I'm the real genius behind this paper.
"The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on March 17, 2008. Directed by Joel Murray. Teleplay by Lee Aronsohn, David Goetsch and Chuck Lorre based on a story by Stephen Engel and Bill Prady.Sheldon and Leonard are invited to present a science paper. Sheldon forbids Leonard, who decides to go ahead and present the paper anyway.
Penny helps Leonard pick out clothes for the presentation, and she also goes, along with Howard and Raj. She winds up falling asleep. To everyone's surprise, Sheldon also came to the presentation, wearing a disguise. Revealing himself, Sheldon berates Leonard and gets into a physical altercation with him.
Tropes
- All Men Are Perverts: The Cold Open is the guys with RC cars with cameras being controlled via internet by users from around the world. When Penny comes in wearing a very short skirt, the cars all congregate around her, to her horror.
- Book Ends: At the beginning of the episode, Internet strangers take control of the lights in Leonard and Sheldon's apartment. At the end of the episode, the lights in the apartment of a couple of guys in China are controlled by "Wolowizard" from Pasadena, California.
- Cosplay: Penny finds Leonard's "flight suit."
- Height Angst: Leonard's last growth spurt was in the eighth grade.
- Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: Howard uploads a video of Sheldon and Leonard fighting as "Physicists Gone Wild".
- Logging onto the Fourth Wall: The "Physicists Gone Wild" video was actually posted on YouTube under a Wolowizard username. It has since been taken down, but it was mirrored
. - Low Count Gag: At the physics convention, Howard checks out the room where the paper presentation will take place.Howard: I just checked the house. There must be twenty, twenty-five people in there.
Leonard: You're kidding.
Penny: Is that all?
Howard: All? In physics, twenty-five is Woodstock. - Mundane Made Awesome: The guys relaying a signal around the world through the internet just to turn on their stereo. Penny suggests they just buy a universal remote.
- Pstandard Psychic Pstance: Sheldon whenever he tries to make people's heads explode.
- Running Gag: Sheldon's "mind explosion" attempts (a la Scanners). Also his fake-laugh when someone tells a joke he doesn't get.
- Shout-Out:
- To 2001: A Space Odyssey : The guys play Also sprach Zarathustra on the stereo as they act like apes.
- Penny asks Sheldon "How do you feel?", and he responds "I do not understand the question." This references a similar exchange in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home between a computer and Spock.
- Sheldon's attempts at blowing people's heads with his mind is from Scanners.
- Your Head Asplode: Attempted by Sheldon numerous times.Leonard: You cannot blow up my head with my mind.
Sheldon: Then I'll settle for an aneurysm. - Your Mom: Invoked. When Sheldon insults Leonard, Raj says the only thing missing is "Yo momma."
