# The Big Bang Theory, Season 9, Episode 8 (November 12, 2015) -- "The Mystery Date Observation" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388 "2015-11-12T18:14:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/41 "2015-11-13T22:35:34Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Dr. Barnett (Sara Rue) was a redhead (although not slender) and “The Cooper-Nowitzki Theorem”[sup]\*[/sup] ends with another woman approaching Sheldon just as Ramona Nowitzki did, and I think she was also a redhead. > > - The first episode of the show I ever watched. I wondered if the mid-show montage set to a Barenaked Ladies song was a recurring motif of the show. It wasn’t. I saw her on Mom last night. She plays the wife of Allison Janney’s daughter’s ex husband ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/42 "2015-11-13T23:32:16Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Well, if you go by the view from the window, they live on the [seventh floor of a parking garage](http://www.iamnotastalker.com/2012/05/18/the-view-from-leonard-and-sheldons-apartment-on-the-big-bang-theory/). 😉 > > **Justin** - Good point. Especially _that_ human being. It would have been fun to watch everybody’s reaction to a stunningly beautiful genius dating Sheldon, with him being oblivious to her charms. You’re right, that would have been great! ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/43 "2015-11-14T00:29:02Z")
BTW if it got preempted for you, CBS has it On Demand. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/44 "2015-11-14T00:31:20Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I’m not familiar with Stephen Merchant, though he is apparently someone famous, but he was pretty funny. He was in a short-lived HBO series called _Hello Ladies_. > **[Hello Ladies (TV Series 2013–2014) ⭐ 7.4 | Comedy](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2378794/?ref_=nv_sr_2)** > > 29m | TV-MA You might also recognize him from this car commercial. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aMUZNbyYU8M/maxresdefault.jpg "The All New Cadillac ATS Coupe Commercial Irresistible Extended") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMUZNbyYU8M) ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/45 "2015-11-14T03:18:57Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I was watching _ **NCIS** _ the other week when I noticed that McGee’s girlfriend Delilah is played by Margo Harshman, aka Alex. Whaaaaaat?!?!?! ---
**Author:** ![alfonzos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alfonzos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alfonzos)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/46 "2015-11-14T03:22:32Z")
I thought **TBBT** had jumped the shark with the Hofstedler wedding. This two-parter made me enjoy the series again. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2015, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/47 "2015-11-14T06:08:19Z")
FINALLY got to see this episode. Can’ t wait until Sheldon and Any realize they were made for each other. Of course the big bad of this season is who will be Raj’s lobster (kinda having a Friends backflash with that). As long as it’s not his current girlfriend I’m will be quite happy with a throw back to previous Raj potential hook-ups. I’ve drunken a lot of beer tonight. Am I making any sense whatsoever? ---
**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:** [November 14, 2015, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/48 "2015-11-14T06:24:00Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I’ve drunken a lot of beer tonight. Am I making any sense whatsoever? Lobster? ---
**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:** [November 14, 2015, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/49 "2015-11-14T06:59:11Z")
A Friends reference. A Friends reference that’s at least ten years old. Time flies. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2015, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/50 "2015-11-14T10:57:34Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Lobster? In one episode of Friends, Phoebe declared that lobsters pair and mate for life. Yeah, I got tired of people commenting on these TBBT threads how terrible the show was, how sorry they wasted their time watching it, and how they would never watch it anymore. I never saw the show until season 5 and it struck me that people did that for EVERY episode from seasons 5 through 8. Understand, they didn’t offer any criticism or say what they disliked, just that it was “The worst ever”. So, I’ve been offering some snark about that by dissing the episode before it airs to get it over with. Am I going the way of throwing stuff down into the quarry or signing off wishing everyone “regards”? 😕 That being said, yes, I thought it was a pretty good episode; probably the best this season. There were some zigs when I expected zags and that’s okay with me. The Sheldon groupie concept took me by surprise, as did someone actually doing that list of Craigslist Date Sheldon demands. Only Sheldon would close the door on her. Seems to me that as Penny has sort of calmed down a bit, they’ve turned up Bernadette some. Of course, there’s no more Bernie/Debbie conflict anymore. I think it took the writers a while to find their balance this season. I feel it’s happened in previous seasons also. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/51 "2015-11-14T20:20:28Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Yeah, I got tired of people commenting on these TBBT threads how terrible the show was, how sorry they wasted their time watching it, and how they would never watch it anymore. I never saw the show until season 5 and it struck me that people did that for EVERY episode from seasons 5 through 8. Understand, they didn’t offer any criticism or say what they disliked, just that it was “The worst ever”. So, I’ve been offering some snark about that by dissing the episode before it airs to get it over with. Am I going the way of throwing stuff down into the quarry or signing off wishing everyone “regards”? 😕 It’s part of the nerd/geek culture to do this. And there’s some justification for it. The show is getting a little tired. It was a clever idea, building an ensemble cast out of the offbeat characters in a prime time sitcom. They got lucky matching up Howard and Bernadette (I wonder if they knew she could do Howard’s mom’s voice?). They got lucky matching up Sheldon and Amy. And now they’re running out of ideas. We know all about the characters at this point, there’s the impending fear of a baby or they go to Hawaii and steal a Tiki idol or something stupid like that, and in the mean time everyone waits for them to do something that seems fresh again. So you’ll keep hearing those complaints for the rest of the show’s run, and you can keep on ignoring them, it’s just an audience participation kind of thing, like you’ll be an astrophysicist too if you complain about the show. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/52 "2015-11-14T20:24:59Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > The episode was otherwise pretty great, but Sheldon being Sheldon over some weird deadline (which was clearly just thrown in so he could slam the door in her face for being late) was just terrible. Duuuude - she thought atomic spectroscopy was boring. The deadline thing was obviously just an easy excuse for Sheldon to break it off clean with someone who was clearly incompatible for the get go :). ---
**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:** [November 14, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/53 "2015-11-14T22:45:05Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Duuuude - she thought atomic spectroscopy was boring. The deadline thing was obviously just an easy excuse for Sheldon to break it off clean with someone who was clearly incompatible for the get go :). More than that, can you imagine a show where the two are actually together? I mean, Sheldon, with a hot, HOT chick clearly bursting with hormones?\* How many episodes could it last? \*Okay, Amy is bursting with hormones too, but it took her a long time even to realize it. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/54 "2015-11-14T22:48:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > We know all about the characters at this point, there’s the impending fear of a baby or they go to Hawaii and steal a Tiki idol or something stupid like that, and in the mean time everyone waits for them to do something that seems fresh again. When you devolve to _ **Lucy Show** _ situations, you know you’ve hit rock bottom. The same thing happened to _ **Laverne and Shirley** _ in just one season. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/55 "2015-11-16T14:19:51Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > When you devolve to _ **Lucy Show** _ situations, you know you’ve hit rock bottom. I don’t know. I think it could be pretty funny to see Sheldon working at a chocolate factory conveyor belt. 🙂 ---
**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:** [November 16, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/56 "2015-11-16T14:52:05Z")
[Sheldon-esque nitpick]The chocolate factory episode was on _I Love Lucy_, not _The Lucy Show_.[/Sheldon-esque nitpick] ---
**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:** [November 16, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/57 "2015-11-16T15:14:12Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > When you devolve to _ **Lucy Show** _ situations, you know you’ve hit rock bottom. The same thing happened to _ **Laverne and Shirley** _ in just one season. ☹ I have to admit they have not overplayed Leonard and Penny’s marriage. They went just a little out for Howard’s wedding, but his space trip was the bigger plot point so it wasn’t bad (although even Homer has been in space). ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/58 "2015-11-16T22:00:35Z")
Wasn’t the Tiki idol thing in _The Brady Bunch_? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/59 "2015-11-16T22:14:05Z")
Yes. **Tripolar** was simply listing some of the kind of things that show-runners do to spark renewed interest in sputtering shows, but which turn out to be so transparently DESIGNED for that purpose that they tend to turn viewers off. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388/60 "2015-11-17T16:46:00Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > [Sheldon-esque nitpick]The chocolate factory episode was on _I Love Lucy_, not _The Lucy Show_.[/Sheldon-esque nitpick] "Howard: We will, we will, percussive shock you. Raj: We will, we will, percussive shock you. Sheldon: Buddy, you’re a boy, make a big noise, playin’ in the street, gonna be a big man someday. You got mud on your face, you big disgrace. Kickin’ your can all over the place. I have an eidetic memory. Sometimes it’s a curse." 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-8-november-12-2015-the-mystery-date-observation/737388.md?page=4)