BLOGS

The Big Bang Theory: Supernova of the Week

What makes Big Bang Theory so entertaining is its solid ensemble, but there's always someone that burns more brightly than those around them. This week, that person was Amy Farrah Fowler. Howard and Bernadette spent the episode playing house with his mother and making our skin crawl, Raj was basically a chauffeur, Sheldon was a child playing with tiny trains (even ridiculously sticking one in his mouth) and Leonard was tediously dull, unless Amy was around to make him more interesting. Here are the five reasons Amy is our Big Bang Supernova of the Week. We swear we weren't just won over by her beckoning pelvis.

Overstaying Her Welcome
How wonderfully uncomfortable was it to see her sitting on the couch and staring into space as Leonard squirmed at being left alone with her? And she was self-aware enough to realize that she was overstaying her welcome. At least she learned something at the gynecologist's office: she just can't help herself when she's having a wonderful time.

Her Sad Prom Story
After we learned that the only person to sign her yearbook was her mother ("Dear Amy: Self-respect and a hymen are better than friends and fun. Love, Mom."), we found out she didn't have a date to the prom, and that her mom had paid her cousin to take her, but he took the cash and spent it on drugs. Amy! We'd give you a corsage if we could, without even copping a feel. We swear.

Her Sense of Perspective
When Leonard was whining about Priya being across the globe, she had a quick retort: "I have a kind of, sort of, boyfriend who is playing a model train right now, but you don't hear me bitching about it. Leonard, a word of advice: Moody self-obsession is only attractive in men who can play guitar and are considerably taller than you." Love it. Then after showing off her finger mustache/conversation starter, she gets him off his butt with her straight-talking ways. "We just had a lovely meal. The band is... on fire. And you're sitting next to a beautiful woman wearing whorish makeup. Why don't we head out on the dance floor and see if I can sweat through these dress shields."

The Chicken Dance
She did the chicken dance. And made Leonard do it, too. Them skipping around was, as she would say, "a delight."

Leonard Falling In Love With Her
After breaking an ice sculpture to cradle Leonard's hokey-pokey injured genitals, he kisses her on the cheek by way of gratitude. She imagines this is because he's in love with her, and goes to Penny for advice. "Much as I would treasure knowing that the two of us had been defiled by the same man, Leonard just doesn't get my motor running." She tells Penny that she's got a plan to let him down easy: "I'll send him an email, letting him know that this body is never going to be his wonderland. Frankly, you've got a better shot than he does." Complete with finger mustache and some eyebrow raises. Nicely done, Amy.

And while Sheldon was most infantile throughout the episode, watching him karate-chop Leonard to let him know that Amy was off limits, redeemed him a bit. See, the mere presence of Amy this week was magic for all involved.

What are people saying about your favorite shows and stars right now? Find out with Talk Without Pity, the social media site for real TV fans. See Tweets and Facebook comments in real time and add your own -- all without leaving TWoP. Join the conversation now!

31 Comments

September 30, 2011 12:50 PM
Rabbit
Reply

I have disliked the Amy character from the start, and I have been the sad victim of many disappointments since her first appearance, the latest being the fact that she is clearly no longer a secondary character, she has acheived permanence. To my everlasting regret.

"Mayim Bialik" must surely be Czechoslovakian for "As funny as throat cancer"

September 30, 2011 1:22 PM
Ainav
Reply
replied to comment from Rabbit

Mayim actually means "water" in Hebrew, but okey.

September 30, 2011 1:25 PM
Becki
Reply

I love Amy Farrah Fowler. I think she gives Sheldon a little more humanity, and has some great storylines of her own. Amy also bridges the gap between the "guys" and Penny nicely and gives more purpose to her being on the show. Keep AMY!!!

September 30, 2011 1:27 PM
Ainav
Reply
replied to comment from Rabbit

Mayim actually means "water" in Hebrew, but okey.

September 30, 2011 1:28 PM
Rabbit
Reply
replied to comment from Ainav

I think it may depend on how you pronounce it. :-)

But really. she was almost funny as the perfect computer dating match for Sheldon, but that should have been the end of the joke. How many hyperintellectual science geeks does this show really need?

September 30, 2011 1:31 PM
Bonnie
Reply

Message for RABBIT: Amy´s amazing, Mayim is amazing and you are probably stupid because ,,Czechoslovakia" doesn´t exist since 1993.

September 30, 2011 1:52 PM
Timothy
Reply

Amy Farrah Fowler has grown on me. I hated the character at the start, but she has been great the last dozen shows or so. And her sexual chemistry with her "besty" is hilarious and wrong.

September 30, 2011 2:13 PM
2Children
Reply

I thought she was great. Mayim is a wonderful actress for this part. The mustache was great. I think I even caught a glimpse of her breaking up, just a little. Not as prof. as usual, but it endeared her to me. Maybe you have to have seen her in Blossom, to really love her in TBBT.

September 30, 2011 3:22 PM
Becks
Reply

I love AFF as well. And I was pleasantly surprised at Sheldon's possessive karate chop at the end of the episode. Maybe there's a heart in there after all.

September 30, 2011 5:23 PM
Lauren
Reply

AFF is an great addition to the show. She pretty much never fails to get a laugh from me and last night was no exception. And like Becks above me said, that Sheldon was possessive over her was VERY interesting. We have never seen him be like that and it was a great little moment.

October 1, 2011 9:28 AM
Carly
Reply

Why doesn't TWOP just recap the show?

October 1, 2011 12:22 PM
Duckbutter55
Reply

I love the show and all the cast members. Do you think we'll see Howards mother? She's very funny. Looks like all of us are on the same page except rabbit..a bit of advice to he or she. ..a bit of advise.. keep your silly comments to yourself.. we're a happy group of positive intelligent people.. go away and never come back. Evil people like you need to stay with your own kind.

October 1, 2011 2:52 PM
Stepanka
Reply
replied to comment from Rabbit

Rabbit, I really don't care one way or the other regarding your opinions of the character or the actress, but if you're going to be snarky, do so accurately. As someone who lived in Prague for 4 years (that's in the Czech Republic) I can tell you that there's not much excuse for referring to Czechoslovakia unless you're referring to history. And what's with the name assumptions? I've been to Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. Didn't hear 'Mayim' very often. Research before snark.

October 1, 2011 3:48 PM
Lydia
Reply

I actually liked AFF at first but now its just tiring. I feel like she's overstaying her welcome in everyway and its becoming one of the show's many low points

October 1, 2011 4:29 PM
lacey
Reply

I'm not a big Amy fan and just don't think she's that funny. I enjoy her interactions with Penny but that's it. I miss the first season of TBBT where there wasn't all this couple drama.

October 1, 2011 9:05 PM
maggie
Reply
replied to comment from Carly

I think they've commented on that in a FAQ somewhere - you can't effectively (well, humorously) recap/snark on comedies. The 'making fun of' is always just straight up negativity and scorn rather than playful mockery.

October 2, 2011 8:53 AM
Sam
Reply
replied to comment from Rabbit

Although I don't feel as harshly as Rabbit, I can relate to her feeling of disdain now that AFF has become somewhat of a regular fixture on Big Bang. (Then again, once upon a Big Bang time, there was Sara Gilbert who played the tad-too-edgy Leslie Winkle, so you never know.) My problem isn't with the additional characters — I freaking love Bernadette. Melissa Rauch plays the sweet, befuddled microbiologist hysterically. Mayim Bialik, quite simply, fails to do what the comic god a.k.a. Jim Parsons and the equally talented Christine Baranski (Dr. Beverly Hofstadter) does — make a supposedly disagreeable character hilariously likeable. And in Parsons' case, loveable even. She just CANNOT pull off a female Sheldon. With her, Amy has become this annoyingly arrogant, deliberately condescending, creepily hungry-to-fit-in character; as opposed to Sheldon's adorably arrogant, inadvertently condescending, delightfully clueless presence on the show. I'm sure Bialik has done and will do better in other roles. Just NOT this one. I sincerely hope the brilliant producers realize this before there are more episodes like "The Pulled Groin Extrapolation," and the fans start switching to Community instead. Not even my love for Sheldon Cooper saved me from last week's painful AFF overload — I already did.

October 2, 2011 8:55 AM
Sam
Reply
replied to comment from Rabbit

Although I don't feel as harshly as Rabbit, I can relate to her feeling of disdain now that AFF has become somewhat of a regular fixture on Big Bang. (Then again, once upon a Big Bang time, there was Sara Gilbert who played the tad-too-edgy Leslie Winkle, so you never know.) My problem isn't with the additional characters — I freaking love Bernadette. Melissa Rauch plays the sweet, befuddled microbiologist hysterically. Mayim Bialik, quite simply, fails to do what the comic god a.k.a. Jim Parsons and the equally talented Christine Baranski (Dr. Beverly Hofstadter) does — make a supposedly disagreeable character hilariously likeable. And in Parsons' case, loveable even. She just CANNOT pull off a female Sheldon. With her, Amy has become this annoyingly arrogant, deliberately condescending, creepily hungry-to-fit-in character; as opposed to Sheldon's adorably arrogant, inadvertently condescending, delightfully clueless presence on the show. I'm sure Bialik has done and will do better in other roles. Just NOT this one. I sincerely hope the brilliant producers realize this before there are more episodes like "The Pulled Groin Extrapolation," and the fans start switching to Community instead. Not even my love for Sheldon Cooper saved me from last week's painful AFF overload — I already did.

October 2, 2011 8:55 AM
Sam
Reply
replied to comment from Rabbit

Although I don't feel as harshly as Rabbit, I can relate to her feeling of disdain now that AFF has become somewhat of a regular fixture on Big Bang. (Then again, once upon a Big Bang time, there was Sara Gilbert who played the tad-too-edgy Leslie Winkle, so you never know.) My problem isn't with the additional characters — I freaking love Bernadette. Melissa Rauch plays the sweet, befuddled microbiologist hysterically. Mayim Bialik, quite simply, fails to do what the comic god a.k.a. Jim Parsons and the equally talented Christine Baranski (Dr. Beverly Hofstadter) does — make a supposedly disagreeable character hilariously likeable. And in Parsons' case, loveable even. She just CANNOT pull off a female Sheldon. With her, Amy has become this annoyingly arrogant, deliberately condescending, creepily hungry-to-fit-in character; as opposed to Sheldon's adorably arrogant, inadvertently condescending, delightfully clueless presence on the show. I'm sure Bialik has done and will do better in other roles. Just NOT this one. I sincerely hope the brilliant producers realize this before there are more episodes like "The Pulled Groin Extrapolation," and the fans start switching to Community instead. Not even my love for Sheldon Cooper saved me from last week's painful AFF overload — I already did.

October 2, 2011 9:23 AM
SamIAm
Reply
replied to comment from Rabbit

Although I don't feel as harshly as Rabbit, I can relate to her feeling of disdain now that AFF has become somewhat of a regular fixture on Big Bang. (Then again, once upon a Big Bang time, there was Sara Gilbert who played the tad-too-edgy Leslie Winkle, so you never know.) My problem isn't with the additional characters — I freaking love Bernadette. Melissa Rauch plays the sweet, befuddled microbiologist hysterically. Mayim Bialik, quite simply, fails to do what the comic god a.k.a. Jim Parsons and the equally talented Christine Baranski (Dr. Beverly Hofstadter) does — make a supposedly disagreeable character hilariously likeable. And in Parsons' case, loveable even. She just CANNOT pull off a female Sheldon. With her, Amy has become this annoyingly arrogant, deliberately condescending, creepily hungry-to-fit-in character; as opposed to Sheldon's adorably arrogant, inadvertently condescending, delightfully clueless presence on the show. I'm sure Bialik has done and will do better in other roles. Just NOT this one. I sincerely hope the brilliant producers realize this before there are more episodes like "The Pulled Groin Extrapolation," and the fans start switching to Community instead. Not even my love for Sheldon Cooper saved me from last week's painful AFF overdose — I already did.

October 2, 2011 9:28 AM
Sam
Reply
replied to comment from Rabbit

Holy crap on a cracker. Did I just inadvertently spam TWoP? I can assure you, this was the product of techno-idiocy, and nothing else. Mea culpa.

October 4, 2011 1:23 AM
ztratila
Reply
replied to comment from Rabbit

what a creepy sense of humour! dear boy, there is no czechoslovak language - it is a mystery like for example belgian language. for me mayim is a great person and amy is funny character.

October 4, 2011 1:23 AM
ztratila
Reply
replied to comment from Rabbit

what a creepy sense of humour! dear boy, there is no czechoslovak language - it is a mystery like for example belgian language. for me mayim is a great person and amy is funny character.

October 4, 2011 7:18 PM
Sarah
Reply

Amy is just AMAZING!
I agree completely with the review, she is a wonderful addition to an already great show. Kudos to the writers and producers for bringing and keeping her in TBBT, and specially kudos to Mayim for her performance which gets better with each episode she is in.
Amy is not a "female Sheldon" anymore, she is Amy Farrah Fowler now, a great character by herself!

October 4, 2011 7:27 PM
Rose
Reply

There's not such thing as "too much AFF", love her to pieces!
Yes, I was sceptical at the beggining too, but she has won me now. Mayim is proving she is ABSOLUTELY CAPABLE of pulling off an equally quirky and adorable character as Amy.

October 4, 2011 8:37 PM
Nicole
Reply

I love Amy. She's like Sheldon at first, but once you get to know her she's a Sheldon who wants social skills and friends and all those things Sheldon doesn't feel he needs to function. She's hilarious, and I love her scenes with Penny, Penny&Bernadette, and Sheldon. Bestie and Shamy scenes are second only to Leonard/Penny scenes for me in adorableness, and probably first in hilarity. I love all the characters, but I think Amy might be my favorite. She's a great addition to the show.

October 4, 2011 9:48 PM
Caroline
Reply

I also love Amy. She's hilarious, and always says what she thinks. I really love her to pieces. And I agree with Rose-no such thing as too much Amy!

October 7, 2011 12:08 PM
Edwin Grannan
Reply

Did you see how clumsy with women Wolowitz? He makes me laugh too much!

October 9, 2011 10:14 AM
Pomita
Reply

Amy/Mayim are absolutely priceless on the show at this time, and getting better with every new episode Pulled Groin Extrapolation was nothing less than an Emmy-nomination-worthy performance. I can't imagine my favorite show without her now - both the Sheldon/Amy bonding and the Penny/Amy bonding are pure delight.

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