History Fridge / TheBigBangTheory

** Sheldon may be AmbiguousDisorder, but a train obsession is pretty stereotypical of Asperger Syndrome.

** The implied image of Leonard hiding out in a parking lot somewhere every Monday night, pouring cashew chicken and pad thai into new containers, rolling his eyes all the while about how ridiculous his roommate is and the fact that this is well and truly necessarry, is great.

* So why is it that despite being researchers, these people never actually are shown ''teaching'' any classes? With just ''how'' emotionally stunted and downright hostile the characters are (''Especially'' Sheldon), the ''last'' thing the university would ''ever'' want them to do is interact with potential students or donors. Ergo, they were put where they'd be able to benefit the university and cause the ''least'' amount of damage.

** Well, traumatic events in someone's life usually cause a person to emotionally regress. What was that traumatic event for Sheldon? The death of his father.

* When Howard sings his romantic song for Bernadette while she's stuck in quarantine, one of the first lines is "I'd be Doctor Who without the TARDIS". Howard is established as a big fan of the series and so he of all the cast should know that the main character is called "The Doctor" and ''not'' "[[IAmNotShazam Doctor Who]]". While is probably just a mistake by the writers to have Howard sing it that way, the Fridge Brilliance comes in that there is a way to reconcile it. Howard could be saying that he'd be the TV Show without it's iconic spaceship, so in effect it would be similar to saying "I'd be Star Trek without the Enterprise" or "I'd be Star Wars without the Millennium Falcon".

** Though possibly, part of it is just that, as Leonard will tell you, no matter how smart you are, when you live in the same household as [[SuperIntelligence Sheldon Cooper,]] you're inevitably going to get OvershadowedByAwesome, even without your mom not giving you much credit.

* How could Leonard put up with Sheldon's antics? Because he's lived with somebody worse: His mother. This also puts a rather Freudian spin on Leonard and Sheldon's relationship. Leonard moved away from his mother, only to move in with his mother. If you buy into one of Freud's [[OedipusComplex most (in)famous theories]], it could also put a HoYay spin on their relationship.

* A Meta one, why does WordOfGod refuse to admit that Sheldon is on the autistic spectrum? Well people on the spectrum behave differently, not by choice but because they are wired differently (please note that this Troper ''is'' autistic, and can identify with Sheldon sometimes), so a lot of Sheldon's more JerkAss personality traits as well as his obsessive dedication to routine and order ''aren't his fault.'' [[UnfortunateImplications So how would that reflect on the gang, who frequently make fun of ''exactly those traits'']]? Admitting Sheldon is autistic would be possibly the largest mass-FunnyAneurysmMoment in the history of sit-coms. This even comes up in a later season of the show, when Sheldon's model behavior as a tenant frustrates Leonard to insanity. As he explains it, the fact that Sheldon is behaving himself now means that he spent years annoying Leonard despite being able to control himself.

* After Sheldon forms his own team for the Physics Bowl, the other guys try to find a replacement. A rather inane conversation about replacing her with the "chick who played Series/{{Blossom}}" ensues. After the idea is rejected, Winnie from The Wonder Years is suggested in a throw-away reference. The joke is that Danica [=McKellar=] (aka Winnie) is now a mathematician and Mayim Bialik (aka Blossom) has a [=PhD=] in neurobiology. Oh, and to make this even better? [[CelebrityParadox Both actresses]] show up (in different episodes) in incredibly geeky guest parts in the third season -- with Bialik having an even more permanent role in the fourth.

* Why dose Beverly Hofstadter keep appearing in spite of being TheScrappy? Because her entire character is one giant TakeThatAudience. You don't have to look further than this very site to see that [[FanDumb fans like to use]] InsaneTrollLogic [[FanDumb to excuse Sheldon of his]] {{Jerkass}} behavior and blame all the problems on the others (especially [[ButtMonkey Leonard]]), so they introduced [[HateSink Beverly]] who takes all of Sheldon's negative traits UpToEleven, and still brings out the worst in him, with no RefugeInAudacity. Much like how fans will make any excuse to [[DesignatedHero make Sheldon come off as the good guy]] [[DesignatedVillain and Leonard the bad guy]] Beverly insists that all the problems with their relationship are Leonard's fault and everyone just goes along with it to spite the fact that she's clearly a terrible mother and yet she still maintains a career as a child psychiatrist. Basically {{This|LoserIsYou}} {{Jerkass}} [[ThisLoserIsYou is you.]]

* In the episode where the gang are playing [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft WoW]], Sheldon does not help the raid obtain the "Sword of Azeroth", instead grabbing the sword and fleeing, to sell it on eBay, resulting in the other three's characters having to fight a desperate battle (until Howard buys the sword). At first, Sheldon just comes off as a JerkAss, betraying the others for money. But consider: Sheldon does not need money. He is contemptuous of attempts to obtain it. He has several thousand dollars worth of un-cashed paychecks in his drawer, and lends freely and without interest. Then consider his justification: "I'm a rogue Night Elf". Sheldon wasn't screwing the others over for money, he was simply (in his eyes) conforming to character descriptions and adding to the game dynamic. It's not uncommon for RPG players to use this as an excuse--but Sheldon is so LiteralMinded it wasn't just an excuse for him.

** There is also a train of logic as to why she reacts like this, unlike Sheldon who, as the [[Series/YoungSheldon spin-off]] shows, actively chose not to pursue friendships, the snippets that Amy has given about her past imply that conversely she was actively ostracized by her peers as a child despite wanting friends, and as a result for her the blunt, antisocial aloof persona she had at the start of her run on the show was in fact a protective shell, meaning that, as previously stated, she had never had a chance to develop social skills until she starts to open up with Penny and Bernadette, even Sheldon wouldn't help in that regard as her previous persona is almost identical to his own.

** Howard wants to use it to bribe Peter Jackson, so that he got a role in an other movie. Gaining advantage from the original owner is a motive I can imagine for Saruman.

* In the second {{season finale}} Penny appears to get unusually emotional with the prospect of Leonard leaving for a whole summer, which Leonard picks up on and (for whatever reason) asks Sheldon for his thoughts on the matter. Leonard was worrying that if he did leave, Penny would eventually get over him and find someone else while ''at that moment'' he might have a chance with renewing their relationship. Sheldon says that if those feelings are happening because of the simple prospect of him leaving then ''he must go'' because truthfully nothing has actually happened yet (Basically, Leonards impressions are simple theory and Sheldon is suggesting the most effective method of experimentation). When he '''does''' return she practically throws herself at him, having the summer to muse about their relationship. Considering it was his advice that got them there, ''Sheldon'' is indirectly responsible for Leonard and Penny finally hooking up. Made nicely ironic that in their professions it's Leonard who experiments and Sheldon who theorizes.