‘The Big Bang Theory’ is finally back after the long summer, and while they may not be hitting the kind of series high that they had around seasons 5 or 6, they are still going strong, and this premiere had the added bonus of finally fleshing out Penny’s family tree! We finally met her mother, played very conservatively by Katey Segal, who once upon a time played Kaley Cucco’s mother in a little sitcom on ABC called ‘8 Simple Rules,’ which is very meta. Her brother is portrayed by ’30 Rock’s’ Jack McBrayer, who definitely was not at all what we expected from her meth-head sibling, though he did have some great moments playing a hill-billy with a weird edge.
Storywise, we learned that Sheldon’s mom and Leonard’s dad did not actually have “coitus” at the end of last season, but just shared a cab, but are clearly interested in one-another, and plan on visiting, and the fact that it bothers Leonard’s mother Beverly is, according to Alfred, an added bonus. Fortunately, Penny does convince them all to go to the wedding in order to prove they are not “getting under each other’s skin,” which is enough to convince Beverly that she should still attend.
As for the Wolowitz household, joined as always by Raj, they are actually visited by a man from the US Air Force who wants to meet with Howard, which might spell certain doom for the little invention that was supposed to be the financial nest-egg for the Wolowitz baby’s future. I have heard some interesting theories about the man from the Air Force that I kind of hope are true, the best of which being that the man will turn out to be Howard’s real dad, but only time will tell if that turns out to be case.
All in all, not a bad premiere episode, and they certainly went out of their way to get lots of guest stars which made the 2nd wedding of Penny and Leonard seem like a much bigger event, but not much happened storewide for the main characters besides Howard’s encounter with the Air Force, and the idea of Sheldon and Leonard’s parents dating in the future. The wedding itself had some funny moments, though the weird outdoor garden area seemed like a studio set to me with lots of fake shrubbery, but once the actors got going I definitely was not paying much attention to the background, especially once they got to the nice moments when Penny and Leonard shared their vows. Here’s hoping this episode was just there to wrap up last season’s cliffhanger and the show runners have some big ideas for the rest of the season to match the great acting and jokes that are still very present in the decade old sitcom.
QUOTES OF THE NIGHT:
PENNY: Your parents are old! Anything unthinkable would have been finished before 9:30!
SHELDON: Also if they did have coitus we’ll all be needing a skilled psychologist.
RANDALL: Penny sent me cigarettes [in jail].
SUSAN: You sent him cigarettes?
WYATT: He was cooking and selling crystal meth, Susan. I think we can let the cigarettes slide.
SHELDON: (to Alfred) So did you defile my mother or not?
PENNY: (in regards to her job) I was just assigned a much better territory.
SUSAN: (to Randall) See what happens when you work hard?
RANDALL: She just sells drugs. I had to make ’em!
SUSAN: That’s it, no more drug talk for the rest of the trip!
WYATT: (clinking beer bottles with Penny) I’ll drink to that!
WYATT: Welcome to the family Leonard, (under his breath) don’t lend your new brother-in-law money.
(As Sheldon gets up for a big announcement for a special person at the wedding)
AMY: It’s happening!
(she immediately sits back down as Sheldon approaches Penny and Leonard)
Nick is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, who belongs to the privileged few who enjoyed the ending to ‘Lost.’ For more of Nick’s thoughts and articles, follow him on Twitter.
