The Russian Rocket Reaction (13 Oct. 2011)

Sheldon takes offense when Leonard wants to attend a party with Star Trek's Wil Wheaton and Brent Spiner, and Bernadette tries to block Howard's opportunity to go into outer space.

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
Wil Wheaton	...	Wil Wheaton
Carol Ann Susi	...	Mrs. Wolowitz (voice)
Kevin Sussman	...	Stuart

Storyline

Since they are in the comic book store when he stops in, Leonard and Sheldon are invited by Wil Wheaton to a party at his house. Leonard has every intention of going, which may place his and Sheldon's friendship on shaky ground as Wil is still on Sheldon's arch enemy list. Can anything convince Sheldon to attend the party himself? If so, he may end up meeting more arch enemies. Meanwhile, Howard, whose project has been chosen by NASA for the International Space Station, has been asked by them to go on a three week mission to the station. He believes that all his friends will be as happy for him as he is excited about it. But one person who isn't excited at all is Bernadette, who doesn't want him to go. Bernadette uses a tactic to convince Howard not to go, but that tactic may actually paint Bernadette as the bad guy.

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Plot Keywords:

saturn v rocket model | toasting with a drink | floppy disk | sword | reference to erwin schroedinger | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 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:

22 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a QR code on the side of the counter of the comic book shop. If you scan it, it will take you to the page of The Comic Center Of Pasadena.

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Goofs

Howard refers to residents of Kazakhstan as Kazakhi, but the correct demonym is Kazakh.

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Quotes

Bernadette Rostenkowski: I took our love and threw it under his bus-sized mother.

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Crazy Credits

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #359 Okay, I'm just gonna say it out loud. There are times when going crazy looks attractive. And I'm not talking about becoming charmingly eccentric. I've already got that covered nine ways to Sunday. No, I'm talking about purposely emigrating to the land of lunacy. That special psychological zip code where The Ancient Laws of Behave Yourself no longer apply. My "reasoning" is simple. It takes a great deal of effort to sustain a conservative, trustworthy persona. Surrendering that effort would involve, from a Freudian perspective, a conscious dismantling of the super ego - that part of the psyche entrusted with enforcing parental and socially approved actions. And therein lies the allure of going full frontal wack-a-doodle. The constant energy required to pass as normal would suddenly become available for doing and saying whatever pleases me in the moment. Imagine it. The id and libido completely unbound by any and all moral or cultural restrictions. Hmm... Probably won't need the shrink anymore... might need a lawyer.

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Connections

References Excalibur (1981)

User Reviews

Bernadette gets protective of Howard on "The Russian Rocket Reaction" ep of "The Big Bang Theory"

In this ep of "The Big Bang Theory" from this season: Howard tells everybody he's going up in space. His friends are thrilled...well, except for fiancée Bernadette who has issues of abandonment with memories of her cop father always going on assignment. They later make up but she then tells his mother...who also disapproves. Meanwhile, Sheldon is mad at Leonard for accepting an invitation to attend a party at Evil Wil Wheaton's place. When Amy asks why, Sheldon recounts his teen disappointment at not seeing him at a convention he was scheduled at. I'll stop there and just say this was quite another funny ep of this still mostly excellent comedy show. And get a load of who appears at the end...