The First Pitch Insufficiency Season 8, Episode 3 -  Aired September 29, 2014

The First Pitch Insufficiency

When Wolowitz is asked by NASA to throw the first pitch at a Los Angeles Angels Game, he worries about embarrassing himself in front of a huge crowd. Meanwhile, when Sheldon claims that he and Amy are the "superior couple" to Leonard and Penny, they set out to prove him wrong.

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Guest Stars: Mike Massimino as Himself

Writers: Chuck Lorre (Story), Jim Reynolds (Story), Anthony Del Broccolo (Story), Steven Molaro (Teleplay), Steve Holland (Teleplay), Maria Ferrari (Teleplay)

Director: Mark Cendrowski

Viewers: 16.38 million Households Rating: 10.8/16 Adults 18-49 Rating: 4.8/15

Available on iTunes

Episode Notes

  • The title refers to Howard's fear over being asked to throw the first pitch at the Los Angeles Angels Game.

> Bazinga

When Sheldon tells Amy that Leonard and Penny are "just jealous because they'll never have a relationship as good as ours", Penny says "Isn't this when he says 'bazooka' or something?"

Episode Quotes

Sheldon: Ignore them, Amy. They're just jealous because they'll never have a relationship as good as ours.
Penny: Isn't this when he says "bazooka" or something?

Penny: You guys are going out two nights in a row?
Sheldon: I missed a number of date nights while I was on my train trip, and I'm contractually obligated to make them up under the terms of the relationship agreement.
Penny: That's so hot.
Amy: It's better than hot, it's binding!

Leonard: I've seen you guys ignore each other for hours, doing totally different things.
Sheldon: It's called parallel play.
Leonard: Yeah, toddlers do that.
Sheldon: Not as well as we do.

Howard: There's no way this is sixty feet.
Bernadette: I'm looking at it!
Howard: You realize this isn't one of those times I want you to exaggerate how long something is.

Amy: After a lively debate, that motion passed by a 2-0 margin.
Leonard: It's nice to see a busy couple keep the spark of bureaucracy alive.

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Last night's episode of The Big Bang Theory dominated the ratings for its time slot and the night as a whole, finishing as the night's most-watched broadcast.  Full story

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Check out pictures from next week's episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The First Pitch Insufficiency", in our gallery.  Full story

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CBS has put out the press release for the September 29 episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The First Pitch Insufficiency".  Full story

Recap

After being asked to throw the first pitch at an L.A. Angels game, Howard is practising his throwing technique on a video game in Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, while Raj heckles him to make the experience more realistic. Later, Sheldon and Amy return to the apartment after their date night. When Amy mentions going to a movie the night after, Sheldon explains to Leonard and Penny that they're going on two consecutive date nights because he missed a number of date nights when he was away. Sheldon invites Leonard and Penny along on their next date, though he quickly loses his enthusiasm when Amy points out a double date does not count as two of Sheldon's contractually-obligated dates.

As Sheldon and Amy, and Leonard and Penny prepare to go on their double date, Sheldon tells Amy to ignore Leonard's joke about their relationship as he's just jealous of their superior relationship. Sheldon states that the qualitative order of the relationships in their social group is: Sheldon & Amy, Howard & Bernadette, Raj & Emily, Penny & Chardonnay, and Penny & Leonard. Meanwhile, Howard is practising his throw at the Caltech gym with Bernadette and Raj. Later, as Leonard drives the couples to the pub, Leonard wants to know why "Shamy" is the better couple.

At the pub, Sheldon explains this his opinions on the relationship are based on the research of Berscheid, Snyder and Omoto. When Leonard wants to take Sheldon's relationship inventory to rate their relationship, Penny leaves the table as she doesn't want to take the test. When Leonard follows her and asks if she's mad at him, Penny explains she doesn't want to take the test in case it adds to her worry about the stability of their relationship. Leonard reveals that even he worries about them getting married, and tells Penny that the worry is something they both have in common and that shows they're on the same page.

It's the big day for Howard at Angel Stadium as he prepares to throw the first pitch. When he's handed a baseball and a microphone, he explains how he didn't think a guy like him would be able to do this since he's a scientist, not an athlete. Howard then unveils a working prototype of the Mars rover which will deliver the ball to home plate. The crowd is initially impressed by Howard's display, until the rover moves extremely slowly and will take ages to reach the home plate, at which point the crowd - including Sheldon and Raj - starts booing Howard.