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** And apparently made significant progress with a six-breasted sex bot
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The penny one is more of a retcon and the other one was vague enough that nothing was really contradicted
* {{Retcon}}: In the pilot Penny was made out to be a little bit older (like mid-20's), being that she had broken up with her boyfriend, Kurt, of specifically 4 years. While the relationship and break-up were still maintained Penny's age was made out to be 21 in the pilot and the length of time with Kurt (given she was in high school in Nebraska 4 years prior) was not nearly as significant a part of her life.
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* SeriesContinuityError:
** There seem to be some contradictions when Penny moved to Pasadena. The pilot suggests she moved there after High School and had spent the first 4 years living with Kurt and then moving across from Leonard and Sheldon after they broke up. Later episodes suggest Penny moved out at the start of the series based on comments see makes about not getting an acting job in the time she's been there.
** It's also unclear when the elevator broke and how long Leonard and Sheldon lived in the apartment. An early episode suggests that it was already broken sometime in 2006 when Leonard and Sheldon started living in the apartment. However "The Staircase Implementation' points out that Leonard moved in with Sheldon in 2002 and that he accidentally broke the elevator with exploding rocket fuel soon after.
** There seem to be some contradictions when Penny moved to Pasadena. The pilot suggests she moved there after High School and had spent the first 4 years living with Kurt and then moving across from Leonard and Sheldon after they broke up. Later episodes suggest Penny moved out at the start of the series based on comments see makes about not getting an acting job in the time she's been there.
** It's also unclear when the elevator broke and how long Leonard and Sheldon lived in the apartment. An early episode suggests that it was already broken sometime in 2006 when Leonard and Sheldon started living in the apartment. However "The Staircase Implementation' points out that Leonard moved in with Sheldon in 2002 and that he accidentally broke the elevator with exploding rocket fuel soon after.
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* RealLifeRelative: In the 2013 Valentines Day episode Kaley Cuoco's sister Briana played Gretchen with whom an ex-boyfriend of Penny's cheated on her with.
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* RealLifeRelative: In the 2013 Valentines Day episode Kaley Cuoco's sister Briana played Gretchen with whom an ex-boyfriend of Penny's cheated on her with.
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* RealityEnsues: Penny snapping at Howard over his lecherous behavior towards her. Few women, especially ones as outgoing as Penny, would tolerate it week-in, week-out for years without without doing something about it (either what she actually did or simply refusing to even spend time in his company).
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* RealityEnsues: Penny snapping at Howard over his lecherous behavior towards her. Few women, especially ones as outgoing as Penny, would tolerate it week-in, week-out for years without without doing something about it (either what she actually did or simply refusing to even spend time in his company). It could be viewed as a commentary on how some {{Running Gag}}s get run into the ground.
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natter, tropes don\'t always have to be backed up or proven wrong by real world data, all that matters is how the story portrays it
* RealityEnsues: Penny snapping at Howard over his lecherous behavior towards her. Few women, especially ones as outgoing as Penny, would tolerate it week-in, week-out for years without without doing something about it (either what she actually did or simply refusing to even spend time in his company).
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*** The jury is out on Penny, really. Yes, she prefers stable relationships, but doesn't seem to have a problem leaping right into bed as soon as these "relationships" begin (which could be why they all seem to end so soon). She also may act angry or broken up over a relationship ending, but it doesn't usually take her long to bounce back. She admits in an early episode that her typical response to a breakup is to grab the nearest guy for a weekend of meaningless sex. A flashback to her teenaged years shows her celebrating a negative pregnancy test (plus she admits to sleeping with a pair of brothers while still a teenager, and letting each one know it...separately...''while in bed''). Honestly, considering that in real life even attractive women have an average of four to seven sex partners ''in their lives'', while Penny has doubled that ''in the course of the series''...it's probably not unfair to say she ReallyGetsAround.
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* SeriesContinuityError:
** There seem to be some contradictions when Penny moved to Pasadena. The pilot suggests she moved there after High School and had spent the first 4 years living with Kurt and then moving across from Leonard and Sheldon after they broke up. Later episodes suggest Penny moved out at the start of the series based on comments see makes about not getting an acting job in the time she's been there.
** It's also unclear when the elevator broke and how long Leonard and Sheldon lived in the apartment. An early episode suggests that it was already broken sometime in 2006 when Leonard and Sheldon started living in the apartment. However "The Staircase Implementation' points out that Leonard moved in with Sheldon in 2002 and that he accidentally broke the elevator with exploding rocket fuel soon after.
** There seem to be some contradictions when Penny moved to Pasadena. The pilot suggests she moved there after High School and had spent the first 4 years living with Kurt and then moving across from Leonard and Sheldon after they broke up. Later episodes suggest Penny moved out at the start of the series based on comments see makes about not getting an acting job in the time she's been there.
** It's also unclear when the elevator broke and how long Leonard and Sheldon lived in the apartment. An early episode suggests that it was already broken sometime in 2006 when Leonard and Sheldon started living in the apartment. However "The Staircase Implementation' points out that Leonard moved in with Sheldon in 2002 and that he accidentally broke the elevator with exploding rocket fuel soon after.
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--> '''Mrs Cooper:'''*beat* [[LampshadeHanging Well, isn't that sweet.]]
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--> '''Mrs Cooper:'''*beat* Cooper:''' *beat* [[LampshadeHanging Well, isn't that sweet.]]
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** When Amy buys Penny a portrait of the two of them that is too garish to display and too expensive to get rid of, the matter is eventually resolved when Penny hangs the portrait on the fourth wall of her apartment. The hanging is portrayed by the camera shot representing the "point of view" of the portrait being straightened when hung.
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---->'''Sheldon''': No spaces.
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*** An even more specific example of this is that while playing Super Mario 64, Sheldon is inside Peach's Castle (according to the music). When Penny asks him a question and they start talking, Sheldon pauses the game, also stopping the music. When Penny's gone and he unpauses, the music that plays is from the middle of one of Bowser's worlds.
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*** An even more specific example of this is that while playing Super Mario 64, Sheldon is inside Peach's Castle (according to the music). When Penny asks him a question and they start talking, Sheldon pauses the game, also stopping the music. When Penny's gone and he unpauses, the music that plays is from the middle of one of Bowser's worlds. Possibly averted: [[spoiler: Savestates.]]
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* PacmanFever: Averted to some extent: They do use realistic sound effects for the games, show actual ''AgeOfConan'' screens, and showed Howard and Leonard boxing in ''WiiSports''. However, they never actually show their ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'' matches (likely due to copyright), and some of the commentary is a bit off (at one point, they mentioned a "health pack" in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' and charging a plasma rifle when a plasma pistol is the weapon that does that). In another episode, they show some gameplay footage from ''[[MarioKart Mario Kart Wii]]'', and even then, it's not shoehorned.
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* PacmanFever: Averted to some extent: They do use realistic sound effects for the games, show actual ''AgeOfConan'' screens, and showed Howard and Leonard boxing in ''WiiSports''. ''VideoGame/WiiSports''. However, they never actually show their ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'' ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' matches (likely due to copyright), and some of the commentary is a bit off (at one point, they mentioned a "health pack" in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' and charging a plasma rifle when a plasma pistol is the weapon that does that). In another episode, they show some gameplay footage from ''[[MarioKart Mario Kart Wii]]'', and even then, it's not shoehorned.
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** The one directed at all four guys in The Nerdvana Annihilation. It caused a DespairEventHorizon moment for Leonard.
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** The one directed at all four guys in The "The Nerdvana Annihilation.Annihilation". It caused a DespairEventHorizon moment for Leonard.
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** The one directed at Howard in The Killer Robot Instability caused a HeroicBSOD.
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** The one directed at Howard in The "The Killer Robot Instability Instability" caused a HeroicBSOD.
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*** The jury is out on Penny, really. Yes, she prefers stable relationships, but doesn't seem to have a problem leaping right into bed as soon as these "relationships" begin (which could be why they all seem to end so soon). She also may act angry or broken up over a relationship ending, but it doesn't usually take her long to bounce back. She admits in an early episode that her typical response to a breakup is to grab the nearest guy for a weekend of meaningless sex. A flashback to her teenaged years shows her celebrating a negative pregnancy test. Honestly, considering that in real life even attractive women have an average of four to seven sex partners ''in their lives'', while Penny has doubled that ''in the course of the series''...it's probably not unfair to say she ReallyGetsAround.
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*** The jury is out on Penny, really. Yes, she prefers stable relationships, but doesn't seem to have a problem leaping right into bed as soon as these "relationships" begin (which could be why they all seem to end so soon). She also may act angry or broken up over a relationship ending, but it doesn't usually take her long to bounce back. She admits in an early episode that her typical response to a breakup is to grab the nearest guy for a weekend of meaningless sex. A flashback to her teenaged years shows her celebrating a negative pregnancy test.test (plus she admits to sleeping with a pair of brothers while still a teenager, and letting each one know it...separately...''while in bed''). Honestly, considering that in real life even attractive women have an average of four to seven sex partners ''in their lives'', while Penny has doubled that ''in the course of the series''...it's probably not unfair to say she ReallyGetsAround.
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* SurpriseParty: In one installment, Penny tries to throw Leonard a surprise birthday party when she finds out that he's never had a birthday party, but it doesn't work out. Leonard has to take Howard to the emergency room for a peanut allergy reaction and they don't get back home until well after the party is over.
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making a handy back-link
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''Series/TheBigBangTheory''
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***The jury is out on Penny, really. Yes, she prefers stable relationships, but doesn't seem to have a problem leaping right into bed as soon as these "relationships" begin (which could be why they all seem to end so soon). She also may act angry or broken up over a relationship ending, but it doesn't usually take her long to bounce back. She admits in an early episode that her typical response to a breakup is to grab the nearest guy for a weekend of meaningless sex. A flashback to her teenaged years shows her celebrating a negative pregnancy test. Honestly, considering that in real life even attractive women have an average of four to seven sex partners ''in their lives'', while Penny has doubled that ''in the course of the series''...it's probably not unfair to say she ReallyGetsAround.
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* SleepsWithEveryoneButYou: Poor Leonard, pining after Penny while listening to her complaints about sleeping with her jerkass boyfriends on every extreme way.
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* SleepsWithEveryoneButYou: Poor Leonard, pining after Penny while listening to her complaints complain about sleeping with her jerkass boyfriends on every extreme way.boyfriends.
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** Notably, no self-respecting nerd would be caught dead playing Monopoly when there are so many wonderful obscure German games about trading.
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** Notably, no self-respecting nerd would be caught dead playing Monopoly when there are so many wonderful obscure German games about trading. Settlers of Catan, for example, which is beginning to extend it's reference pool somewhat.
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** In the second Christmas ep, Leonard said that Sheldon roots for the sun when watching ''FrostyTheSnowman''.
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** In the second Christmas ep, Leonard said that Sheldon roots for the sun when watching ''FrostyTheSnowman''.''WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman''.
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*** In "The Friendship Algorithium", Sheldon says Howard drew a big-balled raccoon on the test Sheldon gave him. Turns out it may have been a reference to the anime film ''PomPoko.'', or more likely, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_raccoon_dog Tanuki]], yes just like in ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros''.
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** Also invoked by Penny's dad to try and get her back together with Leonard.
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* ParentalMarriageVeto: [[ReversePsychology Invoked]] by Sheldon's mother to get him back together with Amy.
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* ParentalMarriageVeto: [[ReversePsychology Invoked]] by Sheldon's mother to get him back together with Amy. Penny's dad also tries to use reverse psychology to get Penny back together with Leonard.
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* PromotionToOpeningTitles: The opening sequence doesn't actually give off a cast list but the final shot of the group eating take-out together has [[EvolvingCredits evolved a few times]] but always with the core 5 cast members. In season six Bernadette and Amy are finally added.
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** A StoryArc going through season five and the beginning of season six featured Howard getting the chance to be an astronaut going to the International Space Station. It's an immense accomplishment for an individual and incites some jealousy within the group but the mission was ultimately fairly routine and nothing of real notoriety happened. Part of the character arc involves the reality that he likely won't be recognized at the mall and the emotional high would wear off over time.
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** In the third episode of the fourth season Sheldon explicitly stated a preference for the Empire when Leonard used the Rebel Alliance as an analogy for their group.
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** In the third episode of the fourth season Sheldon explicitly stated a preference for the Empire Empire, when Leonard used the Rebel Alliance as an analogy for their group.group. Apparently, his only problem with them is their tendency to build Death Stars.
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Minor grammar fixes
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** Howards adventures in space involved a couple of locations for the International Space Station and the Module used for travel. They actually had Mike Massimino from NASA as a consultant and guest star and he helped them build the sets to the approximate scale and look.
* ShutUpKiss: Leonard has a habit of [[PoorCommunicationKills rambling on topics irrelevant to what he is trying to get at]] (going on about how Indian food helps clean out your colon when inviting Penny to lunch in the Pilot). As him and Penny grow closer romantically Leonard will still ramble on and Penny will quiet him down with a kiss, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AcJ31lx_0I like so]].
* ShutUpKiss: Leonard has a habit of [[PoorCommunicationKills rambling on topics irrelevant to what he is trying to get at]] (going on about how Indian food helps clean out your colon when inviting Penny to lunch in the Pilot). As him and Penny grow closer romantically Leonard will still ramble on and Penny will quiet him down with a kiss, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AcJ31lx_0I like so]].
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** Howards Howard's adventures in space involved a couple of locations for the International Space Station and the Module used for travel. They actually had Mike Massimino from NASA as a consultant and guest star and he helped them build the sets to the approximate scale and look.
* ShutUpKiss: Leonard has a habit of [[PoorCommunicationKills rambling on topics irrelevant to what he is trying to get at]] (going on about how Indian food helps clean out your colon when inviting Penny to lunch in the Pilot). Ashim he and Penny grow closer romantically Leonard will still ramble on and Penny will quiet him down with a kiss, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AcJ31lx_0I like so]].
* ShutUpKiss: Leonard has a habit of [[PoorCommunicationKills rambling on topics irrelevant to what he is trying to get at]] (going on about how Indian food helps clean out your colon when inviting Penny to lunch in the Pilot). As
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*** His knowledge and familiarity with more "girly" topics such as loving ''BridgetJonesDiary'' and knowledge of fashion.
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*** His knowledge and familiarity with more "girly" topics such as loving ''BridgetJonesDiary'' ''BridgetJones's Diary'' and knowledge of fashion.
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** Also, in a zigg-zagging example of the trope, in the episode where Sheldon's apartment is "visited" by burglars, he lists all the consoles that have been stolen (A list consisting of an Xbox 360 and every Nintendo home-console from the NES to the Wii), and a list of games after that (such as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''.).... Only problem is, he doesn't list any games for the Super Nintendo he supposedly had. He ends the list with "[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking oh, and]] ''[[{{Pac-Man}} Ms. Pac-Man]]''".
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** Also, in a zigg-zagging example of the trope, in the episode where Sheldon's apartment is "visited" by burglars, he lists all the consoles that have been stolen (A list consisting of an Xbox 360 and every Nintendo home-console from the NES to the Wii), and a list of games after that (such as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''.).... Only problem is, he doesn't list any games for the Super Nintendo he supposedly had. He ends the list with "[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking oh, and]] ''[[{{Pac-Man}} ''[[VideoGame/{{Pac-Man}} Ms. Pac-Man]]''".
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*** In "The Friendship Algorithium", Sheldon says Howard drew a big-balled raccoon on the test Sheldon gave him. Turns out it may have been a reference to the anime film ''PomPoko.'', or more likely, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_raccoon_dog Tanuki]], yes just like in SuperMarioBros
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*** In "The Friendship Algorithium", Sheldon says Howard drew a big-balled raccoon on the test Sheldon gave him. Turns out it may have been a reference to the anime film ''PomPoko.'', or more likely, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_raccoon_dog Tanuki]], yes just like in SuperMarioBros''Franchise/SuperMarioBros''.
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** Doubling as an ActorAllusion, Wil Wheaton's TheGuild t-shirt when he appears on ''[[ShowWithinAShow Sheldon Cooper's Fun With Flags]]''
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** Doubling as an ActorAllusion, Wil Wheaton's TheGuild ''WebVideo/TheGuild'' t-shirt when he appears on ''[[ShowWithinAShow Sheldon Cooper's Fun With Flags]]''
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* ShipTease: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] between Leonard and Amy. Amy coerced Leonard to be her date for a co-workers wedding (Sheldon doesn't like going because [[AdultChild there weren't any other scientists his age]]) and Amy ended up cheering Leonard out of a funk. To his own surprise he enjoyed spending time with her and gave her a kiss on the cheek for a goodbye, with Amy misinterpreting it as being that Leonard had fallen for her. Of course, the kiss on the cheek was part of the commercials for the episode.
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* ShipTease: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] between Leonard and Amy. Amy coerced Leonard to be her date for a co-workers wedding (Sheldon doesn't like going because [[AdultChild there There weren't any other scientists his age]]) age) and Amy ended up cheering Leonard out of a funk. To his own surprise he enjoyed spending time with her and gave her a kiss on the cheek for a goodbye, with Amy misinterpreting it as being that Leonard had fallen for her. Of course, the kiss on the cheek was part of the commercials for the episode.
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FBI agents do perform security checks on people working on government projects
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** And the episode where Howard's background investigation for security clearance was conducted by an FBI agent instead of someone from the Office of Personnel Management.
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* PacmanFever: Averted to some extent: They do use realistic sound effects for the games, show actual ''AgeOfConan'' screens, and showed Howard and Leonard boxing in ''WiiSports''. However, they never actually show their ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'' matches (likely due to copyright), and some of the commentary is a bit off (at one point, they mentioned a "health pack" in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' and charging a plasma rifle when a plasma pistol is the weapon that does that). In another episode, they show some gameplay footage from ''[[MarioKart Mario Kart Wii]]'', and even then, it's not shoehorned.
** In one episode, Sheldon sits out in the hall playing ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' on his laptop via {{emulation}} as he can't use the console in the apartment. The sound effects are entirely correct. However, he also mentions the his mother sent the memory card along with the console. The N64 did have memory cards, but they were only compatible with certain games. ''Mario 64'' was one that saved directly to the cartridge.
*** An even more specific example of this is that while playing Super Mario 64, Sheldon is inside Peach's Castle (according to the music). When Penny asks him a question and they start talking, Sheldon pauses the game, also stopping the music. When Penny's gone and he unpauses, the music that plays is from the middle of one of Bowser's worlds.
** Also, in a zigg-zagging example of the trope, in the episode where Sheldon's apartment is "visited" by burglars, he lists all the consoles that have been stolen (A list consisting of an Xbox 360 and every Nintendo home-console from the NES to the Wii), and a list of games after that (such as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''.).... Only problem is, he doesn't list any games for the Super Nintendo he supposedly had. He ends the list with "[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking oh, and]] ''[[{{Pac-Man}} Ms. Pac-Man]]''".
*** For what it's worth, [[http://www.videogameobsession.com/videogame/snes-boxes/snes-mspacman.jpg Ms. Pac-Man was available on Super Nintendo.]]
* PaintballEpisode: The guys play on their own time and there is some company activities there with teams divided by department (apparently the pharmacology department were hyped up on experimental steroids). They are generally accurate to the game, using masks that reasonably cover the face and body armor, although they do remove their masks when in a bunker. As common for the trope, they are strategizing and constantly worrying about when their "time" will come.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: [[ReversePsychology Invoked]] by Sheldon's mother to get him back together with Amy.
** Mr. and Mrs. Kootherppali's disproval of Leonard and Pryia's relationship. Howard THOUGHT Mrs. Wolowitz was going to have this kind of reaction to his engagement to Bernadette, but she actually really likes her.
* ParentalSubstitute: Penny is often forced to mother Sheldon. This sometimes includes Leonard acting as a father, including Sheldon being frightened when they fight and after the break-up where they act like ''divorced'' parents. Sadly, this partially comes from Sheldon having bad memories of his parents fighting.
* PassiveAggressiveKombat: Sheldon
* PermaShave
* PersonalitySwap: A very mild version, but Penny once dislocated her shoulder and was taken to the hospital by Sheldon. Returning home ''high'' on painkillers, she convinced Sheldon to sing "[[RunningGag Soft Kitty]]" to her. Usually the roles are reversed.
** There are a few times where the other characters mimic Sheldon's idiosyncratic door knocking, specifically Penny when Sheldon stole her laundry during an EscalatingWar.
* PickedLast: After Penny and Leonard break up, Sheldon is asked whether he's on "Team Penny" or "Team Leonard." He answers, "Whichever team picks last," since that's how it happened when he was in high school (unless there was a kid in a wheelchair).
** Made all the funnier by the fact that Sheldon ''never went'' to high school to begin with.
* PitySex: The proxy version. Leonard and Raj hire a prostitute for Howard on a trip to Las Vegas that happens right after Leslie Winkle breaks up with him, though any sex that might ensue is glossed over.
** Penny blasted Howard for being a creepy sleaze, hurting his feelings. When she goes to apologize, he tries to kiss her, and has his nose broken. When the guys hassle him about it, he says "The way I see it, I'm halfway to pity sex".
* ThePlan: "The Good Guy Fluctuation" when Howard and Raj reveal themselves as the pranksters behind the attempt to scare Sheldon at the office. But to paraphrase Homer Simpson, their zany scheme was a front for an even zanier scheme. Anticipating that their relatively tame and cliche hijinks wouldn't scare Sheldon, Howard and Raj seemingly admit defeat in Sheldon's office when a man wearing a mask of the alien from the end credits of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' pops out behind Sheldon's white board, successfully scaring Sheldon. The man unmasks; [[spoiler: it's Leonard.]]
** It's a XanatosGambit in that they forsaw that their intial pranks would fail but a KansasCityShuffle in that the initial pranks were a distraction from the true scaring attempt.
* PlatoIsAMoron: Sheldon compares himself to Isaac Newton in one episode, declaring that "Gravity would have occurred to me without the apple."
* PoorCommunicationKills: After Leonard and Penny's first date, she confided in Sheldon that she lied to Leonard about getting a community college degree, and swore him to secrecy. Sheldon nearly went crazy holding it in, and told Leonard only when he was [[ItMakesSenseInContext drugged up on Vicodin]]. Leonard assumed Penny was embarrassed over not completing college and tried to show support by giving her a Community College brochure. The problem was Penny didn't care so much about college as she was worried Leonard considered himself too smart for her, and him bringing over the brochure validated her concerns. This is largely the reason for their [[{{UST}} romantic false start]] in the second season.
* PortmanteauCoupleName: In-universe. "Shamy" in the Season 4 Premiere for Sheldon and Amy.
** Amy is quick to put an end to it, though.
* PowerTrio: Discussed by the writers at a convention, Leonard occupies a space where he is pulled in two directions: a greater world of human social interaction with Penny and a seclusive world of math and science with Sheldon. It thereby makes Penny TheMcCoy, Sheldon TheSpock and Leonard TheKirk.
* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Goes in two ways, Penny failing to recognize the geeky stuff, and Sheldon & Co. not knowing relatively normal things.
--> '''Penny:''' ''(reading a trivia game card)'' [[WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird Tweety Bird]] will often say 'I tawt I taw a...' what.\\
'''Sheldon:''' ''(after several seconds of tense, non-verbal communication with Leonard)'' ...[[Franchise/StarTrek Romulan]]?
* [[PoorPredictableRock Poor Predictable Spock]]: Aside from being the only thing anyone picks in Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock, Sheldon is always thinking of Spock when playing 20 Questions.
** He also considers himself the Spock of their "away team". (Leonard is Kirk, Howard is Scotty, and Rajesh is [[RedShirt "that guy who always gets killed."]])
* PrecisionFStrike: After Sheldon says that Howard's robotic hand is no more than a minor upgrade from fast food animatronics, Howard makes the hand give Sheldon [[FlippingTheBird the finger]]. Subverted since it ended up giving him the peace sign[[note]]which would have been just as strong as giving him the finger, had they been in Britain[[/note]].
** Sheldon rarely swears, so when he does it comes as a surprise. He swears more often when quoting someone than of his own accord: "He was very understanding; he said, 'Got you back jack, bitches be crazy'".
** Amy invited Leonard to be her date to a wedding and made a conscious effort to be social and engaging, with Leonard not really being good company. Eventually she calls him out on his moping around and said, "I have a kinda-sorta boyfriend who is playing with model trains tonight and you don't hear me bitching about it."
* PrehensileTail: Parodied in an episode as the foursome are playing a group roleplaying game as bad guys approach.
-->'''Leonard''': They're on my tail! ...But it's prehensile so I can handle them.
* PricelessMingVase: Sheldon's broken transporter toy.
* ProductPlacement:
** All of Chuck Lorre's recent projects, including ''Two and a Half Men'', use and place Safeway products around the set.
** All of the gang's shirts are available for purchase (most of them can be found [[http://www.thinkgeek.com here]]), as is the periodic table of elements shower curtain.
** One that's more subtle, but WarnerBrothers owns the show (alongside Creator/DCComics) and the vast majority of comic references comes from DC, and the comic shop the guys frequent seems to only sell DC titles (and Comicbook/{{Madman}}.) But Marvel comics, as well as smaller companies and series, do show up from time-to-time. (Perhaps most notably the episode with guest star Stan Lee).
*** Episode 5x07 had several #1 issues from the September DC reboot. Presumably those issues will be missing the page adverts for this show.
*** After being synidcated to {{TBS}}, the station has two different forms of the trope going; A), using clips from the show and splicing in TBS (sometimes pretty [[LipSynch badly]]), and B) having static shots of the main apartments, particularly the guys' formula boards, where the product placement of the day equals funny/delicious/good (anything from pizza to beer to a service) even if the show doesn't have anything to really do with the product.
* PuppyDogEyes: Leonard, of all people, manages to pull one off in Season 6 [[spoiler:just before Penny was about to give him the break up speech.]]
** This is then imitated by Penny, Amy and Bernadette to great comedic effect.
* PutOnABus:
** In "The Plimpton Stimulation", Bernadette. Offscreen, no less.
*** TheBusCameBack: She returned in "The Hot Troll Deviation" becoming a regular character [[spoiler:and got back together with Howard. As of the end of Series 5 they're ''married.'']]
** Leonard's doctor girlfriend in the second season. In her last appearance, Leonard was afraid she was getting too close, but the episode seemed to end with everything turning out all right. Then she was never seen or talked about again.
** Leslie Winkle, which is lampshaded when Leonard goes to see her and she remarks its been around ''18 months'' since they last spoke.
* QueerPeopleAreFunny: With a rare female example with Amy, who has an unhealthy obsession with Penny.
* TheRainMan: Sheldon, to some extent. Also either subverts or takes this trope to the extreme, depending on your point of view.
** Some of the nastier aspects of him seem to have been based on the writings of J. Arturo Silva, a forensic psychiatrist who famously diagnosed Jeffrey Dahmer with Asperger's.
* RandomNumberGod: 5x04 Sheldon decides to let dice make his every pointless decision.
* RankedByIQ: Sheldon often uses his IQ as a 'proof' that he's correct.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Penny was absent for two episodes in Season 4 and was behind the bar of the Cheesecake Factory when she returned. This was to work around Kaley Cuoco suffering a compound fracture in her leg after she fell off her horse and it stepped on her leg.
* ReallyGetsAround:
** Leslie Winkle is implied to be this, referring to waking up on a futon with half a dozen strangers as a reason to try and settle down with Leonard.
** Penny objects to being perceived this way after Sheldon calculates the number of men she's slept with in her lifetime based on her current statistics. The thing with Penny isn't that she sleeps around but that she really appreciates a physical relationship with her boyfriends, she just seems to have a new boyfriend every other week in the early seasons.
* RealSongThemeTune: Music/BarenakedLadies' "The History of Everything".
* RearrangeTheSong: As ''Theory'' entered 5 night a week syndication in 2011, Music/BarenakedLadies' wrote and preformed a number of different versions of the lyrics to the RealSongThemeTune "The History of Everything" mentioning the cast by name, which aired in short ads shown after the first commercial break.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Penny's delivered two of them, one to all four of the guys, the second to Howard exclusive.
** The one directed at all four guys in The Nerdvana Annihilation. It caused a DespairEventHorizon moment for Leonard.
--->(Penny comes in and is upset with the guys.)
--->'''Penny:''' OK! First of all, what you call a gap, was nearly 3 feet wide; I slipped and skinned my knee.
--->'''Leonard:''' Are you OK?
--->'''Penny:''' Azzzzzz! Second of all, the door to the stairway of the other building was locked, so I had to go down the fire-scape which ended on the third floor, forcing me to crawl through the window of a lovely Armenian family, who insisted I stay for lunch.
--->'''Leonard:''' That doesn't sound too bad?
--->'''Penny:''' It was eight courses of lamb and they tried to fix me up with their son.
--->'''Leonard:''' Sorry.
--->'''Penny:''' Not done! By the time I finally got to work, they'd given my shift away. Yeah, that's right, I lost an entire day's pay thanks to this, this...
--->'''Sheldon:''' Time Machine.
--->(Penny stares at Sheldon, giving him an evil glare.)
--->'''Leonard:''' The lights flash and the dish spins, you wanna try it?
--->'''Penny:''' No! I don't wanna try it; my god, you are grown men, how can you waste your lives with these, stupid toys and costumes and comic books?! And now that! That...
--->'''Sheldon''': Again, Time Machine.
--->'''Penny:''' Oh please! It's not a time machine, if anything, it looks like something that Elton John would drive through the Everglades.
--->'''Sheldon:''' It only moves in time. It would be worse than useless in a swamp.
--->'''Penny:''' Pathetic! ALL OF YOU! Completely pathetic!
** The one directed at Howard in The Killer Robot Instability caused a HeroicBSOD.
--->'''Penny:''' I know you think you’re some sort of smooth-talking ladies’ man, but the truth is, you are just pathetic and creepy.
--->'''Howard:''' Um, so what are you saying?
--->'''Penny:''' I am saying it is not a compliment to call me doable. It’s not sexy to stare at my ass and say, “Ooh, it must be jelly ’cause jam don’t shake like that.” And most important, we are not dancing a tango, we’re not to’ing and fro’ing. Nothing is ever going to happen between us. Ever.
--->'''Howard:''' Wait a minute. This isn’t flirting, you’re serious.
--->'''Penny:''' Flirting? You think I’m flirting with you? I am not flirting with you, no woman is ever gonna flirt with you, you’re just gonna grow old and die alone.
* RecklessGunUsage: An interesting case is that Penny is shown using proper procedure in clearing the chamber before loading the clip with the safety on. Doesn't stop Leonard from [[VisualPun shooting himself in the foot]].
* RedAlert: Sheldon getting a cold is serious enough to cause Leonard to run out of the apartment in the early hours of the morning, frantically calling ''everyone'' so they can bunker down and avoid looking after him.
--> '''Leonard''': We're at Code Milky-Green! Repeat! Milky-Green!
--> '''Howard''': [[OhCrap Dear God!]] [[AnythingButThat Not Milky-Green!]]
* ReedRichardsIsUseless: All of the scientists on the show are fairly accomplished, but to keep the premise from overwhelming the average episode they are unlikely to make any major contributions to science and engineering. As well Sheldon is not going to prove string theory or otherwise get a Nobel Prize because however smart the science consultant may be, they are unlikely to have a Nobel Prize worthy theory in their back pocket.
** When StephenHawking points out that Sheldon made an error in his mathematics, meaning that his revolutionary theory about the Higgs boson is actually ''completely wrong''.
---> '''Sheldon''': Oh, gosh golly, I made a boo-boo... And I gave it to StephenHawking. *''faints''*
---> '''StephenHawking''': Great... ''another'' fainter!
* RelationshipUpgrade: Between Leonard and Penny, at the beginning of season three. [[spoiler: They broke up about 3/4 of the way through the season. They get back together in season five]].
** And, as of 5x10, [[spoiler: Sheldon and Amy]].
* ReligiousRobot: Discussed. When the boys talk about having their consciousnesses implanted into robots, Howard says that his robot would have to stay Jewish because "I promised my mother." The others talk about how Howard would have to power down on Saturdays and have his rabbi discuss with the manufacturer about getting circumcised.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Raj's sister, Priya is introduced in Season four with a full back story explained in exposition, plus a never-before-mentioned [[spoiler: romantic entanglement with Leonard]].
* ReversePsychology: Sheldon's mother uses this to get Sheldon and Amy back together when they break up their friendship in "The Zazzy Substitution".
--> '''Mrs Cooper:''' He thinks he's such a smarty-pants, he's no different from any man. You tell 'em not to do something, that's all they want to do. [[NoodleIncident If I hadn't told my brother Stumpy not to clean out the wood-chipper by hand we'd still be calling him Edward]]. Now, don't you move - I'll bring over all the food.
--> '''Leonard:''' No, I can do it. [gets up]
--> '''Mrs Cooper:'''*beat* [[LampshadeHanging Well, isn't that sweet.]]
* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder:
-->'''Professor [[MeaningfulName Crawley]]''': Let me ask you a question. What does an accomplished entomologist with a doctorate and twenty years of experience do when the university cuts all his funding? \\
'''Raj''': [[LampshadeHanging Ask rhetorical questions that make people feel uncomfortable]]?
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: A literal one in "The Good Guy Fluctuation" by Sheldon, victim of a Halloween prank from Leonard. Early in the episode, Sheldon insists that Leonard open a mailbox, only for Leonard to find junk mail. When Sheldon goes to open the mailbox, an airbag with Leonard's face pops out, scaring Sheldon. Sheldon gets Leonard back by hiding in the apartment couch while Leonard is sitting on it talking to Priya. When Leonard is done, Sheldon pops out of the couch roaring, wearing a green shirt, purplish zombie makeup and fake blood on his lip. Sheldon: "Bazinga punk! Now we're even!"
* RoboSexual: Raj gets a little too attached to his [=iPhone=].
** Howard has a bit of trouble with the robot arm he built in the season four opener.
* RockPaperScissors Lizard Spock. [[PoorPredictableRock Poor Predictable Spock]].
* RomanticFalseLead: Some for Penny, some for Leonard -- although his are more Little False Leads, in that he'd always prefer to be with Penny.
* RootingForTheEmpire: Some in-universe examples.
** In the second Christmas ep, Leonard said that Sheldon roots for the sun when watching ''FrostyTheSnowman''.
*** He also likes the Grinch until the Grinch has his change of heart.
** In the third episode of the fourth season Sheldon explicitly stated a preference for the Empire when Leonard used the Rebel Alliance as an analogy for their group.
* RuleOfFunny:
** The episode where Sheldon's ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' account got hacked - while the desperate lengths the foursome get into to try recovering his items (including going into a BlackMarket in Goldshire, of all places, and Raj volunteering to seduce someone for the information), but completely ignores what ''actually'' happens when a ''[=WoW=]'' account gets hacked, and the reasons for doing so.
** And the episode where Howard's background investigation for security clearance was conducted by an FBI agent instead of someone from the Office of Personnel Management.
** And then another episode's scene where Raj had bought a very nice area rug at Big Lots, but ended up with eleven extra rugs because it was only available in a case of twelve. In reality, Big Lots only sells single rugs, and they're not available (in store) by the case.
* RuleOfThree: Sheldon knocking on a door, ''any'' door.
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Penny opens the door after two, and then supplies the third herself.
*** To which he responded, "That's just wrong."
** When Sheldon saves Leonard from [[spoiler:the rocket fuel explosion that destroyed the elevator]].
--->'''Leonard:''' I'm just glad Sheldon didn't rat me out to the landlord... or the police... or Homeland Security...
** Sheldon has a bad breakfast: orange juice - "In what universe is that non-pulp?", English muffin - "In what universe is that 'lightly toasted'?" and margarine - "Well, I have no difficulty believing you're not butter."
* RulesLawyer: Played straight with Sheldon, who exploits the Roommate Agreement for all it's worth. Then hilariously inverted when Leonard gets his own ''literal'' Rules Lawyer who then proceeds to exploit every ''technicality'' in the Agreement for all it's worth.
* RunningGag: Some for each character
** Sheldon:
*** His idiosyncratic door knocking, three sets of three knocks, with the name of the person on the other side between each knock. And when he does it to Penny, her responses to such. Notable examples of this are when Penny turns it into a door knocking war (repeating his knocking pattern from the other side of the door and saying his name) and when Sheldon knocks as TheFlash.
*** "I'm not crazy! My mother had me tested." and "Bazinga" (a coined term Sheldon made to identify when he is pranking someone.
*** "Coitus", originating with Howard in the pilot but often used by Sheldon as a substitution for the word "sex."
*** First confirming that what someone else said was a joke before giving a slight titter in response.
*** "That's my spot."
*** Soft Kitty is sung at least once a season and almost always interrupted; whoever's singing it always has to start from the top, not where they left off.
** Leonard:
*** Lactose Intolerance and other dietary restrictions.
*** The FacePalm, befitting his StraightMan character
*** Declaring "Here we go..." (usually right before Sheldon goes on one of his rants)
** Penny:
*** Her general ignorance of most geeky pop culture, including Creator/StanLee and having never watched ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''. This has been played down in later years because of her close proximity to the guys she has come to learn much of that stuff.
*** Penny's "check engine" light is constantly on, Sheldon and others bug her about attending to it, and she refuses.
*** Penny's use of the guys' wifi, and Sheldon changing the password to something like pennygetyourownwifi.
---->'''Sheldon''': No spaces.
*** Whenever she asks about something she doesn't understand, it's usually to Sheldon, and Leonard or Howard may try to stop her before groaning over having to hear Sheldon explaining something.
** Raj:
*** His knowledge and familiarity with more "girly" topics such as loving ''BridgetJonesDiary'' and knowledge of fashion.
*** Raj is a magnet for ''SlumdogMillionaire'' jokes.
*** Not being able to talk to or around women without being drunk or influenced by other substances.
** Howard:
*** His lack of a Ph.D
*** Being Jewish.
*** His top-volume screaming matches with his mother.
** Bernadette:
*** Her proximity to experiments involving dangerous bacteria like yellow fever and combining Ebola with the common cold.
*** Her inability to understand a joke (though it disappeared after a few episodes).
*** Her height (Melissa Rauch is just under 5').
*** Sounding just like Howard's mom when yelling or upset.
** Amy:
*** Childhood pranks being pulled on her.
*** Her infatuation with Penny, both as simply best friends and with some homosexual undertones.
*** Using her harp to play songs that normally are not played on the harp (like TV theme songs or Bon Jovi)
** For various characters:
*** The use of high-end scientific research equipment to perform everyday food prep tasks
* SarcasmBlind: Sheldon ''does'' understand sarcasm... meaning he knows what the word "sarcasm" means and is able to use it himself. He's just bad at detecting it.
-->'''Penny''': And what kind of doctor removes shoes from asses?\\
'''Sheldon''': Depending on the depth, that's either a proctologist or a general surgeon.\\
'''Leonard''': ''*holds up sarcasm sign*''
* SayMyName: WHEATON!!!!! Also a ShoutOut to TheKhan.
** Used by Penny once when Sheldon came knocking.
---> '''Sheldon:''' ''*knock knock knock [*Penny from behind the door* Who do we love!]'' Penny.
---> ''*knock knock knock [Who do we love!]'' Penny.
---> ''*knock knock knock [Who do we love!]'' Penny. ''[Penny finally opens the door]''
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: According to President Siebert, this is how Sheldon maintains his position at the university. Siebert thinks Sheldon is "nuts" (not without reason - Sheldon once came knocking on his door at one in the morning, ruined a fundraiser, took his trousers off when being presented with the Chancellor's Award and dropped a huge quantity of foam on his head), but the "board insists he has a beautiful mind," so he stays. Interestingly, the Board seemingly still supports him even after aforementioned foam prank.
* SecondEpisodeIntroduction: A variation. While Raj met Penny in the pilot, it took him until getting drunk in the ''eighth'' episode before he could ''[[CannotTalkToWomen talk to her]]'' and properly introduce himself;
--> '''Raj''': I am talking to you?! *''Shakes hand''* Hello Penny! How are you?!
* SelfInducedAllergicReaction: Howard eats a nut bar to stall Leonard so they could set up Leonard's surprise birthday party. And because Penny was going to hook him up with her easy girlfriends.
** This is ''after'' he fakes an allergic reaction to the same thing for the same cause, only to realize the group wouldn't have enough time. And well...
* SelfInsertFic: Sheldon has written a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan fiction as a child, in which the crew recognize his abilities as a ChildProdigy and take him aboard.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Sheldon talks like this a lot. [[NoSocialSkills Even to Penny]].
** All the episode titles.
* SeriousBusiness: Amongst many other things (of which the weekly routine of meals and evening activities are just a small part), in the episode "The Hofstadter Isotope" a discussion about who would succeed Batman in the event of his death between Sheldon and an online community eventually leads to Penny's date being cut short after he is brought into the discussion as well.
** ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' to Sheldon. When his account gets hacked he calls the FBI... and when they hang up on him he calls the regular police.
* SexyShirtSwitch: Penny in the third episode of the third season, after her and Leonard's first night in his apartment and she was dancing and making French toast.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend:
** Leonard and Penny in an early episode.
** Sheldon toward Amy throughout Season 4.
* [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen She Who Must Not Be Seen]]: Howard's mother, Mrs. Wolowitz, who is also TheVoice.
* ShipperOnDeck:
** Most of the main cast ships [[PortmanteauCoupleName Shamy]] (Sheldon/Amy). [[spoiler:(In the beginning at least.)]]
** And at least Leonard's mother ships Howard/Raj.
** As of "The Boyfriend Complexity", [[spoiler: Penny's father ships Leonard/Penny.]]
** Sheldon ships Leonard/Stephanie very strongly in "The White Asparagus Triangulation".
* ShipSinking: Amy is pretty much this to the popular Penny/Sheldon ship. In particular, "The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition" not only shows how serious Sheldon is about Amy, but even dedicates a scene to addressing why he is not compatible with Penny.
** Sheldon's speech even uses some of the most common elements for the ship that appear in just about every "Shenny" fanfic, which Penny then proceeds to tear down one by one. The ship isn't only just sunk, it never ''existed''.
* ShipTease: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] between Leonard and Amy. Amy coerced Leonard to be her date for a co-workers wedding (Sheldon doesn't like going because [[AdultChild there weren't any other scientists his age]]) and Amy ended up cheering Leonard out of a funk. To his own surprise he enjoyed spending time with her and gave her a kiss on the cheek for a goodbye, with Amy misinterpreting it as being that Leonard had fallen for her. Of course, the kiss on the cheek was part of the commercials for the episode.
** Again in Season 5 when Sheldon asks Penny on a date to make Amy jealous when she begins to date Stewart.
* ShotToTheHeart: Sheldon tries to prank Howard with an ElectricJoyBuzzer, but Howard appears to collapse from a heart attack and is instructed to stab a syringe of adrenaline straight through his heart. Of course, it all turns out to be a counter-prank.
* ShoutOut / ReferenceOverdosed: When the four come back from their Arctic expedition, Leonard, Howard, and Raj all have grown caveman-like hair and beards, while Sheldon has a perfectly-groomed goatee... just like the one alternate-universe [[Franchise/StarTrek Spock]] had.
** Sheldon's various superhero T-shirts.
** Sheldon named their bowling team "The Wesley Crushers" meaning that they would crush Wil Wheaton. Everyone else (including Wheaton) saw it as a Fan Shout Out to the actor.
** In the episode guest starring Creator/StanLee, the judge who [[spoiler: throws Sheldon in jail]] is named "[[Creator/JackKirby J. Kirby]]".
*** In "The Friendship Algorithium", Sheldon says Howard drew a big-balled raccoon on the test Sheldon gave him. Turns out it may have been a reference to the anime film ''PomPoko.'', or more likely, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_raccoon_dog Tanuki]], yes just like in SuperMarioBros
** In the fourth season New Year's episode, the gang (plus Penny's current boyfriend, Zach) dressed up as members of the JusticeLeagueOfAmerica for a party at the comic book store. Others were dressed as [[Series/DoctorWho the Fourth Doctor]], [[HarryPotter a Hogwarts student]], and SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker, among others.
** Just one more subtle: "The Apology Insufficiency" featured guest star [[{{Dollhouse}} Eliza Dushku]]. Towards the end of the episodes Sheldon tries to get Howard to forgive him for a mistake by "reprogramming" him.
** Sheldon's line [[Film/{{Casablanca}} "Of all the overrated physicists in all the labs in all the world, why does it have to be Leslie Winkle?"]]
** There are several shout outs to ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}''. They range from the characters talking about watching the show to Leonard, as Howard puts it, "taking out his aggressions on innocent Cylons" (i.e. he destroys a Cylon action figure with a laser).
*** Don't forget Cylon Toast! Everyone loves Cylon Toast.
** Many shout outs to ''Franchise/StarTrek'' both old school and new school. Penny gives Star Trek figurines to the guys, Sheldon is at first upset that he missed the Star Trek reboot then upset that he didn't get a LeonardNimoy Spock standee, a quick [[WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries Lt M'ress]] mention, Sheldon's feud with [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Wil Weaton]], Sheldon compares their friends to a landing party ("Now we have a Dr. [=McCoy=]!"), and of course...."Do you know what this means? I possess the DNA of LeonardNimoy!!!"
** There was an ironic shout-out to ''{{Firefly}}'' by JossWhedon in "The Staircase Implementation":
---> '''Sheldon''': "Roommates agree that Friday nights shall be reserved for watching Joss Whedon's brilliant new series, ''Firefly''."
--->'''Leonard''': "Does that really need to be in the agreement?"
--->'''Sheldon''': "Well we might as well settle it now, it's gonna be on for years."
** Sheldon's journal in "The Bozeman Reaction" is a shout-out to Rorschach's Journal in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''.
---> '''Sheldon''': Sheldon’s journal. Security system in place. However, sleep continues to elude me. I’ve seen the underbelly of Pasadena, this so-called City of Roses, and it haunts me. Ah, the injustice, I lie here awake, tormented, while out there evil lurks, [[FauxHorrific probably playing ''Donkey Kong'' on my classic Nintendo.]]
** Strangely enough, there is no mention in that episode that ''Bozeman, Montana'' where Sheldon decides to move to was also the location in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' where humanity made first contact with the Vulcans. You'd think ''Sheldon'' of all people would have brought that up.
** Doubling as an ActorAllusion, Wil Wheaton's TheGuild t-shirt when he appears on ''[[ShowWithinAShow Sheldon Cooper's Fun With Flags]]''
* ShowerOfLove: Leonard and Priya have sex in the shower in "The Agreement Dissection".
* ShownTheirWork: The show goes well out of its way to get the details of the science and tech stuff right, as well as generally listing actual things that geeks are into like ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'' and ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}''. Not only that, they have an actual physicist, Dr. David Salzberg, on hand to fill in the correct dialogue and write appropriate diagrams and formulas on the white boards. In fact, almost any mention of high-level science, such as theoretical procedures in which the characters would either be versed or have read/heard about through peer-reviewed journals are written as ''Science To Come'' (or similar) in the script, awaiting Salzburg's insight in order to be replaced with something relevant and accurate. All of this leads to GeniusBonus. This includes:
** Sheldon's search for magnetic monopoles in the second season finale was based on actual research being done at the time, with results posted over the season break. Similarly, his dilemma figuring out the contradiction with particles moving through a graphene sheet was related to contemporary research that later won the Nobel Prize.
*** Rivalries between different scientific specialties is also on the nose, with the show focusing much of it with Sheldon (Theoretical Physics) vs Leonard (Experimental Physics), Raj (Astrophysics) and especially Howard (Engineering, no Ph.D). Sheldon also holds a particular disdain for Geologists.
** Comparatively recent events in geekdom including a conversation involving the meaning of FinalCrisis, shake-ups in the Batman comics run and the re-establishment of the Creator/DCComics [[TheMultiverse Multiverse]].
--->'''Penny''', whilst in a comic-book shop, surrounded by nerds: "What's a 'multiverse'?"\\
'''[[ProudToBeAGeek Sheldon:]]''' [''turns to Leonard''] "Get her out of here."
** In "The Thespian Catalyst" Penny tries to teach Sheldon about acting and eventually gets to {{improv}}. Sheldon kept going off on tangents (asking for frozen yogurt at a shoe store) and Penny was rolling with it, which only confused Sheldon because (obviously) there is no such thing as a shoe warehouse/frozen yogurt hybrid store. Penny then explained the number one rule of improv, you say "Yes" and accept all scenarios given.
** Howards adventures in space involved a couple of locations for the International Space Station and the Module used for travel. They actually had Mike Massimino from NASA as a consultant and guest star and he helped them build the sets to the approximate scale and look.
* ShutUpKiss: Leonard has a habit of [[PoorCommunicationKills rambling on topics irrelevant to what he is trying to get at]] (going on about how Indian food helps clean out your colon when inviting Penny to lunch in the Pilot). As him and Penny grow closer romantically Leonard will still ramble on and Penny will quiet him down with a kiss, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AcJ31lx_0I like so]].
* SiblingYinYang: Sheldon's fraternal twin sister, Missy. In "The Luminous Fish Effect", after talking about what a pain Sheldon is, Sheldon's mother tells Howard that God didn't give her more than she could handle; she has two others kids who are "dumb as soup."
** More specifically, while Sheldon is a theoretical physicist, his twin sister Missy is a hostess at Fuddruckers.
* SitcomArchnemesis: Barry Kripke, Creator/WilWheaton and Leslie Winkle at different points, all for Sheldon.
* SignificantReferenceDate: In the episode entitled "The Excelsior Acquisition", Sheldon finds a traffic summons conserning an traffic incident that occured on 11/16, the airdate of "The Adhesive Duck Deficiency" in which the violation happenend.
* ASimplePlan: Played with in "The Loobenfeld Decay." [[spoiler:The lie works fine, but Sheldon is convinced it'll fall apart, and keeps trying to overcomplicate it.]]
* SingleTargetSexuality: Amy's early insistence that she has no interest in romantic love or physical contact ("up to and including coitus") takes on difference shades when she [[HomoeroticSubtext very openly admires]] Penny's "secondary sexual characteristics" and even ''suggests'' "harmless lesbian experimentation" at a sleepover. That said, she never shows any interest in any woman other than Penny.
* SkywardScream: Also a ShoutOut to ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Wrath of Khan]]''.
--> WHEEEAAAATOOOOOOONNN!!
** And as [[ShownTheirWork typical for this show]], it's a perfect recreation of "KHAN!" and not the [[PopculturalOsmosis osmosis]] version. Sheldon doesn't ''look'' up at the sky, he looks straight ahead with a close-up and screams "WHEATON!" and then the camera cuts to an AstronomicZoom pulling away from Earth.
* SmallReferencePools: Usually very good at averting this, although it sometimes sacrifices realistic characterization for (comparatively) more familiar references, like the time Sheldon said Ubuntu was his favorite Linux distribution.
** Notably, no self-respecting nerd would be caught dead playing Monopoly when there are so many wonderful obscure German games about trading.
** And of course, there was the questionnaire that Sheldon made for Raj, Howard and Leonard:
---> '''Sheldon:''' [to Raj] How ''could'' you think my favorite amino acid was glutamine?
* SleepCute: Howard and Raj.
* SleepsWithEveryoneButYou: Poor Leonard, pining after Penny while listening to her complaints about sleeping with her jerkass boyfriends on every extreme way.
* SlowLoadingInternetImage: A video variation. Leonard and Priya are communicating through teleconferencing and are attempting to have a long-distance intimate date. Leonard takes off his clothes, but when Priya starts to take off hers, the signal freezes just as she's taking off her bra.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Sheldon and his intelligence, one of the show's myths.
* SmartPeopleKnowLatin: Howard and Sheldon try to use this against each other.
* SmugSnake: Sheldon and his sister.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Penny, so very much. Averted in later seasons with the addition of Bernadette, Amy, and Priya.
* SnarkKnight:
** Penny took her role as the NerdNanny a bit more seriously in earlier episodes and [[HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster berated the guys for their awkward, sometimes inconsiderate tendencies]]. This lead to a few instances of NotSoAboveItAll and, eventually, OneOfUs. She can still be pretty brutal, but talks to them on their own terms.
** Prime example in "The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization" where Sheldon tries to make [[YourHeadASplode Leonard's head explode]] a la ''Film/{{Scanners}}''. Later, Penny finds a picture of herself on Wolowitz's website (listing her as his girlfriend) and [[CallBack does it to him]].
** Leonard has shades of it as well, especially when dealing when Sheldon.
* SouthernFriedGenius: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Sheldon, who ''very rarely'' speaks in his native East Texas drawl.
* SpitTake
--> '''Penny''': Okay, well, what do you communicate about?\\
'''Sheldon''': [[spoiler:Well, my work in physics, her work in neurobiology, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and most recently the possibility of our having a child together]].]]
* SpockSpeak: Sheldon.
* SpoiledBrat: Sheldon.
-->'''Sheldon''': ''*after being outvoted*'' I never get my way.
-->'''Leonard''': ''*dumbfounded*'' You ''always'' get your way!
-->'''Sheldon''': ''*beat, thinks about it*'' Regardless...
* StalkerWithACrush: Ramona in "The Cooper-Nowitzki Theorem", who is more in love with Sheldon's ''mind'' than him.
* StandardizedSitcomHousing: On the whole the show uses the typical set-up, with the hallway between apartments used extensively for scenes and conversations. But there are moments where they get camera angles showing the "fourth wall" with a completed set, one being a POV of Sheldon coming in from the hallway when the others were staging an intervention on his refusal to get a driver's license.
** The show manages a fairly clever recycling of the set by using the center hallway to represent three different floors with a minor redress, allowing a WalkAndTalk with only one set.
* StatusQuoIsGod: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Sheldon. After [[spoiler: Amy [[KissingUnderTheInfluence kisses him while drunk]],]] he suggests they treat their relationship like a malfunctioning computer and restore it to the last point they both agree that it worked (which, given that this is ''[[NoSocialSkills Sheldon]]'' we're talking about, is quite a mature thing to suggest).
* StealthPun: Cylon toast. Even better: [[http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/16/battlestar-galactica-cylon-toaster-produces-fanboy-approved-brea/ that's a real toaster.]]
* StonersAreFunny: Leonard, Raj, and Howard in "The Adhesive Duck Deficiency".
* StopHavingFunGuys: [[invoked]]Sheldon's approach to any hobby he might happen to share with other people.
--> '''Leonard''': What happened to your new friends?
--> '''Sheldon''': I had to leave. They were having fun wrong.
* StopHelpingMe: In the second episode Leonard and Sheldon got a spare key to Penny's apartment, which Sheldon used to ''clean'' her apartment in the middle of the night (with Leonard begrudgingly helping), [[TooDumbToLive leaving a note confessing to the act and offering advice on further organization]]. When she understandably freaks out, Leonard demands Sheldon apologize, to which he tells Penny, "I would like to apologize for what happened and I take full responsibility... [[ComicallyMissingThePoint and I hope this doesn't color your perception of Leonard... who I hear is a gentle and thorough lover."]]
* StupidSexyFlanders: Penny's ex-boyfriend Zac has this effect on Amy Farrah-Fowler. It's played with because she's usually {{Asexual}}.
** Early season one Penny started dating a guy for the first time and Leonard was a little miffed about it. When the others pressed him they asked "Is it because he looks better than you?" and Leonard admitted that it was true, "He was rather dreamy."
* StupidStatementDanceMix: Well, perhaps not ''stupid'' statements (they're all geniuses after all); but CBS used single words from various episodes to cobble together a promo stating rhytmically [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgArhI-TjAA "New night, new time, same ''Theory''. Thursday this fall only C B S."]]
** A similar trick is used in the syndicated version, clipping together bits to say [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6oB99szNoE "''Big Bang Theory,'' five nights a week."]]
* StylisticSuck: Sheldon and Amy's podcast "Fun with Flags".
* SuperOCD: Sheldon is ''powered'' by this.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Despite being surrounded by geniuses, Penny has common sense that none of the others possess.
** This forms a lot of Sheldon's frustrations towards Penny, which gets reversed in "The Shiny Trinket Manuever" where Sheldon keeps getting distracted at a jewelry store;
--->'''Penny:''' [[LampshadeHanging This is how it feels when I say something stupid to you, isn't it?]]
* SurvivalMantra: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muBDetZKNO0 Here's Sheldon's.]]
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: "Congratulations for your award, Sheldon! I have brought you a cake from the restaurant. To celebrate, not because someone has sneezed at it..."
** In one episode, Sheldon sits out in the hall playing ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' on his laptop via {{emulation}} as he can't use the console in the apartment. The sound effects are entirely correct. However, he also mentions the his mother sent the memory card along with the console. The N64 did have memory cards, but they were only compatible with certain games. ''Mario 64'' was one that saved directly to the cartridge.
*** An even more specific example of this is that while playing Super Mario 64, Sheldon is inside Peach's Castle (according to the music). When Penny asks him a question and they start talking, Sheldon pauses the game, also stopping the music. When Penny's gone and he unpauses, the music that plays is from the middle of one of Bowser's worlds.
** Also, in a zigg-zagging example of the trope, in the episode where Sheldon's apartment is "visited" by burglars, he lists all the consoles that have been stolen (A list consisting of an Xbox 360 and every Nintendo home-console from the NES to the Wii), and a list of games after that (such as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''.).... Only problem is, he doesn't list any games for the Super Nintendo he supposedly had. He ends the list with "[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking oh, and]] ''[[{{Pac-Man}} Ms. Pac-Man]]''".
*** For what it's worth, [[http://www.videogameobsession.com/videogame/snes-boxes/snes-mspacman.jpg Ms. Pac-Man was available on Super Nintendo.]]
* PaintballEpisode: The guys play on their own time and there is some company activities there with teams divided by department (apparently the pharmacology department were hyped up on experimental steroids). They are generally accurate to the game, using masks that reasonably cover the face and body armor, although they do remove their masks when in a bunker. As common for the trope, they are strategizing and constantly worrying about when their "time" will come.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: [[ReversePsychology Invoked]] by Sheldon's mother to get him back together with Amy.
** Mr. and Mrs. Kootherppali's disproval of Leonard and Pryia's relationship. Howard THOUGHT Mrs. Wolowitz was going to have this kind of reaction to his engagement to Bernadette, but she actually really likes her.
* ParentalSubstitute: Penny is often forced to mother Sheldon. This sometimes includes Leonard acting as a father, including Sheldon being frightened when they fight and after the break-up where they act like ''divorced'' parents. Sadly, this partially comes from Sheldon having bad memories of his parents fighting.
* PassiveAggressiveKombat: Sheldon
* PermaShave
* PersonalitySwap: A very mild version, but Penny once dislocated her shoulder and was taken to the hospital by Sheldon. Returning home ''high'' on painkillers, she convinced Sheldon to sing "[[RunningGag Soft Kitty]]" to her. Usually the roles are reversed.
** There are a few times where the other characters mimic Sheldon's idiosyncratic door knocking, specifically Penny when Sheldon stole her laundry during an EscalatingWar.
* PickedLast: After Penny and Leonard break up, Sheldon is asked whether he's on "Team Penny" or "Team Leonard." He answers, "Whichever team picks last," since that's how it happened when he was in high school (unless there was a kid in a wheelchair).
** Made all the funnier by the fact that Sheldon ''never went'' to high school to begin with.
* PitySex: The proxy version. Leonard and Raj hire a prostitute for Howard on a trip to Las Vegas that happens right after Leslie Winkle breaks up with him, though any sex that might ensue is glossed over.
** Penny blasted Howard for being a creepy sleaze, hurting his feelings. When she goes to apologize, he tries to kiss her, and has his nose broken. When the guys hassle him about it, he says "The way I see it, I'm halfway to pity sex".
* ThePlan: "The Good Guy Fluctuation" when Howard and Raj reveal themselves as the pranksters behind the attempt to scare Sheldon at the office. But to paraphrase Homer Simpson, their zany scheme was a front for an even zanier scheme. Anticipating that their relatively tame and cliche hijinks wouldn't scare Sheldon, Howard and Raj seemingly admit defeat in Sheldon's office when a man wearing a mask of the alien from the end credits of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' pops out behind Sheldon's white board, successfully scaring Sheldon. The man unmasks; [[spoiler: it's Leonard.]]
** It's a XanatosGambit in that they forsaw that their intial pranks would fail but a KansasCityShuffle in that the initial pranks were a distraction from the true scaring attempt.
* PlatoIsAMoron: Sheldon compares himself to Isaac Newton in one episode, declaring that "Gravity would have occurred to me without the apple."
* PoorCommunicationKills: After Leonard and Penny's first date, she confided in Sheldon that she lied to Leonard about getting a community college degree, and swore him to secrecy. Sheldon nearly went crazy holding it in, and told Leonard only when he was [[ItMakesSenseInContext drugged up on Vicodin]]. Leonard assumed Penny was embarrassed over not completing college and tried to show support by giving her a Community College brochure. The problem was Penny didn't care so much about college as she was worried Leonard considered himself too smart for her, and him bringing over the brochure validated her concerns. This is largely the reason for their [[{{UST}} romantic false start]] in the second season.
* PortmanteauCoupleName: In-universe. "Shamy" in the Season 4 Premiere for Sheldon and Amy.
** Amy is quick to put an end to it, though.
* PowerTrio: Discussed by the writers at a convention, Leonard occupies a space where he is pulled in two directions: a greater world of human social interaction with Penny and a seclusive world of math and science with Sheldon. It thereby makes Penny TheMcCoy, Sheldon TheSpock and Leonard TheKirk.
* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Goes in two ways, Penny failing to recognize the geeky stuff, and Sheldon & Co. not knowing relatively normal things.
--> '''Penny:''' ''(reading a trivia game card)'' [[WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird Tweety Bird]] will often say 'I tawt I taw a...' what.\\
'''Sheldon:''' ''(after several seconds of tense, non-verbal communication with Leonard)'' ...[[Franchise/StarTrek Romulan]]?
* [[PoorPredictableRock Poor Predictable Spock]]: Aside from being the only thing anyone picks in Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock, Sheldon is always thinking of Spock when playing 20 Questions.
** He also considers himself the Spock of their "away team". (Leonard is Kirk, Howard is Scotty, and Rajesh is [[RedShirt "that guy who always gets killed."]])
* PrecisionFStrike: After Sheldon says that Howard's robotic hand is no more than a minor upgrade from fast food animatronics, Howard makes the hand give Sheldon [[FlippingTheBird the finger]]. Subverted since it ended up giving him the peace sign[[note]]which would have been just as strong as giving him the finger, had they been in Britain[[/note]].
** Sheldon rarely swears, so when he does it comes as a surprise. He swears more often when quoting someone than of his own accord: "He was very understanding; he said, 'Got you back jack, bitches be crazy'".
** Amy invited Leonard to be her date to a wedding and made a conscious effort to be social and engaging, with Leonard not really being good company. Eventually she calls him out on his moping around and said, "I have a kinda-sorta boyfriend who is playing with model trains tonight and you don't hear me bitching about it."
* PrehensileTail: Parodied in an episode as the foursome are playing a group roleplaying game as bad guys approach.
-->'''Leonard''': They're on my tail! ...But it's prehensile so I can handle them.
* PricelessMingVase: Sheldon's broken transporter toy.
* ProductPlacement:
** All of Chuck Lorre's recent projects, including ''Two and a Half Men'', use and place Safeway products around the set.
** All of the gang's shirts are available for purchase (most of them can be found [[http://www.thinkgeek.com here]]), as is the periodic table of elements shower curtain.
** One that's more subtle, but WarnerBrothers owns the show (alongside Creator/DCComics) and the vast majority of comic references comes from DC, and the comic shop the guys frequent seems to only sell DC titles (and Comicbook/{{Madman}}.) But Marvel comics, as well as smaller companies and series, do show up from time-to-time. (Perhaps most notably the episode with guest star Stan Lee).
*** Episode 5x07 had several #1 issues from the September DC reboot. Presumably those issues will be missing the page adverts for this show.
*** After being synidcated to {{TBS}}, the station has two different forms of the trope going; A), using clips from the show and splicing in TBS (sometimes pretty [[LipSynch badly]]), and B) having static shots of the main apartments, particularly the guys' formula boards, where the product placement of the day equals funny/delicious/good (anything from pizza to beer to a service) even if the show doesn't have anything to really do with the product.
* PuppyDogEyes: Leonard, of all people, manages to pull one off in Season 6 [[spoiler:just before Penny was about to give him the break up speech.]]
** This is then imitated by Penny, Amy and Bernadette to great comedic effect.
* PutOnABus:
** In "The Plimpton Stimulation", Bernadette. Offscreen, no less.
*** TheBusCameBack: She returned in "The Hot Troll Deviation" becoming a regular character [[spoiler:and got back together with Howard. As of the end of Series 5 they're ''married.'']]
** Leonard's doctor girlfriend in the second season. In her last appearance, Leonard was afraid she was getting too close, but the episode seemed to end with everything turning out all right. Then she was never seen or talked about again.
** Leslie Winkle, which is lampshaded when Leonard goes to see her and she remarks its been around ''18 months'' since they last spoke.
* QueerPeopleAreFunny: With a rare female example with Amy, who has an unhealthy obsession with Penny.
* TheRainMan: Sheldon, to some extent. Also either subverts or takes this trope to the extreme, depending on your point of view.
** Some of the nastier aspects of him seem to have been based on the writings of J. Arturo Silva, a forensic psychiatrist who famously diagnosed Jeffrey Dahmer with Asperger's.
* RandomNumberGod: 5x04 Sheldon decides to let dice make his every pointless decision.
* RankedByIQ: Sheldon often uses his IQ as a 'proof' that he's correct.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Penny was absent for two episodes in Season 4 and was behind the bar of the Cheesecake Factory when she returned. This was to work around Kaley Cuoco suffering a compound fracture in her leg after she fell off her horse and it stepped on her leg.
* ReallyGetsAround:
** Leslie Winkle is implied to be this, referring to waking up on a futon with half a dozen strangers as a reason to try and settle down with Leonard.
** Penny objects to being perceived this way after Sheldon calculates the number of men she's slept with in her lifetime based on her current statistics. The thing with Penny isn't that she sleeps around but that she really appreciates a physical relationship with her boyfriends, she just seems to have a new boyfriend every other week in the early seasons.
* RealSongThemeTune: Music/BarenakedLadies' "The History of Everything".
* RearrangeTheSong: As ''Theory'' entered 5 night a week syndication in 2011, Music/BarenakedLadies' wrote and preformed a number of different versions of the lyrics to the RealSongThemeTune "The History of Everything" mentioning the cast by name, which aired in short ads shown after the first commercial break.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Penny's delivered two of them, one to all four of the guys, the second to Howard exclusive.
** The one directed at all four guys in The Nerdvana Annihilation. It caused a DespairEventHorizon moment for Leonard.
--->(Penny comes in and is upset with the guys.)
--->'''Penny:''' OK! First of all, what you call a gap, was nearly 3 feet wide; I slipped and skinned my knee.
--->'''Leonard:''' Are you OK?
--->'''Penny:''' Azzzzzz! Second of all, the door to the stairway of the other building was locked, so I had to go down the fire-scape which ended on the third floor, forcing me to crawl through the window of a lovely Armenian family, who insisted I stay for lunch.
--->'''Leonard:''' That doesn't sound too bad?
--->'''Penny:''' It was eight courses of lamb and they tried to fix me up with their son.
--->'''Leonard:''' Sorry.
--->'''Penny:''' Not done! By the time I finally got to work, they'd given my shift away. Yeah, that's right, I lost an entire day's pay thanks to this, this...
--->'''Sheldon:''' Time Machine.
--->(Penny stares at Sheldon, giving him an evil glare.)
--->'''Leonard:''' The lights flash and the dish spins, you wanna try it?
--->'''Penny:''' No! I don't wanna try it; my god, you are grown men, how can you waste your lives with these, stupid toys and costumes and comic books?! And now that! That...
--->'''Sheldon''': Again, Time Machine.
--->'''Penny:''' Oh please! It's not a time machine, if anything, it looks like something that Elton John would drive through the Everglades.
--->'''Sheldon:''' It only moves in time. It would be worse than useless in a swamp.
--->'''Penny:''' Pathetic! ALL OF YOU! Completely pathetic!
** The one directed at Howard in The Killer Robot Instability caused a HeroicBSOD.
--->'''Penny:''' I know you think you’re some sort of smooth-talking ladies’ man, but the truth is, you are just pathetic and creepy.
--->'''Howard:''' Um, so what are you saying?
--->'''Penny:''' I am saying it is not a compliment to call me doable. It’s not sexy to stare at my ass and say, “Ooh, it must be jelly ’cause jam don’t shake like that.” And most important, we are not dancing a tango, we’re not to’ing and fro’ing. Nothing is ever going to happen between us. Ever.
--->'''Howard:''' Wait a minute. This isn’t flirting, you’re serious.
--->'''Penny:''' Flirting? You think I’m flirting with you? I am not flirting with you, no woman is ever gonna flirt with you, you’re just gonna grow old and die alone.
* RecklessGunUsage: An interesting case is that Penny is shown using proper procedure in clearing the chamber before loading the clip with the safety on. Doesn't stop Leonard from [[VisualPun shooting himself in the foot]].
* RedAlert: Sheldon getting a cold is serious enough to cause Leonard to run out of the apartment in the early hours of the morning, frantically calling ''everyone'' so they can bunker down and avoid looking after him.
--> '''Leonard''': We're at Code Milky-Green! Repeat! Milky-Green!
--> '''Howard''': [[OhCrap Dear God!]] [[AnythingButThat Not Milky-Green!]]
* ReedRichardsIsUseless: All of the scientists on the show are fairly accomplished, but to keep the premise from overwhelming the average episode they are unlikely to make any major contributions to science and engineering. As well Sheldon is not going to prove string theory or otherwise get a Nobel Prize because however smart the science consultant may be, they are unlikely to have a Nobel Prize worthy theory in their back pocket.
** When StephenHawking points out that Sheldon made an error in his mathematics, meaning that his revolutionary theory about the Higgs boson is actually ''completely wrong''.
---> '''Sheldon''': Oh, gosh golly, I made a boo-boo... And I gave it to StephenHawking. *''faints''*
---> '''StephenHawking''': Great... ''another'' fainter!
* RelationshipUpgrade: Between Leonard and Penny, at the beginning of season three. [[spoiler: They broke up about 3/4 of the way through the season. They get back together in season five]].
** And, as of 5x10, [[spoiler: Sheldon and Amy]].
* ReligiousRobot: Discussed. When the boys talk about having their consciousnesses implanted into robots, Howard says that his robot would have to stay Jewish because "I promised my mother." The others talk about how Howard would have to power down on Saturdays and have his rabbi discuss with the manufacturer about getting circumcised.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Raj's sister, Priya is introduced in Season four with a full back story explained in exposition, plus a never-before-mentioned [[spoiler: romantic entanglement with Leonard]].
* ReversePsychology: Sheldon's mother uses this to get Sheldon and Amy back together when they break up their friendship in "The Zazzy Substitution".
--> '''Mrs Cooper:''' He thinks he's such a smarty-pants, he's no different from any man. You tell 'em not to do something, that's all they want to do. [[NoodleIncident If I hadn't told my brother Stumpy not to clean out the wood-chipper by hand we'd still be calling him Edward]]. Now, don't you move - I'll bring over all the food.
--> '''Leonard:''' No, I can do it. [gets up]
--> '''Mrs Cooper:'''*beat* [[LampshadeHanging Well, isn't that sweet.]]
* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder:
-->'''Professor [[MeaningfulName Crawley]]''': Let me ask you a question. What does an accomplished entomologist with a doctorate and twenty years of experience do when the university cuts all his funding? \\
'''Raj''': [[LampshadeHanging Ask rhetorical questions that make people feel uncomfortable]]?
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: A literal one in "The Good Guy Fluctuation" by Sheldon, victim of a Halloween prank from Leonard. Early in the episode, Sheldon insists that Leonard open a mailbox, only for Leonard to find junk mail. When Sheldon goes to open the mailbox, an airbag with Leonard's face pops out, scaring Sheldon. Sheldon gets Leonard back by hiding in the apartment couch while Leonard is sitting on it talking to Priya. When Leonard is done, Sheldon pops out of the couch roaring, wearing a green shirt, purplish zombie makeup and fake blood on his lip. Sheldon: "Bazinga punk! Now we're even!"
* RoboSexual: Raj gets a little too attached to his [=iPhone=].
** Howard has a bit of trouble with the robot arm he built in the season four opener.
* RockPaperScissors Lizard Spock. [[PoorPredictableRock Poor Predictable Spock]].
* RomanticFalseLead: Some for Penny, some for Leonard -- although his are more Little False Leads, in that he'd always prefer to be with Penny.
* RootingForTheEmpire: Some in-universe examples.
** In the second Christmas ep, Leonard said that Sheldon roots for the sun when watching ''FrostyTheSnowman''.
*** He also likes the Grinch until the Grinch has his change of heart.
** In the third episode of the fourth season Sheldon explicitly stated a preference for the Empire when Leonard used the Rebel Alliance as an analogy for their group.
* RuleOfFunny:
** The episode where Sheldon's ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' account got hacked - while the desperate lengths the foursome get into to try recovering his items (including going into a BlackMarket in Goldshire, of all places, and Raj volunteering to seduce someone for the information), but completely ignores what ''actually'' happens when a ''[=WoW=]'' account gets hacked, and the reasons for doing so.
** And the episode where Howard's background investigation for security clearance was conducted by an FBI agent instead of someone from the Office of Personnel Management.
** And then another episode's scene where Raj had bought a very nice area rug at Big Lots, but ended up with eleven extra rugs because it was only available in a case of twelve. In reality, Big Lots only sells single rugs, and they're not available (in store) by the case.
* RuleOfThree: Sheldon knocking on a door, ''any'' door.
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Penny opens the door after two, and then supplies the third herself.
*** To which he responded, "That's just wrong."
** When Sheldon saves Leonard from [[spoiler:the rocket fuel explosion that destroyed the elevator]].
--->'''Leonard:''' I'm just glad Sheldon didn't rat me out to the landlord... or the police... or Homeland Security...
** Sheldon has a bad breakfast: orange juice - "In what universe is that non-pulp?", English muffin - "In what universe is that 'lightly toasted'?" and margarine - "Well, I have no difficulty believing you're not butter."
* RulesLawyer: Played straight with Sheldon, who exploits the Roommate Agreement for all it's worth. Then hilariously inverted when Leonard gets his own ''literal'' Rules Lawyer who then proceeds to exploit every ''technicality'' in the Agreement for all it's worth.
* RunningGag: Some for each character
** Sheldon:
*** His idiosyncratic door knocking, three sets of three knocks, with the name of the person on the other side between each knock. And when he does it to Penny, her responses to such. Notable examples of this are when Penny turns it into a door knocking war (repeating his knocking pattern from the other side of the door and saying his name) and when Sheldon knocks as TheFlash.
*** "I'm not crazy! My mother had me tested." and "Bazinga" (a coined term Sheldon made to identify when he is pranking someone.
*** "Coitus", originating with Howard in the pilot but often used by Sheldon as a substitution for the word "sex."
*** First confirming that what someone else said was a joke before giving a slight titter in response.
*** "That's my spot."
*** Soft Kitty is sung at least once a season and almost always interrupted; whoever's singing it always has to start from the top, not where they left off.
** Leonard:
*** Lactose Intolerance and other dietary restrictions.
*** The FacePalm, befitting his StraightMan character
*** Declaring "Here we go..." (usually right before Sheldon goes on one of his rants)
** Penny:
*** Her general ignorance of most geeky pop culture, including Creator/StanLee and having never watched ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''. This has been played down in later years because of her close proximity to the guys she has come to learn much of that stuff.
*** Penny's "check engine" light is constantly on, Sheldon and others bug her about attending to it, and she refuses.
*** Penny's use of the guys' wifi, and Sheldon changing the password to something like pennygetyourownwifi.
---->'''Sheldon''': No spaces.
*** Whenever she asks about something she doesn't understand, it's usually to Sheldon, and Leonard or Howard may try to stop her before groaning over having to hear Sheldon explaining something.
** Raj:
*** His knowledge and familiarity with more "girly" topics such as loving ''BridgetJonesDiary'' and knowledge of fashion.
*** Raj is a magnet for ''SlumdogMillionaire'' jokes.
*** Not being able to talk to or around women without being drunk or influenced by other substances.
** Howard:
*** His lack of a Ph.D
*** Being Jewish.
*** His top-volume screaming matches with his mother.
** Bernadette:
*** Her proximity to experiments involving dangerous bacteria like yellow fever and combining Ebola with the common cold.
*** Her inability to understand a joke (though it disappeared after a few episodes).
*** Her height (Melissa Rauch is just under 5').
*** Sounding just like Howard's mom when yelling or upset.
** Amy:
*** Childhood pranks being pulled on her.
*** Her infatuation with Penny, both as simply best friends and with some homosexual undertones.
*** Using her harp to play songs that normally are not played on the harp (like TV theme songs or Bon Jovi)
** For various characters:
*** The use of high-end scientific research equipment to perform everyday food prep tasks
* SarcasmBlind: Sheldon ''does'' understand sarcasm... meaning he knows what the word "sarcasm" means and is able to use it himself. He's just bad at detecting it.
-->'''Penny''': And what kind of doctor removes shoes from asses?\\
'''Sheldon''': Depending on the depth, that's either a proctologist or a general surgeon.\\
'''Leonard''': ''*holds up sarcasm sign*''
* SayMyName: WHEATON!!!!! Also a ShoutOut to TheKhan.
** Used by Penny once when Sheldon came knocking.
---> '''Sheldon:''' ''*knock knock knock [*Penny from behind the door* Who do we love!]'' Penny.
---> ''*knock knock knock [Who do we love!]'' Penny.
---> ''*knock knock knock [Who do we love!]'' Penny. ''[Penny finally opens the door]''
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: According to President Siebert, this is how Sheldon maintains his position at the university. Siebert thinks Sheldon is "nuts" (not without reason - Sheldon once came knocking on his door at one in the morning, ruined a fundraiser, took his trousers off when being presented with the Chancellor's Award and dropped a huge quantity of foam on his head), but the "board insists he has a beautiful mind," so he stays. Interestingly, the Board seemingly still supports him even after aforementioned foam prank.
* SecondEpisodeIntroduction: A variation. While Raj met Penny in the pilot, it took him until getting drunk in the ''eighth'' episode before he could ''[[CannotTalkToWomen talk to her]]'' and properly introduce himself;
--> '''Raj''': I am talking to you?! *''Shakes hand''* Hello Penny! How are you?!
* SelfInducedAllergicReaction: Howard eats a nut bar to stall Leonard so they could set up Leonard's surprise birthday party. And because Penny was going to hook him up with her easy girlfriends.
** This is ''after'' he fakes an allergic reaction to the same thing for the same cause, only to realize the group wouldn't have enough time. And well...
* SelfInsertFic: Sheldon has written a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan fiction as a child, in which the crew recognize his abilities as a ChildProdigy and take him aboard.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Sheldon talks like this a lot. [[NoSocialSkills Even to Penny]].
** All the episode titles.
* SeriousBusiness: Amongst many other things (of which the weekly routine of meals and evening activities are just a small part), in the episode "The Hofstadter Isotope" a discussion about who would succeed Batman in the event of his death between Sheldon and an online community eventually leads to Penny's date being cut short after he is brought into the discussion as well.
** ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' to Sheldon. When his account gets hacked he calls the FBI... and when they hang up on him he calls the regular police.
* SexyShirtSwitch: Penny in the third episode of the third season, after her and Leonard's first night in his apartment and she was dancing and making French toast.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend:
** Leonard and Penny in an early episode.
** Sheldon toward Amy throughout Season 4.
* [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen She Who Must Not Be Seen]]: Howard's mother, Mrs. Wolowitz, who is also TheVoice.
* ShipperOnDeck:
** Most of the main cast ships [[PortmanteauCoupleName Shamy]] (Sheldon/Amy). [[spoiler:(In the beginning at least.)]]
** And at least Leonard's mother ships Howard/Raj.
** As of "The Boyfriend Complexity", [[spoiler: Penny's father ships Leonard/Penny.]]
** Sheldon ships Leonard/Stephanie very strongly in "The White Asparagus Triangulation".
* ShipSinking: Amy is pretty much this to the popular Penny/Sheldon ship. In particular, "The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition" not only shows how serious Sheldon is about Amy, but even dedicates a scene to addressing why he is not compatible with Penny.
** Sheldon's speech even uses some of the most common elements for the ship that appear in just about every "Shenny" fanfic, which Penny then proceeds to tear down one by one. The ship isn't only just sunk, it never ''existed''.
* ShipTease: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] between Leonard and Amy. Amy coerced Leonard to be her date for a co-workers wedding (Sheldon doesn't like going because [[AdultChild there weren't any other scientists his age]]) and Amy ended up cheering Leonard out of a funk. To his own surprise he enjoyed spending time with her and gave her a kiss on the cheek for a goodbye, with Amy misinterpreting it as being that Leonard had fallen for her. Of course, the kiss on the cheek was part of the commercials for the episode.
** Again in Season 5 when Sheldon asks Penny on a date to make Amy jealous when she begins to date Stewart.
* ShotToTheHeart: Sheldon tries to prank Howard with an ElectricJoyBuzzer, but Howard appears to collapse from a heart attack and is instructed to stab a syringe of adrenaline straight through his heart. Of course, it all turns out to be a counter-prank.
* ShoutOut / ReferenceOverdosed: When the four come back from their Arctic expedition, Leonard, Howard, and Raj all have grown caveman-like hair and beards, while Sheldon has a perfectly-groomed goatee... just like the one alternate-universe [[Franchise/StarTrek Spock]] had.
** Sheldon's various superhero T-shirts.
** Sheldon named their bowling team "The Wesley Crushers" meaning that they would crush Wil Wheaton. Everyone else (including Wheaton) saw it as a Fan Shout Out to the actor.
** In the episode guest starring Creator/StanLee, the judge who [[spoiler: throws Sheldon in jail]] is named "[[Creator/JackKirby J. Kirby]]".
*** In "The Friendship Algorithium", Sheldon says Howard drew a big-balled raccoon on the test Sheldon gave him. Turns out it may have been a reference to the anime film ''PomPoko.'', or more likely, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_raccoon_dog Tanuki]], yes just like in SuperMarioBros
** In the fourth season New Year's episode, the gang (plus Penny's current boyfriend, Zach) dressed up as members of the JusticeLeagueOfAmerica for a party at the comic book store. Others were dressed as [[Series/DoctorWho the Fourth Doctor]], [[HarryPotter a Hogwarts student]], and SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker, among others.
** Just one more subtle: "The Apology Insufficiency" featured guest star [[{{Dollhouse}} Eliza Dushku]]. Towards the end of the episodes Sheldon tries to get Howard to forgive him for a mistake by "reprogramming" him.
** Sheldon's line [[Film/{{Casablanca}} "Of all the overrated physicists in all the labs in all the world, why does it have to be Leslie Winkle?"]]
** There are several shout outs to ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}''. They range from the characters talking about watching the show to Leonard, as Howard puts it, "taking out his aggressions on innocent Cylons" (i.e. he destroys a Cylon action figure with a laser).
*** Don't forget Cylon Toast! Everyone loves Cylon Toast.
** Many shout outs to ''Franchise/StarTrek'' both old school and new school. Penny gives Star Trek figurines to the guys, Sheldon is at first upset that he missed the Star Trek reboot then upset that he didn't get a LeonardNimoy Spock standee, a quick [[WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries Lt M'ress]] mention, Sheldon's feud with [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Wil Weaton]], Sheldon compares their friends to a landing party ("Now we have a Dr. [=McCoy=]!"), and of course...."Do you know what this means? I possess the DNA of LeonardNimoy!!!"
** There was an ironic shout-out to ''{{Firefly}}'' by JossWhedon in "The Staircase Implementation":
---> '''Sheldon''': "Roommates agree that Friday nights shall be reserved for watching Joss Whedon's brilliant new series, ''Firefly''."
--->'''Leonard''': "Does that really need to be in the agreement?"
--->'''Sheldon''': "Well we might as well settle it now, it's gonna be on for years."
** Sheldon's journal in "The Bozeman Reaction" is a shout-out to Rorschach's Journal in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''.
---> '''Sheldon''': Sheldon’s journal. Security system in place. However, sleep continues to elude me. I’ve seen the underbelly of Pasadena, this so-called City of Roses, and it haunts me. Ah, the injustice, I lie here awake, tormented, while out there evil lurks, [[FauxHorrific probably playing ''Donkey Kong'' on my classic Nintendo.]]
** Strangely enough, there is no mention in that episode that ''Bozeman, Montana'' where Sheldon decides to move to was also the location in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' where humanity made first contact with the Vulcans. You'd think ''Sheldon'' of all people would have brought that up.
** Doubling as an ActorAllusion, Wil Wheaton's TheGuild t-shirt when he appears on ''[[ShowWithinAShow Sheldon Cooper's Fun With Flags]]''
* ShowerOfLove: Leonard and Priya have sex in the shower in "The Agreement Dissection".
* ShownTheirWork: The show goes well out of its way to get the details of the science and tech stuff right, as well as generally listing actual things that geeks are into like ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'' and ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}''. Not only that, they have an actual physicist, Dr. David Salzberg, on hand to fill in the correct dialogue and write appropriate diagrams and formulas on the white boards. In fact, almost any mention of high-level science, such as theoretical procedures in which the characters would either be versed or have read/heard about through peer-reviewed journals are written as ''Science To Come'' (or similar) in the script, awaiting Salzburg's insight in order to be replaced with something relevant and accurate. All of this leads to GeniusBonus. This includes:
** Sheldon's search for magnetic monopoles in the second season finale was based on actual research being done at the time, with results posted over the season break. Similarly, his dilemma figuring out the contradiction with particles moving through a graphene sheet was related to contemporary research that later won the Nobel Prize.
*** Rivalries between different scientific specialties is also on the nose, with the show focusing much of it with Sheldon (Theoretical Physics) vs Leonard (Experimental Physics), Raj (Astrophysics) and especially Howard (Engineering, no Ph.D). Sheldon also holds a particular disdain for Geologists.
** Comparatively recent events in geekdom including a conversation involving the meaning of FinalCrisis, shake-ups in the Batman comics run and the re-establishment of the Creator/DCComics [[TheMultiverse Multiverse]].
--->'''Penny''', whilst in a comic-book shop, surrounded by nerds: "What's a 'multiverse'?"\\
'''[[ProudToBeAGeek Sheldon:]]''' [''turns to Leonard''] "Get her out of here."
** In "The Thespian Catalyst" Penny tries to teach Sheldon about acting and eventually gets to {{improv}}. Sheldon kept going off on tangents (asking for frozen yogurt at a shoe store) and Penny was rolling with it, which only confused Sheldon because (obviously) there is no such thing as a shoe warehouse/frozen yogurt hybrid store. Penny then explained the number one rule of improv, you say "Yes" and accept all scenarios given.
** Howards adventures in space involved a couple of locations for the International Space Station and the Module used for travel. They actually had Mike Massimino from NASA as a consultant and guest star and he helped them build the sets to the approximate scale and look.
* ShutUpKiss: Leonard has a habit of [[PoorCommunicationKills rambling on topics irrelevant to what he is trying to get at]] (going on about how Indian food helps clean out your colon when inviting Penny to lunch in the Pilot). As him and Penny grow closer romantically Leonard will still ramble on and Penny will quiet him down with a kiss, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AcJ31lx_0I like so]].
* SiblingYinYang: Sheldon's fraternal twin sister, Missy. In "The Luminous Fish Effect", after talking about what a pain Sheldon is, Sheldon's mother tells Howard that God didn't give her more than she could handle; she has two others kids who are "dumb as soup."
** More specifically, while Sheldon is a theoretical physicist, his twin sister Missy is a hostess at Fuddruckers.
* SitcomArchnemesis: Barry Kripke, Creator/WilWheaton and Leslie Winkle at different points, all for Sheldon.
* SignificantReferenceDate: In the episode entitled "The Excelsior Acquisition", Sheldon finds a traffic summons conserning an traffic incident that occured on 11/16, the airdate of "The Adhesive Duck Deficiency" in which the violation happenend.
* ASimplePlan: Played with in "The Loobenfeld Decay." [[spoiler:The lie works fine, but Sheldon is convinced it'll fall apart, and keeps trying to overcomplicate it.]]
* SingleTargetSexuality: Amy's early insistence that she has no interest in romantic love or physical contact ("up to and including coitus") takes on difference shades when she [[HomoeroticSubtext very openly admires]] Penny's "secondary sexual characteristics" and even ''suggests'' "harmless lesbian experimentation" at a sleepover. That said, she never shows any interest in any woman other than Penny.
* SkywardScream: Also a ShoutOut to ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Wrath of Khan]]''.
--> WHEEEAAAATOOOOOOONNN!!
** And as [[ShownTheirWork typical for this show]], it's a perfect recreation of "KHAN!" and not the [[PopculturalOsmosis osmosis]] version. Sheldon doesn't ''look'' up at the sky, he looks straight ahead with a close-up and screams "WHEATON!" and then the camera cuts to an AstronomicZoom pulling away from Earth.
* SmallReferencePools: Usually very good at averting this, although it sometimes sacrifices realistic characterization for (comparatively) more familiar references, like the time Sheldon said Ubuntu was his favorite Linux distribution.
** Notably, no self-respecting nerd would be caught dead playing Monopoly when there are so many wonderful obscure German games about trading.
** And of course, there was the questionnaire that Sheldon made for Raj, Howard and Leonard:
---> '''Sheldon:''' [to Raj] How ''could'' you think my favorite amino acid was glutamine?
* SleepCute: Howard and Raj.
* SleepsWithEveryoneButYou: Poor Leonard, pining after Penny while listening to her complaints about sleeping with her jerkass boyfriends on every extreme way.
* SlowLoadingInternetImage: A video variation. Leonard and Priya are communicating through teleconferencing and are attempting to have a long-distance intimate date. Leonard takes off his clothes, but when Priya starts to take off hers, the signal freezes just as she's taking off her bra.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Sheldon and his intelligence, one of the show's myths.
* SmartPeopleKnowLatin: Howard and Sheldon try to use this against each other.
* SmugSnake: Sheldon and his sister.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Penny, so very much. Averted in later seasons with the addition of Bernadette, Amy, and Priya.
* SnarkKnight:
** Penny took her role as the NerdNanny a bit more seriously in earlier episodes and [[HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster berated the guys for their awkward, sometimes inconsiderate tendencies]]. This lead to a few instances of NotSoAboveItAll and, eventually, OneOfUs. She can still be pretty brutal, but talks to them on their own terms.
** Prime example in "The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization" where Sheldon tries to make [[YourHeadASplode Leonard's head explode]] a la ''Film/{{Scanners}}''. Later, Penny finds a picture of herself on Wolowitz's website (listing her as his girlfriend) and [[CallBack does it to him]].
** Leonard has shades of it as well, especially when dealing when Sheldon.
* SouthernFriedGenius: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Sheldon, who ''very rarely'' speaks in his native East Texas drawl.
* SpitTake
--> '''Penny''': Okay, well, what do you communicate about?\\
'''Sheldon''': [[spoiler:Well, my work in physics, her work in neurobiology, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and most recently the possibility of our having a child together]].]]
* SpockSpeak: Sheldon.
* SpoiledBrat: Sheldon.
-->'''Sheldon''': ''*after being outvoted*'' I never get my way.
-->'''Leonard''': ''*dumbfounded*'' You ''always'' get your way!
-->'''Sheldon''': ''*beat, thinks about it*'' Regardless...
* StalkerWithACrush: Ramona in "The Cooper-Nowitzki Theorem", who is more in love with Sheldon's ''mind'' than him.
* StandardizedSitcomHousing: On the whole the show uses the typical set-up, with the hallway between apartments used extensively for scenes and conversations. But there are moments where they get camera angles showing the "fourth wall" with a completed set, one being a POV of Sheldon coming in from the hallway when the others were staging an intervention on his refusal to get a driver's license.
** The show manages a fairly clever recycling of the set by using the center hallway to represent three different floors with a minor redress, allowing a WalkAndTalk with only one set.
* StatusQuoIsGod: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Sheldon. After [[spoiler: Amy [[KissingUnderTheInfluence kisses him while drunk]],]] he suggests they treat their relationship like a malfunctioning computer and restore it to the last point they both agree that it worked (which, given that this is ''[[NoSocialSkills Sheldon]]'' we're talking about, is quite a mature thing to suggest).
* StealthPun: Cylon toast. Even better: [[http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/16/battlestar-galactica-cylon-toaster-produces-fanboy-approved-brea/ that's a real toaster.]]
* StonersAreFunny: Leonard, Raj, and Howard in "The Adhesive Duck Deficiency".
* StopHavingFunGuys: [[invoked]]Sheldon's approach to any hobby he might happen to share with other people.
--> '''Leonard''': What happened to your new friends?
--> '''Sheldon''': I had to leave. They were having fun wrong.
* StopHelpingMe: In the second episode Leonard and Sheldon got a spare key to Penny's apartment, which Sheldon used to ''clean'' her apartment in the middle of the night (with Leonard begrudgingly helping), [[TooDumbToLive leaving a note confessing to the act and offering advice on further organization]]. When she understandably freaks out, Leonard demands Sheldon apologize, to which he tells Penny, "I would like to apologize for what happened and I take full responsibility... [[ComicallyMissingThePoint and I hope this doesn't color your perception of Leonard... who I hear is a gentle and thorough lover."]]
* StupidSexyFlanders: Penny's ex-boyfriend Zac has this effect on Amy Farrah-Fowler. It's played with because she's usually {{Asexual}}.
** Early season one Penny started dating a guy for the first time and Leonard was a little miffed about it. When the others pressed him they asked "Is it because he looks better than you?" and Leonard admitted that it was true, "He was rather dreamy."
* StupidStatementDanceMix: Well, perhaps not ''stupid'' statements (they're all geniuses after all); but CBS used single words from various episodes to cobble together a promo stating rhytmically [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgArhI-TjAA "New night, new time, same ''Theory''. Thursday this fall only C B S."]]
** A similar trick is used in the syndicated version, clipping together bits to say [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6oB99szNoE "''Big Bang Theory,'' five nights a week."]]
* StylisticSuck: Sheldon and Amy's podcast "Fun with Flags".
* SuperOCD: Sheldon is ''powered'' by this.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Despite being surrounded by geniuses, Penny has common sense that none of the others possess.
** This forms a lot of Sheldon's frustrations towards Penny, which gets reversed in "The Shiny Trinket Manuever" where Sheldon keeps getting distracted at a jewelry store;
--->'''Penny:''' [[LampshadeHanging This is how it feels when I say something stupid to you, isn't it?]]
* SurvivalMantra: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muBDetZKNO0 Here's Sheldon's.]]
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: "Congratulations for your award, Sheldon! I have brought you a cake from the restaurant. To celebrate, not because someone has sneezed at it..."
