The Pants Alternative 

Sheldon seeks help from the rest of the gang in overcoming his fear of public speaking when he receives an award.

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

Storyline

Sheldon is this year's recipient of the college's Chancellor's Award for Science. He is surprised at being named the winner, but he believes he has been the deserving recipient every year he's been there. He changes his mind about accepting the award when he learns he has to make a speech at the awards dinner. Unbeknown to the others, Sheldon has stage fright. His four friends vow to help him overcome this fear, each playing a different but what they see as an integral part, so that he can accept the award. But Sheldon instead stumbles across a more old fashioned technique at the awards dinner to be able to make the speech.

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Plot Keywords:

fainting man | man wears a plaid suit | man wears a white tuxedo | award | awards dinner | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The song that Sheldon sings at the awards ceremony is "The Elements" by Tom Lehrer and Sir Arthur Sullivan. It is a recitation of the elements (known in 1959--102) sung to the tune of "Major General's Song" from "The Pirates of Penzance". It is on Lehrer's album 'Songs and More Songs by Tom Lehrer'.

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Goofs

When Leonard is acting as Sheldon's therapist, you can see Leonard taking notes from the side. But in the next scene, he's looking at Sheldon and holding his pencil up, not writing.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Raj Koothrappali: OK, in Avatar when they have sex on Pandora they hook up their ponytails, so we know their ponytails are like their junk.
Howard Wolowitz: Yeah, so?
Raj Koothrappali: So, when they ride horses and fly on their birds, they also use their ponytails.
Howard Wolowitz: What's your point?
Raj Koothrappali: My point is if I were a horse or a bird I'd be very nervous around James Cameron.

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Crazy Credits

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #282 We are often accused of using a 'laugh machine' on The Big Bang Theory. [Image of audience members] This is our laugh machine.

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Connections

References X-Men (2000)

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Soundtracks

The Elements
(uncredited)
Written by Tom Lehrer
Original melody by W.S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan
Performed by Jim Parsons
[Sheldon sings the song as part of his speech at the awards banquet]

User Reviews

Tom Lehrer Rocks

I hope people don't overlook this man's genius (Tom Lehrer) in writing the lyrics to "the Elements Song", basically singing the entire periodic table to the tune of "Gilbert & Sullivans" "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General." I believe any true geek who enjoys this sitcom and does not know about Tom Lehrer should familiarize themselves with him and especially his songs about mathematics! Just saying. He's very old now and will probably not be with with us much longer. Also, people in my age group (40-50) will remember him on the Electric Company television program ... he wrote "Silent E" and other classics.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

22 March 2010 (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