The Big Bang Theory: "The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification" Television Review

The Big Bang Theory

"The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification"

Television Review

By our guest blogger, Sanela Djokovic

It was only a matter of time before a Sheldon Cooper robot emerged on “The Big Bang Theory.” During the fourth season’s second episode we got to see a prototype.

Leonard wakes up to Sheldon in the living room intently examining scribble on a number of dry-erase boards. Sheldon explains that he is trying to calculate his lifespan, partly by viewing family history, which does include an uncle who died from KBG (killed by badger—and, yes, Sheldon is able to find a relevant connection).

Sheldon’s recent interest in his own lifespan is because he wants to know whether he will live long enough to download his consciousness into a virtual presence, but its not looking good for Dr. Cooper. His first attempt to add years into his life is a change in diet.

So, while the crew is enjoying pizza, Sheldon has declared Thursday night his cruciferous vegetable night, and on this particular Thursday that means a bowl of brussel sprouts. But, when that leads to an extremely gassy night, which he confuses for cholera, he quickly throws that idea out and decides to work on his physicality.

His plan to go jogging with Penny doesn’t work out so well, either. Actually, the pre-jog warm-up was an early detector that Sheldon is a lost cause. So, naturally, Sheldon, after learning that at his age he is most likely to die from a vehicular accident, builds an elementary robot, which includes a monitor his face appears on, speakers, a long stem—perfect for hanging Sheldon’s t-shirts, and not much else.

"The Big Bang Theory" is certainly not suffering from lack of creativity. And the constant focus on Sheldon doesn’t hurt either. Each one of the characters brings a lot of humor to the series and certainly create the perfect balance, but fans LOVE Sheldon. I know someone who has a picture of Sheldon Cooper up in his office, and this guy’s not even a nerd.

All the evidence of why he’s everyone’s favorite can be extracted from one particular scene, where Leonard is driving the virtual presence of Sheldon to work. It doesn’t matter what form he comes in—it's all gold.

And I think fans will enjoy watching the Sheldon/Penny dynamic, which is also an early theme this season. I’m sure they will continue tapping into whether or not Sheldon has the capacity for human companionship, but if they do find a way to make that work, it will not be with Penny – there are fans who kind of wish it.