Big Bang 5.0

I'm writing this up just as the season 5 premiere of "The Big Bang Theory" is recording on my DVR upstairs. Thinking back to the start, it's a tribute to the cast and crew that the show was 1) created in the first place, and 2) good enough to last this long. (Also notable, it garnered what I believe is still the best syndication deal ever for a TV show.

I've been collecting stuff from the program since the beginning, and it's worth noting that without the San Diego Comic Con, there'd be a heck of a lot less stuff out there to collect. Probably the prize of my collection is the set of posters from each season, signed by the cast at Comic Con. These are all framed similarly and hanging near each other in the living room.

Above is the latest, which for the first time is illustrated: a super-hero version of the whole cast. This one includes seven signatures, including both Mayim Bialik (Amy) and Melissa Rauch (Bernadette).
Last year's poster featured the cast in a tribute to, um... the Beatles? Barbarella? Casino? I feel like there's a specific pop culture reference being made here that's eluding me. (If you know, please fill me in). In any case, they look cool. Signed by the 5 cast members.

Season two's art featured a "Usual Suspects" style line up, equating each character's height with their relative IQ - and Penny breaking the rank to come out on top. Five signatures.

Finally, the first year's art features Sheldon and Leonard in their Flash costumes, with the rest of the cast represented in small photos at the bottom. This one is notable because it's not only signed by the 5 cast members, but also producers Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady.

I'm not sure how many of these they sign each year - maybe 100 at most? But I'm guessing the first is the rarest simply because they had no idea what to expect at the Con. According to Johnny Galecki at their second Con, it was the overwhelming response at the previous show that first showed them how big the show was catching on.

More soon...

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: No Spoilers, and a lesson in swag

About a week ago, I had the opportunity to see the new movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. This is a good time to state my Rule #1 for this blog: no spoilers, ever. I have no interest in seeing something early to run home and write out my synopsis of the movie or show. If I like it, I like the way they told the story, and I don't think you're going to appreciate it better by reading my truncated summary. The most you'll get from me is "it's good. I think you'd like it if..." In this case, gamers, comic book fans, and music fans are all likely to enjoy this film. From the director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. 'Nuff said.

The funny thing is, only after leaving the theater and seeing the poster in the lobby did I realize I had picked up a ton of swag for the film at Comic Con. in fact, my fiancee and I stood in a line across from the convention center to each get a bag of stuff:
See? Stuff. They were giving it away right at the "stuff" sign. I didn't make it upstairs, so I don't know what kind of party / immersive environment they had going on up there, but it looks like more t-shirts were involved. Here's the free stuff they gave us:

T-shirts, a bag, post cards, free online stuff - all sorts of things. notice the bag says "Scott Pilgrim vs. Comic Con." These are the kinds of things a completist collector of Scott Pilgrim will be wanting to track down.

In fact, if you were really serious about wanting to collect all Scott Pilgrim stuff, you'd have to track down the Comic Con badge from somebody who stood on that line, because they stamped your ID with an oh-so-neat Scott Pilgrim rubber stamp to make sure you didn't come back in line the next day and get another bag of stuff.

If it sounds ungrateful of me to not know I already had all this stuff from Scott Pilgrim (or at least, maybe, that their promotion was unsuccessful in my case) it may help to consider all the free stuff that is given out at the San Diego Comic Con. To help, I laid it out on the living room floor and photographed it:
Free comic books, cards, magazines, buttons, t-shirts, patches, Dexter cheek-scar tattoos, trading cards, Mad Men paper dolls, Archie wedding invitations (both Betty and Veronica), etc. Somehow, I managed to be given four copies of a comic called "radical" over the week without realizing it. Granted, much of these are advertising flyers and catalogs, but it shows how the stuff adds up.

(Collectors note: even though I am not particularly interested in collecting the "Showtime" buttons for Dexter, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, and Californication, it does bug me that I got 3 Weeds buttons and no Nurse Jackie. Just a little bit of OCD manifesting itself...)

A lot of stuff, right? But that doesn't include all the bags I was given there, shown below (with a t-shirt from the "Green Hornet" car garage that I forgot to include above):

Some people list their Comic Con swag on Ebay and try to sell it all for 50, 100, even 200 dollars to recoup their expenses for attending - and I guess people do pay it. Let's face it, if you collect Mythbusters, there isn't all that much different stuff out there to collect, so you'll be wanting their oversized Comic Con bag.

Oh - and to be fair, the above didn't include the free stuff for The Big Bang Theory that I already pulled out into that collection:

No, I don't need four copies of the TV Guide - I'll probably end up giving or trading some to other collectors. But looking at all of this stuff, it occurs to me someone could have a very interesting collection of stuff if all they ever did was go to Comic Con every year and save all the free stuff they got. That would be an interesting cross-section of pop culture.

Hmm. I wonder where those free pogs I got there back in '93 are now...

Bazinga-fest 2010

San Diego Comic Con 2010 is officially here, with preview night done and gone. Regular readers know I always enjoy the con, and right now I'm glad to be able to update you on The Big Bang Theory's presence at the show. Judging by the t-shirt vendors, licensees are putting a lot of stock in the show, expecting Sheldon's face to move much merchandise. This is amazing - these t-shirt dealers are a regular feature of the SDCC, and I don't ever remember a single theme dominating so much of their stock all at once - not Star Wars (well, to be fair I wasn't going back in the late 70's), not Harry Potter, nothing. While "Bazinga" far outnumbers the rest, "Sheldon Cooper Supervillain," "Knock Knock Knock Penny," and the friendship algorithm are well represented too. (I have to confess to being a t-shirt snob. I prefer, if I can, to wear a shirt almost nobody else is likely to be wearing. I was given an "Oh My God, they Killed Kenny!" South Park shirt ten years ago, and I'm saving it to wear at least eleven years after the show is off the air.
I wasn't sure if I'd get the new BBT bag at the con, and was prepared to go to Ebay for it, when good friend (and regular reader of fancollectorgeek) Jason Ryan showed up - he had traded his Batman bag for the BBT one just as a favor for me. (Note: good advice to collectors is to know good people. It makes it much easier). The bag is shown here next to the Khan Mego-sized doll I picked up today for size reference. (It's well known that Mego-sized dolls are the standard unit of measurement for oversized bags). If it goes like the past two years, this will be the artwork on the season 3 DVD set (first season to also be available in blue ray!). Does anyone out there know if they're parodying a specific film poster or album cover or something here? Penny vaguely re minds me of Barbarella, but I can't place it...
Jason also nabbed for me these sharpies on lanyards that were given out at the CBS booth to promote the show's move to Thursday night. They made sharpies because, um...I guess smart people like to write with things tied around their neck?
Just the back of the CBS booth. Odd expressions on all the actors. There's supposed to be a signing here tomorrow - we'll see if I get in, or if it turns into another huge siege like last year. Yikes. I'll keep you posted, probably after the show.

Take care!

The Mega-Merchandising Initiation

I'm running exactly a week late with my promised "every Monday a Big Bang Theory" entry. Those close to me know why and I thank you for the support - the rest of you, I apologize if you've been waiting. I'm afraid this first one isn't much, but I just wanted to finally note that just as the show was wrapping their third season on the Warner Brothers lot last May, they finally had Big Bang Theory merchandise for sale in the Studio store. I was lucky enough to receive one of these caps for my birthday. I haven't seen them anywhere else - is it possible they're studio exclusive? Please let me know if you've seen them out in the world.
Otherwise, all they had was a wrack of t-shirts that seem to be everywhere - several odd images of Sheldon with Klingon or Bazinga! references, and the one I like best, reproducing Sheldon's Friendship algorithm, above.
I also had the opportunity to try the peanut butter cookies from the Warner Studio commissary that Jim Parsons said he loved back in the 5 questions interview I reproduced previously (click Big Bang Theory over on the right to see it and earlier entries). While the first one in the pack of three was unimpressive, the other two were delicious - a slight taste of toffee in them, adding a little extra chewiness. Oh, and the pizza was quite good too.

In the next Big Bang Theory entry in a week, I'l recount the Museum of Television & Radio's first BBT event from a year ago January. (Do you see why I'm forcing myself to do a weekly BBT entry? I have many backed up!) I haven't seen the info presented anywhere else, so it may be of interest to fans. For example - do you know any of the potential last names for Penny? They named three of them that night!

Be well.

Paradoxers, take note...

When Sheldon and Leonard first laid eyes on Penny, they had a fairly normal conversation:

LEONARD

New neighbor?

SHELDON

Evidently.

LEONARD

Significant improvement over the old neighbor.

SHELDON

Two hundred pound transvestite with a

skin condition? Yes, she is.

Recently I was lucky enough to acquire

a copy of the pilot script signed by Kaley, Johnny, and Jim. Pilot episodes are tricky things - characters often aren't quite defined yet, and there are one or two lines in the Big Bang Theory pilot that I think most fans quietly agree are not truly canon. the pilot script can be even further removed from what the show becomes. It's been widely discussed that the first pilot for TBBT featured a Penny character who was a kind of tough goth chick (or punk, or something like that. I forget). I believe this was even filmed, but it just didn't work, and they recast with Kaley Cuoco in the role.

I haven't even read the whole thing, but I almost immediately noticed a little variation in the above dialogue that Sheldon/Penny shippers (did I say that right?) will no doubt find very interesting. Click to enlarge:

Did you get that? Sheldon's first impression of Penny was that she is incandescently attractive!

in·can·des·cent

 

–adjective

1.

(of light) produced by incandescence.

2.

glowing or white with heat.

3.

intensely bright; brilliant.

4.

brilliant; masterly; extraordinarily lucid: an incandescent masterpiece; incandescent wit.

5.

aglow with ardor, purpose, etc.: the incandescent vitality of youth.

You can choose for yourself which definition of "incandescent" you think Sheldon was using:

1) bright, 2)hot, 3) really bright, 4) brilliant, or 5) the perfect woman...

I'll let you know if I come across any more little gems in the script.

More views from Pasadena

As always, life disrupts intentions to post more regularly, so I'm finally just going to post more of the best views from the Christmas party shared last time. Above, just a little bit more of a view of Penny's kitchen than we usually get.
I'm not sure how many of these holiday decorations were there for the holiday episode this year, "The Maternal Congruence," and how many were placed by the set decorators (at least one of whom was in attendance) for the party. (Does Penny know the bald guy in the frame?)

I threw this photo in to show you (well, just barely) one of the rarest Big Bang Theory

items out there: a clear-front refrigerator that sits in the back of the stage, with a "Big Bang Theory"panel on top where the brand name usually goes. Sorry it's so dark, but I really like this sort of thing. There's one (well, probably only one) in the entire world. It would go great in a fan's rec room, right by this custom ping pong table Kuyal Nayyar tweeted this picture of awhile ago. Aside from a prop, where are you going to find anything rarer than these?

Sort of a more normal angle from Leonard's desk towards the door - looks like the desk has some extra party related ribbons and candy on it.

Finally I lightened up a bit this view from high in the audience area, showing the sets laid out exactly as you see them on TV - Penny's apartment to the left, the hall, then the living room and kitchen. Looks like Sheldon's bedroom is off to the right of that, in the same location where I've seen the college cafeteria, and the lecture room Sheldon and Leonard came to blows in. To the left of Penny's apartment I've seen Leonard's room ("It's cooler when girls aren't looking at it.), the Physics Bowl, and Wolowitz's bedroom. Oh yeah, and once, the lobby of the building where Penny and Sheldon got their mail was being filmed way off to the left, out of sight of the audience.

That's all for now - just been wanting to get back to posting more regularly, of course. I hope you enjoy these views.

From the Desk of Doctor Sheldon Cooper: Literally

Some departments at Warner Brothers this year had the unique pleasure of holding their holiday parties on Stage 25, home of The Big Bang Theory set! I was not able to attend - employees only for these functions, which is fair - but someone very special to me went, and was able to share some terrific photography with me. These are just a couple of choice photos, I have plenty more to share later.

From up closer than we ever get to see Sheldon's desk, a view of superhero figures high in the kitchen that I'd never seen before - Batgirl, Superman, and possibly Black Canary look on frpom above the cookie jar made famous in "The Bat Jar Conjecture" - one of the episodes I got to see live. The folder - usually visible on Sheldon's desk right where it is here, is labelled "Hemoglobin test results." If I didn't know about the random nature of such set dressing, I'd be wondering what our favorite physicist is doing mucking around in the life sciences?

In this wide study of Sheldon's room, I'm glad to see one of the "House of Secrets" posters that used to be visible in the back has moved to a spot on his bedside not generally seen on the show. I believe these are called "fly"walls - if I remember correctly - extensions of the set often containing details never seen on screen. Don't worry about the photo on Sheldon's bedside, by the way - it's not a prop from the show, but was placed there as a gag by one of the gals taking pictures at the party.

Happy Holidays to all who find their way here - Big Bang fans and Michael Jackson researchers from all over the world alike. And also, happy holidays to my family and friends who make it here, and those of you afflicted with that interest called "collecting" that enjoy hearing about my struggles with the accumulative urge.

Happy holidays!!

The Persistence of Vision Principle

I've said before that I watch pretty much anything that's animated. While that's not entirely true, more discerning viewers than I might have missed a surprise appearance by Sheldon, Leonard, and Penny from The Big Bang Theory on tonight's episode of Family Guy, "Business Guy." To summarize:

When Peter's father-in-law Carter Pewterschmidt is in a coma, Peter ends up in charge of his company, Pewterschmidt Industries. When Carter recovers, Peter stays in control of the company and as Carter's boss, forces him to do embarrassing things, like go cubicle to cubicle inviting coworkers to come over for a Big Bang Theory viewing party.

When no one wants to come over, Peter still makes him throw the party. Even his wife won't watch with Carter, but we get to see a clip of the show:

Sheldon: I'll have you know that I can bench press over 630 nanograms.

Leonard: Sheldon, that's less than two pounds.

Sheldon: Sounded better the way I said it.

Carter (watching): HA ha ha ha! Ohh, when I tell that joke at work tomorrow, people are going to be sorry they didn't come. This, this was a good night.

Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons recorded their characters voices! I think they did a pretty good job of animating the look of the living room set, too. But is this show taking a cheap shot at BBT? No, for Family Guy, this is a virtual love letter. And besides, at the end of the episode:

Carter invites Dr. House (actually voiced by Hugh Laurie) who he and Lois caught posing as a swamp monster, over to his house next week for a viewing of The Big Bang Theory.

Lois: Daddy, you don't have to do that any more.

Carter: I know, I know. I like it now.

You see, they were posing as swamp monsters to trick Peter into giving back control of the company. If you watch Family Guy, you understand. If you don't, but you want to see the BBT guys animated, you should be able to catch it soon on Adult Swim or Hulu.

Friends to Big Bang Theory in Two Moves...

I've always been a fan of obscure television. It's like, the harder a show is to see, the more interested I am in it. The less people have heard about it, the more I want to know about it. (Remember Struck By Lightning? The sitcom starring Jack Elam as the Frankenstein monster? No?). Whe I was a kid, with my first Beta VCR, the Syracuse papers used to always say on the tv page when a show was airing for the last time - and I would always tape it. That's why I have a Beta tape somewhere with the last episode of AfterMASH on it, and one episode of Dreams, the 80's trippy music video inspired dramedy starring John Stamos and Jami Gertz as members of a struggling rock & roll band. That's also probably why I bought the DVD set of the first season of Joey, the Friends spin-off starring Matt LeBlanc in the continuing adventures of actor Joey Tribbiani, moved to Los Angeles.

Of course, I also got it because of my interest in filming locations. The apartment house shown as Joey's on the show was less than a block from the apartment I lived in up until a year ago. There's a kind of a kick in seeing a real life location you know on TV in fictionalized form. (Notice how much bluer the sky is on tv....hmmmm)

As an aside, I want to relay a story Penn Jillette told on his radio about the time he guest starred on a fourth or fifth season episode of Friends. He said it was really interesting to observe the cast. They were all running around stressing about holding onto the level of fame they had obtained on the show. Only one of them was just enjoying every minute of it: Matt LeBlanc. So, in a way, it's kind of nice that he was the one that ended up with his own program for two more years than the rest of them.

Just recently I revisited Joey through the DVD set for the first time since they aired. I was kind of surprised to find that Joey's nephew Michael, played by Paulo Costanzo, really reminded me of the guys on The Big Bang Theory. Michael is a grad student at Cal Tech, and the humor comes out of his contrast with the less bright Joey:

Michael: Actually, right now we're designing a mock up for an escape module from the International Space Station.

Joey: (laughing) What are you, a rocket scientist?

Michael: (deadpan) Yes.

Sound familiar? But the similarity doesn't end there:

Notice that Michael tends to dress in a wide range of cool but nerdy t-shirts. Look familiar?

Well, I figured this unexpected little similarity between a fairly forgotten show and TV's new number one comedy might be fun about. I was more surprised, though, when I got to the third episode: Joey and the Party. In it, Joey and Michael throw a party to get to know their neighbors, and Michael's longtime rival Seth Tobin shows up with a girlfriend - meaning Michael is the last guy from his school to have a serious relationship. (Plot). So check out Seth when he shows up at the party:

That's right - Simon Helberg, better known as Howard Wolowitz on Big Bang. He's dressed more like Leonard, but his character is very similar to the Howard we all know.

Seth: I'm bench pressing 90 pounds. Can you bench press your body weight?

Even more like Howard, from the end, when he and Michael reveal that they've been jealous of each other for years, and his girlfriend is a fake:

Michael: Seth, why did you lie?

Seth: So I could beat you for once, ok? You got into CalTech's doctoral department, I got rejected. You've got this killer apartment, I live at home and share a bathroom with my grandmother!

I'm not, by any means, suggesting that anything on The Big Bang Theory was taken from, or even inspired by Joey... but it's likely that Simon had some great scenes on his reel when he was being considered for the part of Howard Wolowitz.

...I wonder of Matt LeBlanc gave him any acting tips?

The Quintuple Quandary Quizzification

I'm going to sprain a brain lobe trying to come up with a Big Bang Theory-esque title each time, but heck, it's fun. Here I am trying to post more than once a week, and about the whole range of my collecting and fandom, but I keep getting so much cool Big Bang theory stuff sent my way, that's all I'm getting on here. But I'm not complaining!

I had handed to me tonight (in the Pasadena Cheesecake Factory, no less) a hard copy of a very nice Warner Brothers Employee E-Newsletter that I'd never heard of, called "Behind the Shield." (Referring to the WB logo shield). In it last month was a "Five Questions With...Jim Parsons" column that I hope they won't mind me sharing with you now:

What's your favorite thing about playing Sheldon?

In a weird way, (it's) all the longer passages they give him to say-especially the ones laden with scientific terms. I mean, they are mind-numbing at times, trust me, but there is no satisfaction like the kind you get from not only memorizing these, but from making sense of them-both for yourself and the audience.

When you heard that "The Big Bang Theory" had been picked up for two seasons, how did you celebrate?

I lead a very lame life in terms of celebrations. So, there was no champagne uncorked or anything like that. I remember thinking immediately of all the new scientific terms this would mean I would have to memorize (or, in reference to the above question, "GET to memorize!").

When you're not shooting your own TV show, are you a big TV watcher?

I tend to always have the TV on, but this doesn't mean I am actually watching anything. I am unfortunately remarkably talented at singing commercial jingles and can identify most commercial products within just a few notes. this really can't come in handy any day...

What do you order from the Commissary on the Studio lot, and what's your favorite thing from craft services?

The Commissary has the most wonderful peanut butter cookies I've ever eaten. As far as our own craft services is concerned, Jeannette is such a wonderful human being-she not only always has something delicious set out, but is constantly asking if she can make one of us something in particular. I love her.

Who is the biggest celebrity you've seen on the Warner Bros. lot?

John Stamos. And I say this having laid eyes on George Clooney as well, but I have to tell you that I was more stunned to see Mr. Stamos. No offense, George...you're still number two in my book!

___________________________________

So, kind of fun to see something a little inside like this. this hard copy will definitely be a permanent part of my BBT collection, and I'm going to make a point of trying the peanut butter cookies next time I'm lucky enough to have lunch at the Warners Lot.

And also - I've seen both John Stamos and Arnold Schwarzenegger over there, and I was way more impressed when I saw Stamos too.

Great minds stun alike? :)

The Hofstadter-Cooper Haute Couture

I was very surprised to learn this week that CBS publishes a magazine called Watch! It's been around for about four years, and literally covers all things CBS, past and present.

I discovered this publication existed when a copy turned up on Ebay offering one of seven current covers featuring the Big Bang Theory cast elegantly dressed in a way beyond the means of their characters. As a collector of all things BBT, I snatched it up right away. (Hurray for "Buy it Now!")

Even better, the cover offers a way to order all seven different covers directly (or specific individual ones, in case, say, you're more specifically a Kaley Cuoco and/or Jim Parsons fan). Too impatient to wait for my Ebay purchase to arrive, I contacted the magazine and they were kind enough to oblige me with a copy of the ad to order from, reproduced below.

I suppose I shouldn't feel left out that I hadn't heard of Watch! - as you can see in the clip here, David Letterman had never heard of it when Neil Patrick Harris mentioned the publication sent him off on a luxurious trip on the Orient Express for the cover story in the last issue.

Letterman pointed out that he'd been working for CBS since NPH had a paper route and he'd never heard of the magazine, or been sent on the Orient Express by CBS...

Kids, and Big Bang Theory fans, you can check out the magazine's web site here. Best of all - free three year subscriptions (that's 18 issues) are being offered to the first 50,000 subscribers who sign up by next September, so it looks like you can get your first BBT issue for free! I'm looking forward to seeing this - it looks like a slick publication, and you can't beat the price.

Here's the offer for the collector covers - it should expand when you click on it.

Read!

By the way, about the Big Bang theory Comic Con Panel

I was right about there.

Bring Me the Head of Doctor Sheldon Cooper

The Big Bang Theory will be back on the air with new episodes in about another month. I'm really looking forward to the new season.  It's interesting that the guys all showed up at comic con with beards except Jim Parsons.  It's not unusual for actors on a regular series to let their hair go wild during the summer, when they're not working, but I'd guess we're going to start off with a look at Leonard, Raj, and Howard with 3 months of arctic facial insulation on their chins.  Sheldon would not bring his routine of daily shaving just because of weather conditions.

On a recent Saturday, I noticed I suddenly had about 100

 more visitors than normal here - a huge spike for me.  They all came from Paradox, a community of Big Bang Theory fans who, as they put it politely, "would like to see Sheldon and Penny as the end couple of the series."  They've gone so far as to catalog every smile, arm-touch, and tender moment between the two, and the site is full of fun fan art like the beautiful piece to the right here, "The Subconscious Tango Betrayal," by artgyrl.  (You can see more of her terrific art here).

It seems they noticed my speculation that Jim Parsons named "The Las Vegas Renormalization" as his favorite episode because he liked to hear Kaley sing "Soft Kitty" to him.  Well who wouldn't?  

I believe some sections of Paradox may be less than family friendly but they are VERY well marked, so feel free to explore over there even if you're faint of heart.

So on to some other news of interest to all fans of Sheldon Cooper:  an artist is selling custom "Jim Parsons" heads for 1/6 scale dolls on Ebay.  I stumbled across this and, although I'm not usually interested in unlicensed collectibles, found the likeness so intriguing I had to order it.  She painted the first one up for me, that's what you see above.

Looking at it unpainted, you get a sense of just what amazing work this is.  You can checl out this auction here, and check out all her amazing other sculpts here.  1/6 scale is basically the same size as Ken, so if you have a spare Star Trek Ken lying around, you may have a ready-made body for your own Sheldon Cooper doll.  Now, if only there was a blonde doll to that scale that could fill in for Penny.  Hmm...

In other Big Bang Theory fandom news, it looks like the guys have made their first comic book appearance in Power Girl #4, out last Wednesday.  I honestly never knew much about Power Girl, except that she was known for being, well, stacked.  So she's a natural for Howard to show some interest in:

Official?  No.  Is it definitely meant to be the BBT boys?  Absolutely.  To me, this is some of the best stuff to have in a collection.  Years from now, those little side trips and appearances by the characters and actors will be forgotten by many, making them stand-out items to have in your collection in the future.  

Coming soon, I'll be sharing more BBT collectibles, as well as an account of their appearance at the William Paley festival earlier this year.  Enjoy.