# The Big Bang Theory 1/5/2017 - The Holiday Summation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450 "2017-01-06T14:18:34Z")\ **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:** [January 6, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/1 "2017-01-06T14:18:34Z")
I loved this episode, but I’m a sucker for Mary Cooper. The Penny & Leonard story was the best, and the truest to life. But come on, Stewart, grow a pair. You’re becoming the Alan Harper of Big Bang. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2017, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/2 "2017-01-06T15:01:59Z")
The tree bit was a little silly and unrealistic. Leonard should be capable of testing the tying of the tree on top of the car before moving. Plus in carrying a tree up stairs you want the fat end going up first so the branches bend upward if they encounter an obstruction. Sheldon and Amy in Texas was pretty decent. “Joe may be sloppy but I’m not” was a good line. Bernadette is getting pretty tiresome. She didn’t give two shits about being pregnant or being a mother, now she cries like Lucy if someone else gets her baby asleep. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/3 "2017-01-06T15:04:54Z")
Penny and Leonard brought the xmas tree up the stairs the wrong way. The Trunk should go up first. And the trunk was sawed off, not chopped off with an axe. How far is the nearest xmas tree farm from Pasadena? When I read the program description in the satellite guide, I thought it was going to be Rashomon episode with Amy and Sheldon each telling their version of events. ---
**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 6, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/4 "2017-01-06T15:59:36Z")
As usual, the writers take each story too far. Leonard & Penny would have ended better if they left it with the tree on the hood of the car. Howard & Bernie had a nice ending, but could have skipped the whole “Stuart saves the day” bit. Amy & Sheldon had the best bits. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/5 "2017-01-06T16:08:59Z")
Just as I had feared, I’m already sick of the baby storyline. They handled the pregnancy fairly well and I’ve certainly seen worse but I didn’t find Howard and Bernadette’s part in the least bit funny. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/6 "2017-01-06T16:24:04Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Bernadette is getting pretty tiresome. She didn’t give two shits about being pregnant or being a mother, now she cries like Lucy if someone else gets her baby asleep. Well, you know people **do** change. I’ve known many people who acted a certain way, but once they married and eventually started a family they changed. If there’s any common definition for this series, it’s change. Everyone one of the main characters have changed, some more dramatically, since we first met them. Sure, you may not like how they changed (or that they have at all) but, well, that’s how it is. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/7 "2017-01-06T16:37:59Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Well, you know people **do** change. I’ve known many people who acted a certain way, but once they married and eventually started a family they changed. > > If there’s any common definition for this series, it’s change. Everyone one of the main characters have changed, some more dramatically, since we first met them. Sure, you may not like how they changed (or that they have at all) but, well, that’s how it is. Perhaps. But the Lucy Cry is phony as shit. Watch an old Lucy rerun and see if you can stomach that cry. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/8 "2017-01-06T16:47:43Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Perhaps. But the Lucy Cry is phony as shit. Watch an old Lucy rerun and see if you can stomach that cry. Oh yeah, that joke worked for the punchline in the birth episode, but I don’t think they need to continue it. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/9 "2017-01-06T16:55:34Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Just as I had feared, I’m already sick of the baby storyline. They handled the pregnancy fairly well and I’ve certainly seen worse but I didn’t find Howard and Bernadette’s part in the least bit funny. “That’s like hating a frozen yogurt machine!” C’mon, that was a good line. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/10 "2017-01-06T17:14:40Z")
Count me as another Mary Cooper fan. She gets some of the best lines, and Sheldon’s exchanges with her are just as good: Mary: Are they going to raise it Jewish, or regular? Sheldon (to Amy): Welcome to Texas. And why is Sheldon worried about his mom going all Biblical about his relationship? Mary does the nasty with men outside of marriage. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/11 "2017-01-06T17:33:18Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Oh yeah, that joke worked for the punchline in the birth episode, but I don’t think they need to continue it. I was referring to Bernadette crying like Lucille Ball. That trope had its time. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/12 "2017-01-06T17:41:25Z")
I thought this was an episode about nothing, and not in a good way. Two or three good lines do not a comedy episode make. Strictly post-holiday filler. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/13 "2017-01-06T19:18:29Z")
Me and my husband laughed and laughed. And I liked how it showed the baby will be used in the future. Put in the bedroom and then forgotten. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2017, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/14 "2017-01-07T04:58:10Z")
Mayim Bialik continues to be the best actor on the show. ---
**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 8, 2017, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/15 "2017-01-08T07:30:30Z")
Nice to know that Bernadette’s so small that she can take a bath in the sink. Not that she _does_, but _can_. But I was a little surprised that Leonard couldn’t figure out how to secure a Christmas tree onto a car… or which way to drag it up the stairs (even if he never had one as a kid). ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/16 "2017-01-09T14:43:29Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Count me as another Mary Cooper fan. She gets some of the best lines, and Sheldon’s exchanges with her are just as good: > > Mary: Are they going to raise it Jewish, or regular? > > Sheldon (to Amy): Welcome to Texas. > > And why is Sheldon worried about his mom going all Biblical about his relationship? Mary does the nasty with men outside of marriage. Yeah, Sheldon’s mom is a great character! ---
**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:** [January 9, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/17 "2017-01-09T15:14:03Z")
A Christian hypocrite? Who would have thunk it? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/18 "2017-01-10T17:45:22Z")
The carrying of the Xmas tree really stuck out. Leonard previously had trees in the apartment so this wasn’t his first rodeo. And no animal big enough to cause that size of that shake would not have stayed in the tree wouldn’t have been there after the slide off the roof, at the latest. And throwing the tree down the elevator shaft? That’s a major fire hazard. In the building you live in. Good grief. That’s not Leonard either. The only part of this that could have been used for humor was the actual cutting down part … and they skipped that over. The crying of Halley was done wrong in this episode. Didn’t sound at all like the Howard’s Mom cry of the previous one. Shammy in Texas was mainly bolstered by Amy and Mary. A good comic pairing. But my favorite part was the “blah-blah-blah” bit. All too often writers have people relate events that didn’t happen in their presence. Nice subversion of that. While it was nice to see them trying with the story-telling framework, it didn’t really add much to the episode. Another subpar one, AFAIC. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/19 "2017-01-10T18:14:35Z")
Mary Cooper is a great recurring character. Sheldon and Amy relating their experience could have been the basis for an entire quality episode. Unfortunately the rest of it was weak. ---
**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 10, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450/20 "2017-01-10T18:34:41Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Shammy in Texas was mainly bolstered by Amy and Mary. A good comic pairing. Not just a great pairing of the two characters, but the two best actors in the cast. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-1-5-2017-the-holiday-summation/776450.md?page=2)