# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/21 "2012-09-28T12:45:32Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > 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. It looked to me like he was sitting on a wheeled stool and was just rolling around on the floor. ---
**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, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/22 "2012-09-28T13:03:03Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It looked to me like he was sitting on a wheeled stool and was just rolling around on the floor. That’s almost exactly what I said while watching the scenes. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/23 "2012-09-28T13:09:15Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > 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. If you really want it to look convincing, you suspend him horizontally and shoot _up_ from underneath. That way things “hang” toward the camera, and there isn’t a “downward” drift in any direction that gives the show away. I’m not saying they did it that way, although they might have. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/24 "2012-09-28T13:13:58Z")
I’m sure the real vomit comet would be outside the budget for the show. What they did was good enough. I was a little disappointed that Penny didn’t declare her love for Leonard. Raj is getting to be a throwaway character. They keep writing episodes where he plays a big role and I’m still having a hard time working up any sympathy for the character. They can do without Stuart, too. Not sure why they’re giving him a bigger role, no need to expand it. ---
**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 28, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/25 "2012-09-28T14:27:02Z")
I am 100% convinced that they filmed on the Vomit Comet. Here are my reasons: 1. _The Big Bang Theory_ is awesome. 2. The Vomit Comet is awesome. Birds of a feather, and all that. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/26 "2012-09-28T14:41:18Z")
Did anybody bother to check the credits? For the publicity, NASA might just waive some of the charges if they get a credit. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/27 "2012-09-28T14:46:00Z")
You can get on a zero-G flight for around $5,000 per person, so it’s definitely within the budget of a major sitcom like this, but I doubt that they were on a zero-G flight for most of the scenes. My guess is that a few of the scenes were done in zero-G and the rest were done with the plane on the ground and Helberg suspended by a crane. In one scene, I thought I could see the signs of a harness under his clothes. The main reason that I doubt that the majority of the scenes were in zero-G is that some of the scenes were pretty long. You only get 25-30 of weightlessness each time the plane makes a loop. It would be hard to get Helberg and the camera operator into position to shoot a lengthy scene in that amount of time. ---
**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, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/28 "2012-09-28T14:57:38Z")
And he wore a hat throughout the episode; his hair would have been a giveaway as to whether or not he was truly in zero-g. I always noticed the astronauts’ floating hair whenever I watched ISS footage on the NASA channel. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/29 "2012-09-28T15:01:09Z")
It doesn’t seem realistic enough to be the Vomit Comet, and it doesn’t seem practical to shoot that way. They also wouldn’t set up that stuff in the VC, too dangerous. The cargo bay in the VC is padded to prevent problems hitting the walls in 0G simulation, and when they switch the gravity back on. ---
**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, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/30 "2012-09-28T15:02:24Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Did anybody bother to check the credits? For the publicity, NASA might just waive some of the charges if they get a credit. ZERO-G is a private Vomit Comet so NASA doesn’t really have anything to do with it other then send their trainees for a ride in it. ETA, of course, you could still check the credits for ZERO-G. ---
**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, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/31 "2012-09-28T15:07:12Z")
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**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/32 "2012-09-28T15:21:57Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I am 100% convinced that they filmed on the Vomit Comet. Here are my reasons: > > 1. _The Big Bang Theory_ is awesome. > 2. The Vomit Comet is awesome. > > Birds of a feather, and all that. Have you ever seen footage of someone in the Vomit Comet? No one spends a second in one place because no pilot can maintain a descent exactly at the rate of gravity, there is no way they could film Howard having a conversation on a laptop. Green screen. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/33 "2012-09-28T15:29:13Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > They can do without Stuart, too. Not sure why they’re giving him a bigger role, no need to expand it. That’s just crazy talk. Stuart is great! ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/34 "2012-09-28T15:36:59Z")
Leonard: “I bet that’s the last thing you wanted to hear.” Stuart: “It beats ‘you know I’m a dude, right?’” I don’t think either are gay, just very lonely. They’re going to hang out in the next episode and it’ll be a bromance to expand the ‘single lonely guy’ quotient of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/35 "2012-09-28T15:43:40Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Raj needs to “come out” once and for all! If Raj was gay women wouldn’t intimidate him so much he couldn’t speak around them. ---
**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, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/36 "2012-09-28T15:45:08Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > If Raj was gay women wouldn’t intimidate him so much he couldn’t speak around them. Couldn’t it be argued that he’s intimidated by them _because_ he’s so attracted to them? Errr, nevermind. I totally read that wrong. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/37 "2012-09-28T16:48:43Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > That’s just crazy talk. Stuart is great! I think that it would be great to have more scenes with Stuart. I like him a lot – he’s very funny! ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/38 "2012-09-28T17:13:27Z")
I like Stuart too. He’s been one of my favorite occasional characters on the show. The show should either explain why Penny is so committment - phobic or just break up Leonard and Penny once and for all. I’m neither pro or con on the relationship, either way it falls is ok with me. but enough is enough on the back and forth. ---
**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, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/39 "2012-09-28T17:30:03Z")
Penny is a serial nonserious dater. Her serious though off-and-on relationship with Leonard is her fish-out-of-water experience. Leonard is the most normal of the guys so a closer to normal serious relationship is possible for him. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029/40 "2012-09-28T20:14:41Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Raj needs to “come out” once and for all! Raj figured out a while back that he was definitely not gay (I think it was when he was fantasizing about Bernadette all the time). > [@obfusciatrist](#): > > 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. I think it was just a harness and some CGI. I was watching for anything that couldn’t be explained by a harness, and I didn’t see anything. I’m willing to be proven wrong, though. 🙂 I like Amy Farrah Fowler quite well (except her over-the-top girl crush on Penny), but she’s moved quite a distance away from the character they introduced. She was supposed to be a female Sheldon; she isn’t really any longer, and hasn’t been for a while. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-9-27-12-the-date-night-variable/636029.md?page=3)