The Launch Acceleration (3 May 2012)

Howard faces double trouble when NASA moves up his launch and he has to meet Bernadette's father. Some awkward pillow talk by Leonard may change his relationship with Penny.

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
Casey Sander	...	Mr. Rostenkowski
Karl T. Wright	...	Jimmy
Robert Clotworthy	...	Dave Roeger (voice)

Storyline

With only a few weeks until the launch, Howard's space mission is scrapped due to technical difficulties. Rather than be disappointed, Howard is relieved, since he had always been scared of dying in space, something that he doesn't mention to anyone. However, NASA decides they do want him to go after all, instead sending him on an earlier mission... one that is scheduled to launch two days before his and Bernadette's wedding. He is hoping that Bernadette or Bernadette's tough as nails father will demand that he not go. Meanwhile, Penny decides that she wants to speed things up with Leonard, which Leonard is more than happy to do. But Leonard accidentally speeds things up just a little too much. And Amy does some speeding up of her own regarding her and Sheldon's relationship, regardless of if Sheldon likes it or not.

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Plot Keywords:

cracking nuts | cancellation | spaghetti | balloon | winking | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 May 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

Leonard asks Penny to marry him and Penny now has the courage to face him and say no. The last time Leonard told her that she loved him, she didn't have the courage to respond yes or no and broke up with him.

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Goofs

The gas that Penny and Leonard inhale deepens their voices. At one point Penny inhales some, quotes a movie line (in the deep voice) but immediately after laughs in her normal voice.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Howard Wolowitz: [phone rings, Howard presses speaker-phone] Howard Wolowitz.
Dave Roeger: Hey, Howard. Dave Roeger here at NASA. We need to talk about your upcoming mission.
Howard Wolowitz: Yes, yes! I've been doing my pushups. I'm still stuck at nine, but... that's going all the way down with no-one holding me.
Dave Roeger: That's great, uh, but that's not why I called. We've run into a bit of a snafu. Your Soyuz capsule failed the pressurization test, so, bottom line, mission's been scrubbed.
Howard Wolowitz: [picks up handset] You're kidding. So what ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #387 He appeared normal. He spoke and behaved just like anyone else. The fact that he had no heart was very well concealed. Well, that's not entirely true. He did have one. It was just not in his possession at the moment. And this is where the story gets complicated. The woman who had the darn thing was blithely unaware of the fact. Well, that's not entirely true either. She knew that she'd left the relationship with more stuff than when she entered it, she just hadn't bothered to do a proper inventory. (Had she done so, she would have found several other hearts, as well as a few sets of balls.) Regardless, his dilemma remained the same. A woman had absconded with a vital organ and the gnawing emptiness he felt was a direct reflection of that vacancy. Well, that's not entirely true either. The gnawing thing had actually been with him since he was a child. He just liked to assign blame for the condition.

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Connections

References Dirty Dancing (1987)

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Soundtracks

"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"
(uncredited)
Written by Dr. Seuss and Albert Hague
Performed by Johnny Galecki

User Reviews

While not the best, I still liked "The Launch Acceleration" ep of "The Big Bang Theory" enough to say "worth a look"

In this ep of "The Big Bang Theory": Well, Howard gets a call from NASA telling him his mission is canceled. He seems disappointed...until he hangs up and exults in waiting to die while in his 50s and eating pastrami sandwiches! Meanwhile, Amy invites Sheldon to her apartment for dinner, which consists of some of his childhood favorites like milk mixed in pink Quick mix and spaghetti mixed with hot dogs which Sheldon recognizes as Amy's attempts to make her more appealing to him which he doesn't like...or does he? Oh, and Leonard and Penny take things a little quicker, if you know what mean...While not as good as the last few, this was a still funny enough ep of "The Big Bang Theory". Especially when we finally meet Bernadette's father who we find out didn't initially like his future son-in-law but had a change of heart when finding out about his profession. Oh, and Amy is really getting to Sheldon isn't she? So on that note, "The Launch Accleration" is a good enough ep of "The Big Bang Theory".