The Comic Book Store Regeneration Season 8, Episode 15 -  Aired February 19, 2015

The Comic Book Store Regeneration

As they prepare for the reopening of Stuart's comic book store, the gang is at each other's throats. Sheldon is upset that Amy helped Barry Kripke with his work, so Penny tries to teach him how to let things go. When Sheldon reveals that Amy has been performing experiments on her, Penny struggles to follow her own advice. Howard is angry at Stuart over the furniture in his shop.

When they go to collect food for the store's grand opening, Leonard and Raj think they spot Firefly star Nathan Fillion. Later, Howard receives some devastating news about his mother, and the gang rallies round him.

Rate this episode

Guest Stars: John Ross Bowie as Barry Kripke, Nathan Fillion as Customer, Angela Relucio as Hostess

Writers: Jim Reynolds (Story), Maria Ferrari (Story), Jeremy Howe (Story), Steven Molaro (Teleplay), Eric Kaplan (Teleplay), Steve Holland (Teleplay)

Director: Mark Cendrowski

Available on iTunes

Episode Notes

  • Debbie Wolowitz, Howard's mother, passed away in this episode. Carol Ann Susi, the actress who voiced Mrs. Wolowitz throughout the show's run, passed away in November 2014.
  • The title simply refers to the redevelopment of Stuart's Comic Book Center are it was destroyed by a fire in the seventh season finale, "The Status Quo Combustion".

> Bazinga

As Sheldon listens to Barry thank Amy for her help on a paper he wrote, Sheldon suggests Barry e-mail it to him at "[email protected]"

"Sheldon: Why .biz? Because I just gave you the business. And also bazinga.com was taken."

Episode Quotes

Sheldon: May I say something?
Leonard: Not right now, Sheldon.
Sheldon: But I think it may be comforting.
Leonard: Buddy-
Howard: No, it's okay. What?
Sheldon: When I lost my own father, I didn't have any friends to help me through it. You do.

Penny: At one point, they had me figure out how to get a banana out of a puzzle box.
Leonard: Wait, Sheldon gave me a banana in a box. He was testing me, too.
Penny: Unbelievable.
Leonard: And how could a chimp even solve that? That was impossible.
Penny: Really? You couldn't get it out?

Bernadette: She's just being nice.
Howard: Well, I'm her son, how come she doesn't send someone to check on me if I'm lonely.
Bernadette: Because you have a wife!
Howard: Yeah, well, sometimes you work late.

Leonard: The place really looks great.
Raj: Yeah, you should have burnt it down years ago.
Stuart: I keep telling you, I didn't burn it down.
Leonard: We know. We know. Because burning something down for the insurance money is a crime. *wink*

Raj: Yeah, Mrs. Wolowitz was pretty special. When I first moved to America, Howard was my only friend, and she made me feel so welcome in her home. Which says a lot, because those first few years she thought I was the gardener.

News Stories

Title Date Posted
815 'The Comic Book Store Regeneration' Ratings February 20, 2015

Last night's episode of The Big Bang Theory dominated the ratings in its time period to rank as Thursday night's number one show.  Full story

815 'The Comic Book Store Regeneration' Pictures February 7, 2015

Pictures from the next episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Comic Book Store Regeneration", have been added to our gallery. In the episode, the guys prepare for the re-opening of Stuart's comic book store. While Penny helps Sheldon learn to let things go, Penny struggles to follow her own advice after Amy performs experiments on her. Meanwhile, Leonard and Raj think they spot Firefly star Nathan Fillion at a restaurant.  Full story

815 'The Comic Book Store Regeneration' - Nathan Fillion guest stars February 3, 2015

CBS has issued the press release for the February 19 episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Comic Book Store Regeneration". Nathan Fillion (Castle, Firefly) guest stars in the episode and John Ross Bowie reprises his role as Barry Kripke.  Full story

Recap

As Sheldon and Amy eat in her lab, Barry Kripke shows up with a gift for Amy, to thank her for helping him with a research paper. Sheldon is angered to learn that Amy helped Kripke in the field of string theory, a subject he left behind as he thought it was unfruitful. Meanwhile, Howard talks to Mrs. Wolowitz, who's in Florida visiting family, on the phone. Mrs. Wolowitz asks Howard to check in on Stuart, who is finally about to re-open the comic book store.

In the building's laundry room, Sheldon tells Penny about his anger towards Amy. Penny assures him Amy didn't do it to make him angry, so he should probably just it go. Meanwhile, Leonard and Raj check out Stuart's store ahead of its reopening. When Howard and Bernadette arrive, Howard is angered to find Stuart has taken old furniture from Mrs. Wolowitz, who said he could use it. Leonard and Raj excuse themselves to go collect the food for the party, escaping from the tense environment in the store.

In Penny's apartment, Sheldon is still angry about Amy, so Penny works him through some exercises to relieve his anger. Sheldon struggles to let go of his anger, and reveals to Penny that Amy has been running experiments on her. Amy has been giving Penny trivial tasks to do, so she can monitor Penny's performance against chimpanzees. Penny is insulted and throws Sheldon out of the apartment. Meanwhile, Bernadette tries to calm Howard down at Stuart's store. She argues that some old furniture is a small price to pay for getting Stuart back on his feet and out of Mrs. Wolowitz's house. When Leonard and Raj arrive at the restaurant, they think they spot Castle and Firefly actor Nathan Fillion. They approach him to tell him how much they love his work. The customer tells them they must be mistaken, he isn't Nathan Fillion.

Amy arrives at the building to pick up Sheldon, but Penny accosts her in the hallway about her secret experiments. Amy tells Penny it's not a big deal as they run these sorts of tests on students all the time. Back at the deli, when Leonard and Raj apologize to the custom again on their way out, he admits he is actually Nathan Fillion and offers to take a photograph with them. Raj is now skeptical that the man is actually Nathan Fillion, but eventually agrees to have a picture taken with the man who looks like Nathan Fillion only more annoyed than Nathan Fillion usually is.

While Leonard and Penny are waiting at the comic book store, Penny fills Leonard in on Amy's secret exercises. Leonard realizes Amy and Sheldon have been running tests on him, too. Leonard and Penny accuse Sheldon and Amy of not caring about other people's feelings when they arrive at the store. When Howard arrives, still angry with Stuart, Sheldon tries to help him let it go. As Howard excuses himself to go answer a phone call, Penny and Amy are still squabbling. When Howard returns looking shaken up, he tells the guys his mother died in her sleep in Florida. The gang stop arguing and gather round t console Howard. Sheldon asks if he can say a few words, causing concern from Leonard and Penny who think he'll say something inappropriate. Sheldon tells Howard how when his father died, he had no friends to help him through it, but Howard does.

The gang, minus Howard and Bernadette who are traveling to Florida, gathers in the apartment, sharing their memories of Mrs. Wolowitz. Stuart is thankful for Mrs. Wolowitz taking him, while Raj remembers how she was so welcoming of him when he was new to the country and Howard was his only friend. Leonard proposes a toast to Mrs. Wolowitz, describing her as a mother to them all.