S01E17 - The Tangerine Factor

No: 17  |  Season: 1   Episode: 17  |  Air Date: 2008-05-19  |  Runtime: mins

Unless you're planning on running a marathon, choosing both stuffing and mashed potatoes is a starch filled redundancy.

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Summary

After a bad breakup, Penny finally agrees to go out on a date with Leonard, however they both develop doubts and turn to Sheldon for advice.

Director and Writers

Director: Mark Cendrowski
Writers: Story by: Chuck Lorre & Bill Prady / Teleplay by: Lee Aronsohn & Steven Molaro

Script

Script: S01E17 - The Tangerine Factor

Quotes

Penny: Leonard isn't the kind of guy I usually go out with.
Sheldon: Leonard isn't the kind of guy anyone usually goes out with.

Sheldon: But why talk to me? Why not Koothrappali or Wolowitz?
Penny: Well, Koothrappali can't talk to me unless he's drunk, and Wolowitz is... just disgusting.
Sheldon: Yes, I guess he is.

Howard: I'm so glad you're learning Mandarin.
Sheldon: Why?
Howard: Because then you'll have a billion people to annoy instead of me.

Leonard: I don't think I can go out with her tonight.
Sheldon: Then, don't.
Leonard: Other people would say "Why not?"
Sheldon: Other people might be interested.
Leonard: I'm gonna talk anyway.
Sheldon: I assumed you would.

Leonard: Now that I'm actually about to go out with Penny. I'm not excited. I'm nauseous.
Sheldon: Ah, then your meal choice is appropriate. Starch absorbs fluid, which reduces the amount of vomit available for violent expulsion.

Leonard: She's upset, I'm going over there.
Howard: Remember to sit on your hands a bit, so they're warm.
Leonard: I'm her friend. I'm not going to take advantage of her vulnerability.
Howard: So you're saying, if in the depths of despair, she throws herself at you and demands you take her, right there, right now, you'll just walk away?
Leonard: I said I'm her friend, not her gay friend.

Penny: (meeting Sheldon in the hallway) I'm sorry... look, do you have a second?
Sheldon: A second what? Pair of underwear?

Leonard: She doesn't want to talk.
Sheldon: Penny's emotional response is originated in the primitive portion of the brain, known as the amygdala. While speech is centered in the much more recently developed neo-cortex. The former can easily overpower the latter, giving scientific credence to the notion of being "rendered speechless."
Sheldon: Or maybe she just doesn't want to talk.

Leonard: Before we go, have you heard of Schrodinger's cat?
Penny: Oh, I have heard more than enough about Schrodinger's cat.

Penny: I guess you're aware that Leonard asked me out.
Sheldon: He didn't actually say anything, but when he came back to the apartment he was doing a dance that brought to mind the happy hippos in Fantasia.

Leonard: Why are you learning Mandarin?
Sheldon: I suspect that the people at the Szechuan Palace are passing off orange chicken as tangerine chicken, and I intend to confront them.
Leonard: If I were you, I'd be more worried about what they're passing off as chicken.

Penny: Thank you so much for your stupid advice!
Raj: Incredible. You've managed to screw up the screw-up.

Leonard: Okay, well, you know, this isn't that bad. It just paints the picture of a very affectionate woman who's open to expressing her affection in non-traditional locales.
Penny: Oh God!
Leonard: Elevators, parks, movie theatres, out of curiosity, is this subway the transportation system or subway the sandwich shop?
Penny: Sandwich shop.

Penny: I swear to God, I am done with guys like that. You know, macho, with the perfect body and the hair, and the money.
Leonard: Yeah, that must get old quick.
Penny: You know, just once, I would like to go out with someone who is nice, and honest, and who actually cares about me.
Leonard: What about me?
Penny: What about you what?
Leonard: What about if you went out with me?
Penny: Are you asking me out?
Leonard: Um... yes... I am... asking you out.
Penny: Wow.
Leonard: I was just going off your comment about the nice guy...
Penny: No, I know, I got that. Yeah, totally.
Leonard: ...thing and honest but, it's no big deal...
Penny: Yes.
Leonard: Yes what?
Penny: Yes, I will go out with you.
Leonard: Really?
Penny: Yeah. Why not, I mean, what do I have to lose?
Leonard: Yeah. That's the spirit

Sheldon: I think I need another Mandarin lesson. I don't think I got through to them.
Howard: For heaven's sake, if you don't like the tangerine chicken, don't order the tangerine chicken.
Sheldon: I like tangerine chicken, I'm just not getting tangerine chicken.

Penny: Wanna sit down?
Sheldon: Oh, I wish it were that simple... You see, I don't spend much time here, so I've never chosen a place to sit.
Penny: Well, choose.
Sheldon: There are a number of options... I'm really not familiar enough with the cushion densities, airflow patterns and dispersion of sunlight, to make in informed choice.

Leonard: Maybe I am her best gayfriend...

Sheldon: What do I have to say to bring this discussion to a speedy conclusion?
Leonard: Tell me whether or not I should go out with Penny.
Sheldon: Schrodinger's cat.
Leonard: Wow, that is brilliant!
Sheldon: You sound so surprised.

Penny: (scares the hell out of Sheldon after touching him in the back) Do you have a second?
Sheldon: A second what? Pair of underwear?

Penny: (about the guy she just broke up with) He's moved on!
Leonard: Wow! That was quick!
Penny: (crying) That's what I said to the girl with her legs wrapped around his neck.

Raj: Look, I found an iPod.
Howard: It's broken beyond repair. What are you going to do with it?
Raj: What else? Sell it on eBay as slightly used.

Notes and Trivia

At the end of this episode, note the sport coat and pink dress worn by Leonard and Penny. The same clothes are worn in the season 2 premiere, implying that the season premier was the continuation of their first date.

By coincidence, both this episode and an episode of the Fox drama Bones (2005) (The Pain in the Heart (2008)), which aired on the same night, May 19, 2008, reference Schr?dinger's cat.

Sheldon is correct in stating that light-years are a measure of distance, not time. One light-year is the distance that light traverses within the span of one year, which is about 5.88 trillion miles (a trillion being one million millions) or 9.46 trillion kilometers.

The first of many times in the entire series where Penny mentions she has a sister. Later on, only her brother Randall (Jack McBrayer) is introduced, at the second wedding of Penny and Leonard. Even though the sister is eventually named Lisa in The Donation Oscillation (2019), she never made an appearance on the show.

The 'little crush' that Menelaus had on Helen of Troy was enough to launch the Trojan War when Paris of Troy stole her away.

The Schroedinger's cat analogy recurrent through the show is mentioned again in The Codpiece Topology (2008), wherein Penny mentions it to a guy she goes out with, as well as in The Russian Rocket Reaction (2011), wherein Sheldon refers to "Schroedinger's Friendship".

Through the Looking Glass was Lewis Carroll's sequel to "Alice In Wonderland". Like Alice, it too has a strong chess-centered theme. Alice goes through the looking glass, i.e. mirror, to another world where things are recognizable, yet turned sideways. The phrase "through the looking glass" is a metaphor for any time the world turns strange, insane, or otherwise abnormal, as if one were on the other side of the mirror.

Goofs

None

Cast

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