The Thespian Catalyst (3 Feb. 2011)

To improve his skills as an instructor, Sheldon asks Penny to give him acting lessons. Meanwhile, Raj begins having impure fantasies about Bernadette.

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
Mayim Bialik	...	Amy Farrah Fowler
Melissa Rauch	...	Bernadette Rostenkowski

Storyline

Raj laments the fact of his single status. An admission by Bernadette totally preoccupies Raj's thoughts in his fragile state. Meanwhile, Sheldon has just conducted a guest lecture to the university's brightest doctoral candidates. He believes the lecture was an overwhelming success, but messages posted on various social networking sites show that Sheldon's perception and reality are polar opposites. A less than happy Sheldon decides to take some advice from Amy. As teaching is a performance art, she suggests that he take acting lessons. Despite or in part because he thinks she an acting failure, Sheldon asks Penny to be his teacher, his thoughts along the lines of the old adage, "those who can't do, teach". As Penny and Sheldon go through their antagonistic teacher/student relationship, Penny manages to get through to Sheldon in a way she couldn't have even imagined.

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Plot Keywords:

lecture | acting lesson | bollywood parody | reference to sandra bullock | shrimp | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 February 2011 (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:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title refers to the fact that Sheldon is taking acting lessons from Penny to improve his teaching skills.

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Goofs

In the opening scene, there is the word "Eigervalves" written on the white-board. This is a misspelling of Eigenvalues, though it is not clear whether or not it is intentional.

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Quotes

Raj Koothrappali: I want to be something with sex appeal, like a Labradoodle.

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Connections

References TRON: Legacy (2010)

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Soundtracks

"The Big Bang Theory Theme (Instrumental)"
Composed and Performed by Barenaked Ladies

User Reviews

"The Thespian Catalyst" is another great ep of "The Big Bang Theory"

In this last season ep of "The Big Bang Theory": After being told what a boring lecture he did for college students, Sheldon asks Penny help for acting lessons. Penny reluctantly agrees for $40. Her methods don't work so they do a "Star Trek" one-act play which Sheldon had written at age 10. Penny is Spock while Sheldon does his mom. Meanwhile, after Howard says out loud that Raj needs a woman, Bernadette tells Raj he's a hottie. That sets Raj to dreaming about her...This was another hilarious ep of "The Big Bang Theory" especially whenever the obvious dreams of Raj comes up (you know it's so because he's sober and talking to women). And Melissa Rauch really does hold her own in these sequences as a funny and sexy presence. And dig Penny and Sheldon's scenes of role playing especially when Sheldon does both his mother and himself when underage. And, like Leonard, I do wonder why the Sci-Fi channel had to change to SyFy...