# The Big Bang Theory 9-27-12: The Date Night Variable **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029 "2012-09-27T15:26:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/1 "2012-09-27T15:26:42Z")
Season 6 blasts off with Wolowitz in space, and despite that, he still has to intervene in an earthbound argument between his mother and Bernadette. Meanwhile, all Raj’s friends are on dates, leaving him to ponder a solution to his loneliness. The teasers on CBS make it look like there’s going to be a breakup between Amy and Sheldon. Of course, it can’t last. You don’t write an Emmy-nominated actress out of your script unless there are _serious_ contract problems (which, as far as I’ve heard, there don’t seem to be). ---
**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:** [September 27, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/2 "2012-09-27T16:47:18Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > The teasers on CBS make it look like there’s going to be a breakup between Amy and Sheldon. Didn’t they already do this? Do the producers have a box of cats they need to do something with again? ---
**Author:** ![getitrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@getitrite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/getitrite)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/3 "2012-09-27T17:41:00Z")
Someone better call his mother, fast… Yes this is one of my favorites, will be there with an adult beverage and maybe even a little sommn sommn so I can really laugh. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/4 "2012-09-27T18:06:04Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Season 6 blasts off with Wolowitz in space, and despite that, he still has to intervene in an earthbound argument between his mother and Bernadette. Meanwhile, all Raj’s friends are on dates, leaving him to ponder a solution to his loneliness. > > The teasers on CBS make it look like there’s going to be a breakup between Amy and Sheldon. Of course, it can’t last. You don’t write an Emmy-nominated actress out of your script unless there are _serious_ contract problems (which, as far as I’ve heard, there don’t seem to be). Oh man, I saw this subject and thought I missed the season premier. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/5 "2012-09-27T20:10:24Z")
Bialik’s hand was injured pretty badly in an accident a little while back-maybe they needed to write in some down time for her. So looking forward to this episode! ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/6 "2012-09-27T22:01:40Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Bialik’s hand was injured pretty badly in an accident a little while back-maybe they needed to write in some down time for her. > > So looking forward to this episode! Mayim was on… _some_ talk show, and the subject of her injury came up. She said that they were basically just going to hide it through clever editing, much like they did with Kaley’s broken leg a few seasons back. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/7 "2012-09-28T00:38:40Z")
it just ended, no breakup ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/8 "2012-09-28T01:18:37Z")
and she used both hands, unless there was a double. will Raj get some now that Howard went straight? ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/9 "2012-09-28T02:02:27Z")
This episode was rife with inaccuracies. There’s no way Raj didn’t know it was Amy and Sheldon’s anniversary; he’s the one who set them up. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/10 "2012-09-28T02:15:54Z")
Raj needs to “come out” once and for all! ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/11 "2012-09-28T02:23:31Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > This episode was rife with inaccuracies. There’s no way Raj didn’t know it was Amy and Sheldon’s anniversary; he’s the one who set them up. I was going to say that if I set two people up, I wouldn’t know the date…but Raj, yeah, he probably would. He’d probably know enough to leave them alone too. BTW, I loved Howard on the Vomit Comet. I wonder how much it cost to rent and decorate that thing. OTOH, they do rent it out for parties and science classes IIRC, so it’s probably not to expensive. He looked about 15 times more ‘normal’ then usual also. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/12 "2012-09-28T02:53:43Z")
Were Howard’s scenes shot on the Vomit Comet? I wondered if it was that or CGI. In some of the close-up shots, he could have simply been swaying gently; that’s how Ron Howard shot some scenes of _Apollo 13._ ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/13 "2012-09-28T03:26:17Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Were Howard’s scenes shot on the Vomit Comet? I wondered if it was that or CGI. In some of the close-up shots, he could have simply been swaying gently; that’s how Ron Howard shot some scenes of _Apollo 13._ I just assumed. It sure looked like it. What about the pen spinning and moving around. I’d think the CGI would be to expensive for this show and I’d think a rig would be tough for an object like a pen, with no momentum, to make spin like that. Could be wrong though. I hadn’t really given it much though. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/14 "2012-09-28T05:00:57Z")
Hubby said the zero gravity scenes looked horribly fake. I said “Wouldn’t it be funny if you learned they filmed this on the Vomit Comet?” He still thinks it’s fake, but did find the spinning pen convincing. A quick Googling revealed essentially nothing, but I wonder. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/15 "2012-09-28T05:15:43Z")
> [@Ruffian](#): > > Hubby said the zero gravity scenes looked horribly fake. I said “Wouldn’t it be funny if you learned they filmed this on the Vomit Comet?” He still thinks it’s fake, but did find the spinning pen convincing. > > A quick Googling revealed essentially nothing, but I wonder. I googled as well. I thought it looked reasonably good but I think that if they took the trouble to rent the VC that they would have had some more practical effects than just a spinning pen. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/16 "2012-09-28T05:16:27Z")
That was my reaction—I was completely convinced it was CGI until I saw the spinning pen. I did a complete double take and said to myself “woah—that looks _real_.” I’m sure we’ll find out within a few days at the most how it was done. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/17 "2012-09-28T05:21:36Z")
It didn’t look wobbly enough to have been on the vomit comet. I was wondering if they might have done it building the set vertically; the camera pointing upwards and actors and suspended above it. In the final shot, the wires that were holding things in place would be hidden behind the suspended objects. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/18 "2012-09-28T05:31:50Z")
I was suspicious of it being the plane since pretty much every shot of Howard had him in the roughly the same position with just swaying of the appendages. Seemed like if they were really on there they would have done some acrobatic maneuvers. But I wouldn’t be surprised either way. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/19 "2012-09-28T06:00:11Z")
I heard that the cast of _Apollo 13_ spent more time in the VC than any real astronaut. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/20 "2012-09-28T12:20:59Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’d think the CGI would be to expensive for this show I could do a convincing CGI pen easy-peasy, in a matter of hours or days, and I’m just an amateur. CGI for one of the most successful sitcoms on TV today would be well within their budget. I think if it wasn’t the real Vomit Comet, then he was suspended on a crane, which when carefully balanced can float someone quite convincingly. And for the wide shots it would just need to be rotoscoped out, another “CGI” effect that is relatively straightforward and seamless these days. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029.md?page=2)