The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory (2007)

24 corrected entries in season 2

(13 votes)

Correction: There is a red smudge where 7:11 was written. There was enough time for Sheldon to go out get Red Vines, so there was time for him to rub it off when on his own.

Ssiscool

The Financial Permeability - S2-E14

Corrected entry: In 'Pilot' (season 1, episode 1), Leonard and Sheldon attempt to sell their sperm for money to install a T1 line in their apartment, and in 'The Dumpling Paradox' (season 1, episode 7), Sheldon says to Leonard "Frankly, if I could afford the rent, I would ask you to leave". Yet in this episode he says to Penny, "My expenses account for 46.9% of my after-tax income". The only way that his expenses could account for less than half his income just over a year after these lines can only really be explained away if the university gave him a pay rise of over 100%, which is incredibly unlikely for many reasons.

Douglasac

Correction: There are so many possible situations that could explain all of this. Regarding his payrise, You said "unlikely" but that does not mean impossible. That aside, Sheldon could have changed his spending/expense habits. Personally, I did when I got a payrise, regardless of how much it was. Also Sheldon has also proven to us that he is capable of making sarcastic comments now and then whether he is aware he is doing it or not.

XIII

The Friendship Algorithm - S2-E13

Corrected entry: Sheldon asks at the book store information desk if they have any books about making friends, and the employee tells him that all their books like that are for "little kids." It is unreasonable that the employee would not have been able to tell Sheldon about the very well known self-help book "How to Win Friends and Influence People," if Sheldon had not already been able to discover it through a cursory internet search.

DavidK93

Correction: 1. They didn't stock the book. 2. The book was published in 1936. She hadn't heard of it herself. 3. Sheldon only thought of a 'How To make Friends' book after he entered the shop, so the idea of looking up a seventy year old book on the internet is irrelevant.

The Classified Materials Turbulence - S2-E22

Corrected entry: Why would all the astronauts want to do something as dangerous as a spacewalk, particularly one that not only leaves nobody in the International Space Station, but one that has been forbidden by NASA? Because of the smell of waste leaking from the defective toilet? If they can still smell that after they have put on their spacesuits, they are in a lot more trouble than they think. There is no need to leave the station, and they would never, ever do something as stupid as all leaving the ISS at the same time anyway. Besides, do they think the problem of the leaking toilet is going to fix itself while they are all out spacewalking?

Correction: If you can explain away technical errors like this by claiming 'suspension of disbelief' that about half of this site just became redundant. There is a definite error in the episode, identified in this posting : there would never, ever be an occasion where every astronaut would leave the ISS at the same time.

Correction: They never say anything about a smell. We can only assume a worst case-scenario, which in this case, would be their feces floating around inside the station. Of course, even something like this wouldn't put real astronauts outside, but since it's a TV show, it falls into the suspension of belief category.

Knever

The Pork Chop Indeterminacy - S1-E15

Character mistake: In his conversation with Missy Sheldon makes it clear that his superior intelligence is a result of a random, mutated gene. Since Missy isn't similarly intelligent she obviously isn't carrying this mutated gene (which would be a billion to one shot anyway) so her offspring wouldn't inherit it. Sheldon would know this - his offspring would carry the mutated gene for superior intelligence, Missy's would not. Anyone knowing enough about genetics to use the term 'randomly mutated gene' understands enough to know that the mutated gene would only be expressed in a direct line from the carrier - Sheldon. Also bear in mind he has a model of the DNA molecule in his living room - it is obviously an interest.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Genes can be dormant. Which allows them to skip generations. Therefor Missy's children could actually get the "mutated" gene. This is especially true since Sheldon and Missy are twins. Also, since the episode is about who out of Leonard, Howard or Raj, Sheldon would allow to "mate" with his sister, there is the added "insurance" of getting any smart genes from any of the 3 Lothario's mentioned above.

If you are going to try to argue with a geneticist about genetics, please use the correct terms. Sheldon is not referring to a recessive gene - there is no such thing as a dormant gene - he is speaking of a randomly mutated gene. Those are the words he used. If he had inherited a homozygous recessive karotype - one recessive gene from each of his parents - then somewhere in his family tree there would similarly gifted people, in which case he would use the correct term - a recessive gene. If Missy is a heterozygotic dominant karotype possessing the recessive gene for super-genius and the dominant for ordinary intelligence then mating her with Howard, Raj or Leonard would be a waste of time as their dominant genius gene would prevent the recessive super-genius gene from being expressed in the phenotype of the resulting child. The child would be highly intelligent but not on Sheldon's standards. It doesn't matter if Sheldon does not know any of this as he refers several times to a randomly mutated gene, not a recessive one. Missy does not carry the super-genius gene. The posting is correct.

Sheldon is prone to magical thinking when necessary to preserve his obsessive need to control his environment. He may have simply ignored the flaw in his reasoning, as even the most intelligent humans do when venturing outside their ares of expertise. He may be interested in the science of genetics, but his Ph.D. in physics doesn't qualify him as an expert in that field.

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The Holographic Excitation - S6-E5

Trivia: In this episode, Sheldon and Amy are trying to decide on couples' themed Halloween costumes. Sheldon is standing in front of the dry erase board. There are 2 columns written on the board. One named "Couples I Like" and the other "Couples You Like." Under the "Couples You Like" column, one of the couples is Blossom and Joey. Blossom is the name of the television character played by Mayim Bialik in the 90s and Joey was one of her brothers.

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The Euclid Alternative - S2-E5

Question: Though it comes up in other episodes as well, this one is focused on Sheldon needing a ride everywhere he goes because he can't drive, not to mention his not being welcome on the bus. Of course, this story element would be nonexistent if there was a simple answer, but it does beg the question: Does Pasadena not have taxicabs?

MFWills

Chosen answer: It does. The variable cleanliness of the cab and the habit of taxi drivers to engage customers in small talk would be too much for Sheldon to handle, and not an option for him.

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: Sheldon DID finally use a taxi when going to the airport to see and propose to Amy in New Jersey.

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