Tuesday, October 08, 2013

TODAY'S BOO TUBE: TWO BANGS

TODAY I BROUGHT OUT NOT ONE BUT TWO HALLOWEEN EPISODES OF "THE BIG BANG THEORY". 

First from Season 5 is "THE GOOD GUY FLUCTUATION".  This is the one that starts with the guys pulling a Halloween pranks and scaring the pee out of Sheldon.  This naturally causes Sheldon to go on a quest to scare them all back; which naturally fails miserably every time.  Sheldon's doomed attempts to scare Raj with a snake in his desk or shocking Howard with a souped-up joy buzzer end hilariously as does the mailbox prank involving Leonard.  The episode is quite well-directed (or should I say "misdirected") so that, by the end of the episode the big payoff is truly a wonderful surprise. 

Then from Season 6 we have "THE HOLOGRAPHIC EXCITATION" which has become known as the less funny than quite touching Halloween episode.  The emphasis here is not so much on big laughs as it is on the relationships involved.  Howard's realization that his constant harping on going to space is boring everyone silly is actually very poignant and amusing at the same time.  We've all done that or known someone who has.  The mechanics of relationships are explored with Bernadette's handling of the situation as well as the complications arising from Shamy's conflicting ideas about what a "couple's Halloween costume" consists of.  However, the most charming sequences are Penny's attempts to connect more with Leonard and his work.  Penny's visits to Leonard's lab are surprisingly sweet as Leonard genuinely manages to impress her with his knowledge.  We can actually see now what Penny might see in Leonard.  Even though the very fact that these geeks all manage to somehow have girlfriends goes against the very premise of the show, the characters of Penny, Bernadette and Amy are so well-drawn and acted that we don't notice that these three losers managed to get spectacular girlfriends.  All this and we get Buzz Aldrin too!  Halloween on "THE BIG BANG THEORY" is always a lot of fun and these two episodes are no exception.

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