Electric Can Opener Fluctuation
| Electric Can Opener Fluctuation | |
| Writers | Steven Molaro |
|---|---|
| Director | Mark Cendrowski |
| Starring | Laurie Metcalf as Mary Cooper, John Ross Bowie as Barry Kripke |
| Air Date | 21 September 2009 |
| Vanity | Card #256 |
| Guide | Episode #301 |
| Quotes | Episode #301 |
| Forums | Discuss Episode |
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| Monopolar Expedition . . . << Electric Can Opener Fluctuation >> . . . Jiminy Conjecture |
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Contents |
Summary
Sheldon flees back to Texas in disgrace when he learns the guys tampered with his arctic expedition data, forcing the guys to follow him and threatening Leonard's hopes for a romantic encounter with Penny.
(Full summary:)
The guys return from a three-months-long expedition at the North Pole with a highly enthusiastic Sheldon who believes he has confirmed string theory by proving the existence of slow moving magnetic monopoles. He has already sent an e-mail to the entire university to announce his findings. However, Sheldon's hopes for the Nobel prize are shattered when Howard and Raj admit that they had faked the data he had been collecting to cope with his rather "dic-tatorial" behaviour. Meanwhile, Leonard went to greet Penny, who is overwhelmed by his return and kisses him. The two are interrupted, when a highly upset Sheldon confronts Leonard about his "grand deception". Penny's attempts to comfort Sheldon fail. The next morning, after being humiliated by Kripke, Sheldon resigns at the university and flees home to Texas. Although Leonard is rather eager to explore Penny's sudden attraction to him, Howard, Raj and he follow Sheldon to apologise and convince him to return. With a little help of Sheldon's mother, they succeed. In the end, Leonard and Penny have their first real romantic encounter.
Episode Outline
I. first floor of the building
- The guys return from the expedition to the North Pole.
II. hallway in front of apartments and Living room
III. hallway in front of apartments
- Leonard tells Penny that they are home. They start kissing and disappear into Penny's apartment, while surprised Raj and Howard look on.
Titles and opening theme
IV. Living room
- Raj and Howard confess to Sheldon that they tampered with his experiments at the North Pole. They admit it was Leonard's idea.
VII. Cafeteria
VIII. hallway in front of apartments
IX. living room of Sheldon's home in Galveston, Texas
X. car on a street in Galveston, Texas
XI. porch and living room of Sheldon's home
XII. bedroom in Penny's apartment
Resources
List of entries from this episode
David Saltzberg's science blog for this episode
The cover of the script, posted by Dave Goetsch just before the first table read of the new season
[Still to come: Wikipedia episode guide]
[Still to come: IMDb page for this episode]
Notes, Commentary, and Trivia
Tweets from cast and crew as work begins on the new season:
4 August 2009:
- @kunalnayyar: Just read first script of the new season... friggin awesome!!! Just more evidence that the writers on this show all deserve nobels
- @billprady: First table read of the season Wednesday morning at 10:00 am. Have to get my full dress producer's uniform out of mothballs.
5 August 2009:
- @kunalnayyar: First day on the set, it smells like heaven, and they updated my antenna to digital tv, things are looking up, maybe season 5 we get cable?
- @goetech: Here we go again. http://twitpic.com/csfu5
Timeline
This episode starts "Three months later", according to the introduction, which means September 2009. According to Sheldon, they guys were gone and missed the new Star Trek movie (which Penny apparently saw and remembered details of!) and Comic-Con. It's evening when the guys come home. The trip to Texas takes approximately one day, since they show up at lunch time and plan to fly back out that same afternoon.
Title
The title refers to the electric can opener being turned on and off to give Sheldon false readings and keep him from acting like a dic-tator during the three months in the Arctic.
