The Monetary Insufficiency is an episode from Season 11 of The Big Bang Theory.
Sheldon tries to get $500 million in funding for advancing his research on quantum decoherence, but his authorities don't have that kind of money to give him, so he resorts to desperate measures such as attracting investors and selling his own beloved comic books.
Also, Amy shops for a wedding dress. She tries on one and another that both Bernadette and Penny like, then she tries on a third that neither Bernadette nor Penny like, but neither of them has the heart to tell her.
Tropes
- The Bad Guy Wins: Sheldon gets thrown out of the casino after he told them how he's winning off their machines.
- Big "NO!": When Sheldon is kicked out of the casino at the same time his predicted and expected slot on the roulette wheel was the correct one!
- Downer Ending: Sheldon did win some money from the Las Vegas casino, but he fails to win enough to secure funding for his black hole research because he told the security guards he knows how it works!
- Foreshadowing: After hearing about how prudish Amy's mother is, Penny jokingly asks Amy to remind her to kick her mother's ass. Come the actual wedding a few episodes later, Penny does put Mrs. Fowler in her place.
- Genius Ditz: Sheldon deduced how the Las Vegas casino machines work (use probability mathematics to pick the most frequently recurring numbers a.k.a. modes in roulette), but he can't keep his mouth shut in front of security guards who don't want statistical experts taking home half to all the casino's loot and forcing them into bankruptcy.
- He Knows Too Much: Sheldon gets thrown out of the Las Vegas casino by a black security guard for not just figuring out how the machine works, but for also deliberately explaining to the guard that the machine is fixed and follows a predictable algorithm.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Amy's third wedding dress choice - and her personal favorite - is basically a pile of pink ruffles that wouldn't look out of place at a Southern debutante ball. Neither Penny nor Bernadette is willing to admit to her how tacky they think it is.
- Incredibly Lame Fun: Bernadette is amused at how finger sandwiches combined fit like a puzzle and even calls that interesting. This should be a no-brainer; finger sandwiches are usually cut into smaller pieces if they can fit like a puzzle.
- Metaphorgotten: Raj when he tries to express his sentiment about the pie he just ate before this episode began. He said it was "bananas" (figuratively, as in superbly tasting) but that it was a cherry pie.
- Our Nudity Is Different: While checking out wedding dresses, Amy mentions that her mother wouldn't approve of one because it shows too much clavicle ("The bosom's welcome mat"). Later, while trying out dresses, Amy brags about one showing both clavicles.
- Police Code for Everything: The Las Vegas casino Sheldon participates at has security guards who communicate "Pelican" in case a winner knows how the machine works. This could be a reference to the pelican's large throat-pouch used to capture prey parallel to the large amount of Sheldon's winnings.
- With Friends Like These...: Sheldon coldly suggests a proper solution for CalTech to raise enough money for his research is to downsize and fire Leonard.
