Before TBBT Jumped The Shark ...

Cafe Society
21

The Adhesive Duck Deficiency s3e08
Howard: I lost my virginity to my cousin, Jeanie. It was my Uncle Murray’s funeral, we were all back at my Aunt Barbara’s house. Our eyes locked over the pickled herring. We never meant for it to happen. To this day, I can’t look at pickled herring without being aroused and ashamed. Oh, cousin Jeanie.

The Zarnecki Incursion s4e19
Leonard: Something’s wrong, I’m not getting any gas. Anybody know anything about internal combustion engines?
Sheldon: Of course.
Raj: Very basic.
Howard: 19th-century technology.
Leonard: Does anybody know how to fix an internal combustion engine?
Sheldon: No.
Howard: No, not a clue.

The Robotic Manipulation s4e01
ER Nurse: Alright, alright, hang on, stay calm. (Over the intercom phone) I need an orderly with a wheelchair, I got a robot hand grasping a man’s penis out here.
(Everyone turns and stares at Howard, who is embarrassed and frustrated.)
Howard (To ER Nurse): You think you could be a little more discrete?!
ER Nurse (To Howard): I’m sorry, we don’t have a code for a robot hand grasping a man’s penis.

The Ornithophobia Diffusion s5e09
Howard: I’m pushing play. I mean it. If we don’t start soon, George Lucas is going to change it again.

The Proton Resurgence s6e22
Prof. Proton (Bob Newhart): Is the, is the blonde girl really your, your girlfriend?
Leonard: Yes.
Prof. Proton: You’re the genius.

22

Ah, Mary Cooper. Proof that racism isn’t always mean-spirited.

23

These aren’t lines, just looks. But they made me laugh hysterically.

Leonard to Sheldon: Sorry, your movements are so lifelike, I sometimes forget that you’re not a real boy.

Sheldon looks at him uncomprehendingly as Leonard walks away, and then does a perfectly-timed double-take to look again.

Amy to Sheldon (manipulating him): You’re too smart not to know that Leonard’s manipulating you.

Long, suspicious look before Sheldon agrees.

24

Amy is the champ at The Look.
Sheldon: Get me a beer! smacks Amy on the ass
Amy: Self-satisfied little grin

Sheldon: You don’t know what it’s like to feel completely frustrated. To have a desire build up within you and be denied any opportunity for release.
Amy:Knowing look Yeah, must be a drag.

Sheldon: Minutes? You must be better at it than I am. It takes me hours!
Amy:Self-satisfied little grin
All the above lines are paraphrased from memory.

25

The early episode about Sheldon and Penny exchanging Xmas gifts was hilarious - I won’t give away the ending, but Sheldon’s reaction to Penny’s gift is priceless.

I miss Raj’s sister. Totally hot, and quite funny. I loved her diving behind the couch to avoid being caught by Sheldon.

The first episode with Penny’s dad was great. “Please, PLEASE don’t give up on her!!!”

I miss Leslie Winkle too - she was a good at getting Sheldon’s goat.

26

Do you play a role in Monopoly?

27

Oppressive capitalist exploiter of the working masses? :confused:

Dunno, I’ve never played Monopoly. :frowning:

28

A race car? :smiley:

29

And then I was attacked by a Gorn.

30

Sheldon: I possess the DNA of Leonard Nimoy?!
Penny: Well… yeah, yeah, I guess. But look, he signed it!
Sheldon: Do you realize what this means? All I need is a healthy ovum and I can grow my own Leonard Nimoy!
Penny: Okay, all I’m giving you is the napkin, Sheldon.

and from later in the same episode:

Penny: Leonard, look! Sheldon’s hugging me!
Leonard: It’s a Saturnalia miracle!

31

Better than the usual Monopoly end-game scenario.

32

Sorry, wrong side of the jump.

From The Hofstadter Isotope S02E20:
Sheldon: More wrong? Wrong is an absolute state and not subject to gradation.

Stuart: Of course it is. It’s a little wrong to say a tomato is a vegetable. It’s very wrong to say it’s a suspension bridge.

I’ve started to wonder if the switch from this good Stuart to the hopeless loser Stuart marks a shark-jumping era. (And now we’ve lately gotten another version of Stuart: voyeur and capable caretaker.) I.e., when the writers went from the original characterizations to trite stereotypes.

33

As I recall, the negative comments from fans began after the post-hiatus (mid-season) episode where Sheldon spoils Leonard’s enjoyment of Harry Potter. What season was that; 2012–13?

34

I forget which episode it’s in (or whether it would be considered pre-shark-jump by this thread), but the scene where Sheldon has Amy over his knee and is spanking her cracks me up every time - her faces and the little noises she makes with each spank are epic.
Amy (laying on Sheldon’s lap): “I’m just saying, second base is right there.”

35

I loved it when she put on the porn music prior to the spanking. :cool:

AMY: Maybe you should spank me harder.

SHELDON: Maybe I will!

36

They started to lose me around the middle of season two, Stephanie I haven’t heard a thing about you. Leonard? Why haven’t I heard a thing about this woman who lives across the hall and comes into your apartment in the morning in her underwear?
She was my favorite character, and they just dumped her. Thereafter, the show devolved into sporadic moments of humor embedded in an endless taffy of trying.

37

One early episode widely accepted as bad is S05E11 The Speckerman Recurrence. Another early “worst episode ever” candidate is S04E19 The Zarnecki Incursion.

The show is generally seen as starting to go downhill sometime during season 4. That season was when AFF and Bernadette started to appear in most episodes. The addition of these two is generally seen as a key transformation in the nature of the show.

So, season 4-5 is the time frame for a noticeable decline in quality. By season 6 the number of bad vs. good episodes went way up.

Regarding my theory on the changes in the portrayal of Stuart reflects the quality of the show overall. It looks like the first episode that dwells on Stuart being a lonely loser is S04E17 The Toast Derivation. So that fits.