Season One - 10 Years Later

[Nutz]

On September 24, 2007 we were introduced to 4 Nerdmigos and a beautiful waitress with big dreams. This thread will celebrate each episode as it hits the ten year mark. Talk about what you thought the first time you saw the episode, what your favorite scene(s) or quote(s) are and after 10 years, is it still fresh, or has it become dated as last years fruitcake.

Season 1, Episode 1 - The Pilot (first aired September 24th, 2017)


Summary:
Leonard and Sheldon are trying to make some extra cash by visiting a sperm bank for geniuses, but they chicken out and go back to their apartment. When they get home they notice that a very beautiful new neighbor, Penny, has moved in across the hall. They befriend her in the best way they know how: by inviting her over for day-old Indian food. The boys' best friends, Wolowitz and Koothrappali, stop by, and they're equally as challenged with girls. Penny asks the boys for a favor, and they're willing to do whatever she needs. Even if it means going to her ex-boyfriend's place to retrieve her television. Unfortunately for Penny, they come back without the tv, and even more unfortunately for Leonard and Sheldon, they lose their pants as well.

Reviews:
The TV Critic said: "Penny is a brave new world for Sheldon and Leonard and it’s a fun start to The Big Bang Theory. The show will have to work hard to maintain the delicate balance between geek jokes and real characters. I wish them luck"

IGN said "The writing in this episode was some of the best we've seen in a standard sitcom in some time -- it's very smart. We'll be the first to admit, however, not everyone will love the show. Let's face it, not everyone wants to see a sitcom about nerds playing World of Warcraft and Klingon Boggle. That being said, the pilot was a great start for the series. If the writing remains at the level seen in the pilot, we're certain the show will continue to be worth watching"

---

Favorite Quotes/Moments:
Penny: So, what do you guys do around here?
Sheldon: Well, today we tried masturbating for money

Penny: I'm a vegetarian. Well, except for fish, and the occasional steak. I love steak!
Sheldon: Well, that's interesting. Leonard can't process corn

Leonard: We need to widen our circle.
Sheldon: I have a very wide circle. I have 212 friends on MySpace.
Leonard: Yes, and you've never met one of them.
Sheldon: That's the beauty of it

[CTR69]

Besides the usual Shenny flirts, it has to be:

Sheldon: Event A. A beautiful woman stands naked in our shower. Event B. We drive half way across town to retrieve a television set from the aforementioned woman’s ex-boyfriend. Query, on what plane of existence is there even a semi-rational link between these events?

Leonard: She asked me to do her a favour, Sheldon.

Sheldon: Ah, yes, well that may be the proximal cause of our journey, but we both know it only exists in contradistinction to the higher level distal cause.

Leonard: Which is?

Sheldon: You think with your penis.

[Tuesday Pajamas]

Right from the start it was Sheldon. Leonard was too eager. I love how Sheldon flirted over the whiteboard and upstaged Leonard with ease even though he claimed to not want her there. At this point Sheldons disinterest in Penny was the perfect way to start. Leonard was too obvious. And Penny was smiling at Sheldon from the couch and clearly though he was the cute one. Although at this point Leonard was a sweet guy. He was still likeable.

[Ratman77]

Of course I like this two ones.



Because:

It clearly showed that she was fascinated by him and also that he found her very atractive.

And:




Because:
Sheldon here also has her full attention...in which his reference to his spot seems like a curse before his own shyness.
........
And of course because Leonard is chanceless in the background.

[chaotic temptation]

Leonard was entirely unexciting .He said i love you too soon. He proposed too soon. Leonard was just too eager and too obvious and too predictable. Penny called him a boring love. Leonard and Penny coupling was a dud right from the start and to this day, I often read comments how they have zero chemistry. There wasn't any challenge or excitement to being with Leonard.

[Jenger]

I really loved the pilot. I feel like Sheldon and Penny had a connection, but it was obvious that the writers were always going to go with Lenny. Also, side note, I feel like I absolutely loved Sheldon from the start. Lenard, on the other hand, was just weird to me. The way he already loved Penny from the start felt strange, but it was funny so I liked the episode. Also, this is the first time someone questions Sheldon's 'That's my seat' and while I thought it was funny, I am always bothered whenever someone says something. It's his apartment, it's his seat...Move! I especially hate it later on when Bernie does it for some reason.

[Nutz]

Season 1, Episode 2 - The Big Bran Hypothesis (First aired on October 1, 2007)


Penny is furious with Leonard and Sheldon when they sneak into her apartment and clean it while she is sleeping.

Canon Facts:

• Sheldon reveals that he has a master's degree and two PhD's.
  
• This episode contains the first mention of Penny's sister
  
• We find out Howard is allergic to peanuts.
  
• We find our Sheldon is allergic to bees.
  
• Raj's last name (Koothrappali) is revealed.
  
• Sheldon mentions the Mandelbrot Set of complex numbers. He's referring to a set of points in the complex plane that is self-replicating according to a predetermined rule such that the boundary of the set has fractal dimensions, which is most often used in the study of fractal geometry. This is part of chaos theory. Sheldon mentions this in reference to the chaos in Penny's messy apartment.
  

---

Shelnard trying to figure out how to get the bookcase up the stairs using Science, Sheldon in complete OCD mode, the beginning of Penny's "Junior Rodeo" attitude plus Raj/Howard both having at least one moment to shine? There were so many really great moments in this episode, I don't know where to begin.

Favorite Quotes/Moments
Penny: Yes, I know men can't fly.
Sheldon: No, no let's assume that they can. Lois Lane is falling, accelerating at an initial rate of 32ft per second, per second. Superman swoops down to save her by reaching out two arms of steel. Ms. Lane, who is now traveling at approximately 120 miles per hour, hits them, and is immediately sliced into three equal pieces.
 
Sheldon: I couldn't sleep knowing that just outside my bedroom is our living room and just outside our living room is that hallway and immediately adjacent to that hallway is this!
Leonard: Do you realize if Penny wakes up there's no reasonable explanation to why we are here?
Sheldon: I just gave you a reasonable explanation.
Leonard: No, no. You gave me an explanation. Its reasonableness will be determined by a jury of your peers.
Sheldon: Don't be silly. I have no peers.

Leonard: You convinced me. Maybe tonight we should sneak in and shampoo her carpet?
Sheldon: You don't think that crosses a line?
Leonard: Yes! For God's sake, Sheldon, do I have to hold up a sarcasm sign every time I open my mouth?
Sheldon:You have a sarcasm sign?

[CTR69]

This ep crafted the foundations of BBT. The beginnings of the Shenny chemistry. Penny's chaotic nature crash-landing in Sheldon's world of order and schedules. This is the whole essence of Shenny since then, never to be repeated.
His caring nature towards her: "I'm here for you", which he never said to Leonard or anybody else. He was always presented as an emotionless robot and a rude jackass to everybody else, but Penny managed to reveal his caring human side without even knowing. 
This is presented in so many Shenny fanfics later on, as worming into his heart. Cleaning her apartment is seen as an act of unconditional love towards her. If they were married for like 50 years and Penny would have to choose a moment, when she realized Sheldon's going to be the man with which she'll spend the rest of her life with.
"He came to my apartment in the middle of the night and cleaned it." sniff... 

Or when she mentions this to her girlfriends. Gasp!
"He cleaned your apartment? Marry him, Penny. Marry him now."

He claims he doesn't care for other people, but he does care for her. Going above and beyond, not just to have sex with her, like Leonard. The opposite. Not once, has this crossed his mind, no matter which episode. Not even in the Ducks. 
Unlike Leonard, whose only goal was to begin dating her and get laid. It was so obvious and pathetic in comparison.
As was Amy's introduction and everything else after.  


We also got the   , and ofcourse the cliche geeks-vs-hot-blonde dynamic between the main characters. One of the all-time BBT classics, Men at work    

[Nutz]

Season 1, Episode 3 - The Fuzzy Boots Corollary (First Aired on October 8, 2007)



Leonard gets upset when he discovers that Penny is seeing a new guy, so he tries to trick her into going on a date with him.

Canon Facts:

• Leonard's full name is Leonard Leakey Hofstadter
  
• Leslie Winkle is introduced as a character
  
• First time the key bowl is seen next to the door
  
  

---

This episode solidified (for me) that Sheldon WAS the main character. Every scene with him is hysterical from him "stealing" the sword of Azeroth to his "helping" Leonard get ready for his "date". Interestingly, while Leonard lost a lot of likability points with me by his stalking behavior towards Penny, I fell more in love with Howards perv character.

Favorite Quotes/Moments:
The entire opening scene (The Gates Of Elzebub)




Sheldon: Okay, look. Ahem. I think that you have as much of a chance of having a sexual relationship with Penny as the Hubble telescope does of discovering at the center of every black hole is a little man with a flashlight searching for a circuit breaker. Nevertheless, I do feel obligated to point out to you that she did not reject you. You did not ask her out.
Leonard: You're right. I didn't ask her out. I should ask her out.
Sheldon: No, no, no. That was not my point. My point was, don't buy a cat.

Leonard: I'm fine. Penny's fine. The guy she's kissing is really fine.
Wolowitz: Kissing? What kind of kissing? Cheeks? Lips? Chase? French?
Leonard: What is wrong with you?
Wolowitz: I'm a romantic!

Sheldon: Well, at least now you can retrieve the black box from the twisted smoldering wreckage that was once your fantasy of dating her and analyze the data so that you don't crash into geek mountain again.
Wolowitz: I disagree, love is not a sprint, it's a marathon. A relentless pursuit that only ends when she falls into your arms. Or hits you with the pepper spray...

[CTR69]

Leonard was such an idiot around Penny and Sheldon was really cool. Such a great character.