# The Big Bang Theory 1/26--The Beta Test Initiation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772 "2012-01-26T20:40:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/41 "2012-01-29T22:10:58Z")
There’s no pleasing some people. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/42 "2012-01-29T22:17:34Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > well my particular nit to pick about raj’s condition is that the joke as it is has been stagnant for too long. little bumps in the road like it interfering with his work and the deaf girl make it interesting. having burnadette/penny repeatedly pat him on the head and tell him he’s sweet/broken/sad is not amusing anymore. > > personally i would like it if the rules of his selective mutism had rules. he can talk to his mom. his sister. and? how about women he doesn’t find attractive? could he talk to AFF if he wanted to? could he talk to howard’s mom? can he talk to a husky-voiced woman sight-unseen like a drive through? transgender? there are so many wrinkles to explore instead of just him clamming up whenever penny walks into the room. This is an interesting thought. I haven’t the faintest as to why he can’t talk in front of AFF since no body but Sheldon (and hell even Sheldon) has even the slightest interest in her. I would like to see an instance where he has to talk to a girl who’s just all kinds of ugly and have Howard say something to the effect of “oh lord…her too? _her_?!?!” or something. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/43 "2012-01-29T22:19:34Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > I expected Sheldon to reply to Amy’s comment by pointing out that most of the modern-day stuff in Doctor Who is done in Cardiff, not London. Hah. Me, too. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/44 "2012-01-30T01:12:45Z")
They had the perfect opportunity to cure Raj at least as far as Penny goes and they muffed it, going instead for the joke (which was excellently delivered by Cuoco). Time for some blunt-force trauma to the nads as an alternative cure. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/45 "2012-01-30T01:48:35Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Not being able to talk to women really painted them into a corner because there’s no believable way to permanently cure it. It’s the kind of problem that can usually be cured with classic desensitization therapy. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/46 "2012-01-30T01:58:44Z")
Since he can talk to women when he just thinks he’s been drinking, there are plenty of SITCOM-plausible ways to cure his. Just take him to Placebos-R-Us. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/47 "2012-01-30T02:40:42Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Sometimes you guys take sitcoms way too seriously. Logic and continuity have never been important to them. > > d. Really? Few weeks back they were concerned about and or debating whether or not Penny has a drinking problem. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/48 "2012-01-30T04:44:58Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Since he can talk to women when he just thinks he’s been drinking, there are plenty of SITCOM-plausible ways to cure his. Just take him to Placebos-R-Us. They did it on the train episode with non-alcoholic beer. As far as being just a sit com not to be “taken seriously” … many, maybe most (maybe the vast majority, I would not know, I only have watched a few enough to know) sit coms _are_ just sit coms. Actual characters that are internally consistent, with growth that makes sense, is the mark of an exceptional sit com, or more to the point, of an exceptional writing team. Those exceptional sit coms are much more enjoyable to some of us as they hook us in to actually give a fuck about the characters and what happens to them next, sit-comic as they may be. This sit com is clearly not to be one of those exceptional sit coms. And some of us had hopes that it would be. It can still have good moments and evoke a smile here and there. Enough of them to get me to keep watching it by themselves? I dunno … for another episode or so maybe. Maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/49 "2012-01-30T15:40:35Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Since he can talk to women when he just thinks he’s been drinking, there are plenty of SITCOM-plausible ways to cure his. Just take him to Placebos-R-Us. I can’t remember, have they established whether or not Raj’s ‘utter douche’ drunk personality is also a placebo effect? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/50 "2012-01-30T16:56:27Z")
Re: Curing Raj’s Selective Mutism. Cross between Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer talk show with Trannies! ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/51 "2012-01-30T17:39:15Z")
> [@Roland\_Orzabal](#): > > [Nerd Rant] > > Specifically, there is absolutely no way Sheldon would have let Amy slide on the line “Doctor Who sure does have a thing for modern-day London”. Hell, I caught it, and I’ve seen maybe two episodes in my life…but I’m a geek, and as such I’ve encountered other geeks who watch Doctor Who, and as anyone in my demographic could tell you, the title character’s name is “The Doctor”. You do NOT want to call him “Doctor Who” in front of a true fan unless you’re in the mood for a ten-minute lecture. They are very persnickety about this. And these are real people, not a live-action cartoon character who draws up fifty-page legal agreements to go on dates. > > I’m happy to let nitpicks slide when they’re in the name of humor — that ridiculous excuse for a CCG they play, for example, is hilarious, whereas a real game of Magic would put viewers to sleep — but given that Sheldon’s next line was to rebuff Amy for her statement anyway, it could easily have been for her actual error (a far more egregious offense in his eyes) instead of her sarcastic tone. It’s just laziness; any actual on-set geek who was paying attention would easily have caught this. > > [/NR] Nitpick fail. As well as talking to Sheldon, the character of AFF is also talking to us - the audience. If she had just said: “For someone who has a machine that can travel anywhere in time and space, the Doctor sure does have a thing for modern-day London” then we wouldn’t know which doctor she was talking about. Doctor Who fans might know but they have to aim at the general audience to at least some extent. The joke may have failed because a sizeable chunk of the audience wouldn’t have got it. Telling a joke on TV is always a balance between making it funny but also maximising the number of people who will understand it. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit of the humour to make it more accessible. If you were telling that joke to me then you could have just said “the Doctor” and I’d have got it but telling it on TV means you have to take into account all the people who aren’t that familiar with Doctor Who. Another nitpick fail is the Cardiff thing - it may be filmed in Cardiff but it’s often set in London ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/52 "2012-01-31T00:52:11Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > Nitpick fail. > > As well as talking to Sheldon, the character of AFF is also talking to us - the audience. If she had just said: > > “For someone who has a machine that can travel anywhere in time and space, the Doctor sure does have a thing for modern-day London” > > then we wouldn’t know which doctor she was talking about. Doctor Who fans might know but they have to aim at the general audience to at least some extent. The joke may have failed because a sizeable chunk of the audience wouldn’t have got it. Yeah, but it’s very easy to make the line work for everybody - for example “I like ‘Doctor Who’ but, for someone who has a machine that can travel anywhere in time and space, the Doctor sure does have a thing for modern-day London” ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/53 "2012-01-31T01:35:06Z")
Nah. That just makes it even clunkier. These are some reasons why from off the top of my head: 1. Jokes are a work of art. They need to be as economical as possible in terms of number of words while still getting the essential humorous part across. They already had to make it clunky by having Amy say “Doctor Who” instead of just “the doctor”. Your version just makes it even clunkier. 2. You introduce the subject of the joke at the beginning thus ruining the surprise aspect. Jokes work best by having a set up line and then having a surprise punchline. The subject of the joke has to come at the end - after the set up. 3. Your version would mean she has to say the word “doctor” twice which is bad from a poetic point of view. Just doesn’t scan well. Would make it clumsy. 4. The joke is a one liner. One liners need to be short, pithy and to the point. They divided it into two sections which is about as long as you can have a one liner. Your amendment would involve three sections - too long for a one liner. They managed to keep it as a one liner while having to make one small concession to the viewing audience - calling him Doctor Who. I think they considered all this. That’s why I don’t think it is a genuine nitpick - it wasn’t a mistake. They thought about it and considered all the options. They realised they were going to have to make it clear they were talking about Doctor Who so they had to do this in the least obtrusive way possible. They have to consider things like the flow of the dialogue, the economy of the joke, the accessibility to the general audience etc. Ideally you wouldn’t make any concessions but in reality you have to with TV jokes. The only way they could have got round it would have been if they’d shown us what they were watching on the TV so we knew it was Dr Who but they don’t tend to do that on BBT ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/54 "2012-01-31T02:37:59Z")
They could have had Sheldon do the nitpicking about it. I think the writers cared more in the earlier seasons, only to have people complain and nitpick about ever more obscure and trivial things. I can understand why the decided to screw appeasing the Comic Book Guys of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/55 "2012-01-31T03:00:50Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > I think they considered all this. That’s why I don’t think it is a genuine nitpick - it wasn’t a mistake. They thought about it and considered all the options. You could be right. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/56 "2012-01-31T03:52:17Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > I can’t remember, have they established whether or not Raj’s ‘utter douche’ drunk personality is also a placebo effect? 😉 No—all Indian men are like that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/57 "2012-01-31T05:37:24Z")
One further point to the Doctor nitpick: Not _every_ Whovian is an ass about that particular point. I know I’m not. I’ll cheerfully say “Doctor Who” when I mean “The Doctor”. Even more so when I know it pisses someone off 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/58 "2012-01-31T06:39:20Z")
My point wasn’t that Amy should’ve said “the Doctor”. It was that if Sheldon was going to spend his next line docking her Doctor Who fan points anyway, it should be for her actual Doctor Who-related error, which there’s no way in hell his character would’ve let pass uncommented. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/59 "2012-01-31T06:49:49Z")
…although, now that I think about it from the other perspective: really? In a line immediately following a reference to a show called “Doctor Who”, even if the viewer thinks that’s the character’s name, you think referring to somebody called “the doctor” would be confusing? Which doctor would she be talking about, Doogie Howser? Do you envision millions of befuddled people sitting on their couches, asking “Doctor? Wassat now? Who’s this ‘doctor’?” (To which someone would ideally be on hand to answer: “Exactly.”) ---
**Author:** ![Hallucinex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba9def/32.png) [@Hallucinex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallucinex)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772/60 "2012-01-31T11:27:07Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > Telling a joke on TV is always a balance between making it funny but also maximising the number of people who will understand it. I think this is something that BBT often doesn’t handle too well. They keep trying to give some explanation as to what a joke is referencing, but do it in a way that’s annoying for anyone that did get the joke, and doesn’t suddenly make the joke funny for anyone that didn’t. One character will make a mildly amusing reference to theory x, and the other character will basically just tell the audience “Look! They just made a reference to theory x”, which doesn’t help anyone that got the joke, and doesn’t usually make the joke suddenly become funny to someone that hadn’t. (Not that this was the formula for this particular joke, but I just tend to find in general that they don’t always seem to handle the accessibility vs. humour of jokes very well) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-26-the-beta-test-initiation/610772.md?page=4)