Tonight between Fox and TBS we saw two of her best appearances as Althea, the nurse. She’s always brilliant. Sure, she has great lines, but her delivery is just fantastic…
Howard trying to bribe the ER nurse in The Peanut Reaction (Season 1):
Howard: Okay, I get it. I know how the world works. How about if I were to introduce to you to the man who freed your people? (Flashes a bill)
Althea: Unless my people were freed by Benjamin Franklin and his five twin brothers, you are wasting your time.
And from The Robotic Manipulation (Season 4):
Althea: What do we have here?
Howard: I slipped and fell.
Althea: Yeah, we get that a lot.
Howard: Althea: What is this?
Howard: It’s a robot arm.
Althea: Where’s the rest of the robot?
Howard: I only built the arm.
Althea: 'Cause that’s all you needed, right?
Howard: Can you please just help me?!
Althea: All right, all right. Hang on, stay calm. (Over the intercom) I need an orderly with a wheelchair. I got a robot hand grasping a man’s penis out here.
Howard: You think you could be a little more discreet?
Althea: I’m sorry, we don’t have a code for “robot hand grasping a man’s penis.”
Is this also the actress who played the nurse who walked in on Sheldon in the hospital room trying to get his comatose barber to wake up and give him a haircut?
I do like not only the actress but the fact that the show finds ways to drop in continuity like that. She also shows up in “The Werewolf Transformation” and was in the pilot episode, not to mention a couple of episodes of “Two and a Half Men,” which is fitting as those two shows both exist in the same universe.
They do? I don’t doubt you, but is there an example (other than the nurse)? Cause I can’t imagine Charlie & Penny being within a 100 mile radius of each other and not hooking up.
I’ve never seen The Big Bang Theory, but I do love Vernee Watson-Johnson. I think she has appeared at some point on pretty much every series I’ve watched since 1976. It’s always nice when a talented working actor gets some recognition.
Without a doubt. I’m really basing my baseless assumption on Vernee Watson-Johnson, but whole universes have been built on less. Examine the Tommy Westphall tapestry, for example.
Yep, aside from the Pilot (and the unaired pilot) those are her only appearances.
** The Big Bang Theory (TV series)**
– The Werewolf Transformation (2012) … Althea
– The Robotic Manipulation (2010) … Althea
– The Peanut Reaction (2008) … Althea
– Pilot (2007) … Althea
– Unaired Pilot … Althea
and since 2.5 Men has been mentioned:
** Two and a Half Men (TV series)**
– Why We Gave Up Women (2012) … Nurse Lorna
– Frodo’s Headshots (2011) … Nurse Phyllis
– Ate the Hamburgers, Wearing the Hats (2004) … Nurse
Apparently she is the only nurse in Pasadena and has quite varied credentials. She’s worked in a sperm bank, and ER, and an ICU. All in the space of five years!
Oh yeah. I just took a look at her imdb page and these are just the ones I remember: Good Times, Welcome Back Kotter, Eight Is Enough, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Benson, Hill Street Blues, Murphy Brown, Married with Children, L.A. Law, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, ER, NYPD Blue, X-Files, Malcolm in the Middle, The West Wing, JAG, Dexter, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Criminal Minds, House M.D., Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men.
