The Convention Conundrum

"The Convention Conundrum" is the 14th episode of the seventh season of the U.S. sitcom The Big Bang Theory and the 149th episode of the show overall. It first aired on CBS on January 30, 2014.[1]

"The Convention Conundrum"
The Big Bang Theory episode
Episode no.Season 7
Episode 14
Directed byMark Cendrowski
Story by
Teleplay by
Production code4X5315[1]
Original air dateJanuary 30, 2014 (2014-01-30)
Running time21 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

The episode features guest appearances by James Earl Jones and Carrie Fisher. In contrast to previous guest stars, Jones takes a liking to Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and the main plot is focused on the two having a night out together. Fisher appears when Jones suggests they knock on her door and run away. The episode received high ratings and mainly positive reviews, with many complimenting the cameo appearances.

Plot

Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Sheldon, Raj (Kunal Nayyar) and Howard (Simon Helberg) are in Leonard and Sheldon's apartment, waiting for Comic-Con tickets to go on sale online. After ten minutes of trying, Leonard finally gets in the queue but is 15,211th in line. Tickets run out and the four men are disappointed that they will not be able to attend, especially as they had spent so much time on their costumes, intending to go as different versions of the Hulk as portrayed by Lou Ferrigno, Eric Bana, Edward Norton, and Mark Ruffalo.

Sheldon decides to set up his own Comic-Con, and tries to convince several celebrities to appear, including Stan Lee, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Leonard Nimoy, and Wil Wheaton. Since he has restraining orders from Lee, Nimoy, and Nye, he asks Leonard to contact them.[2] He then discovers James Earl Jones, whom he reveres for voicing the Star Wars villain Darth Vader, is going to a sushi restaurant, where Sheldon meets him.

Unlike many celebrities Sheldon has met, James Earl Jones welcomes his company, and the two spend the night doing various activities; they go to an ice-cream parlor, a carnival, a strip club, and a sauna. Sheldon asks Jones questions about himself and he confirms that he was functionally mute for eight years, he was a pre-med in college, and that sound designer Ben Burtt used scuba equipment to create the sound of Darth Vader's breathing. They also sing at a karaoke club and prank Carrie Fisher by knocking on her door and running away. At the end of the night, James Earl Jones learns that Sheldon and his friends failed to get Comic-Con tickets and invites them along as his guests.

Meanwhile, Leonard, Raj, and Howard attempt to solve their Comic-Con problem by illegally buying scalped tickets. After arranging for a scalper to come to Leonard's apartment, they begin to get worried, remembering Sheldon's warning that they could get charged for petty theft, then have to disclose the crime in the future. When the scalper is heard arriving, they quickly turn off the lights and stay silent.

Penny (Kaley Cuoco), Amy (Mayim Bialik) and Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) go for afternoon tea at a tea parlor in an attempt to feel more like adults. Once they arrive, they see that only mothers and their children are there; they decide to hit the lobby bar instead. They discuss how they do not feel grown up and how being an adult is not necessarily a good thing.

Production
Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, makes a guest appearance in "The Convention Conundrum"

The episode features guest stars James Earl Jones and Carrie Fisher, actors from the Star Wars film series.[3] It was first announced that they would be appearing on the show on January 12, 2014.[4] The day after, Steve Molaro revealed the basic plot outline for the episode, although he refused to explain exactly what Fisher's "very small, very funny, very weird part" would be.[5][6] The episode was filmed on January 21, 2014.[note 1] In real life, James Earl Jones is said to be a "good sport" when meeting Star Wars fans, similar to his character in the episode. Jim Parsons described having James Earl Jones around as "pretty insane" and said "there's no way ever you can even realize the amount of work he's done."[8]

"The Convention Conundrum" is the first episode to credit Kaley Cuoco, who plays Penny, as Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting.[note 2] She married Ryan Sweeting on December 31, 2013;[11] this was the third episode to air after their wedding.[note 3]

Reception

Ratings

On the night of its first broadcast on January 30, 2014 at 8 p.m., the episode was watched by 19.05 million households in the U.S.[14] Including 5.70 million viewers watching on DVR, the episode was watched by 24.75 million viewers in total.[15] It received a Nielsen rating of 11.3/14 overall,[16] and 5.2/15 for viewers aged 18 to 49.[14] The episode was the most watched episode that night.[14]

In Canada, the episode aired at the same time as in America, on CTV Television Network and was watched by 4.38 million viewers, ranking it third on both Canadian television and CTV that week.[17] Australia first broadcast the episode on Nine Network on March 25, 2014, and was watched by 994,000 households. It was ranked third on the network that night and eighth on cable.[18] In the UK, it aired on May 1, 2014 on E4. The episode received 1.84 million viewers (according to BARB), ranking it number 1 that week on the channel; the episode had 0.46 million viewers on E4 +1, giving it a total of 2.31 million viewers.[19]

Reviews
James Earl Jones' performance was well received

The episode received mostly positive reviews, with many critics complimenting James Earl Jones and Carrie Fisher's cameo appearances. Jesse Schedeen of IGN rated it eight out of 10, summarizing that "When it comes to celebrity guest stars, James Earl Jones raised the bar on this week's Big Bang Theory."[20] Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B, complimenting the show for having enough "nerd currency" to secure two high-profile guest stars in one episode;[21] Jason Hughes of The Huffington Post agreed, describing the episode as "one of the best uses of celebrity guest stars playing themselves we've seen on television".[22] Billy Nilles from Zap2it said "Jones has proven himself a powerful comedy performer".[23]

Carla Day from TV Fanatic gave the episode a very positive review, describing it as "by far the funniest episode of the season" and giving it an editor rating of 4.9 out of 5.[24] Tom Eames of Digital Spy gave it a mixed review. He complimented the cold opening, and described Carrie Fisher's "surprise cameo appearance" as "pretty cool". However, he said the girls' subplot of acting like grown-ups was "used a bit too often" and thought the scalper ticket subplot being "dropped without a conclusion" was "a shame".[25]

However, Robin Pierson of The TV Critic rated the episode 40 out of 100, describing it as "classic bad Big Bang Theory".[26] Pierson said "a story like this makes it a bit harder to believe in Sheldon" and suggested that Sheldon should "take something from this experience".[26] Pierson also disliked the girls' subplot as it did not "go anywhere" and described the guys as "cowards".[26]

Notes
  1. The episode, per the production code, was the 15th to be filmed in the season. "1/21/14" was the 15th date listed on TVTickets for season 7 of The Big Bang Theory.[7]
  2. She was credited as "Kaley Cuoco" in "The Occupation Recalibration" (the previous episode)[9] and credited as "Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting" in "The Convention Conundrum" (this episode).[10]
  3. "The Hesitation Ramification" aired on January 2, 2014,[12] and "The Occupation Recalibration" aired on January 9, 2014.[13]

References
  1. "Listings – Big Bang Theory, The | The Convention Conundrum". The Futon Critic. Futon Media. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
    • For the episode where Sheldon is given restraining orders from Lee and Nimoy, see: "The Excelsior Acquisition". The Big Bang Theory. Season 3. Episode 16. March 1, 2010.
    • For the episode where Sheldon is given a restraining order from Nye, see: "The Proton Displacement". The Big Bang Theory. Season 7. Episode 7. November 7, 2013.
  3. Block, Sheri (January 30, 2014). "Star Wars legends James Earl Jones, Carrie Fisher to guest star on 'Big Bang Theory'". CTV. Bell Media. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  4. Mitovich, Matt Webb (January 12, 2014). "Exclusive: The Big Bang Theory Books Out-of-This-World Star Wars Cameos". TVLine. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  5. Abrams, Natalie (January 13, 2014). "Big Bang Theory Scoop: Details on James Earl Jones and Carrie Fisher's Guest Roles". TV Guide. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  6. "Here's How Carrie Fisher and James Earl Jones Will Appear on The Big Bang Theory". The Huffington Post. AOL Inc. January 14, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  7. "Future Show Dates". TVTickets. Audiences Unlimited. December 8, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-12-08. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  8. Bueno, Antoinette (January 28, 2014). "Big Bang Cast Is Starstruck at James Earl Jones". Entertainment Tonight. CBS Television Studios. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  9. "The Occupation Recalibration". TVGuide.co.uk. Imano. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  10. "The Convention Conundrum". TVGuide.co.uk. Imano. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  11. "'Big Bang Theory' star Kaley Cuoco gets married". Newsday. Santa Susana, California: Cablevision. Associated Press. January 2, 2014. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
  12. "Listings – Big Bang Theory, The | The Hesitation Ramification". The Futon Critic. Futon Media. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  13. "Listings – Big Bang Theory, The | The Occupation Recalibration". The Futon Critic. Futon Media. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  14. Kondolojy, Amanda (January 31, 2014). "Thursday Final Ratings: Big Bang Theory, American Idol, The Taste, Vampire Diaries, Parks & Recreation, Two and a Half Men Adjusted Up; The Millers, Elementary, & Reign Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Tribune Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  15. Bibel, Sara (January 21, 2014). "Live+7 DVR Ratings: The Big Bang Theory Has Biggest 18–49 Ratings & Total Viewership Increase, Elementary Tops Percentage Gains in Week 15". TV by the Numbers. Tribune Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on January 23, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  16. Porter, Rick (January 31, 2014). "TV ratings: Big Bang Theory falls, but dominates Thursday, Idol dips slightly". Zap2it. Tribune Media Services. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  17. "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) January 27 – February 2, 2014" (PDF). BBM Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  18. Knox, David (March 26, 2014). "Resurrection rises to 1.91m viewers for Seven". TV Tonight. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  19. "Top 10 Programmes". BARB. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  20. Schedeen, Jesse (January 31, 2014). "The Big Bang Theory: "The Convention Conundrum" Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  21. Sava, Oliver (January 30, 2014). "Episode 14 – The Convention Conundrum". The A.V. Club. Onion Inc. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  22. Hughes, Jason (January 31, 2014). "James Earl Jones Is Hilarious on The Big Bang Theory". The Huffington Post. AOL Inc. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  23. Nilles, Billy (January 30, 2014). "Big Bang Theory Season 7, episode 14: 12 best moments from James Earl Jones and 'The Convention Conundrum'". Zap2it. Tribune Media Services. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  24. "The Big Bang Theory Review: Lion Sleeps Tonight". TV Fanatic. Mediavine. January 30, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  25. Eames, Tom (January 31, 2014). "The Big Bang Theory recap: Darth Vader's actually quite nice". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  26. Pierson, Robin (February 3, 2014). "Episode 14 – The Convention Conundrum". The TV Critic. Retrieved May 2, 2014.

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