"The Anxiety Optimization" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on January 29, 2015. Directed by Mark Cendrowski. Teleplay by Jim Reynolds, Steve Holland and Tara Hernandez, based on a story by Eric Kaplan, Maria Ferrari and Adam Faberman.
Sheldon decides that he would be more productive if her were less comfortable.
Tropes
- Argument of Contradictions: Sheldon wants his friends to argue with him. They do. He finds it helpful.
- "Cavemen vs. Astronauts" Debate: Sheldon walks in on the girls talking and assumes they're talking about their periods or some such. The girls tell Sheldon that they talk about the same things boys talk about. Sheldon asks if they were discussing whether werewolves could swim, implying that the guys were discussing that earlier. The girls then start discussing that.
- Compliment Backfire: Exploited by Amy to aggravate Sheldon.
- Erotic Eating: Defied. Sheldon criticizes Amy for eating bananas horizontally, to which she explains that "My mother said that's how good girls do it."
- Hallucinations: A sleep-deprived Sheldon sees the man sitting next to him on a bus as an armadillo.
- Insomnia Episode: Sheldon is keeping his anxiety levels up as a way of optimizing his work environment. This leads to him becoming sleep deprived and hallucinating about Isaac Newton being an armadillo.
- Nap-Inducing Speak: Sheldon refuses to go to sleep, but after one chorus of "Soft Kitty", he's out like a light.
- Running Joke: Howard has invented a game where he quotes Raj to Leonard, who has to guess whether he was talking to Cinnamon or Emily.
- Take That!: Subverted when Sheldon considers adding Taylor Swift to his mix of distressing sounds, but then ended up loving her.
