The Nerdvana Annihilation Season 1, Episode 14 -  Aired April 28, 2008

The Nerdvana Annihilation

Leonard accidentally buys a full size time machine prop from the classic 1960s movie "The Time Machine". As the guys are transporting the machine to their apartment, they inconvenience Penny, who criticizes Leonard and his geeky interests.

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Guest Stars: Andrew Walker as Mike

Writers: Bill Prady (Story), Stephen Engel (Teleplay), Steven Molaro (Teleplay)

Director: Mark Cendrowski

Viewers: 8.16 million Households Rating: 5/8 Adults 18-49 Rating: 3.1/9

Available on iTunes

Episode Notes

  • Originally titled The Nerdmabelia Scattering.
  • The episode title references Leonard's collection of comic books, action figures and toys, which Howard dubbed "Nerdvana", and its annihilation by Penny when she scolded Leonard for his interests.

Episode Quotes

Sheldon: Are you upset about something?
Leonard: What was your first clue?
Sheldon: Well, it was a number of things. First, the late hour, then you demeanor seems very low energy, plus your irritability.
Leonard: Yes, I'm upset!
Sheldon: Oh. I don't usually pick up on those things. Good for me.
Leonard: Yeah, good for you.
Sheldon: (walks away and then turns back) Oh, wait. Did you want to talk about what's bothering you?
Leonard: I don't know. Maybe.
Sheldon: Wow! I'm on fire tonight.

Leonard: Can I go back and prevent you from explaining that to me?
Sheldon: Same paradox. If you were to travel back in time and, say, knock me unconscious, you would not then have the conversation that irritated you, motivating you to go back and knock me unconscious.
Leonard: What if I knock you unconscious now?
Sheldon: It won't change the past.
Leonard: But it'd make the present so much nicer.

Penny: What the hell's going on?
Sheldon: You hypocrite.
Penny: What?
Sheldon: Little Miss Grown-Ups-Don't-Play-With-Toys! If I went into that apartment right now, would I not find Beanie Babies? Are you not an accumulator of Care Bears and My Little Ponies? And who is that Japanese feline I see frolicking on your shorts? Hello, Hello Kitty!

Penny: It is the things you love that make you who you are.
Wolowitz: I guess that makes me large breasts.

Leonard: How are we gonna get it upstairs?
Sheldon: If we take the dish off, it might fit in the elevator.
Leonard: Yes, but the elevator's been broken for two years.
Sheldon: I've been meaning to ask you, do you think we should make a call about that?
Howard: Not necessary, I have a master's in engineering. I remotely repair satellites on a regular basis. I troubleshoot satellite payloads. When the Mars Rover started pulling to the left, I performed a front-end alignment from 62 million miles away. (Pushing button on elevator) Nah, that baby's broken.

Recap

Leonard stumbles upon an internet auction for a miniature replica of the time machine from the classic sci-fi film The Time Machine. Expecting the auction to run into the thousands, Leonard bids $800 just so he could say he was a part of the auction. When Leonard wins the auction, he explains he doesn't actually have $800 to spare, so the guys agree to split it four ways. When the time machine arrives, the guys realize the auction was for the actual life-size time machine, not a miniature replica.

As the guys attempt to transport the time machine up the stairs to the apartment, Penny is rushing to work and needs to use the stairs. Since the time machine is blocking the stairway, Sheldon suggests Penny goes up to the roof and jumps across to the next building. Later that day, Penny storms into the apartment, angry that Sheldon's suggestion failed: Penny skinned her knee jumping across the roof, the staircase door was locked and she had to climb down the fire escape, and an Armenian family invited her in for lunch and tried to set her up with their son. Penny chides Leonard for his obsession with collecting toys and comics, which upsets Leonard.

Later that night, Leonard regrets buying the time machine and thinks about how could have handled things differently with Penny. The next day, Leonard is packing up his collectibles to sell, which Sheldon strongly disagrees with. Howard and Raj come by and try talk Leonard out of it. When Penny comes out of her apartment, Sheldon accuses her of being a hypocrite for admonishing Leonard even though she collects things herself, so she apologizes to Leonard. That night, after Sheldon has a bad dream in the time machine, he and Leonard agree to sell it.