# Big Bang Theory 10/7/10 "The Zazzy Substitution"



## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

Best episode so far this season!

I was losing faith but this episode was a winner. I loved Leonard getting Sheldon's mom for an intervention and the whole Shamy thing. I think it was done just right. :up:


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

"I'd like you to meet Oppenheimer, Frisch, Panofsky, Feynman, Weisskopf&#8212;"

"Yeah, I get it. You got a lot of cats, and you gave 'em cute Jewish names"

and I can't remember the lines for the break up scene in the cafeteria, but the actors played it beautifully!


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

I had the opposite reaction...the show has become a sad parody of what it used to be. Everybody has become a caricature of the characters they used to be. There's nothing smart about it any more.

I'm actually on the verge of dropping it.


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I had the opposite reaction...the show has become a sad parody of what it used to be. Everybody has become a caricature of the characters they used to be. There's nothing smart about it any more.
> 
> I'm actually on the verge of dropping it.


I felt like this too...until this episode. I hope this is an upswing.

I also wondered - wasn't Sheldon, or maybe Leonard allergic to cats? Or maybe it is just Sheldon didn't like animals?


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

I liked how at the end he was _paying _people $20 each to take a cat


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## SorenTodd (May 26, 2009)

Loved it. That whole Shamy dynamic is comic genius. I was worried for a second that they would actually break up.

I'm wondering if the writers for the show also watch Degrassi: the Next Generation (a Canadian show on TeenNick). Fans of Degrassi have been combining the male and female names (ala Sheldon + Amy = Shamy) for years now. We even do it on their message boards.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

SorenTodd said:


> Loved it. That whole Shamy dynamic is comic genius. I was worried for a second that they would actually break up.
> 
> I'm wondering if the writers for the show also watch Degrassi: the Next Generation (a Canadian show on TeenNick). Fans of Degrassi have been combining the male and female names (ala Sheldon + Amy = Shamy) for years now. We even do it on their message boards.


Huh?

This has been prevalent in pop culture for years as well.
Brangelia? Bennifer?


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

I don't believe for a second Sheldon would turn to cats for companionship but it was a funny gag. Sheldon's mom manipulating him and Leonard was great as well.

Oh and Penny has the best work uniforms.


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

I also liked how they broke up. He motioned, she seconded the motion, and then the motion passed


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## rockislandmike (Sep 20, 2005)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I had the opposite reaction...the show has become a sad parody of what it used to be. Everybody has become a caricature of the characters they used to be. There's nothing smart about it any more.
> 
> I'm actually on the verge of dropping it.


+1. fortunately shatner's show is turning out to be a dud too, so i can stop watching that entire hour in favor of doing something else. i'll have to catch up on community for starters.


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## Frylock (Feb 13, 2002)

JYoung said:


> Huh?
> 
> This has been prevalent in pop culture for years as well.
> Brangelia? Bennifer?


Yeah, considering that it came from Penny, who is an aspiring actress (at least in her mind) she would be pretty familiar with Bennifer and Brangelina...


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## Frylock (Feb 13, 2002)

DancnDude said:


> I also liked how they broke up. He motioned, she seconded the motion, and then the motion passed


With no objections!


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## rockislandmike (Sep 20, 2005)

betts4 said:


> I felt like this too...until this episode. I hope this is an upswing.
> 
> I also wondered - wasn't Sheldon, or maybe Leonard allergic to cats? Or maybe it is just Sheldon didn't like animals?


I thought I recalled someone being allergic too, but didn't remember who or what ep it came up in.


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

The main thing I don't like about Amy is that she doesn't interact well with the rest of the cast. Sheldon and Penny interacted quite well together, but the same hasn't happened with Amy and any other character. Hopefully if they stay together, we'll get her interacting a bit more with everybody because right now she's only funny if Sheldon is interacting with her and she's a jerk most of the rest of the time. 

That's not to say I'm not enjoying the story, because it is quite funny. Just that it's gonna get old if they don't expand it somehow.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

DancnDude said:


> I liked how at the end he was _paying _people $20 each to take a cat


Yes, I saw the sign and my immediate reaction was "Who's gonna pay $20 for a cat?" But then they sold the joke by having Sheldon paying people to take the cats. 


DancnDude said:


> I also liked how they broke up. He motioned, she seconded the motion, and then the motion passed


Yes, the concept of Robert's Rules of Order to govern a relationship is hilarious.

I'm kind of shocked there's not something in the Roommate Agreement about cats, though. I would have expected Leonard to bring that up and finally use that against Sheldon for once.


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

DevdogAZ said:


> I'm kind of shocked there's not something in the Roommate Agreement about cats, though. I would have expected Leonard to bring that up and finally use that against Sheldon for once.


Leonard probable didn't find anything specifically for 'cats' or 'pets' but forgot to check for the section on 'non-sapient lifeforms'


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

DevdogAZ said:


> I'm kind of shocked there's not something in the Roommate Agreement about cats, though. I would have expected Leonard to bring that up and finally use that against Sheldon for once.


Except, as we've seen over and over, Leonard's not the one who actually knows what's in the Roommate Agreement.


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## scooterboy (Mar 27, 2001)

SorenTodd said:


> Loved it. That whole Shamy dynamic is comic genius. I was worried for a second that they would actually break up.


And I wish they had stayed broken up. Blossom's over-the-top monotone and wooden mannerisms are making the show a lot less enjoyable for me. I can't wait until she's gone.


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## ScubaCat (Jun 26, 2003)

rockislandmike said:


> I thought I recalled someone being allergic too, but didn't remember who or what ep it came up in.


It was season 1, episode 3 - The Fuzzy Boots Corollary. I watched it on my iPad during a recent flight. Leonard was depressed about his relationship with Penny and came home with a bunch of cat toys and cat food. I remember he mentioned he wanted to get a hypoallergenic cat but I don't remember the explanation. I'll review the episode later this evening and let you know.

Update: I checked the episode. When Sheldon protested Leonard getting a cat, Leonard said "I took your asthma into account" and then described the hypoallergenic cat.

So apparently the writers didn't let Sheldon's asthma get in the way of a good joke in the new episode.


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## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

I've got a cat that I'd like to get rid of, anyone interested int taking it for $20?


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## Gunnyman (Jul 10, 2003)

"He's always an ass, you just usually can't hear him"


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## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

> When Leonard tried to tell Sheldon how much the group dislikes Amy, Sheldon countered with all the ways hed had to suffer in silence because of Penny. Like watching night after night of uninformative TV documentaries about the Jersey shore.


http://insidepulse.com/2010/10/08/the-big-bang-theory-episode-4-3-review/

Did you know that _Counterfactuals_ is actually a word?

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=Counterfactuals

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterfactual


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

DianaMo said:


> Did you know that _Counterfactuals_ is actually a word?


Of COURSE I knew!

You mean...you DIDN'T?!?



(There were a couple of collections of counterfactuals written by historians..._What If?_ and _More What If?_, which were subsequently re-published as an omnibus, _The Collected What If?_ Most of the contributors were serious big-name scholars. Cool stuff!)


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## Turtleboy (Mar 24, 2001)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Of COURSE I knew!
> 
> You mean...you DIDN'T?!?
> 
> ...


I liked the one where Gwen Stacy didn't die.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Turtleboy said:


> I liked the one where Gwen Stacy didn't die.


Was that the one that Michael Beschloss wrote?


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## Mars Rocket (Mar 24, 2000)

Nice ep, but I don't for a second believe that Sheldon would feed milk to a cat. Surely he would know that many cats are lactose intolerant.


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## danieljanderson (Nov 19, 2002)

Gunnyman said:


> "He's always an ass, you just usually can't hear him"


I thought it would have been funny if Raj had no trouble speaking in front of Amy.


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## Hunter Green (Feb 22, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Except, as we've seen over and over, Leonard's not the one who actually knows what's in the Roommate Agreement.


That's what would have made it funny. We'd need him to look exhausted like he just pulled an all-nighter, and it turns out he's been reading the agreement looking for a relevant clause.

I also thought Sheldon's appreciation for cats seemed odd, despite that song he likes so much.

While I loved Counterfactuals, I would also like to play the game, and as presented it's unplayable because there can't be only one right answer. ThinkGeek needs to find a way to make it a playable game (not just a joke, but actually playable) and sell it.


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## zordude (Sep 23, 2003)

I found the cat thing to be very out of character, even if it was supposed to be intended that way to show Sheldon's feelings it didn't feel right.

No cat named Schrodinger?


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Mars Rocket said:


> Nice ep, but I don't for a second believe that Sheldon would feed milk to a cat. Surely he would know that many cats are lactose intolerant.


yeah, I caught that one too, it worked on the humor front, failed on the geek and knowledgeable front.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

dianebrat said:


> yeah, I caught that one too, it worked on the humor front, failed on the geek and knowledgeable front.


And that's been my whole problem with the show the past couple seasons (this and last). It's gone from being a geeky sit-com to being a sit-com. Which has certainly worked for the ratings, but hey, the masses have tons of shows. Why can't we have just one?


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## Gunnyman (Jul 10, 2003)

danieljanderson said:


> I thought it would have been funny if Raj had no trouble speaking in front of Amy.


Me too. In fact, I was looking for it.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

DevdogAZ said:


> the Roommate Agreement about cats, though. I would have expected Leonard to bring that up and finally use that against Sheldon for once.


THANK YOU!

I was thinking the same thing.


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## quantann (Sep 6, 2004)

No cat named Schrodinger?[/QUOTE]

Schrodinger did not work on the Manhatten Project.


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## USAFSSO (Aug 24, 2005)

danieljanderson said:


> I thought it would have been funny if Raj had no trouble speaking in front of Amy.





quantann said:


> No cat named Schrodinger?


Schrodinger did not work on the Manhatten Project.[/QUOTE]

But....he did have a cat.  A whole episode about it even.


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## fmowry (Apr 30, 2002)

scooterboy said:


> And I wish they had stayed broken up. Blossom's over-the-top monotone and wooden mannerisms are making the show a lot less enjoyable for me. I can't wait until she's gone.


Totally agree. This show is almost done for me. There's not enough funny to go around to balance out the unfunny when she's on the screen. I didn't mind Leonard's girlfriend as the geeky female. She was at least somewhat believable.

Frank


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## Hunter Green (Feb 22, 2002)

USAFSSO said:


> But....he did have a cat.  A whole episode about it even.


I wonder if he ever actually had a cat.

And no, I'm not making the obvious joke there, I'm just wondering because making the analogy he made doesn't require him to own a cat, and it's odd that none of the things I've read ever talked about whether he actually owned one (or was owned by one, as the case may be).

Incidentally, the word "zazzy" seems to inspire the ad engine in this forum to keep giving me fashion ads when I read this thread. Maybe it's just coincidence though.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

I did think it was out of character for Sheldon to get all those cats.

What would have been more in character would have been if he became obsessed with building robot cats.

But then you couldn't have the $20 joke at the end.


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## Frylock (Feb 13, 2002)

quantann said:


> No cat named Schrodinger?


Schrodinger did not work on the Manhatten Project.[/QUOTE]

To be fair, there also wasn't anyone named Zazzy on the Manhattan project either.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> And that's been my whole problem with the show the past couple seasons (this and last). It's gone from being a geeky sit-com to being a sit-com. Which has certainly worked for the ratings, but hey, the masses have tons of shows. Why can't we have just one?


Because once no one watched it, we'd have zero!



I'm fine with the trend towards a little less geekyness. It's still very geeky for the everyday person.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

billypritchard said:


> I'm fine with the trend towards a little less geekyness. It's still very geeky for the everyday person.


The problem is, there's _no _geekiness any more. It's just cool people's stereotypes of what geekiness is like.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> The problem is, there's _no _geekiness any more. It's just cool people's stereotypes of what geekiness is like.


I don't know, there is _some_ geekiness present. Naming your cats after Manhattan Project scientists counts I think. It's one of those things where the true geeks get to feel good about themselves because they knew all those names already, while 'normal joe' watchers just have to assume the show is getting the names right. Or just making up some jewish names, either way.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

billypritchard said:


> I don't know, there is _some_ geekiness present. Naming your cats after Manhattan Project scientists counts I think. It's one of those things where the true geeks get to feel good about themselves because they knew all those names already, while 'normal joe' watchers just have to assume the show is getting the names right. Or just making up some jewish names, either way.


This. I think the problem is not that there is less geekyness, but that we've gotten so used to the geekyness that it doesn't seem so new anymore...thus, the show feels like just another sitcom.

As for the cats, I would think that if Sheldon won't have sex with Amy because it's unsanitary, I would think he'd think cats (or any animals) would be filled with germs. That whole thing surprised me.

Still pretty funny, but as I said, I think the freshness of the show has worn off because I think we pretty much know how things will go with the characters in certain situations. I'm really not sure what else they can do with them.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Steveknj said:


> This. I think the problem is not that there is less geekyness, but that we've gotten so used to the geekyness that it doesn't seem so new anymore...thus, the show feels like just another sitcom.


Nah, I don't buy it. They used to act like geeky people I know (not ME, of course, just people I know ). Now, they act like sitcom characters.

In Season 2, Sheldon would NEVER have named the cats (which, as has been suggested, he never would have had in the first place) after Manhattan Project scientists, who to him would be mere engineers and barely worthy of more notice than Howard. They would have picked a naming scheme that was appropriate for Sheldon, not one that just struck them as being geeky.

Their behavior used to, at least occasionally, ring true to me. Now it rarely does. The show used to feel like it was written by people who grew up in comic book stores and chemistry labs. Now, it feels like it's written by people who watch Discovery Channel and news coverage of Comic-Con. Yes, Wikipedia is a powerful thing, but it doesn't impart geekiness.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Nah, I don't buy it. They used to act like geeky people I know (not ME, of course, just people I know ). Now, they act like sitcom characters.
> 
> In Season 2, Sheldon would NEVER have named the cats (which, as has been suggested, he never would have had in the first place) after Manhattan Project scientists, who to him would be mere engineers and barely worthy of more notice than Howard. They would have picked a naming scheme that was appropriate for Sheldon, not one that just struck them as being geeky.
> 
> Their behavior used to, at least occasionally, ring true to me. Now it rarely does. The show used to feel like it was written by people who grew up in comic book stores and chemistry labs. Now, it feels like it's written by people who watch Discovery Channel and news coverage of Comic-Con. Yes, Wikipedia is a powerful thing, but it doesn't impart geekiness.


Since looking at the writing credits for recent eps shows people who have been with the show quite a while, do you think the writing staff has thus made a conscious decision to research less and not work as hard on being geeky? It doesn't seem like there is a big influx of newbies bringing the show down, so I'm not sure how they have changed.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

billypritchard said:


> Since looking at the writing credits for recent eps shows people who have been with the show quite a while, do you think the writing staff has thus made a conscious decision to research less and not work as hard on being geeky? It doesn't seem like there is a big influx of newbies bringing the show down, so I'm not sure how they have changed.


All they'd need is one geeky writer to have left the show.

Sit-coms are generally written by committee, regardless of individual episode credits. Everybody pitches in, and there may have been one particular person who brought the geeky to the room.

SOMETHING has clearly changed, because in the first two seasons the show showed a much more than superficial knowledge of geek/science culture, and the last couple it's been extremely superficial. The change between the second and third seasons was, to me at least, stark. So either they've lost their geek knowledge, or somebody who had the knowledge has left.


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## ScubaCat (Jun 26, 2003)

I followed Bill Prady (BBT creator/producer/writer/director) for a while on Twitter. Around the time they started taping the new season he would often ask geek questions of his Twitter followers. I've recognized several subjects in the first few shows that he requested input for on Twitter. 

He recently posted a photo of Kaley (aka: Penny) stopping by a taping on crutches (with a pink cover over her cast). Apparently she only missed two episodes. It will be interesting to see how they write the injury into the show.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

I think this show needs a landlord who thinks Sheldon is gay and a Super with a porn star mustache to ramp up the shenanigans and hi-jinx.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

When was the last time they even went to the comic book store?


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

midas said:


> When was the last time they even went to the comic book store?


They went several times near the end of last season, right? There was the episode with Wil Wheaton and bowling competition, where Leonard said the premature I Love You.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

midas said:


> When was the last time they even went to the comic book store?


Wednesday.
Wednesday night is new comics day.


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## vman41 (Jun 18, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> In Season 2, Sheldon would NEVER have named the cats (which, as has been suggested, he never would have had in the first place) after Manhattan Project scientists, who to him would be mere engineers and barely worthy of more notice than Howard.


But they are just cats. after all.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

zordude said:


> No cat named Schrodinger?


The show has already done that joke. Would have been redundant.


Rob Helmerichs said:


> All they'd need is one geeky writer to have left the show.
> 
> Sit-coms are generally written by committee, regardless of individual episode credits. Everybody pitches in, and there may have been one particular person who brought the geeky to the room.
> 
> SOMETHING has clearly changed, because in the first two seasons the show showed a much more than superficial knowledge of geek/science culture, and the last couple it's been extremely superficial. The change between the second and third seasons was, to me at least, stark. So either they've lost their geek knowledge, or somebody who had the knowledge has left.


When the show first started, didn't they have a consultant that was a physicist and former UCLA professor? I wonder if the show felt like it got its bearings and got a handle on the characters well enough that the consultant is no longer employed on the show.


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## Mars Rocket (Mar 24, 2000)

DevdogAZ said:


> I wonder if the show felt like it got its bearings and got a handle on the characters well enough that the consultant is no longer employed on the show.


Quite possibly. The level of geekiness that is being complained about here is waaaay beyond the understanding of the main audience for BBT. Yes, geeks love the show, but so does mainstream America. So they could either continue to strive to make the top 10-20% of the audience happy or they could just aim for the other 80-90%. My guess is that it's easier and maybe cheaper to go for the 80%.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Mars Rocket said:


> Quite possibly. The level of geekiness that is being complained about here is waaaay beyond the understanding of the main audience for BBT. Yes, geeks love the show, but so does mainstream America. So they could either continue to strive to make the top 10-20% of the audience happy or they could just aim for the other 80-90%. *My guess is that it's easier and maybe cheaper to go for the 80%.*


Welcome to the reality of broadcast network TV.


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## Hunter Green (Feb 22, 2002)

DevdogAZ said:


> When the show first started, didn't they have a consultant that was a physicist and former UCLA professor? I wonder if the show felt like it got its bearings and got a handle on the characters well enough that the consultant is no longer employed on the show.


They still have him.


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

I think it's the feeling that in the first season we geeks were laughing with them because they had many traits that we do. Now it feels like they are being laughed at...which isn't as fun.


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## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

Bazinga t-shirt...you knew it was only a matter of time...










*T-shirt fashion show*
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111396472242186


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

DianaMo said:


> Bazinga t-shirt...you knew it was only a matter of time...


A lot less time than you think...ThinkGeek.com had Bazinga t-shirts about, oh, fifteen minutes after the first time he uttered the phrase. (They tend to jump on stuff like that pretty quick...sometimes too quick! They're infamous for their Penny knock knock shirt that got it backwards.)


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## Alfer (Aug 7, 2003)

I just a "Bazinga!" shirt (with no face) at one of those skater/goth clothing stores in the mall this weekend...


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

Kaley Cuoco almost had to have her leg amputated after breaking it in a horse riding fall.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

DianaMo said:


> Bazinga t-shirt...you knew it was only a matter of time...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

Bob_Newhart said:


>


:up: :up: :up:


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## IJustLikeTivo (Oct 3, 2001)

WhiskeyTango said:


> Kaley Cuoco almost had to have her leg amputated after breaking it in a horse riding fall.


Now Kaley and Loubob57 have something in common.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

scooterboy said:


> And I wish they had stayed broken up. Blossom's over-the-top monotone and wooden mannerisms are making the show a lot less enjoyable for me. I can't wait until she's gone.


Amen brother. I just watched this episode last night and her character is awful. Maybe after Blossom she lost her ability to act and they gave her this role that pretty much anyone could play as badly.

It's too bad because about the only other sorta new series I watch is 2 1/2 men and even that one I'm still catching up on last season's eps.

I did think the last 30 seconds of the show was the best when he was giving away cats for $20.


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