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The Big Bang Theory Season 5 Episode 1

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AIRED: Sep 22, 2011

7.9

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Episode Summary

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After spending the night with Raj, Penny is worried that her friendship with the guys is in jeopardy, while Sheldon becomes the paintball team leader.

Fan Episode Reviews (7)

Getting the old Sheldon back

9.5

By rkoenn, Jun 19, 2012

I have been somewhat let down by many season 5 episodes but just catching this one after recording it last night I was very pleased with it. I really enjoyed seeing what I would call the "old" Sheldon in this episode. He didn't have any interactions with Amy, which many times I find much too contrived, and he was up to his old Sheldon antics, the thinking cap, the paint ball leader, etc. Penny's and Raj's small affair ended up rather nicely as well. I mainly enjoyed the episode though as I said at the beginning, I liked seeing the classic Sheldon with all his idiosyncrasies and hang ups.moreless
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Disappointing. Not 'horrible' per se, but I expected better.

5.5

By seb1925, Dec 07, 2011

Too soapy for my taste. Predictable and ... well, sort of ... actually, I may be biased about what I think was a terrible episode on another show by some of the same people who run this one and I'm biased.

A couple of out of character bits too...

For another show, I think this would've been a very good episode. For this one ... not at all. Didn't hate it, but it wasn't up to their usual standard IMO.moreless
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3.0

By thefanof, Nov 06, 2011

LOL, I could not stop laughing for this entire episode. It was a riot!

But seriously, Big Bang's season premiere falls flat and really was everything we hate about this show: Raj making odd sex puns, the gang playing paint ball, finding a way to make guest star Christine Baranski boring.

Howard's annoying girlfriend was only in one scene, but she still made me want to turn the show off.

Sheldon has regressed so much from season one and relying on anyone else for laughs was probably a flawed strategy to begin with.

Oh well.moreless
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Not bad but I expected more

8.0

By RicardoPsado, Nov 06, 2011

I was ansious to see this episode because of the way last season ended and also because of course I'm a big fan but at the end I was like aa mm really that's all ? I mean it wasn't a bad episode it had it's funny moments and all but well I guess I had imagine it totally different in my mind lets see how things work for the rest of the seasonmoreless
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The season-finale was hillarious and opened up so many potential stories;

8.5

By Fakistoteles, Nov 06, 2011

And the gang followed up in its usual self. Some may call it easily-predicted and boring, but I think that's the beauty about this show. You know what will happen most of the times, but every time you still laugh like it was the first time you heard the joke or the ever so brilliant "*knock knock* Penny *knock knock* Penny *Knock Knock* Penny.

One thing I don't like is that they sent away Pria, somehow Leonard becomes too drawn to Penny in that way, instead it would have been nice for both to have a normal-working and good relationship for a season or at least half a season. Cause we all know that they will end up having some magical night where they realize they want eachother again, but me.. I can't wait for it all over again.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Johnny Galecki	Leonard Hofstadter
Jim Parsons	Sheldon Cooper
Kaley Cuoco	Penny
Simon Helberg	Howard Wolowitz
Kunal Nayyar	Rajesh Koothrappali
Melissa Rauch	Bernadette Rostenkowski

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Stacey Travis	Sandy	Guest Star
Christine Baranski	Beverly Hofstadter	Special Guest Star

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Episode Photos

The gang on The Big Bang Theory from the...

© 2011 CBS Corporation
Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kale...

© 2011 CBS Corporation
The gang on The Big Bang Theory from the...

© 2011 CBS Corporation
Jim Parsons, Kunal Nayyar, Johnny Galeck...

© 2011 CBS Corporation

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (3)
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- Raj: You can't ruin friendship with sex. That's like trying to ruin ice cream with chocolate sprinkles.
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- Penny: Oh, my God, I screwed up everything! I hurt Leonard, I hurt Raj. What is wrong with me? I feel like two totally different people: Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Whore.
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- Penny: (pouring wine in a measuring cup) Yup, that's good. Wine glasses should have handles.
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NOTES (4)
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- This episode's end titles has Chuck Lorre's Vanity Card #349.
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- Kunal Nayyar (@kunalnayyar) live-tweeted during this episode, revealing that the paintball scene was filmed on the Warner Bros. studio backlot and that the paint on Sheldon was actually added in post-production.
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- International Airdates: Australia: October 10, 2011 on Channel 9; United Kingdom: November 3, 2011 on E4; Italy: April 8, 2012 on Steel; Czech Republic: June 18, 2012 on Prima COOL; Turkey: September 11, 2012 on CNBC-e; Finland: Janury 7, 2013 on Sub
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- Even though the opening presentation is the same, they changed the last shot (where the gang is eating) for an updated one. This is the second time they have done this, and the first time since season 2.
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