The Maternal Congruence 

Leonard's mother makes a visit to his dismay and Sheldon's delight.

Director:

Mark Cendrowski

Writers:

Chuck Lorre (created by), Bill Prady (created by)

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
Christine Baranski	...	Dr. Beverly Hofstadter

Storyline

It's approaching Christmas, and Leonard's mother is coming for a visit, something Leonard fails to tell Penny. Sheldon surmises it's because Beverly Hofstadter will not approve of Penny as a suitable mate for her son. Leonard has not even yet told Beverly that Penny is his girlfriend. Conversely, when Beverly arrives, Leonard finds out that Sheldon knows more about what's going on in her life than he does. When Leonard does find out news about the senior Hofstadter household, he becomes emotionally distraught as what he deems important news to him was previously withheld. But more importantly, Leonard sees this action as a further demonstration of the poor relationship he has with his family. Meanwhile, Penny believes she has a way for Beverly to be a bit more emotionally expressive.

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Plot Keywords:

mother son hug | reference to the cheesecake factory | man wearing a bathrobe | christmas episode | visit | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

14 December 2009 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chuck Lorre Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

20 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16 : 9

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) and her waitress job are mentioned by Howard (Simon Helberg), but are not seen in this episode. There is no background appearance by Bernadette herself as the Cheesecake Factory waitress in the Cheesecake Factory scene of Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and Beverly (Christine Baranski) visiting the bar this episode. Howard explains her absence as she is out of town for her grandmother's funeral.

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Goofs

At the bar, when Penny tells Beverly she's sleeping with Leonard, the position of Beverly's hand on her shot glass and the amount of liquid in it changes between shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Penny: Ah, I always tear up when the Grinch's heart grows three sizes.
Sheldon Cooper: Tears seem appropriate. Enlargement of the heart muscle, or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is a serious disease which could lead to congestive heart failure.
Leonard Hofstadter: [to Deck the Halls] Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la.
Penny: You really didn't like it, Sheldon?
Sheldon Cooper: No, on the contrary. I found the Grinch to be a relatable, engaging character. And I was really with him right up to the point that he succumbed to social convention and returned ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

For this Christmas episode the Executive Producer's credit is shown in red and green instead of the normal white.

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Connections

References How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)

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Soundtracks

Deck the Hall
(uncredited)
Traditional tune
Lyrics by Thomas Oliphant
Performed by Johnny Galecki
[Leonard hums the song's tune when Sheldon talks about the heart in medical terms]

User Reviews

Best Christmas Theme Episode of BBT

Review Date 6/24/2019

I have Reviewed OVER 500 "Christmas Films and Specials". Please BEWARE Of films and specials with just one review! For instance When "It's a POSITIVE" chances are that the reviewer was involved with the production. "If its Negative" then they may have a grudge against the film for whatever reason. I am fare about these films.

It's Christmas time and Leonard mom comes to visit. Lots a huge laughs in this episode. Look at the final moment and it looks like Jim and Christine they unintentionally hit their heads pretty hard .