Bat Jar Conjecture
| Bat Jar Conjecture | |
 Bat Jar Conjecture | |
| Writers | Stephen Engel (Story), Jennifer Glickman (Story), Bill Prady (Teleplay), Robert Cohen (Teleplay) |
|---|---|
| Director | Mark Cendrowski |
| Starring | Sara Gilbert as Leslie Winkle, Mark Harelik as Dr. Eric Gablehauser, Adam Gregor as Dimitri, Sandra Marquez as the Lunch Lady, Enrique Sergio as the Lunch Lady's son |
| Air Date | 21 April 2008 |
| Vanity | Card #204 |
| Guide | Episode #113 |
| Quotes | Episode #113 |
| Forums | Discuss Episode |
| Season 1, Episode 13 (0113) |
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| Jerusalem Duality . . . << Bat Jar Conjecture >> . . . Nerdvana Annihilation |
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Contents |
Summary
(Edited from Wikipedia:)
The guys decide to compete in a physics bowl after finding out that their previous competitors have dropped out to form a barbershop quartet and got a gig playing Knott's Berry Farm. They find Sheldon's showboating too much and kick him off the team, telling him "You're annoying and no one wants to play with you". They even buy him a Batman cookie jar to soften the blow of being cut from the team. Upset, Sheldon vows to form his own team and compete against them. The guys, in need of a fourth member, ask Leslie Winkle to join them. After being told it is to defeat Sheldon, she joins, as Sheldon had once told her that she should give up her research to bear children and do laundry.
At the contest, the guys' team is called PMS, for Perpetual Motion Squad ("We can go all night!"). Sheldon assembles the 3rd floor janitor, the lunch lady, and her son (or butcher), as he could not compete alone. Sheldon's team is named AA for Army Ants. PMS wins by one question, when Sheldon (unable to answer the question) won't let Dr. Gablehauser accept the janitor's answer, -8πα, even though it turns out to be correct. The janitor proceeds to explain that in America, he is a janitor, but in the former Soviet Union, he was a physicist. In the end, Penny declares she will tell who is officially the smartest by asking a bunch of pop culture questions. Despite having a "combined IQ of 360", neither of the boys is able to answer any of the questions.
Episode Outline
I. Living room, Thursday evening
- The guys discuss the upcoming Star Trek movie and find out that are eligible to enter a team in the department's Physics Bowl.
Theme song and titles
II. Cafeteria
- The guys discuss a name for their team.
III. Living room, Saturday afternoon
IV. Living room, Saturday evening
- Leonard gives Sheldon a Batman cookie jar and tells him that he's off the team.
- Sheldon decides to form his own team.
V. Cafeteria
VI. A large room in the Physics department of CalTech
- The fierce competition of the 29th Annual Physics Bowl takes its course.
- The janitor from Sheldon's team answers the last question but Sheldon refuses to accept it. His team loses.
- Howard performs a tribute to Brandi Chastain, as Queen's "We Are The Champions" plays over the scene.
VII. Living room
- Leonard teases Sheldon with his Physics Bowl trophy.
- Penny enters and tries to settle the dispute between the guys.
Resources
List of entries from this episode
Timeline
This episode starts on a Thursday evening since we see the guys having pizza (see Schedule). The discussion about the name of the team probably takes place on Friday, and on Saturday afternoon they all have practice run with Penny. Leslie joins the team on one of the following days and the episode ends with the Physics Bowl on another day and the following morning.
Title
(Edited from Wikipedia:) The title refers to the Batman cookie jar that Leonard gave to Sheldon to soften the blow of being cut from the team.
The term conjecture coined by Karl Popper[1]is a proposition that is unproven but believed to be true. In this episode, the guys believe that Sheldon is fallible despite his proclivity for proving them wrong. That comes to fruition as they beat him in the tournament.
Notes and Trivia
Co-creator and executive producer of the show, Bill Prady, said in an interview that they were surprised when they found out that the Batman cookie jar existed for real. They had written "something like" into the script for the episode and were happy when they could use the real collectible as prop for the show [2].
