"The Toast Derivation" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on February 24, 2011. Teleplay by Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro and Jim Reynolds, based on a story by Bill Prady, David Goetsch and Maria Ferrari.
It's Thursday, and Leonard is leaving Apartment 4A to go to Raj's apartment to hang out with Raj's sister Priya (Aarti Mann) as well as Howard and Raj. But Sheldon insists everyone should come to 4A to eat pizza per their current Thursday tradition.
Leonard actually convinces Sheldon to come along with him to Raj's. But Sheldon is barely there for a few minutes when he decides to leave. Sheldon goes to the Cheesecake Factory to commiserate with Penny, and talks to Amy on the phone.
Sheldon realizes he is not the center of his social group, so he attempts to form a different social group where he can be the center. The new social group would consist of Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman), LeVar Burton (As Himself), Zack Johnson (Brian Thomas Smith) and Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie).
All of them actually show up, but it's clear that none of them are really interested in being Sheldon's new friends. Stuart wants a hot shower, and Barry wants to win Sheldon's raffle.
Meanwhile, Amy and Bernadette try to help Penny get over Leonard.
Tropes
- Brick Joke: One of the people Sheldon has invited to his new group is LeVar Burton through Twitter. At the end of the episode, it's revaled that Burton did show up, but saw Barry, Zack and Stuart singing "Walking on Sunshine" on karaoke and decided to just turn around and go back home.LeVar Burton: I am so done with Twitter.
- Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: Leonard, Raj, and Howard are initially happy that they can enjoy a meal without Sheldon as he often irritates them with his pedantic statements and tirades but quickly start to miss him because while he is annoying, they realize that nobody explains factoids better than him and his antics often leave them with a lot of fond memories about him. When he comes over, they gladly welcome him inside.
- Shout-Out:
- To Jackie Chan: Sheldon complains that the man on the phone from Luigi's sounds more like Jackie Chan than like an Italian.
- To Bill Gates: Leonard mentions that the Microsoft founder once punched Sheldon because Sheldon belittled the billionaire's philanthropic efforts in Africa for their supposed deleterious effect on Windows Vista.
- To Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: Sheldon complains repeatedly about the dead pixels in Raj's TV. "Oh, look, it's Harry Potter and 98% of The Sorcerer's Stone."
- Start My Own: After realizing the rest of the gang would rather not be with him, Sheldon decides to form another social group, consisting of Barry, Stuart and Zack. Unfortunately, they end up having fun without him, and he goes back to his original group.
