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

Sheldon wears, among others, a green T-shirt bearing the emblem of DC Comics' Green Lantern Corp.

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Goofs

At the start of the episode when Leonard, Sheldon and Howard are wearing anaglyph 3D glasses they are all wearing the glasses inside out. The glasses are designed to be used with the red filter over the left eye and the cyan over the right, the characters have them the other way around.

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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 Star Trek (2009)

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Soundtracks

History of Everything (Instrumental version)
(uncredited)
Written by Barenaked Ladies
Performed by Barenaked Ladies
[Instrumental version of series theme song played over the closing credits]

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