# The Big Bang Theory, Season 8, Episode 24 (May 7, 2015) -- "The Commitment Determination" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492 "2015-05-07T16:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [May 13, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492/61 "2015-05-13T17:56:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It hasn’t been implied, it’s been out-right stated. Sheldon observed (Season 5, Episode 1) “For the record, I do have genitals. They’re functional and aesthetically pleasing.” Not to mention that the first pilot had the lads returning from the sperm-bank, where they had made deposits. For Sheldon, “functional” may just mean “capable of urination”. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492/62 "2015-05-14T08:33:41Z")
Exapno Mapcase, someone having an I.Q. of 197 shows again that most American TV shows and movies have no idea what people are typically like. Look at the chart I linked to. It would take a population three times that of the world today to be able to say that someone has an I.Q. of 197. Yes, I’ve seen lists of children who were got through school quickly. I certainly wouldn’t call it “not uncommon.” It’s so rare that it’s a significant news story. Again, name me one case where someone has ever gotten through school as fast as Sheldon is supposed to have when he came from a working-class family with parents having no interest in education. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492/63 "2015-05-14T11:33:10Z")
Even if it never in the history of the world has happened that a super-intelligent child from a non-academically inclined family whizzed to a PhD before puberty, that still doesn’t mean it’s impossible. And in the fictional world of TV, it’s all possible. After all, it’s not like Sheldon has telekenetic powers or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492/64 "2015-05-14T13:22:50Z")
That’s typical of American TV and movies. Pick something that just barely at the edge of anything that ever happened. Let the audience decide that this must happen frequently. After all, they saw it happen once on a TV or a movie intended as fiction, and they can’t be bothered to actually do any research about it. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492/65 "2015-05-14T19:33:06Z")
So you prefer your sitcoms to deal with realistic situations. Whereas I’m OK with potentially unrealistic situations as long as they make sense within the reality of the show, such as it is. I’m willing to accept Sheldon as a genius who achieved a PhD on his own. But the minute they have him sprout wings, I’ll quit watching, regardless of the wacky hijinks which might ensue. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492/66 "2015-05-14T19:47:12Z")
Wings are more of a Raj thing. 😉 _Well, I’m a Hindu. My religion teaches that if we suffer in this life we are rewarded in the next. Three months at the North Pole with Sheldon and I’m reborn as a well-hung billionaire with wings!_ ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492/67 "2015-05-14T20:38:50Z")
Ooops - forgot about that. Thanks for setting me straight. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![D0ct0rJ0hn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@D0ct0rJ0hn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D0ct0rJ0hn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492/68 "2015-10-17T17:44:24Z")
If Leonard wasn’t trying to sabotage the wedding with his fairly minor confession, what’s his game? HE should have told Penny long ago (in Season 7) or kept it to himself and forgotten about it. He’s making Penny unhappy to no good purpose. Honesty and openness - bullshit. As for consistency, the ever-changing list of Leonard’s ex-girlfriends (eg the girl with PhD in French lit Sheldon mentioned once) shows they don’t care. If they did, here’s something fairly unappetising: if Sheldon and Amy ever attempt coitus, then what we know about both of them indicates that if Amy doesn’t get an industrial-strength waxing before-hand, Sheldon will have an attack of the Ruskins. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492/69 "2015-10-17T18:16:13Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > For Sheldon, “functional” may just mean “capable of urination”. He and Leonard visited a sperm bank in the pilot episode FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![D0ct0rJ0hn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@D0ct0rJ0hn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D0ct0rJ0hn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492/70 "2015-10-17T18:38:43Z")
I overlooked how ridiculous it is that Leonard and Penny would be goaded by Sheldon into heading off for a tacky Vegas wedding, which Penny not so long ago believed to be fake. Surely by now they’re too mature for that; if Leonard’s fit to marry Penny he should have said they’ll marry in Nebraska asap. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492/71 "2015-10-17T19:27:15Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > He and Leonard visited a sperm bank in the pilot episode FWIW. In the pilot that aired they chickened out before making the deposits, but Leonard implied that Sheldon was “semi-pro” at masturbation. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJCJD05tzYk) The opening segment at the sperm bank has been cut from the syndicated episodes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-24-may-7-2015-the-commitment-determination/719492.md?page=3)