The Dumpling Paradox (5 Nov. 2007)

When Howard hooks up with Penny's old friend, it ruins the nights on which all of the guys play the game "Halo."

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
Brooke D'Orsay	...	Christy
James Hong	...	Chen
Carol Ann Susi	...	Mrs. Wolowitz (voice)
Kimberly Brooks	...	Automated Cell Phone Voice (voice) (as Kimberly D. Brooks)

Storyline

Penny receives an unwanted visitor from Nebraska named Christy. In Penny's eyes, Christy is a loose woman with no morals. Hence, Christy is ripe for the picking by Howard. As Howard and Christy have a spontaneous get together using Penny's bedroom, Penny decides to ask Leonard and Sheldon if she can sleep overnight at their place, which elicits different responses from Leonard and Sheldon. Beyond Penny's sleeping problem, Howard hooking up with Christy causes more issues. First, Leonard, Sheldon and Raj are now missing a fourth in their regular activities. And second, they can all see that Christy is only using Howard. They have to figure out how to get Howard back.

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Plot Keywords:

xbox 360 | voice recognition | hdtv | chinese restaurant

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Cantonese French

Release Date:

5 November 2007 (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:

21 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sheldon keeps his red toothbrush in a Plexiglas under UV light.

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Goofs

The sounds heard and actions described by Penny ("I just blew off your head!") do not match Halo's game play.

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Quotes

Penny: I know how she is. She'll keep having sex with you as long as you buy her stuff.
Howard Wolowitz: Really?
Penny: Yeah.
Howard Wolowitz: YAY.

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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 Doctor Who (1963)

User Reviews

The Dumpling Paradox is the first excellent episode of "The Big Bang Theory"

As Leonard, Sheldon, Howard Wolowitz, and Raj Koothrappali play the TV video game Halo, Penny barges in and asks if she could stay for awhile as her cousin from Nebraska, Christi (Brooke D'Orsay), makes herself at home in her apartment there. Turns out she can't stand her as Christi has a slutty reputation, especially with members of Penny's immediate family! Hearing this, Howard goes to Penny's apartment and charms the socks off Christi so much they spend the night there. So Penny not only defeats Sheldon on Halo, she begs to stay overnight at his and Leonard's place to Sheldon's consternation! Next day, Christi agrees to live with Howard who lives with his mother! This upsets Sheldon's sense of equality later at a Chinese restaurant since instead of splitting for four, they have to split for three. When the following week, Penny gets asked to be a fourth partner on Halo again, she declines having already dressed up for dancing. So they all go to Howard's house where they overhear arguments between his mom and Christi. Not wanting to stay for that, Howard goes back for another round of the game...This is the funniest episode yet of "The Big Band Theory". I must also mention how nice to see James Hong again as the restaurant owner here after seeing him as the wheelchair crime boss on "Chuck" a few weeks earlier. As always, most of the best lines came from Sheldon though Simon Helberg also has his share. So glad this is doing so well on Monday night on CBS! Now let's hope the writer's strike ends soon so we'll see new episodes through the end of the season and not just til January...