Rating: Not Rated
Starring:
Johnny Galecki as Leonard Hofstadter
Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper
Kaley Cuoco as Penny
Simon Helberg as Howard Wolowitz
Kunal Nayyar as Rajnesh Koothrappali
Special Features:
Physicist to the Stars
Testing the Infinite Hilarity Hypothesis in Relation to the Big Bang Theory
Gag Reel
Other Info:
Widescreen (1.78:1)
Dolby Surround Stereo Sound
Portuguese Language
French, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai Subtitles
Running Time: 481 Minutes
The Details:
The following is the official description of the series:
“The science of funny is back! At work, physicists Leonard and Sheldon and their geek pals conquer the cosmos. At home, real life – from dating to driving – conquers them. This season, Leonard gets a girl. So does Sheldon. (Sheldon?!) Howard drives the Mars Rover into a ditch. Raj woos a terminator. Gorgeous girl-next-door Penny falls under the spell of Age of Conan. And super-smart, überconfident Leslie Winkler reduces mere men to spineless jellyfish. Twenty-three laugh-filled episodes from series creators Chuck Lorre (‘Two and a Half Men’) and Bill Prady (‘Gilmore Girls’) and a talented cast with astronomical comedy I.Q.s show why ‘Big Bang’ is such a big hit.”
“The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Second Season” is not rated.
Mini-Review:
I watched a bit of the first season of “The Big Bang Theory” and enjoyed it quite a bit, but there was a lot of other stuff that I decided to watch first such as “Battlestar Galactica,” “Heroes,” “The Office,” “Lost,” and other shows. I didn’t follow it that closely. But over this past summer, I started watching the reruns of the second season because, well, there was nothing else on. “Battlestar Galactica” is over, “Heroes” went downhill very quickly, and nothing else got my attention. Lo and behold I got addicted to it. My wife and I used this DVD to get caught up with the series and we’ll be watching Season 3 when it airs the first time.
This is a perfect series for anyone that proudly calls themselves a geek. It will also appeal to anyone who’s significant other is a geek, too. The constant references to comics, sci-fi, video games, and pop culture generate a lot of laughs. In one episode Penny gets addicted to online gaming through “Age of Conan.” In another episode, Sheldon starts a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock.” Later on Sheldon declares that he won’t watch the ‘Clone Wars’ TV series until he sees the movie first. “I want to be disappointed by George Lucas in the order he intended.” The references go on and on.
This season the show focused less on Leonard pining over Penny and that was a good thing. It would only last so long before becoming stale and I think they ended it at the right time. They paced it well just like they did with Jim and Pam on “The Office.” Sure, it’s still here to some degree, but it’s not the focus of the series. I was also amazed at how much more screentime Sheldon got as the show progressed. Towards the end of this season, it practically became the Sheldon and Penny Show. Fortunately the two make a great comedic duo (as evidenced by Parsons’ Emmy nomination), but Sheldon continues to walk that fine line between being funny and irritating. I think the writers better find some ways to make him a little more sympathetic to audiences or he could quickly become the most annoying character on TV. Another gripe about this season is that they introduced a fun new character in Stephanie, Leonard’s girlfriend and Sheldon’s “McCoy” of the group. She was around for three episodes then mysteriously disappeared. What happened?
If you’re reading ComingSoon.net, then you’re probably a prime candidate to enjoy this celebration of geekdom. Like me, you may have overlooked it while enjoying other sci-fi fare on other networks.
The bonus features are quite light again. The gag reel is fun and there’s another bonus feature on the fact that they have a real scientist consulting on the series. (The first season DVD had a similar feature.) That leaves the “making of” featurette. The most notable thing on it for me was Kaley Cuoco comparing Penny to Wendy and The Lost Boys from Peter Pan. I can’t think of a more appropriate comparison.
