# The Big Bang Theory, January 30, 2014 -- "The Convention Conundrum" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158 "2014-01-30T19:50:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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 31, 2014, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/21 "2014-01-31T10:58:34Z")
Weak episode. Aside from James Earl Jones (and Carrie Fisher), I pretty much snoozed through the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/22 "2014-01-31T13:53:30Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I didn’t get the girls thinking that acting like grownups meant going to a tea room. The writers were stretching to give them something to do, I guess. James Earl Jones was great. I don’t understand why the tea room was full of little girls, though. Tea rooms I’ve been to have had adults, including people working on their laptops. I think the move to drinking at the bar was a regression to teenager-hood. Penny is permanently stuck in the 16-year mode. Leonard has probably been paying a lot of her bills, and she gets her food and coffee from the guys. Ridiculous that Bernadette talked about increasing Howard’s allowance, since I’m sure he makes a good enough salary. But these are petty quibbles. It is a sit-com. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/23 "2014-01-31T14:21:24Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I know, it just bothers me that they haven’t addressed it in the show. At some point they need to explain how she’s paying her rent, bills, gas, food etc. with no job. > After making a big deal about quitting her job to focus on her acting, all we’ve seen her do is basically sit around, do nothing, and let Amy and Bernadette pay her bar tab. Oh, and somehow spend hundreds of dollars on a dress. This used to bother me on Seinfeld. How the hell did Costanza afford his life style when he was unemployed? Same goes for Kramer. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/24 "2014-01-31T14:34:46Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > This used to bother me on Seinfeld. How the hell did Costanza afford his life style when he was unemployed? Same goes for Kramer. Well, with Kramer that was part of the joke. George, who knows? A combination of unemployment, his parents, and whatever he managed to save from his jobs I would guess. His job with the Yankees probably came with a decent salary. ---
**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 31, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/25 "2014-01-31T14:37:09Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > Ridiculous that Bernadette talked about increasing Howard’s allowance, since I’m sure he makes a good enough salary. Not ridiculous. Bernadette controls all of their finances after Howard blew a bundle on an action figure of himself and a 3D printer. She laid down the law and put him on an allowance or he gets no nookie. (_The Cooper/Kripke Inversion_, I believe.) ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/26 "2014-01-31T14:41:42Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > James Earl Jones was great. I don’t understand why the tea room was full of little girls, though. Tea rooms I’ve been to have had adults, including people working on their laptops. I think the move to drinking at the bar was a regression to teenager-hood. > > Penny is permanently stuck in the 16-year mode. Leonard has probably been paying a lot of her bills, and she gets her food and coffee from the guys. Ridiculous that Bernadette talked about increasing Howard’s allowance, since I’m sure he makes a good enough salary. > > But these are petty quibbles. It is a sit-com. For some reason, they have Bernadette making much more than Howard even though, I think, in reality Howard would be the highest earner of them all. The allowance came from Howard an Raj blowing a wad on the 3-D printer. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/27 "2014-01-31T14:50:29Z")
Bernie probably has all of Howard’s pay direct deposited into their joint account, which she obviously controls. (Would **you** trust Howard to spend money wisely?) :dubious: Howard would likely be making a lot more than he does if he worked in the private sector, rather than in academia. Bernie made the right move when she went to work for a big pharmaceuticals company. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/28 "2014-01-31T15:00:05Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > Ridiculous that Bernadette talked about increasing Howard’s allowance, since I’m sure he makes a good enough salary. But he [spends](http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120419114307/bigbangtheory/images/6/66/The_Launch_Acceleration_Howard_and_Bernadette_3.jpg) it on [toys](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mSPfLREt5K0/TzxDhy137AI/AAAAAAAAAqc/WoEB64VNZ6k/s800/Wolowitz.jpg) and Comic Con tickets. ---
**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 31, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/29 "2014-01-31T15:10:10Z")
He lived at home, drove a scooter and didn’t do drugs. All of the toys in his room could be had for 3 months salary, max. Where did all the rest of his money go? Even supporting his mother wouldn’t have made that big a dent in his bankroll. Forget it, Joey. It’s Sit-Comtown. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/30 "2014-01-31T15:30:46Z")
Carrie Fisher scene was funny. i think JEJ was over done and would have been much funnier in a different direction. at first JEJ took offense (seemed to) at only being liked for one role. he should have stuck with that doing quotes from roles in character going back to Zogg. he could have easily dragged Sheldon into a goofs/trivia discussion on movies with Vice Admiral Jim Greer character and the game Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. then later he could have splat Sheldon. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/31 "2014-01-31T15:33:36Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > He lived at home, drove a scooter and didn’t do drugs. All of the toys in his room could be had for 3 months salary, max. Where did all the rest of his money go? Even supporting his mother wouldn’t have made that big a dent in his bankroll. > > Forget it, Joey. It’s Sit-Comtown. 😕 Who said anything about him not having any money? Maybe Bernie is handling the money in the family. She might just want to make sure he only spends some of [del]his[/del] their money on toys and not all of it. Maybe the Comic Con tickets, the costume, traveling, lodging etc would have meant a blown paycheck. This way it was just a few weeks worth of his ‘allowance’ that he would have just spent on the same type of stuff anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/32 "2014-01-31T15:51:59Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > This used to bother me on Seinfeld. How the hell did Costanza afford his life style when he was unemployed? He had nice parents who loved him very much. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/33 "2014-01-31T15:57:39Z")
JEJ has always had a great attitude toward his own fame. There was a Will & Grace episode where he appeared as himself appearing as a guest speaker at one of Jack’s acting classes that was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/34 "2014-01-31T15:59:55Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > JEJ has always had a great attitude toward his own fame. There was a Will & Grace episode where he appeared as himself appearing as a guest speaker at one of Jack’s acting classes that was hilarious. He also did the eulogy for Charlie Sheen in a 2.5 Men episode where Charlie imagined his funeral. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/35 "2014-01-31T16:09:45Z")
I really enjoyed seeing James Earl Jones in “fanboy” mode. Hilarious! Carrie Fisher was great, as well. I thought it would have been funny if the guy coming to the apartment with the scalped tickets turned out to be Stuart… ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/36 "2014-01-31T16:22:07Z")
For the first time since I started watching the show, I sat thru an entire episode without laughing. I guess it had to happen eventually, but I hope very much it is not a harbinger of the arc of the series. Regards, Shodan ---
**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:** [January 31, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/37 "2014-01-31T16:26:26Z")
Loved the JEJ twist- if he hadn’t offered to take the gang to the convention as his guests, it would probably have ended with Sheldon getting a restraining order against him. Re Howard & Bernadette’s income- B has a doctorate & works in pharmacuetical research; H has a master’s & is an academic in engineering. I have no problem B’s income is much higher that H’s. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/38 "2014-01-31T16:47:22Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > Ridiculous that Bernadette talked about increasing Howard’s allowance, since I’m sure he makes a good enough salary. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > But he [spends](http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120419114307/bigbangtheory/images/6/66/The_Launch_Acceleration_Howard_and_Bernadette_3.jpg) it on [toys](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mSPfLREt5K0/TzxDhy137AI/AAAAAAAAAqc/WoEB64VNZ6k/s800/Wolowitz.jpg) and Comic Con tickets. Well, Howard probably never had to worry about paying for rent, utilities (except for internet access), groceries, and those mundane necessities like toilet paper, etc. when he was living in his mother’s home. So it’s quite understandable that he doesn’t know squat about budgeting finances. Leonard, Sheldon, Amy, and Bernadette seem to be the only financially responsible regulars. I’m not sure how’d you place Stuart. He’s barely scraping by with his business, but it’s being treated realistically. He should pair up with a writer and start illustrating some books of his own as a sideline. Oh, speaking of Mrs. Wolowitz (Howard’s mother), I realize she’s a very exaggerated caricature, but I know the type. Not my mom, thank God, but my aunt, for one. But to give her her due, I’d bet her brisket _is_ something to die for. 😃 I’ve got all the episodes on one of my hard drives, so I generally watch an episode a day. I’ve enjoyed watching the character development of Amy and Bernadette. And the guys taking shots at each other when one leaves himself open strikes me as pretty realistic of the banter that goes on between long time friends. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/39 "2014-01-31T18:39:15Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Loved the JEJ twist- if he hadn’t offered to take the gang to the convention as his guests, it would probably have ended with Sheldon getting a restraining order against him. That’s what I thought was going to happen, since Sheldon asked (directed? Sheldon doesn’t ask for favors) Leonard to call bill Nye, Stan Lee and Leonard Nimoy because legally he wasn’t allowed to. I really enjoyed this episode. I’ve been chuckling the last couple of months over the JEJ/Malcolm McDowell phone commercials. This was a continuation of His Awesomeness. ---
**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 31, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158/40 "2014-01-31T18:57:14Z")
I liked it, too. I liked the change of direction when it seemed like JEJ was going to blow Sheldon off but instead befriended him. “Well, tell Leonard I think he’s a big wienie!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-january-30-2014-the-convention-conundrum/680158.md?page=3)