# Big Bang 10/28--"The Irish Pub Formulation" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656 "2010-10-28T13:51:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/1 "2010-10-28T13:51:17Z")
Raj’s sister visits. I wonder if he’ll be able to talk to her. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/2 "2010-10-28T13:59:01Z")
He can talk to his mother perfectly well, so I don’t doubt that he can speak to his own sister. [Wikipedia backs me up on this.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajesh_Koothrappali#Selective_mutism) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/3 "2010-10-28T14:01:24Z")
And just a couple of episodes ago he made the comment that he could say “No” to his siblings all day long. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/4 "2010-10-28T15:39:45Z")
Will Penny be in this ep? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/5 "2010-10-28T16:21:43Z")
I doubt it. She will probably skip two or three episodes, depending on the severity of her break and how they cast it. What will be interesting is how they deal with and explain her absence. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/6 "2010-10-28T16:31:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I doubt it. She will probably skip two or three episodes, depending on the severity of her break and how they cast it. What will be interesting is how they deal with and explain her absence. Last week’s ep did not suffer at all from her absence. Which may be a bit disconcerting during her contract negotiations. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/7 "2010-10-28T16:53:18Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I doubt it. She will probably skip two or three episodes, depending on the severity of her break and how they cast it. What will be interesting is how they deal with and explain her absence. I don’t think they have to do either. Any given episode could just not have someone in it as a consequence of their (TV) day-to-day lives. Granted, it would be quite a shock to see an episode with neither Leonard or Sheldon in it, but since Penny is not currently/no longer Leonard’s primary love interest she just might be at work every time we visit the rest of the characters. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/8 "2010-10-28T17:20:33Z")
Agreed, but the “#3 in the opening credits” is missing is something they will probably address within the show. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/9 "2010-10-28T17:23:11Z")
Sure, from the real life side. I’m just thinking that a character left out of an episode could so easily be explained away that the explanation wouldn’t need to be stated. Although I will admit that I like Penny and don’t want her gone too long. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/10 "2010-10-28T17:31:18Z")
A handful of episodes without Penny won’t need to be explained. It’s only if she’s out for most of the rest of the season that it’ll need explanation. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/11 "2010-10-28T17:36:51Z")
When Penny shows up in a cast, they’ve GOT to have Sheldon sing “Soft Kitty” to her. ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/12 "2010-10-28T19:41:02Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > When Penny shows up in a cast, they’ve GOT to have Sheldon sing “Soft Kitty” to her. Love this ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/13 "2010-10-29T07:31:03Z")
> [@](#): > > When Penny shows up in a cast, they’ve GOT to have Sheldon sing “Soft Kitty” to her. A funny story. I was watching BBT on the TV in the bathtub. It was a Soft Kitty ep. Suddenly, Scout came in all fuzzy and happy , so I had to sing along. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/14 "2010-10-29T11:41:10Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > When Penny shows up in a cast, they’ve GOT to have Sheldon sing “Soft Kitty” to her. I her interview on Ellen, she said that the producers decided to get around it by just showing her upper body only, the same as has been done to hide a star’s pregnancy in the past. And I can’t believe I know that. I blame my wife. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/15 "2010-10-29T12:00:06Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > When Penny shows up in a cast, they’ve GOT to have Sheldon sing “Soft Kitty” to her. Is that considered being sick? Sheldon is pretty adamant about only hearing that song when he’s sick. ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/16 "2010-10-29T12:11:35Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Is that considered being sick? Sheldon is pretty adamant about only hearing that song when he’s sick. Yes, but haven a broken leg is sort of like being sick 😉 so it,s probably best to sing in rounds. But helas, as said above, they aren’t going to write the broken leg in. Apparantly she gets a new job in a bar, so they don’t need to show her legs. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/17 "2010-10-29T12:44:37Z")
I liked that they didn’t waste a lot of exposition on Leonard and Priya’s prior relationship; it was all revealed fairly organically through their dialogue. Good, crisp writing there (which I’m afraid is not always the case). Also, not really any B-plot to speak of in the episode – pretty unusual for any sitcom. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/18 "2010-10-29T12:56:01Z")
So who else was in tears while Sheldon was playing the Infocom game? “I’ve got it! Turn the axe around and use the handle to reach the bucket!” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/19 "2010-10-29T13:07:30Z")
The scene at the table was _hilarious_. Raj: But I already have the presents bought and wrapped. Leonard: You put bugs into my food? Sheldon: Using my toothbrush is beyond the bounds of acceptability. Wouldn’t “Oddly Shaped Uvula” be a great user name? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656/20 "2010-10-29T13:07:50Z")
Was Sheldon playing _Zork_, or was it made up? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-10-28-the-irish-pub-formulation/558656.md?page=2)