The Friendship Contraction (2 Feb. 2012)

Leonard signs out of his roommate agreement, reducing himself and Sheldon to mere acquaintances, while Howard tries to think of a cool astronaut nickname for himself.

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
Carol Ann Susi	...	Mrs. Wolowitz (voice)
Kevin Sussman	...	Stuart
Michael J. Massimino	...	Himself (as Mike Massimino NASA Astronaut)

Storyline

As Leonard is feeling sleep deprived because of Sheldon, Leonard is in no mood to have to drive Sheldon to the dentist's office as per the roommate agreement. As such, Leonard willingly invokes what Sheldon tells him is clause 209 in the agreement, namely that the agreement be dissolved, that they no longer be friends, and that their only formal responsibilities to each other be payment of rent, payment of utilities and the perfunctory "'sup" as they pass each other in the hallway. Sheldon is equally as willing. However, Sheldon may change his mind when no one in his social circle, even Amy, seems willing to take on the duties that used to be performed by Leonard. Sheldon tries to show Leonard that he needs him as a friend, while Leonard really doesn't mind doing these little favors for Sheldon but wants them not to be a mandatory part of their relationship. Meanwhile, Raj has noticed that all Howard's astronaut colleagues have cool nicknames, while Howard doesn't. As Howard states ...

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Plot Keywords:

nickname | power outage | glow stick | hard hat | reference to the village people | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 February 2012 (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:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sheldon makes reference to the song "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story (1995). Laurie Metcalf who plays Mary Cooper, Sheldon's mother, provided the voice of Andy's mom in Toy Story as well as its sequels.

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Goofs

Attempting to entice Leonard to re-agree to the roommate agreement, Sheldon declares that he has a box set of Red Dwarf which includes "all 61 episodes of the BBC series". As of the original airing, there only exist 55 episodes: 6 each from Series 1 through 6, 8 each from Series 7 and 8, and 3 episodes from Series 9. At this time Series 10's planned 6 episodes would indeed bring the total to 61, but Red Dwarf had not even begun filming Series 10 yet, never mind these episodes having been released on DVD in North America. Sheldon appears to be holding "Red Dwarf: The Complete Collection", which includes the first 8 seasons (52 episodes total), missing Series 9, Red Dwarf: Back To Earth. The side of the box we see matches the back of the box, and "The Complete Collection" can be read along the top edge.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Sheldon sounds a virtual klaxon in Leonard's bedroom]
Leonard Hofstadter: Yahhh! What the hell!
Sheldon Cooper: Emergency preparedness drill.
Leonard Hofstadter: Oh, no, come on!
Sheldon Cooper: You know how it works. Once a quarter; keep our readiness up. Now, rise and shine sleepyhead, half the town is probably dead.
Leonard Hofstadter: I have to get a lock for my door.

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Connections

References Star Wars (1977)

User Reviews

"The Friendship Contraction" was another funny enough ep of "The Big Bang Theory"

Not as funny as the last few eps of "The Big Bang Theory" but funny enough what with Shelden being himself and driving Leonard crazy with his demands, as usual. So much so, in fact that Leonard is willing to break up the roommate agreement to get some sleep. Meanwhile, Howard and Raj are trying to think up an astronaut nickname for the former since his other fellow travelers have one. Oh, and Stuart the comic store guy (Kevin Sussman) is also in this...Plenty of very funny lines and situations abound and Jim Parsons' readings and reactions are, as usual, sublime. Like I said, not a great but a very good episode of "The Big Bang Theory". So on that note, "The Friendship Contraction" ep of "The Big Bang Theory" gets a recommendation from me.