The Big Bang Theory – Episode 4-1 – Review

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Why did CBS have to move The Big Bang Theory to Thursday nights? Does a WIlliam Shatner series based on a few Twitter posts really justify ruining a solid Monday night line up? The Bang was the biggest network sitcom in ratings and prime demographics. Jim Parsons received the respect of his peers with the Emmy for Best Actor in a Comedy. The cast even had a quiet contract redo that will give Parsons and the gang a Ted Danson payday in a few seasons. Everything was going well for a dynasty run on the show. Why did network executives have to tinker with success? What happened to stay the course?

“The Robotic Manipulation” opens with Howard using a robotic arm to unpack the Chinese food from the bag. It only took 28 minutes. Sheldon fears that today the robot arm unpacks food, but tomorrow it attempts to kill Sarah Conner. Penny arrives and Howard wants her to ask for the soy sauce. She reluctantly agrees. After minutes of typing a new program, Howard gets it to move. Sheldon points out how some day robots will replace low level food service employees. Penny ponder, “They’re going to make a robot that spits on your hamburger?” Sheldon wants to know why she’s still here after breaking up Leonard. Howard has one last surprise when the robot hand gives Sheldon the peace sign. Turns out that wasn’t the intent of his program.

It’s always remarkable how everyone expects robots to take over our lives. Although my parents have a mechanical cat. It’s so much better than a real cat since it doesn’t shed, scratch or piss on my books. There’s no stink from a cat box or little food bowls to accidentally kick. The only downside is you have to buy batteries, but that’s cheaper than having them fixed. A robot spider monkey would still figure out a way to throw robo-feces at you.

Penny wants to know if NASA knows their arm is being used as a napkin holder. Howard just took it home. Sheldon’s girlfriend Amy (Mayim Bialik) sends him a text message joking about chemicals at the dry cleaners. Penny’s shocked to know Sheldon has had a girlfriend for nearly 4 months. Sheldon claims he doesn’t have a girlfriend although they’ve talked of having a baby. Everyone spits out their food. Amy thinks their baby could be the first of intellectual overlords. They have zero plans to have actual sex. They’re going to do it in a lab. He asks Penny if she’d consider renting out her womb. Penny asks if Sheldon will ever go on a real date with Amy. He realizes he’s been lied to by the phone company about the intimacy of texting.

Sheldon knocks on Penny’s door to announce he’s agreed to a date with Amy. Penny needs to drive him on the date since she’s the one to ask for the date. The date is now.

Back in Howard’s bedroom, he’s getting a neck massage from the robot arm. After a screaming match with his mom, he gets curious about what else he can do with this real hand.

It’s nice to see that the A & B story is about non-emotional intimacy. Although it seems right now that only one of them is going to get lucky.

Penny drives Sheldon to the date. He fears of being a flip flop fatality with Penny’s footwear choice. She wants to know if this is his first date ever. His only other date involves his sister and squaredancing. She offers her date advice, but Sheldon reminds her if she knows so much, why does he have a date and she doesn’t?

At the apartment Raj wonders about Aquaman’s bathroom and where does the waste go. The phone rings. It’s Howard. There’s an emergency involving the robot hand.

Lately with the release of the original Super Friends on DVD, questions about Aquaman often come up. The guy has been overhyped with his barely above Dr. Dolittle skills. He’s a mall cop with gills – at least on Super Friends.

In the car Penny and Sheldon sit in the front seat while Amy is in the back seat. Amy notices the check engine light is on. Sheldon lets her know they’ve had the talk about the light. It goes no where. Penny compliments her smell. It’s dandruff shampoo. She asks if Penny is a homosexual cause that would be a nicer compliment. The two are rather quite. Penny tries to inspire chitchat to kill the uncomfortable silence. Sheldon calls her a muggle.

Howard sits on his bed with the robot hand near his crotch. Raj ponders how he slipped and fell on the robot hand. They can’t restart the program since it’s for a screwdriver twist. There’s talk of saws and torches. Howard’s mom screams up how she’ll bring out cookies and Hawaiian punch.

The dinner is extremely quiet as Penny eats between the couple. Penny brings up the fact that this is Sheldon’s first official date. Amy dates once a year to keep her mother silent and use the George Foreman grill. Amy asks about Penny’s dating life. She admit to going on a few dates. Sheldon predicts she’s been with 171 different men from his observation. Amy’s curious to how many of those men have had intercourse with Penny. Sheldon formulates a prediction based on times he observed her walks of shame that she’s had 30.96 sexual partners. He rounds up to 31. Penny claims it’s wrong, but orders a drink. Amy wants to know if she considers herself a slut? Sheldon wants to know if his date has been sexually active in the past. Amy asks if being part of a scientific experiment involving electricity counts. He thinks so. The answer then is 128.

Raj, Leonard and Howard arrive in the emergency room with the robot still attached to him. “Quit tugging,” Howard says. Raj says if he stuck to that room, we wouldn’t be in this trouble. The nurse goes on the intercom and describes it. Howard wishes she wasn’t so obvious, but there’s no discrete code number for his accident. The nurse suggests turning off the computer controlling the arm. Howard tells her you can’t do that. She does it anyway. Howard’s free from the honey tree. Raj wants the Hawaiian Punch now.

Hawaiian Punch goes well with vodka. It’s like joy of childhood mixed with the pleasures of being over 21. And after the third drink, you feel Punchy pop. The joy of the George Foreman grill is true. There’s no better way to grill salmon than a Foreman. It does both sides at once so you get a nice moist middle instead of worrying about the time to flip it. This episode speaks of the finer things in life. On the flip side, you should never put your private parts in a machine without assistance from a medical professional. No matter what you see on the internet, it’s not good. Howard should be a warning to all.

Sheldon and Penny walk up the stairs. He’s happy and feels productive after a night with Amy. Penny’s fixated on the 31 guys theory. He’s more concerned about gifting humanity with their test tube baby. Penny promises to tell his Holy roller mother if he does the deed in a petri dish with Amy. He doesn’t see it as a threat since his mother wants him to have a baby. But mom’s not ready for a test tube baby born out of wedlock. He stands down. He reminds Penny the night is young, she can go look for Mr. 32. He heads into his apartment. Leonard is on the phone with Howard. It’s happened again.

My prediction is that Sheldon will have a physical moment with Amy after another encounter with Wil Wheaton. After Sheldon gets emotional in his continuing battle with Wil, she won’t be able to resist his super-genius pheromones. This isn’t a spoiler since this is not based on any inside information. Just the knowledge that this is what gets Spock to mate.

“The Robotic Manipulation” works well as an opener since we know this season will be about Sheldon in love or that emotion within him that closely resembles love. Him and Mayim make a cute couple on par with Latka and Simka on Taxi or Fraizer and Lilith on Cheers. Thankfully all the moving and off-season action hasn’t caused a speed bump in the show. The time slot change to 8 p.m. however makes Howard and the machine subplot almost extremely inappropriate for any kids watching. That’s 9:30 p.m. joke. Although pre-teens do need to learn the lesson of why it’s not good to let a robot handle your junk.

In case you’re wondering, I gave up on the Shatner series after the opening credits.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.