# The Big Bang Theory, Season 8, Episode 5 (October 13, 2014) -- "The Focus Attenuation" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218 "2014-10-13T17:08:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/1 "2014-10-13T17:08:46Z")
I’m starting this thread in anticipation of tonight’s episode. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/2 "2014-10-14T00:46:46Z")
drunk bernadette is very funny. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/3 "2014-10-14T00:56:05Z")
I think the Back to the Future scene was (partly) directed to the audience to not be so anal about continuity. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/4 "2014-10-14T01:05:46Z")
Holy crap Penny rocked that black dress! Best of the new season so far- the time travel logic was pretty good stuff. The duct tape war was a lot of fun. Drunk Bernadette was a hoot and Amy had some great lines. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/5 "2014-10-14T01:25:32Z")
I think the Back to the Future scene was fanservice to people who complain there’s no nerd humor anymore. Bernadette was fanservice, period. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/6 "2014-10-14T02:19:05Z")
They [basically copied a joke from Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy](http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~param/quotes/guide.html) wholesale. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/7 "2014-10-14T02:26:01Z")
The girls were hilarious. A nice role reversal that wasn’t too poorly done. I think Penny’s glance at the strippers and then back to the laptop was perfect. The guys were dull and boring. Yes, they’re nerds, but they have all been quite accomplished and they could focus for a night if they really wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/8 "2014-10-14T02:43:14Z")
I laughed out loud at Bernadette’s comment about the Australian strippers and whether their junk spins the opposite direction. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/9 "2014-10-14T02:50:06Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I laughed out loud at Bernadette’s comment about the Australian strippers and whether their junk spins the opposite direction. and go for the G-String like a Baby Kangaroo to a pouch. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/10 "2014-10-14T04:06:51Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Holy crap Penny rocked that black dress! > > Best of the new season so far- the time travel logic was pretty good stuff. The duct tape war was a lot of fun. Drunk Bernadette was a hoot and Amy had some great lines. Forget the dress. Let’s talk about the orange bikini! ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/11 "2014-10-14T04:20:21Z")
Grrrr. I missed the first 12 minutes of the show because the local weatherman was describing severe weather that didn’t even kill anybody. From what I saw, it looked like a pretty good episode. I like the guys getting their nerd on, and I like the gals looking hot. Still hate Penny’s hair, but the orange bikini let me not notice the hair for that scene. Also appreciate the irony of Penny being the responsible, non-hungover one. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2014, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/12 "2014-10-14T06:40:19Z")
Very weirdly, I was just thinking this morning about it being only a year away from the BTTF Part II’s 2015 (October 21st in fact). And I have also considered the very same seeming paradox they were discussing about it, the solution always being the propagation of the timeline adjustments allowing Doc and Marty to skip around just ahead and fix things before they manifest. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/13 "2014-10-14T10:50:33Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > They [basically copied a joke from Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy](http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~param/quotes/guide.html) wholesale. :mad: I noticed the same thing - they should have done a shout out. Brian ---
**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:** [October 14, 2014, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/14 "2014-10-14T11:53:23Z")
I guess all the money they are spending on salaries this year prevented them from hiring extras as Australian strippers to actually _move._ The real “Thunder From Down Under” show in Vegas is actually pretty good. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/15 "2014-10-14T11:58:43Z")
I, too, noticed the non-dancing strippers. I think it could be a standards and practice thingy. At least, that’s what I thought when Bernie stuck a bill in the dancer’s underwear (that was not a G-string) and he stood stock still. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/16 "2014-10-14T13:00:19Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > I think the Back to the Future scene was (partly) directed to the audience to not be so anal about continuity. Interesting! I hadn’t thought of that. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/17 "2014-10-14T13:02:49Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Grrrr. I missed the first 12 minutes of the show because the local weatherman was describing severe weather that didn’t even kill anybody. > > From what I saw, it looked like a pretty good episode. I like the guys getting their nerd on, and I like the gals looking hot. Still hate Penny’s hair, but the orange bikini let me not notice the hair for that scene. Also appreciate the irony of Penny being the responsible, non-hungover one. Yeah, Penny as the studious one to the other girls just wanting to party – that gave me a chuckle, as well. And she really rocked the orange bikini! Kaley has a killer hot body! ---
**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:** [October 14, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/18 "2014-10-14T17:52:55Z")
Penny being responsible and studious and sober made me like her again. I was growing weary of drinking, partying Penny. I liked the guys being full-on nerds again. Not that they brought it to any conclusion, but the ready-availability of factoids and films on the internet is a real and growing phenomenon and I like that they explored it. I know I’m forever distracted at work by crap on the 'net. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/19 "2014-10-14T18:41:43Z")
I had a really tough time with Penny acting like a responsible adult - the change in personality was just too abrupt. It would have been easier for me to swallow if it had been a more gradual change. And even tho I don’t think Bernie is particularly realistic in her mood and personality swings, she did crack me up in this episode. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218/20 "2014-10-14T18:50:13Z")
No pack of real nerds would get BTTF’s time travel mechanics _that_ wrong. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-8-episode-5-october-13-2014-the-focus-attenuation/701218.md?page=2)