Sheldon when he said they needed to just pack it in and go home. Usually he would have been the one jumping up and down that they had to keep going and would be compulsive about it. He actually let it go. 

They've shown a better side of him multiple times this season, but then go back to the well of him being a complete d-bag (like the sexual harassment episode).


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> The comic book shop stuff was awful (really, that kind of stereotyping became outdated around the 90s), but once the girls got home it was great.


One could argue that this show is about stereotypes. Nerds, Blondes . . .

And perhaps that's why you thought the girls at home funny; they went against there stereotype.


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## Sadara (Sep 27, 2006)

I love the whole episode! I'm a geeky girl and haven't stepped one food in a comic store.... ever! So, the girls going in there, I thought that whole scene was funny!

The very last part where the guys can't believe they are hearing the girls arguing about comic books.... priceless! Loved it!


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

GDG76 said:


> They've shown a better side of him multiple times this season, but then go back to the well of him being a complete d-bag (like the sexual harassment episode).


As it should be. He may be "growing up", but that takes a while.


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## milo99 (Oct 14, 2002)

so when the girls said they were going to go get the boxes of comic books, was anybody else worried that they were going to open up protected comics that the guys were keeping unopened, and that they would "destroy" the books' value? i was TOTALLY expecting that to be part of the storyline, especially since the guys have shown to be anal about keeping things in mint unopened condition. So i was surprised it didn't play in at all.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

Yeah, when they were sitting there, with the comics out of their sleeves and strewn about, and with chinese food on the table as well, I thought for sure that a freak-out was forthcoming.

Especially since the dialogue in the earlier scene implied that the comics were _Sheldon's._


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

busyba said:


> Before he said that, I just assumed that it was going to be from Enterprise, because they would deliver the car to the diner.
> 
> The ST connection didn't even occur to me until Raj said it.


As did I....


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## snowjay (Mar 27, 2007)

I found it funny that Sheldon was no longer the "leader" since Leonard had on the captains shirt.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

snowjay said:


> I found it funny that Sheldon was no longer the "leader" since Leonard had on the captains shirt.


Sheldon accepted that 'logic' so easily


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## Hank (May 31, 2000)

I thought Howard was playing the part of Locutus of Borg, so there would have been to Captain Picards there at the same time. Talk about alternate universes! But no, he was just an plain old borg (POB).


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

Hank said:


> I thought Howard was playing the part of Locutus of Borg, so there would have been to Captain Picards there at the same time. Talk about alternate universes! But no, he was just an plain old borg (POB).


Yes, plain 'ol Borg. Since he was friendly with the other ST:TNG characters, Hugh, maybe? (If so, his ocular implant was on the wrong eye, but otherwise, pretty close to Hugh's array of implants and enhancements.)

I was also surprised (but pleasantly so) by Sheldon's wanting to call it off after the depressing misadventure. He's becoming more human.

The logic that Leonard got to be the leader since he was dressed as the captain was perfect Sheldon.


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## Hank (May 31, 2000)

Once again, I'll have to say that the BBT/hollywood make up artists are really good -- much better than anything you'd see at Comicon. Especially Sheldon as Data -- he had to have had forehead prosthetics glued to his head to get him to look so much like Data. And Raj as Worf -- that's really advanced make up techniques -- it looked like perfect replica.


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

Penny did say they had a good makeup kit.


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

Costumes are always way better on TV.

Wait, I think everything is supposed to appear better on TV.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

I thought Raj's makeup was the best, followed by Sheldon, Leonard, and then Howard because I just don't like him


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## Azlen (Nov 25, 2002)

busyba said:


> Really? My immediate reaction was "omg, those are so obviously backdrops!"
> 
> Sure, they were _nice_ backdrops, but jarringly obvious.
> 
> That's the one downside to HD, they can't get away with some of the tricks they were able to in the past.


I thought the backdrop was jarringly obvious as well. The ground was obviously fake also.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

waynomo said:


> Costumes are always way better on TV.
> 
> Wait, I think everything is supposed to appear better on TV.


People are prettier, apartments are bigger...


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> apartments are bigger...


...but only have three walls.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Azlen said:


> ...The ground was obviously fake also.


Just like on Star Trek (TOS)...


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> No, it actually doesn't. It's been decades since girls were rare in comic book shops.


[Retcon]

Given the stuff that Stuart was recommending, maybe the girl comic fans shop somewhere else.

[/retcon]



milo99 said:


> so when the girls said they were going to go get the boxes of comic books, was anybody else worried that they were going to open up protected comics that the guys were keeping unopened, and that they would "destroy" the books' value?


No, you weren't the only one.



milo99 said:


> i was TOTALLY expecting that to be part of the storyline, especially since the guys have shown to be anal about keeping things in mint unopened condition. So i was surprised it didn't play in at all.


No, because they don't think of stuff like that on this show unless they can make a joke out of it. Sheldon having a meltdown at that point in the show wouldn't have been funny.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

busyba said:


> Really? My immediate reaction was "omg, those are so obviously backdrops!"
> 
> Sure, they were _nice_ backdrops, but jarringly obvious.
> 
> That's the one downside to HD, they can't get away with some of the tricks they were able to in the past.





Azlen said:


> I thought the backdrop was jarringly obvious as well. The ground was obviously fake also.


Yes, they were obviously backdrops, I didn't phrase my compliment well.
It's a pitfall of the fact that they are shooting in front of an audience and have to use obvious backdrops.

What I was impressed with is that they were high resolution shots of the actual Vasquez Rocks area as opposed to just having a generic desert backdrop that may have not been as high a resolution.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

Ah.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

I don't have a problem with the girls reading bagged comics, as the guys obviously read what they buy. Let's just assume that the girls were very careful with their reading choices.


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

murgatroyd said:


> No, because they don't think of stuff like that on this show unless they can make a joke out of it. Sheldon having a meltdown at that point in the show wouldn't have been funny.


Exactly!

Too close to the ending also. You need the happy ending. Much funnier to see the guys outside trying to figure out what was going on inside and not making much sense of it at first.


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## Azlen (Nov 25, 2002)

JYoung said:


> Yes, they were obviously backdrops, I didn't phrase my compliment well.
> It's a pitfall of the fact that they are shooting in front of an audience and have to use obvious backdrops.
> 
> What I was impressed with is that they were high resolution shots of the actual Vasquez Rocks area as opposed to just having a generic desert backdrop that may have not been as high a resolution.


It wasn't a static background either. In a couple of the shots you can see a bird flying around.


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

busyba said:


> Really? My immediate reaction was "omg, those are so obviously backdrops!"
> 
> Sure, they were _nice_ backdrops, but jarringly obvious.
> 
> That's the one downside to HD, they can't get away with some of the tricks they were able to in the past.


Perhaps an homage to some of the cheesy sets they had at times in the past?

I thought what they used made it look more like the quality of the original. (Not TNG) I don't think that was the intent, but I made it work in my mind.


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

Bierboy said:


> Just like on Star Trek (TOS)...


Except that in the several episodes that were actually filmed at Vasquez Rocks (Shore Leave, Arena (the Gorn episode), The Alternative Factor, Friday's Child) the ground _was_ real.

Interestingly, the exterior shots of 4 episodes (from 3 total seasons) of TOS were filmed at Vasquez Rocks.

Only 2 episodes of TNG (from which the guy's costumes originated), which ran for 7 seasons, were filmed there. (Who Watches the Watchers, Darmok).


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## Hank (May 31, 2000)

I'd like to know how they simulated that car speeding past them in the studio.. I watched it a few times, and that thing does move across the screen pretty fast.


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## verdugan (Sep 9, 2003)

Fish man,

Off topic, but I just looked at your link in your sig. Nice info, and who knew you were a fellow CMU grad? :up:


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

Fish Man said:


> Except that in the several episodes that were actually filmed at Vasquez Rocks (Shore Leave, Arena (the Gorn episode), The Alternative Factor, Friday's Child) the ground _was_ real.


Yes, but when you watch now the quality is pretty poor in comparison to what we have to today.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

waynomo said:


> Perhaps an homage to some of the cheesy sets they had at times in the past?
> 
> I thought what they used made it look more like the quality of the original. (Not TNG)...


Smeek...


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## Win Joy Jr (Oct 1, 2001)

GDG76 said:


> They even showed more personal growth from Sheldon when he said they needed to just pack it in and go home. Usually he would have been the one jumping up and down that they had to keep going and would be compulsive about it. He actually let it go.
> 
> They've shown a better side of him multiple times this season, but then go back to the well of him being a complete d-bag (like the sexual harassment episode).


That was my thought as well when he sided with the others to go back home. It seems that he is really starting to "grow up"... Wonder where the writers are taking the character...


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## RGM1138 (Oct 6, 1999)

"What was that for?"

"To show people when they don't believe me."





 (I wish that TCF had a ROTFL emoticon).


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

RGM1138 said:


> "What was that for?"
> 
> "To show people when they don't believe me."


My GF and I were totally nitpicking the hell out of that moment.... for one, the newspaper was pretty clearly out of frame for the picture, and second, the look on Penny's face for the picture was pretty unconvincing for someone being kissed by their boyfriend and not some creepy stalker.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

eddyj said:


> Exactly, it was totally incongruous, and that made me laugh.


It was like a Raising Arizona moment.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

JYoung said:


> "Charlie's Angels!"
> 
> Good episode.
> I was also impressed the Vasquez Rocks backdrops.


Yuck, they looked so fake (though I admit I DID ask out loud if they were really there -- I knew they weren't, but at first I thought it might be bluescreen).


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

RGM1138 said:


> ... (I wish that TCF had a ROTFL emoticon).


You mean like this?


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## RGM1138 (Oct 6, 1999)

Bierboy said:


> You mean like this?


Yes, that would work.


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## wouldworker (Sep 7, 2004)

Hank said:


> I'd like to know how they simulated that car speeding past them in the studio.. I watched it a few times, and that thing does move across the screen pretty fast.


They could have added it digitally in post production. Or they could have put a cardboard cutout of a car on a stick and waved it in front of the camera. I'm sure it wasn't a difficult effect to pull off no matter how they did it. What they did not do was drive a real car at speed on a sound stage.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> No, it actually doesn't. It's been decades since girls were rare in comic book shops.





Sadara said:


> I love the whole episode! I'm a geeky girl and haven't stepped one food in a comic store.... ever! So, the girls going in there, I thought that whole scene was funny!
> 
> The very last part where the guys can't believe they are hearing the girls arguing about comic books.... priceless! Loved it!


In all of my life, I have never heard even one of my female friends mention they were going to or had been in a comic book store.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

tiams said:


> In all of my life, I have never heard even one of my female friends mention they were going to or had been in a comic book store.


I don't think I've ever heard any of my male friends mention it either.


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## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> It's been decades since girls were rare in comic book shops.


This hasn't been my experience.

You understand we're talking about living breathing girls, and now drawn girls in comic books, right??


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Peter000 said:


> This hasn't been my experience.
> 
> You understand we're talking about living breathing girls, and now drawn girls in comic books, right??


You are aware that women go to Comic Con, and other conventions, right? As fans, and not just for CosPlay?

Discussions like this make me really miss Comic Relief.

The linked article has a photo of the Comic Relief booth at the 2007 Wondercon. I think the ratio of guys to girls in the photo is pretty evenly matched. And I can't speak to the ratio of guy/girl employees, but lots of women worked at CR.

Edited to add: we're missing a really fun discussion, you know. If you were in Stuart's shoes, what would you have recommended to the girls? Fables is not a bad choice, but ....


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

tiams said:


> In all of my life, I have never heard even one of my female friends mention they were going to or had been in a comic book store.


Wow.

Well, I go every few weeks to catch up on a few titles. A guy I dated a long time ago got me hooked but then I was also already a Star Trek fan and reader of science fiction books.


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## Hank (May 31, 2000)

I've been to a couple of Comicon-like events* (Otakon and Anime Boston -- more anime than comics, but it's the same general groups), and the ration of women to men is about even. 

* I went with my g/f who is a young adult (YA) author, and she was doing research for a book about this population of kids.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Sheldon asks:

"Can you name the four state capitals that are not served by the Interstate system?"

(Unless something has changed recently, Sheldon is wrong. There are five.)



Hank said:


> I've been to a couple of Comicon-like events* (Otakon and Anime Boston -- more anime than comics, but it's the same general groups), and the ration of women to men is about even.


Not surprising, since in Japan, manga and anime are available to both boys and girls.


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## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

murgatroyd said:


> You are aware that women go to Comic Con, and other conventions, right? As fans, and not just for CosPlay?
> 
> Discussions like this make me really miss Comic Relief.
> 
> ...


We're not talking about comi-con though. We're talking about comic book shops. And my experience has been that I haven't seen many women in comic book shops. It IS a rarity. At least the ratio. Maybe it's different where you are that women flock to the shops.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Peter000 said:


> We're not talking about comi-con though. We're talking about comic book shops. And my experience has been that I haven't seen many women in comic book shops. It IS a rarity. At least the ratio. Maybe it's different where you are that women flock to the shops.


Rob was saying his experience differs from yours. So does mine.

My experience is that fans are fans, and they don't congregate in groups segregated by gender. When they go to the comic book store, they don't "flock", they just go, as if they were going to any other store. It's no different than going to the grocery store.

I hear that your experience is different, but Rob's experience, and my experience, are just as valid as yours.

And while my earlier post was tongue-in-cheek, it's still true. If I had a choice of comic book stores, I'd probably not go to Stuart's shop, if that was the kind of reception I got when I was there. I'd go to the comic shop across town which had both men women on staff instead.

Edited to add: I think betts had a good point, in that a lot of us who read comics are also science fiction fans, and we came to comics from somewhere else. For us, the whole issue can be summed up as "yeah, there are female fans, so what?", or to put in terms Howard's mom might understand, "what am I, chopped liver?"

On the other hand, there are a lot of science fiction readers (not necessarily fans) who read books written by authors of their own gender exclusively. (There was a recent article on io9 but I can't find it right now.)

Gender is a big deal, some places. In other places, it just isn't.

I suppose it's possible that there are women who only go to conventions and not their local comic book shop (if they have one), but it doesn't make sense to me. It would be an awfully expensive way to shop.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

mattack said:


> Yuck, they looked so fake (though I admit I DID ask out loud if they were really there -- I knew they weren't, but at first I thought it might be bluescreen).


http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=9469400#post9469400


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## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

tiams said:


> In all of my life, I have never heard even one of my female friends mention they were going to or had been in a comic book store.


I've been in a comic book store. I went there with Spouse, or to find Spouse, or to get a present for Spouse. I have not been back since the fantasy/sci-fi bookstore next door closed.


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## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

murgatroyd said:


> You are aware that women go to Comic Con, and other conventions, right? As fans, and not just for CosPlay?


Cons are very different from comic book stores. I've been to several cons. Heck, collectibles stores are different from comic book storesand I go into those with decent regularity. I also puruse the manga selection at the Japanese bookstores regularly.

There is a comic book store around the corner from my house. I've eaten at the restaurant next door to it. I've never had any occasion to go into the comic book store.


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## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

murgatroyd said:


> I suppose it's possible that there are women who only go to conventions and not their local comic book shop (if they have one), but it doesn't make sense to me. It would be an awfully expensive way to shop.


I mostly read borrowed stuff. These days, from Spouse, before that from friends who had what I was interested in. Since usually the most relevant portion is near the start of the story, you can get that in republished graphic novel format pretty readily and those can be ordered from Amazon or found in big box bookstores. Current stuff can be found in newsstands and at places like Toys'Я'Us though to be honest, I tend to just look at the cover and extrapolate, then ask Spouse to clarify and fill in the gaps.

There's a huge difference between following the story and trying to collect each discrete original volume. The former can be done pretty easily without having to dig through boxes of dusty used comics at the comic book store.


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## Michael S (Jan 12, 2004)

murgatroyd said:


> Sheldon asks:
> 
> "Can you name the four state capitals that are not served by the Interstate system?"
> 
> (Unless something has changed recently, Sheldon is wrong. There are five.)


After the episode aired Bill Pardy tweeted this.



> Four state capitals are not served by the Interstate Highway System -- not five. Your information is a year out of date, Internet.


I wonder how long before TomTom makes a Sheldon Cooper mod.


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## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

This was the absolute best episode of Big Bang Theory I have ever seen and probably one of the top sitcom episodes ever irrespective of series.

The girls stole the show but I was really astonished at how much Sheldon looked like Brent Spiner in his Data costume (though Leonard's Picard got me to do a double-take as well). 

The GPS sections were eerie as it was word-for-word a rehashing of Spouse's road trip commentary. The only part that was different was the part where the GPS was hacked so IT was giving the factoids instead of them coming directly from the person who knew them.

I have one question: is Stuart gay? I started watching this season and thought that he was based on a few things (included an extended will he/won't he with Raj) but I recently set up our TiVo to catch the syndicated episodes and he was dating Penny in a couple of them, so now I'm not sure what to think. Anyways, his ready agreement that Thor is hot made me think that I wasn't mistaken in my initial impression.


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## Hank (May 31, 2000)

I think they're casting Raj and Stuart as "undecided".


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

murgatroyd said:


> Sheldon asks:
> 
> "Can you name the four state capitals that are not served by the Interstate system?"
> 
> (Unless something has changed recently, Sheldon is wrong. There are five.)


There are four:
Dover, Delaware
Pierre, South Dakota
Jefferson City, Missouri
Juneau, Alaska

The fifth, Carson City, Nevada, is now served by I-580, which now terminates in the eastern half of the city.


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## weaver (Feb 27, 2004)

LoadStar said:


> There are four:
> Dover, Delaware
> Pierre, South Dakota
> Jefferson City, Missouri
> ...


So the Interstate system serves Hawaii? That must be a hell of a bridge.


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## MarkofT (Jul 27, 2001)

That Interstate was completed in 2009, so it isn't a recent change.

Juneau is almost on an Interstate in an interesting way. There are no roads to Juneau, but it is on a Federal Highway system, the Alaska Marine Highway, which is a ferry system running from Bellingham up the Inside Passage to various parts of Alaska.

I thought for a bit that Sheldon was wrong due to that, but dug a bit deeper and found out it wasn't designated as an Interstate.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

LoadStar said:


> The fifth, Carson City, Nevada, is now served by I-580, which now terminates in the eastern half of the city.


Huh, I've always thought as I-580 as terminating at I-5 near Tracy, CA.

I didn't realize that there was a Nevada section and that had always been the intention.

You do learn something new each day.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

weaver said:


> So the Interstate system serves Hawaii? That must be a hell of a bridge.


Oddly enough, it does (no bridge, though).

Remember, the putative purpose of the Interstate system was defense. Part of the original system is three highways connecting military bases on Oahu.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Oddly enough, it does (no bridge, though).
> 
> Remember, the putative purpose of the Interstate system was defense. Part of the original system is three highways connecting military bases on Oahu.


Yes, interstates don't have to cross a state line.


----------



## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Polcamilla said:


> I have one question: is Stuart gay? I started watching this season and thought that he was based on a few things (included an extended will he/won't he with Raj) but I recently set up our TiVo to catch the syndicated episodes and he was dating Penny in a couple of them, so now I'm not sure what to think. Anyways, his ready agreement that Thor is hot made me think that I wasn't mistaken in my initial impression.


It doesn't have to be one or the other, you know.


----------



## Marc (Jun 26, 1999)

TonyD79 said:


> Yes, interstates don't have to cross a state line.


I would have thought that _inter_state highway would, while _intra_state highway wouldn't.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Depends on if it's an ((Interstate Highway) System), or an (Interstate (Highway System)).


----------



## thebigmo (Feb 12, 2005)

The system is interstate while some of the individual highways aren't.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

Just in case anyone hasn't seen this before:










And there's a similar one he did for Canada, but his site is down for now.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Hank said:


> Just in case anyone hasn't seen this before:
> 
> And there's a similar one he did for Canada, but his site is down for now.


Nice but missing an interstate I use a lot I-99, which does not cross a state line or fit within the west to east numbering system.


----------



## BrettStah (Nov 12, 2000)

TonyD79 said:


> Nice but missing an interstate I use a lot I-99, which does not cross a state line or fit within the west to east numbering system.


The graphic says "simplified". I think it's missing a lot of the shorter interstates... Especially the ones that don't connect at least two states.

I-99 doesn't go north-to-south? An odd number like that should (generally) go north/south, not east to west.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

BrettStah said:


> I-99 doesn't go north-to-south? An odd number like that should (generally) go north/south, not east to west.


I think Tony is confusing his interstate rules...I-99 does go N-S, as it should...but it doesn't fit into the numerical-order scheme.


----------



## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

Hank said:


> Just in case anyone hasn't seen this before:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Are those supposed to be capitals?
Because Lexington is not the capital of Kentucky  and various other mistakes.

Or has our tangent even gone off topic??


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Cearbhaill said:


> Are those supposed to be capitals?
> Because Lexington is not the capital of Kentucky  and various other mistakes.
> 
> Or has our tangent even gone off topic??


I am amused that Wisconsin isn't even on the map. Which is no doubt because it only shows intersections...but they left off the part of I-94 that goes from Minneapolis to Milwaukee and intersects with 90 in Wisconsin (but not at a city, and then it splits again at Madison).

Well, they'll always have the Wild Card... 

Is 90-94 the only interstate interchange that isn't in or near a city?


----------



## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Is 90-94 the only interstate interchange that isn't in or near a city?


Nope... just a quick check shows the I-10/I-20 interchange in Texas is literally in the middle of nowhere. The I-70/I-15 interchange in Utah is stuffed between a national forest and a crater. I could probably find others, but I got bored.


----------



## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

90 and 94 not only intersect, but merge, in Chicago.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

I think the map was made half tongue-in-cheek. Not meant to be a serious, totally accurate map. Especially if you saw the Canadian one -- It was just one E-W highway with a spur (IIRC).


----------



## bigpuma (Aug 12, 2003)

Cearbhaill said:


> Are those supposed to be capitals?


No they are not capitals. It appears to be intersections and/or major cities. California has 4 cities listed so it can't be just capitals.

It also appears that the distance between LA and Sacramento is 10x farther than between Sacramento and Portland.


----------



## snowjay (Mar 27, 2007)

TonyD79 said:


> Nice but missing an interstate I use a lot I-99, which does not cross a state line or fit within the west to east numbering system.


684 and 287 aren't on the list either, but they both stay within NYS.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

midas said:


> 90 and 94 not only intersect, but merge, in Chicago.


Right...going west to east, they merge in Western Wisconsin (at a place with no exit, not even a gas station), split again at Madison, merge again on the west side of Chicago, and finally split for good around the Illinois/Indiana border.

It always struck me as odd that there is absolutely nothing at that first merge/split. In my experience, there's always something, and usually a lot of something, where freeways come together, and that's been the only exception. It's interesting to find that there are at least a couple of other such places in the US.


bigpuma said:


> It also appears that the distance between LA and Sacramento is 10x farther than between Sacramento and Portland.


It seems to be inspired by the iconic London Underground map, which is designed to show where routes intersect rather than scaled distances.


----------



## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

Cearbhaill said:


> Are those supposed to be capitals?
> Because Lexington is not the capital of Kentucky  and various other mistakes.
> 
> Or has our tangent even gone off topic??


They can't be capitals, Baltimore is not the capital of MD.

I thought they were just big cities that the highways went through.

I like that I could take route 70 west that far. I didn't know that.


----------



## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Right...going west to east, they merge in Western Wisconsin (at a place with no exit, not even a gas station), split again at Madison, merge again on the west side of Chicago, and finally split for good around the Illinois/Indiana border.
> 
> It always struck me as odd that there is absolutely nothing at that first merge/split. In my experience, there's always something, and usually a lot of something, where freeways come together, and that's been the only exception. It's interesting to find that there are at least a couple of other such places in the US.
> 
> It seems to be inspired by the iconic London Underground map, which is designed to show where routes intersect rather than scaled distances.


There's nothing around the I95-I40 intersection in NC, either.


----------



## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> It always struck me as odd that there is absolutely nothing at that first merge/split. In my experience, there's always something, and usually a lot of something, where freeways come together, and that's been the only exception. It's interesting to find that there are at least a couple of other such places in the US.


Take a look at the I-10/I-20 interchange. Just to the east of that, there's an offramp that I can only surmise was built in the vague, distant hope that some future civilization will discover it and build a gas station and convenience store there. Because otherwise, I can't determine a purpose, other than to give truckers a place to pull off and sleep, because it doesn't seem to go anywhere.


----------



## MikeCC (Jun 19, 2004)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Right...going west to east, they merge in Western Wisconsin (at a place with no exit, not even a gas station), split again at Madison, merge again on the west side of Chicago, and finally split for good around the Illinois/Indiana border.
> 
> It always struck me as odd that there is absolutely nothing at that first merge/split. In my experience, there's always something, and usually a lot of something, where freeways come together, and that's been the only exception. It's interesting to find that there are at least a couple of other such places in the US.
> 
> It seems to be inspired by the iconic London Underground map, which is designed to show where routes intersect rather than scaled distances.


Well, it _MAY _have been designed to show intersections of the interstates, but it also has errors that I can spot right away, both involving I-65:

1) I-65 is a significant North South route through the Midwest and down to the Gulf area. HOWEVER, it does not go to Chicago. Its northern terminus is Gary, IN, where it meets I-80/94, and I-90.

2) For some reason, in addition to the error of I-65 going to Chicago, the diagram shows I-65 going through Chicago to Grand Rapids, MI. It doesn't.

I suspect we have other errors, too, but the I-65 issues I spotted right away.


----------



## Ereth (Jun 16, 2000)

murgatroyd said:


> [Retcon]
> 
> Given the stuff that Stuart was recommending, maybe the girl comic fans shop somewhere else.
> 
> [/retcon]


What's wrong with "Fables"? "Fables" is good. In fact a lot of people who read "Fables" thought that "Once Upon a Time" was ripping it off because it's about Fairy Tale characters coming to live in our world because "The adversary" forced them out of their own. Bill Willingham (creator of "Fables") actually reached out to ABC to see what was going on and then posted a big blog that, no, ABC was not ripping him off and people should watch, but that's how much the fan base was bothered by the similarities.


----------



## MarkofT (Jul 27, 2001)

That offramp is to start and terminate the frontage road that Texas used to build on all of it's freeways.

The I20/I30 split is kind of out in the middle of nowhere, not in Dallas. And it is missing I27 running between Amarillo and Lubbock.


----------



## Bighouse (Sep 3, 2004)

busyba said:


> Really? My immediate reaction was "omg, those are so obviously backdrops!"
> 
> Sure, they were _nice_ backdrops, but jarringly obvious.
> 
> That's the one downside to HD, they can't get away with some of the tricks they were able to in the past.


I felt the fake Vasquez rock backdrops gave it a very nice vintage feel, especially since the lighting also seemed to have a OST 60's vibe...oh wait...they were TNG!


----------



## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

Polcamilla said:


> I have one question: is Stuart gay? I started watching this season and thought that he was based on a few things (included an extended will he/won't he with Raj) but I recently set up our TiVo to catch the syndicated episodes and he was dating Penny in a couple of them, so now I'm not sure what to think. Anyways, his ready agreement that Thor is hot made me think that I wasn't mistaken in my initial impression.


I think it is intentionally ambiguous. It plays to his stereotype. After all he is kind of a wimpy character. I could see him going either way if it benefited a story line. I suspect we will never know for sure.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

waynomo said:


> I think it is intentionally ambiguous. It plays to his stereotype. After all he is kind of a wimpy character. I could see him going either way if it benefited a story line. I suspect we will never know for sure.


I think he replaced Howard in the Raj-Howard fake-gay relationship. Ever since Howard got engaged, the gay double-entendres have switched over to Raj & Stuart.


----------



## replaytv (Feb 21, 2011)

Cearbhaill said:


> Or has our tangent even gone off topic??


I sure love the Borg. Where can I sign up?

I was in Hawaii and saw the the 'Interstate' signs and considered crawling up and painting them to say 'Intrastate'.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I think Tony is confusing his interstate rules...I-99 does go N-S, as it should...but it doesn't fit into the numerical-order scheme.


Not confusing anything. I meant 99 does not fit in the progression of numbers of north-south interstates from west to east. It is actually west of I-81. I-99 by the numbering system should be east of I-95.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

snowjay said:


> 684 and 287 aren't on the list either, but they both stay within NYS.


600 and 200 highways are bypasses or belts. Few of them cross state lines.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

TonyD79 said:


> Not confusing anything. I meant 99 does not fit in the progression of numbers of north-south interstates from west to east. It is actually west of I-81. I-99 by the numbering system should be east of I-95.


Ah...like Brett, I thought when you said east-to-west, you were referring to the odd/even. Sorry.


----------



## Win Joy Jr (Oct 1, 2001)

One other interesting thing was them brief moment where Bernadette and Amy started off on a tangent leaving Penny behind. For a brief moment it looked like she was feeling "Great, now even the girls are ignoring me"...


----------



## getbak (Oct 8, 2004)

Hank said:


> I think the map was made half tongue-in-cheek. Not meant to be a serious, totally accurate map. Especially if you saw the Canadian one -- It was just one E-W highway with a spur (IIRC).


That's actually pretty accurate for Canada.

Here's the Trans-Canada Highway system: http://www.tc.gc.ca/media/documents/policy/tch_map.pdf


----------



## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

I wonder what's the Northern most point to which a person could drive in North America?


----------



## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

Peter000 said:


> I wonder what's the Northern most point to which a person could drive in North America?


Looks to be either Inuvik, Northwest territories or Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.


----------



## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

Most boring BBT thread tangent EVER!

I don't think Stewart is gay. Even when he admitted that Thor was good looking, he did it in the "sigh, I know I'm not supposed to think that way, but I have to admit he does look great". Exactly how a heterosexual man would say it.

I did love Stewart's line about owning a comic book store!


----------



## fmowry (Apr 30, 2002)

Slow reading Penny was really funny, "I've got street smarts" and I liked the answer to the question when the girls asked Stuart, "Can you tell us anything about comic books?"

"Don't open a comic book store."

Anubys beats me by 10 seconds!


----------



## Bob Coxner (Dec 1, 2004)

LoadStar said:


> There are four:
> Dover, Delaware
> Pierre, South Dakota
> Jefferson City, Missouri
> ...


What's funny is that the official website of the US Dept of Transportation still says there are 5. 

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/interstate.cfm

Other Interstate Trivia

State Capitals -- All but five State capitals are directly served by the Interstate System. Those not directly served are:

Juneau, AK
Dover, DE
Jefferson City, MO
Carson City, NV
Pierre, SD

Oldest Segments -- The oldest Interstate segments actually predate the establishment of the Interstate system. Early examples include a portion of the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, New York, which was opened to traffic in July 1936 and later was incorporated into the Interstate System as I-278. The Pennsylvania Turnpike between Irwin (southeast of Pittsburgh) and Carlisle (west of Harrisburg) was officially opened in October 1940 and is now designated as I-76 and I-70. Other freeways and toll roads were incorporated into the System rather than build new competing Interstate routes.

Rest Areas -- An exact count of rest areas on the Interstate System is not available. However, a count in 1972 reported 1,214 rest areas in existence. The number still operational today is not expected to differ dramatically from the 1972 figure.

Interchanges -- An exact count of the number of interchanges on the Interstate System is not available. However, a 1978 count found 14,231 interchanges. This number has likely increased somewhat over the intervening years.

====================

A favorite interstate trivia of mine is what is the largest city *not* served by an interstate highway?

Fresno, CA 509,000.
Bakersfield, CA 347,000

I5 runs through Fresno County but it's about 20 miles from Fresno city. Bakersfield is a bit closer to I5 at around 8-9 miles.

A *really* tough one, and one that I don't know the absolutely correct answer to, is what city in the lower 48 lies the most distance from an interstate?

First, you have to decide on a "city" size. Otherwise, you end up with some miner's shack in the Montana outback. I go with a minimum population of 1,000. I also use crow fly distance, rather than road distance. That gives me:

Tonopah, NV 150 crow miles, 203 driving miles


----------



## MikeCC (Jun 19, 2004)

> Most boring BBT thread tangent EVER!


Still, we DO have 5 pages of discussion for this single episode.

Was Howard supposed to be Locutis, Hugh, or just a generic Borg?


----------



## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

MikeCC said:


> Still, we DO have 5 pages of discussion for this single episode.
> 
> Was Howard supposed to be Locutis, Hugh, or just a generic Borg?


Definitely not Locutus. Probably not Hugh. More likely, just a generic Borg.


----------



## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

MikeCC said:


> Still, we DO have 5 pages of discussion for this single episode.
> 
> Was Howard supposed to be Locutis, Hugh, or just a generic Borg?


Yeah, but it's less fun than a Revolvolution thread. If I wanted inane interstate chitchat, I could just talk to Spouse over dinner!

I posit that the enjoyability of a TCF tv show thread is inversely proportional to the enjoyability of the show that is the thread's subject.


----------



## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

The thread becomes what the thread becomes. No use whining about it.


----------



## Azlen (Nov 25, 2002)

Yes, rather than complaining about the direction of a BBT thread, just try to spin it off in a different direction. It shouldn't be that difficult to do. It's actually much easier than trying to keep things on topic.


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

You guys have the attention span of a gnat....


----------



## Craigbob (Dec 2, 2006)

tiams said:


> In all of my life, I have never heard even one of my female friends mention they were going to or had been in a comic book store.


I've got good female friend who've I've known for over 30 years (she's a bit geeky herself) and she goes to comic stores and cons all the time.


----------



## Craigbob (Dec 2, 2006)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I am amused that Wisconsin isn't even on the map. Which is no doubt because it only shows intersections...but they left off the part of I-94 that goes from Minneapolis to Milwaukee and intersects with 90 in Wisconsin (but not at a city, and then it splits again at Madison).
> 
> Well, they'll always have the Wild Card...
> 
> Is 90-94 the only interstate interchange that isn't in or near a city?


New Jersey is missing also. Since Trenton is not shown it can't all be capitols.


----------



## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

milo99 said:


> so when the girls said they were going to go get the boxes of comic books, was anybody else worried that they were going to open up protected comics that the guys were keeping unopened, and that they would "destroy" the books' value? i was TOTALLY expecting that to be part of the storyline, especially since the guys have shown to be anal about keeping things in mint unopened condition. So i was surprised it didn't play in at all.


yes! I started worrying about it as soon as they first mentioned comic books.



Kablemodem said:


> Penny did say they had a good makeup kit.


$300 worth.


----------



## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

> Originally Posted by milo99
> so when the girls said they were going to go get the boxes of comic books, was anybody else worried that they were going to open up protected comics that the guys were keeping unopened, and that they would "destroy" the books' value? i was TOTALLY expecting that to be part of the storyline, especially since the guys have shown to be anal about keeping things in mint unopened condition. So i was surprised it didn't play in at all.





Robin said:


> yes! I started worrying about it as soon as they first mentioned comic books.


I was also worried. I was thinking the guys were going to show up and ream them out for touching the comics. I like this ending better.


----------



## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

Robin said:


> $300 worth.


Which is not actually that much makeup, either stage or good-quality retail.


----------



## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

I was worried about them opening previously unopened comic books as well, but I would also not be at all surprised if even Penny was aware that there are some you just do NOT open. I'd be VERY surprised if they had opened any that were sealed.


----------



## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

betts4 said:


> I was also worried. I was thinking the guys were going to show up and ream them out for touching the comics. I like this ending better.


If I were Leonard or Howard (Sheldon I think would first have that negative reaction), I would be tickled and touched that the girls would actually be making the effort to understand the comic book love, rather than ridicule it and chide them about it, as many would. Even if they did debag some valuable comics.


----------



## wouldworker (Sep 7, 2004)

Peter000 said:


> If I were Leonard or Howard (Sheldon I think would first have that negative reaction), I would be tickled and touched that the girls would actually be making the effort to understand the comic book love, rather than ridicule it and chide them about it, as many would. Even if they did debag some valuable comics.


Heh heh heh. You said "debag".


----------



## MarkofT (Jul 27, 2001)

Bob Coxner said:


> A favorite interstate trivia of mine is what is the largest city *not* served by an interstate highway?
> 
> Fresno, CA 509,000.
> Bakersfield, CA 347,000
> ...


They aren't on an Interstate because they are on California State Route 99. There is talk of finishing the upgrade to Interstate standards and dubbing it either I7 or I9.

Since they've been working on that for decades, it might be a while before your trivia expires.


----------



## fmowry (Apr 30, 2002)

Polcamilla said:


> Which is not actually that much makeup, either stage or good-quality retail.


It's a lot for a Cheesecake factory employed, alcoholic felon.


----------



## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

fmowry said:


> It's a lot for a Cheesecake factory employed, alcoholic felon.


Not one with credit card debt


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

...who steals WiFi....


----------



## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

SO- anyone hoping for a Big Bang/Priceline tie in?
Even if not in an official capacity maybe hinted at?
Penny got a commercial with Shatner- it's the storyline we have always wished for!


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

The would be a PR disaster. Not even related. Different show "universes." That would be the worst "product placement" ever. Nope, sorry -- the t-mobile product placement on Shark Tank was the worst. This would be the second worst.


----------



## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

Hank said:


> The would be a PR disaster. Not even related. Different show "universes." That would be the worst "product placement" ever. Nope, sorry -- the t-mobile product placement on Shark Tank was the worst. This would be the second worst.


Why? Penny is an actress waiting for her big break, right? so maybe she made a commercial with Shatner.


----------



## Flop (Dec 2, 2005)

Hank said:


> The would be a PR disaster. Not even related. Different show "universes." That would be the worst "product placement" ever. Nope, sorry -- the t-mobile product placement on Shark Tank was the worst. This would be the second worst.


The Ancestry.com thing on CSI was pretty bad.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

Anubys said:


> Why? Penny is an actress waiting for her big break, right? so maybe she made a commercial with Shatner.


Because it would be so cheezy for Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady to stoop to that level for product placement. It would be a disaster for BBT fans and the show to do that (have a plot tie-in with a real Priceline commercial).

If she got some *fictional* commercial with Shatner, that would work, but not a real life commercial.


----------



## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

Hank said:


> Because it would be so cheezy for Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady to stoop to that level for product placement. It would be a disaster for BBT fans and the show to do that (have a plot tie-in with a real Priceline commercial).
> 
> If she got some *fictional* commercial with Shatner, that would work, but not a real life commercial.


Ah. I misunderstood your post. My fault.


----------



## MikeCC (Jun 19, 2004)

How about where she continues to puzzle over who Shatner is, even as Sheldon prattles on and on...

Perhaps a comment later about how James T. Kirk reminds her of an actor she saw just recently, but can't remember where.

Especially if they are trying to arrange an inexpensive vacation somewhere...

Nothing overt. Just a wink and a nod to us, the group who is the online-TV fan equivalent of comic book fanatics.


----------



## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

MikeCC said:


> Nothing overt. Just a wink and a nod to us, the group who is the online-TV fan equivalent of comic book fanatics.


That's what I had in mind- like an inside joke.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

Ok, if it's a subtle side comment that only true fans would get, that's cool.

But not "Oh, Penny just got a Priceline commercial with Shatner!"


----------



## MikeCC (Jun 19, 2004)

If we're veering off into guest stars who have a connection with Kaley, I'd like to see Amy Davidson, her on-screen sister from _8 Simple Rules_. Maybe Katey Sagal.

(_Waaay _off topic here, [but haven't we given up on _that_?] but I was looking up Amy Davidson's name from _8 Simple Rules_, and James Garner was in 45 eps. John Ritter, whom Garner replaced after John's untimely death, was in only 31 episodes. Even David Spade was in more than John Ritter, surprisingly. Spade was in 39. At least according to imdb. Now back to main topic...)


----------



## mdougie (Mar 9, 2009)

MikeCC said:


> If we're veering off into guest stars who have a connection with Kaley, I'd like to see Amy Davidson, her on-screen sister from _8 Simple Rules_. Maybe Katey Sagal.
> 
> (_Waaay _off topic here, [but haven't we given up on _that_?] but I was looking up Amy Davidson's name from _8 Simple Rules_, and James Garner was in 45 eps. John Ritter, whom Garner replaced after John's untimely death, was in only 31 episodes. Even David Spade was in more than John Ritter, surprisingly. Spade was in 39. At least according to imdb. Now back to main topic...)


Why can't they mine Kaley's past work for guest stars. Just about everyone from Rossane has been on except Rossane and John Goodman.


----------



## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

Three people counts as "just about everyone"?


----------



## mdougie (Mar 9, 2009)

TonyTheTiger said:


> Three people counts as "just about everyone"?


Ok so half then, but that is a lot.

I would love to see Goodman reprise his role as football coach from Revenge of the Nerds on the show.


----------



## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

This thing is probably filmed in Burbank. A short drive and you are on location!!! Ugly background.


----------



## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

sieglinde said:


> This thing is probably filmed in Burbank. A short drive and you are on location!!! Ugly background.


Everyone probably knows this, but for that one that may not:
http://ponderosascenery.homestead.com/vasquez.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasquez_Rocks


----------



## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

Cearbhaill said:


> Everyone probably knows this, but for that one that may not:
> http://ponderosascenery.homestead.com/vasquez.html
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasquez_Rocks


I like the link on the Wikipedia page to the Bronson Caves.


----------



## Hunter Green (Feb 22, 2002)

I am sure Sheldon would approve of how many posts we've made about the Interstate Highway System.

For my part, the first round of interesting facts all seemed fairly common knowledge. Maybe not for Joe Sixpack, for but geekish types. And my wife and I both said "Eisenhower" immediately. I would assume most of the people here knew it too. (But I suppose I could be wrong.)


----------



## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

I immediately thought "Einsenhower" and then wondered if it were a trick question of some sort since everyone knows that.


----------



## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

I said 'Eisenhower' out loud, but I am old and actually remember when he was in office


----------



## RGM1138 (Oct 6, 1999)

Cearbhaill said:


> I said 'Eisenhower' out loud, but I am old and actually remember when he was in office


:up: Ditto.


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Cearbhaill said:


> I said 'Eisenhower' out loud, but I am old and actually remember when he was in office


+1...


----------



## YCantAngieRead (Nov 5, 2003)

I knew it was Eisenhower, but I live 30 minutes from Eisenhower's birthplace and I believe our section of I-70 is named Eisenhower something or another. Also, I'm not very far from the first section of interstate ever built.


----------



## Flop (Dec 2, 2005)

Bierboy said:


> +1...


+1, except for the age


----------



## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

This was such a great episode. I found it funny that Sheldon has to have the "thinking man" pose with every picture because apparently all Data does is think.  He didn't complain at all when they decided to do each style of pose, but still did his hand under his chin "thinking".

Also really enjoyed the women's arguments about comic books and how it evolved from "how could the boys ever argue over these things?" to the argument over Thor's (magical) hammer.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

MikeCC said:


> If we're veering off into guest stars who have a connection with Kaley, I'd like to see Amy Davidson, her on-screen sister from _8 Simple Rules_. Maybe Katey Sagal.
> 
> (_Waaay _off topic here, [but haven't we given up on _that_?] but I was looking up Amy Davidson's name from _8 Simple Rules_, and James Garner was in 45 eps. John Ritter, whom Garner replaced after John's untimely death, was in only 31 episodes. Even David Spade was in more than John Ritter, surprisingly. Spade was in 39. At least according to imdb. Now back to main topic...)


Wow, I didn't realize they went on THAT long after his death. Shame, looks like she's done mostly a bunch of guest spots (and a movie in production) since 8 simple rules.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I think he replaced Howard in the Raj-Howard fake-gay relationship. Ever since Howard got engaged, the gay double-entendres have switched over to Raj & Stuart.


But I think the Raj-Howard one was WAY more jokey. At least on a few occasions, they seemed to be going much more seriously that way.. then they go back again (hopefully away from it completely).


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

sieglinde said:


> This thing is probably filmed in Burbank. A short drive and you are on location!!! Ugly background.


I think the issue is transporting that live studio audience out there.

(And yes, TBBT is shot on the Warner Brothers lot.)


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

JYoung said:


> I think the issue is transporting that live studio audience out there.


They could just use a laugh track...


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## mdougie (Mar 9, 2009)

mattack said:


> But I think the Raj-Howard one was WAY more jokey. At least on a few occasions, they seemed to be going much more seriously that way.. then they go back again (hopefully away from it completely).


Why? They would make a cute couple.


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## NJChris (May 11, 2001)

Robin said:


> I immediately thought "Einsenhower" and then wondered if it were a trick question of some sort since everyone knows that.


 I didn't. Tho I knew about the numbering / east / west/ north / south / etc...


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## jehma (Jan 22, 2003)

busyba said:


> They could just use a laugh track...


That made me laugh.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

jehma said:


> That made me laugh.


Was it a real laugh, or just a laugh track?


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

LoadStar said:


> Was it a real laugh, or just a laugh track?


It was real, but they sweetened it.


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## Ereth (Jun 16, 2000)

The web-comic "The Gutters" which usually parodies ongoing comic strips and the industry itself, had a comment on the girls going into a comic shop in todays episode.

I thought you guys might be amused by it.


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

I had to look up what a 'pull list' was


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

DancnDude said:


> I had to look up what a 'pull list' was


And ironically, as a comic store going gal, I didn't.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

I've been in a comic book store exactly once (Buffy s8) but I correctly deduced it.


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

Bump -

I am bumping this because a friend of mine and I were talking about this yesterday. We came to the conclusion that the AFF would have been a good candidate for being a fan of some sort of science fiction or fantasy.

Maybe not the games or d&d or comics like the guys, but maybe some books like Darkover or Pern or even with her craving for sex, the fanzines that are written and published by fans and usually are pairing up characters from various tv shows (if you don't know what I mean, google it. And I have seen some with leonard and sheldon together -example from ashton press, _Big Bang X-treme by Lorraine Anderson: When a strange crate meant for Area 51 shows up in Leonard's lab (Big Bang Theory), curiosity gets the better of Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard._ ps. I don't read them myself but do go to science fiction conventions where there are tables and tables of them sold).

Heck, with her fawning over Penny, I could even see her getting into the ones that pair up the female characters.


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## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

betts4 said:


> Bump -
> 
> I am bumping this because a friend of mine and I were talking about this yesterday. We came to the conclusion that the AFF would have been a good candidate for being a fan of some sort of science fiction or fantasy.


AFF is a LOT like my mom.

My mother isn't interest in fiction, at all. She just has no use for it. She enjoys reading biographies and for a time aspired to do technical writing. She still hopes to be a writer but tends to draw all of her stories from real life. She's a bookkeeper and has taken several accounting courses and really enjoys number-crunching. She once said that she'd like to work in a movie studio's accounting department because she knows there are not many people who can balance accounts with hundreds of thousands/millions of dollars down to the penny (which she ALWAYS does) so they would have a need for her skill. She was shocked when I laughed at her and told her the LAST thing the studios want is their financials accounted for to the last penny.

She is pragmatic, empirical, and very cool in her emotions. She struggles with personal relationships because she applies logic to situations and cannot understand when people react with emotion instead of reason.

She IS a Star Trek fan, but only TOS and only because she used to watch it when she was a young, wild college student and had a crush on William Shatner. She read the first Harry Potter book because I raved about the writing and wanted to see the writing technique firsthand. She stopped after the first book because she felt that from a writing technique standpoint, she had gotten what she needed from it and she had no interest in a story about magic.

Over the years I've gotten her to read bits of Pern, Robt. Jordan, and a few other fantasy novels. She's occasionally found some of the characters interesting, but was put off by dragons, monsters (orcs and the like), magic systems, and such. She believes I inherited my love of Star Wars genetically from my father as he was crazy about it and I am crazy about it, but he was not around to share it with me and she made no effort to, so can come up with no other explanation for me seeking it out at a fairly young age and being interested in it over several decades.


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## YCantAngieRead (Nov 5, 2003)

I dunno. By all accounts, I should be a big sci fi fan. But I'm not.

I could see her being obsessive over classic fiction, though.

(Again, not a fan, while I should be)


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