"Big Bang Theory": Cooperisms from Season 7 Quiz

Answer: Howard

Penny is thrilled when Leonard comes home early, but has to keep up the deception to spare Sheldon's feelings. Unfortunately, her erratic behavior and other clues in her apartment (two wine glasses and take out containers in the trash can) lead Sheldon to one undeniable conclusion. "I fear Penny is being unfaithful to Leonard," he says to Amy. "She claimed to be alone, when there is obviously someone else in her apartment. I have no choice but to assume the worst, given Leonard's lengthy sea voyage, and her famously ravenous nether regions." They eavesdrop at Penny's door, and hear whispering and giggling. When Amy thinks she hears Leonard, Sheldon dismisses the idea. "Why would Leonard come home early, and waste his time kissing Penny, when he could be hanging out with his best buddy?" he asks. He barges in on Penny to "catch her in the act", and discovers Leonard inside. "I never realized to what extent our friendship was a burden to you," Sheldon says. He tells Leonard that he doesn't have to pretend to like him anymore, and leaves.

In the end, Howard is the one who puts their fight in perspective. "Now listen to me. You two aren't just friends. You're best friends. And that's a beautiful thing," he says. "Leonard, you know why he's so mad at you? It's 'cause he missed you," he says to Leonard, before turning to Sheldon. "And as his friend, you should be happy. He has love in his life." Howard was emotional and vulnerable the entire episode, because he had been absorbing estrogen into his system from rubbing his mother's ointment on her back for several weeks.

Answer: Penny

In "The Scavenger Vortex", no one volunteers to be paired with Penny, so Raj makes them draw names out of a hat. Amy is paired with Howard, and they bond over their shared love of Neil Diamond. Leonard gets partnered with Bernadette, who turns out to be an ultra-competitive nightmare.

Sheldon is dismayed when he picks Penny's name, but it isn't entirely clear which of them got the short end of the stick. The first clue involves solving a jigsaw puzzle, which Sheldon insists on completing the entire puzzle long after it is clear that it is a picture of the comic book store. Penny and Sheldon are the last ones to reach the store, but thanks to Sheldon they are the first to decipher the next clue, which leads them to the geology lab at the University, where Penny locates the next clue thanks to her knowledge of The Rolling Stones. The penultimate clue leads them to the laundry room, where they find a bag of laundry containing one of Sheldon's t-shirts with a spot on it. Penny figures out that the final clue is leading them to Sheldon's spot on the couch, and everyone rushes up to the apartment to claim the prize, except Sheldon, who stays back to pre-soak his shirts. Sheldon and Penny actually make a good team, but in the end it is all for naught since Raj had slipped gold coins into everyone's pockets at the start of the hunt, because "When we're all having fun together, we're already winners," and "Some of those puzzles were really hard and I didn't know who was gonna get Penny." The scene ends with Bernadette and Leonard confronting Raj about how stupid it is to have a scavenger hunt with no clear winner, and Penny telling Raj to "Run to India".

Answer: Raiders of the Lost Ark

In "The Raiders Minimization", Sheldon can't wait to hear Amy's opinion after a screening of "Raiders of the Lost Ark", but is disappointed when she describes it as "entertaining, despite the glaring story problem". "Oh Amy," he says condescendingly. "'Raiders of the Lost Ark' is the love child of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, two of the most gifted filmmakers of our generation. I've watched it 36 times... I defy you to find a story problem." Amy reluctantly points out that Indiana Jones plays no part in the outcome of the story. "If he weren't in the movie," she explains, "the Nazis would have still found the ark, taken it to the island, opened it up and all died. Just like they did."

Sheldon spends the rest of the episode trying to find something beloved to Amy, so that he can ruin it for her. He reads "Pride & Prejudice", but finds it to be "a flawless masterpiece". Next, he tries to find fault with the comic strip "Marmaduke" by questioning why a family would keep such a large and poorly disciplined dog, but Leonard explains that they probably "fell in love with him when he was a puppy and didn't know how big he was going to be". In his desperation, Sheldon turns to Leonard and says, "Hang on. You spend time with Amy. Can you think of anything she's fond of that has a bunch of flaws she hasn't noticed?" Leonard pauses for a moment, but ultimately dodges the question. The episode ends with the guys re-watching "Raiders" yet again to try to redeem the ending in their eyes, but failing miserably.

Answer: "One should not defecate where one eats."

Sheldon gets into trouble with Amy in this episode when he initially says that he is fine with Amy working at the university, but then changes his mind after being influenced by Howard. He capitulates after Amy promises to keep her distance at work, but can't help himself from embarrassing Amy when he introduces himself to her colleagues. He spends most of the episode slowly realizing that Amy is upset with him.

When Amy first broaches the subject with Sheldon in The Cheesecake Factory, she is cautious to ensure that he has no objections to her accepting the job. When Sheldon asks why he wouldn't be okay with it, Amy says, "Well, this project would have us working in close proximity to one another, and there's the vulgar adage that one should not defecate where one eats." When Sheldon confesses that he has heard his father use the phrase before, but doesn't understand what it has to do with the current topic, Amy explains. "Sheldon, 'Don't defecate where you eat' means 'Don't have a romantic relationship in the workplace'." Sheldon is surprised, as he always interpreted the phrase literally. "That's why I've never once moved my bowels in this or any restaurant," he says. "I'm relieved that you don't have a problem with us working together," Amy says. "Not as relieved as I'm about to be," Sheldon replies, as he heads to the restroom. "It's a brave new world, little lady."

Answer: Amy

When Sheldon cracks the method for synthesizing a new stable super-heavy element, he becomes the toast of the scientific community, even after it turns out that he only made his discovery because he misread a table in "The Handbook of Chemistry and Physics". Sheldon is still the subject of admiration from all his peers because a Chinese research team finds the element anyway, but he is miserable because he feels like a fraud getting credit for something he doesn't deserve. When Leonard tries to reassure Sheldon by saying that everyone is still really proud of him in spite of his error, Amy is the only person to disagree. "Sheldon, I've been thinking about it, and you're right," she says. "You don't deserve any credit. All you did was misread some numbers on a table. A very easy table, too. Honestly, I'm embarrassed for you." Sheldon is visibly taken aback. "That's the most romantic thing I've ever heard," he says.

Later, Sheldon and Amy are at The Cheesecake Factory, but Amy is busy daydreaming. In her fantasy, Sheldon says that Amy is the reason he read the table incorrectly. "You distract me," he says. "I've been distracted since the moment I met you." When Amy says she is sorry, Sheldon says, "Well, you should be. Because all I can think about is how much I want to kiss you. And not just on the cheek, but on the mouth. Like mommies and daddies do." The episode ends with the real Sheldon asking Amy if she heard what he just said, with Amy only able to reply, "Can't talk, in the zone."

Answer: Bill Nye the Science Guy

When Dr. Jeffries asks Leonard to help him on his paper about nano-vacuum tubes, Sheldon is insulted that he picked Leonard over him. Amy tries to suggest that Sheldon may have just come on too strong in the pharmacy, but Sheldon doesn't want to hear it.

He pays a visit to Dr. Jeffries at his home, and tries to be gracious in offering his help, but winds up insulting him in the process. ("Lending my name and reputation to it will help, because a lot of people think that you're a washed-up has-been. Or dead.") After Arthur rejects Sheldon yet again, he turns up at Leonard's laboratory with an interesting companion. "As it just so happens," Sheldon says to Leonard and Arthur, "I'm also spending the day with a beloved children's television science personality. Isn't that right, new friend and colleague, Bill Nye the Science Guy. Sorry, I replaced you with a newer model." Leonard apologizes to Bill, who remarks that Sheldon told him he would be speaking to a class. "No," Sheldon corrects, "I said you were teaching someone a lesson." Sheldon leaves with Bill Nye, and wastes no time in texting Leonard a picture of him getting smoothies with his new friend.

The episode ends with Dr. Jeffries patching things up with Sheldon and asking him to take a look at his paper, which is just as well, as things didn't end well between Sheldon and Bill Nye, who is now "The Restraining Order Guy".

Answer: He forgot to return a DVD.

When Leonard rummages through an old junk box in the apartment closet, he finds two things that he had forgotten about: a red, itchy sweater made for him by his aunt, and a DVD that he borrowed seven years ago on Sheldon's card but never returned. Instead of going ballistic over the DVD, Sheldon remains uncharacteristically calm. When Leonard belittles the effect that this sort of thing has on Sheldon, he gets more than he bargained for. "You completely disregard how uncomfortable unresolved issues are for me," Sheldon says. "It's like an itch in my brain I can't scratch." Sheldon proposes an arrangement to make Leonard understand how he feels in these situations. "I promise I won't pester you about the DVD," Sheldon says, "But, until this matter is resolved, I would like you to wear this sweater with nothing underneath it." That way, they will both be itchy and uncomfortable until the situation is remedied.

Leonard resolves to head down to the video store to return the DVD, but is informed by Sheldon that the store went out of business years ago. He tries looking up the owner's information downtown, but learns that he is dead. Leonard feels that the matter is over, since there's no one to return the DVD to, but Howard points out that he can locate the store owner's next of kin, which leads him to an Armenian church, where he learns that no one attended Nursis Manookian's funeral service. When Sheldon suggests that he should search for long-lost relatives in either Armenia or Lebanon, Leonard has a meltdown, and Sheldon finally comes clean. It turns out that Sheldon discovered the DVD years ago and paid the late fee, and was just using this as a "teachable moment". The episode ends with Amy expressing admiration for Sheldon's "diabolical" plan, with Sheldon replying, "It wasn't easy. Do you have any idea what it's like to wait for years and never know if you're going to finally get satisfaction?"

Answer: The football game

In "The Thanksgiving Decoupling", Sheldon impresses Howard's father-in-law with his detailed knowledge of American football. He accurately analyzes the on-field tactics, and provides meaningful play-by-play commentary on the game. When Mike asks him how it is he knows so much, Sheldon replies, "My father loved football.

He always made me watch it before I was allowed to do my homework." Mike and Sheldon spend the whole evening bonding over the game, predicting the next play ("I would throw a quick slant to a wideout, given that the defense is showing blitz."), and reminiscing about the 1993 Thanksgiving game in Dallas, when "Leon Lett blew the game in the final seconds and the Dolphins emerged victorious".

When Mike introduces beer into the mix, Sheldon gets carried away with his merry-making, and exhibits atypically inappropriate behavior.

He burps out the sequence for pi for Mike, and slaps Amy playfully on her bum while asking her to get him more beer, to Amy's obvious delight.

Answer: His sister is having a baby.

Sheldon surprises everyone with his trip to Texas, which he explains as being due to his "sister's uterus [coming] down with a baby". When Amy asks why he never mentioned that his sister was pregnant, Sheldon replies, "Well, I never told you about my brother's kidney stone. You want to hear about everything that comes out of my family's genitals?"

Sheldon returns home to find his sister having a home birth and transforming the bedroom floor into an "amniotic Slip 'n Slide", because "she wants to live in the Stone Age and a cave wasn't available". Midway through the labor, he makes a video call to the rest of the gang to give them his grim assessment of the miracle of birth. "This is no way to make new humans," he says. "People coming out of people. It's some kind of dirty magic show." When Sheldon's mother asks him to get more towels, he takes advantage of the "vague request" and makes his escape to Bed, Bath and Beyond. He eventually returns in time to witness the birth. "I wasn't sure I was gonna to make it," he later tells the gang, "But my mother gave me some ice chips, my sister told me to breathe, and I just thought to myself, Sheldon, if you can make it through the 'Green Lantern' movie, you can make it through this."

Answer: He proves that the element doesn't exist.

Sheldon is forced by the university to publicize the discovery on a local radio show, where he learns that the scientific community is calling it "The Wonder Blunder". Sheldon is miserable to be getting all this attention over something he wished he never did, and feels that the praise and admiration are unwarranted. Thinking that he can help, Leonard re-runs the tests on the new element in his lab and discovers that the Chinese research team faked their results, and proves that the element doesn't actually exist. "Do you know what that means?" he says to Sheldon as he conveys the good news. "That means all of this attention that you hate goes away." Sheldon is beside himself. "I can't believe it," he says. "You robbed me of my greatest achievement." To explain his change of heart to Leonard and Penny, he says, "When I thought the element was real, I didn't want it. But now that Leonard made it not exist, I want it more than anything in the world."

Leonard thinks that Sheldon is "out of his mind", but Penny sort of gets it. "It's like if you're dating someone you're not that into, and then they break up with you and then you want them more than ever," she says. "I have no idea what she's talking about," Sheldon says to Leonard, "but we're ganging up on you so I agree."