Capt. Hilts

Amy is dealing with a guy who doesn't 'get' the true meaning behind a third of the things people say to him. Whether it's reacting to Leonard using the "whip" sound application on him and his thinking it's a reference to his "being smart as a whip," to the grammar conversation with Amy when she is in NJ, Sheldon doesn't generally do nuance in his social transactions. That creates challenges with everyone who interacts with him.

But, but...I thought TBBT is supposed to suck?

Yeah, I'll admit that, I, too, laughed out loud. I don't know whether it was getting rid of a major character or the idea that comparing the ratings of new product with re-runs people have seen dozens of times is a true measure of popularity or quality. But it was very funny. Made my day.

That's a pretty standard price, unless you want to risk buying a cheap knock off from China for $400.

Over the years, they've made me not want to meet Amy's mother. So, I don't need that. In my view, they should have one of Raj's parents come live with him. They're funny and his character needs to be re-carbonated in some way.

I do! I do!

You do not understand polling and market research. People give their opinions on a show, usually a very fav, somewhat fav, neutral [volunteered, rarely read out loud as an option], somewhat unfav, very unfav. They are likely then asked to rate aspects of the show on a scale of zero to five or one to ten. The individual ratings are opinions. Once placed in these categories, they become quantitative data. An open-ended question such as "what did you like most about this episode," is qualitative data and those opinions would be classified into several categories to make them quantitative. Now, I'd bet the networks do dial tests of their shows. They give each participant a device to hold with a dial on it. You turn it to the right when you like stuff and to the left when you do not. This technique is used in political campaigns. I'm sure you can see what were then, live, dial tests done during the presidential debates. But a lot of commercials and television programs are tested this way. This is how consultants learned that people are less patient listening to female political candidates speak because people turn the dial to the negative sooner with female candidates than with male candidates. That was one of the famous findings of this research technique. But, if you are a Nielson family, you write in detail who is watching what program in your household. The toughest demographic to get in front of a television or on the phone is young men. This is why so many commercials are geared to them via music or visuals. The networks DO know which demographics watch which programs. The most famous case of how this data is used was back in the day with the show "Lou Grant." Lou Grant had good, solid ratings, but CBS cancelled it because the demographic that watched it was "too old." Big Bang Theory still solidly wins the demographic they are looking for, which is folks under 50 years of age. Advertisers drive a lot of this research.

Yes, they do.

Advertising dollars aren't based on opinions. They're based on ratings/head counts.

Content and viewership guide a lot of decisions. I'll bet they also do some focus groups and other market research. Most shows do.

Yes!!!!! AND Penny got Sheldon's mythical ostrich, etc. back.

Oh. I didn't know that. http://www.cbs.com/shows/big_bang_theory/news/1005869/24-million-people-joined-sheldon-and-amy-for-coitus-on-the-big-bang-theory/ http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/ratings-the-big-bang-theory-sets-time-shifting-record-sheldon-amy-1201672421/

Because he doesn't want to have to follow specific paths relating to specific diagnoses. It's a spectrum and people on the spectrum react differently to different processes and situations. By being specific, the show would have to justify the plots, etc. People on the spectrum see themselves in Sheldon.

Yet another woman who throws herself at the guy who supposedly can't get girls!

The NYT gave her a RAVE review.