History Recap / TheBigBangTheoryS1E13TheBatJarConjecture

* EarlyBirdCameo: "TV's ''Series/{{Blossom}}''" and "that girl from ''Series/TheWonderYears''" are both mentioned. Creator/MayimBialik would later join the main cast as Amy Farrah Fowler, and Creator/DanicaMcKellar would appear as a GirlOfTheWeek. No one comments on their [[CelebrityParadox resemblance]] to these actors. (''Blossom'' was also mentioned in ''Series/YoungSheldon'' episode "A Race of Superhumans and a Letter to Alf".)

* CelebrityParadox: Raj cites two TV actresses who are also known to be gifted academics, "the girl who played TV's ''Series/{{Blossom}}''" (Creator/MayimBialik) and "the girl from ''Series/TheWonderYears''" (Creator/DanicaMcKellar). Both actresses would later appear in Season 3 of ''The Big Bang Theory'' playing characters other than themselves; jarringly, Bialik's character Amy Farrah Fowler would become a member of the ''main cast'' from Season 4 onwards.

* CelebrityParadox: Raj cites two TV actresses who are also known to be gifted academics, "the girl who played TV's ''Series/{{Blossom}}''" (Creator/MayimBialik) and "the girl from ''Series/TheWonderYears''" (Creator/DanicaMcKellar). Both actresses appeared in Season 3 of the show playing characters other than themselves; jarringly, Bialik's character Amy Farrah Fowler would become a member of the ''main cast'' from Season 4 onwards.

* CelebrityParadox: The scene from this episode where Raj suggests his team recruits "the actress who played TV's Series/{{Blossom}}" to his team became this after said actress -- Creator/MayimBialik -- joined ''[=TBBT=]'''s cast as Amy during [[Recap/TheBigBangTheoryS3E23TheLunarExcitation the season 3 finale]].

** TheSmartGuy: Leslie Winkle, who also doubles as TheChick

* CelebrityParadox: The scene from this episode where Raj suggests his team recruits "the actress who played TV's Series/{{Blossom}}" to his team became this after said actress - Creator/MayimBialik - joined ''[=TBBT=]'''s cast as Amy during [[Recap/TheBigBangTheoryS3E23TheLunarExcitation the season 3 finale]].

* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: In TheStinger, Penny gives Sheldon and Leonard one final quiz to see who's smarter, this time covering pop culture. Both Sheldon and Leonard do miserably on the quiz.

Leonard fills in Sheldon's gap with his ex, Leslie (Creator/SaraGilbert), while Sheldon hires [=CalTech=]'s janitors and cafeteria workers but requiring they all stay quiet and not give answers. Both Leonard and Sheldon do very well against each other in the Physics Bowl but then neither of them can answer the Final question that will break their almost tied score.

Leonard gives a very weak guess, and Sheldon stays quiet until suddenly his teammate Dmitri (Creator/AdamGregor) answers "Negative 8 pi alpha". Sheldon lashes out at Dmitri, saying their arrangement was only Sheldon may answer questions.

!!Plot
The guys decide to participate in the annual Physics Bowl. For their first practice round on a Saturday with Penny hosting, Sheldon keeps cutting in and trying to answer the questions for his partners. Leonard, Howard and Penny point out Sheldon is being selfish and he should share the glory with his teammates out of consideration. Sheldon refuses, wanting to keep hogging the spotlight all for himself and dismissing there's such a need to "share" the questions. Fed up with Sheldon's ego, Leonard boots him off the team with a Batman cookie jar as compensation.

Leonard fills in Sheldon's gap with his ex Leslie as while Sheldon hires [=CalTech=]'s janitors and cafeteria workers but requiring they all stay quiet and not give answers. Both Leonard and Sheldon do very well against each other in the Physics Bowl but then neither of them can answer the Final question that will break their tied score. Leonard gives a very weak guess, and Sheldon stays quiet until suddenly his teammate Dmitri (Creator/AdamGregor) answers "Negative 8 pi alpha". Sheldon lashes out at him, saying their arrangement was only he may answer questions. The teammate, Dmitri, confesses to being a former renowned physicist himself back in the Soviet Union before moving to America for a new life. Sheldon doesn't care for his background, and so Sheldon revokes that answer, allowing Leonard to win. Leonard, while proud of his new trophy, wonders if Sheldon will ever realize the true potential of teamwork.

Leonard fills in Sheldon's gap with his ex Leslie as while Sheldon hires [=CalTech=]'s janitors and cafeteria workers but requiring they all stay quiet and not give answers. Both Leonard and Sheldon do very well against each other in the Physics Bowl but then neither of them can answer the Final question that will break their tied score. Leonard gives a very weak guess, and Sheldon stays quiet until suddenly his teammate answers "Negative 8 pi alpha". Sheldon lashes out at him, saying their arrangement was only he may answer questions. The teammate, Dmitri, confesses to being a former renowned physicist himself back in the Soviet Union before moving to America for a new life. Sheldon doesn't care for his background, and so Sheldon revokes that answer, allowing Leonard to win. Leonard, while proud of his new trophy, wonders if Sheldon will ever realize the true potential of teamwork.

* UnfortunateNames: Army Ants (AA) and Perpetual Motion Squad (PMS).

* WasItReallyWorthIt: Leonard asks Sheldon if losing as an individual means better to him than winning as a team and take only partial credit for victory. Sheldon most likely would have answered "Yes" if he understood this question when Leonard asked him.

* PlotHole: Sheldon at first didn't want to be part of the Physics Bowl complaining it's too easy for him, but then he gets obsessed with taking over the team and is pissed when Leonard discharges him.