The Peanut Reaction (12 May 2008)

When Penny and the guys learn that Leonard has never had a birthday party, they decide to try to throw a surprise party for him.

Director:

Mark Cendrowski

Writers:

Chuck Lorre (creator), Bill Prady (creator),

Stars:

Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Johnny Galecki	...	Leonard Hofstadter
Jim Parsons	...	Sheldon Cooper
Kaley Cuoco	...	Penny
Simon Helberg	...	Howard Wolowitz
Kunal Nayyar	...	Raj Koothrappali
Vernee Watson-Johnson	...	Althea (as Vernée Watson)
Judith Moreland	...	Jan
Ronald Hunter	...	Dan
Chuck Carter	...	Stan

Storyline

Penny wishes Leonard a happy birthday which she knows is this upcoming Saturday, when she expects him to at least come in for his free piece of birthday cake at the restaurant. She is shocked to learn that Leonard not only does not celebrate his birthday, but that he's never had a birthday party. Regardless of Leonard's wants, Penny decides to throw him a surprise party. Although she gets help from Sheldon, Howard and Raj, the preparation for the party does not go to her plans, including needing to help Sheldon buy a gift, Howard not being able to get Leonard out of the apartment, and Raj not being able to decorate the apartment since Leonard's there. Will Leonard enjoy his first birthday party after all this difficult effort?

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Plot Keywords:

birthday | party | birthday party | surprise party | restaurant | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 May 2008 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 25, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chuck Lorre Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

20 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Title Reference: The allergic reaction that Howard experienced when he ate the Granola Bar containing peanuts.

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Goofs

Half way through the episode, Leonard claims to be playing a person in Copenhagen over Xbox Live, on Halo, however you can clearly see his Xbox 360 console doesn't have a Wireless Adapter or an Ethernet cable to connect him to the Internet.

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Quotes

Leonard: [why he doesn't celebrate his birthday] It's just the way I was raised. My parents focused on celebrating achievements, and being expelled from a birth canal was not considered one of them.

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Crazy Credits

In the opening scroll of the time line when it gets to 91,000 there is a mistake the dates read 93,000BC 92,000BC 91,0009C 90,000BC for some reason 91,000 is a 9c not a BC.

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Connections

References Halo (2001)

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Soundtracks

"True Colors"
(uncredited)
Written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg
Performed by Kunal Nayyar

User Reviews

The Peanut Reaction is another funny episode of "The Big Bang Theory"

Penny resolves to throw Leonard a surprise birthday party despite Leonard having never experienced such a thing. Sheldon's not on board until Penny threatens to leave a mark on one of his mint comics. It's Howard who has to make Leonard leave his apartment so he fakes a peanut allergy to get his friend to take him to a hospital. Meanwhile, Penny and Sheldon go to an electronics store to get Leonard a gift but Sheldon stays too long because of customers wanting info about computer buying of which Sheldon, of course, has plenty of knowledge. With this big delay, Howard has to take his medical procedure to keep Leonard from going to his home too quickly. When they finally arrive, Penny and Sheldon are asleep while Raj is shirtless at the microphone. As Leonard and Penny look at the highlights of the party on the ipod, Penny kisses Leonard sympathetically as he then asks when her birthday is...Plenty of funny scenes, mostly concerning Howard and his reactions to what kind of girls Penny was going to bring. Also, he tries to blackmail a black female receptionist with the bill that had the face "that freed all you people" which she answers with "not unless Ben Franklin and his five twin brothers were on them". LOL! With one more episode to go, this is a very good first season of "The Big Bang Theory".