The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification

The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification is the second episode of the fourth season of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. It aired September 30th, 2010.

Plot Summary
Sheldon realizes he won't live long enough to download his consciousness into a robot body, and so he then attempts to extend his lifespan by eating healthy and changing his diet and then resorts to developing a virtual prescene device.

Expanded Plot
Sheldon determines that his best estimate for his life expectancy will cause him to miss by only a few years "the singularity ... when man will be able to transfer his consciousness into machines, and achieve immortality". He therefore changes his diet and starts to exercise in hopes of extending his life expectancy. Since the diet of brussel sprouts gives him a bad case of flatulence, and he tumbles on the stairs going down for a jog, Sheldon decides on an alternate plan to extend his life expectancy. Sheldon builds a robotic replication of himself which he calls a "Mobile Virtual Presence Device" (MVPD) that would go through all the hazards of life that Sheldon would otherwise have to experience while he stays behind in a "secure, undisclosed location" (his room). The MVPD has a monitor showing Sheldon's face in real time (or any other image that Sheldon wants to display at that moment), speakers so Sheldon's voice can be heard, and a microphone and camera to allow Sheldon to see and hear in his "secure, undisclosed location" what is happening at the MVPD's location. Sheldon can then react to the situation as if he was present (to the point of enforcing the rule that nobody sits on "his spot" on the sofa). The monitor sits on top of a fixture covered with the exact same clothing that Sheldon is wearing that day. The MVPD has wheels which give it mobility and comes with an override switch so if anybody turns the MVPD off (because they don't want to hear Sheldon talking), Sheldon can override and turn the MVPD back on.

The guys dismiss the MVPD as a stunt (Penny calls it "Shelbot") and try to try to convince Sheldon to drop the idea, but Sheldon persists and proceeds to cite Section 74c of the roommate agreement requiring Leonard to assist him (by providing him transportation) "in the event one of [the roommates] becomes a robot". Leonard therefore takes the MVPD to work, and later to Penny's restaurant for dinner. At the restaurant, Sheldon, via his MVPD, spots Steve Wozniak at a nearby table so he sends the MVPD so that he can talk to Wozniak. He tells Wozniak that he has a vintage Apple II to which Wozniak says that if he had the Apple II there he would have signed it. Sheldon then takes his Apple II and rushes out of the apartment, but trips and falls down the stairs as he rushes to the restaurant, breaking his Apple II.

Later in the night Sheldon through his Shelbot goes to Penny's door to help him fall asleep, after the aftermath of falling down the stairs and the demise of his Apple II he wants her to sing him a song to sleep. At first she was reluctant but then he convinces her to do so, as the episode ends.

Guest Cast

 * Steve Wozniak as himself

Trivia

 * The title is in reference to the cruciferous vegetables that Sheldon adds to his diet that cause him a major case of flatulence. He had brussel sprouts.
 * The song played by Sheldon in the car is Greensleeves.
 * Steve Wozniak is the sixth guest-star who played himself, the first was Summer Glau.
 * Sheldon had an Uncle Carl, who was KBB (Killed By a Badger).

Quotes
Leonard: What'cha doing there, working on a new plan to catch the road runner?

(Sheldon falls down the stairs while trying to jog with Penny.)

Penny: Oh my God, are you OK?!

Sheldon: I think so.

Penny: (sigh) Let me help you up.

Sheldon: Thank you.

(Sheldon farts due to his dinner of brussel sprouts from the previous night, and in Penny's face.)

Penny: Oh, Sheldon!

Sheldon: If it makes you feel any better, Thursday is no longer cruciferous vegetable night.

(Leonard is driving Sheldon to work, who is in his bedroom back and using his mobile presence device (A.K.A, Shel-Bot) to go around places.)

Shel-Bot: This is delightful.

Leonard: Uh.

Shel-Bot: It's much easier to enjoy the picturesque roundly travel to work, when you remove the spectre of fiery, vehicular death.

Leonard: Refresh my memory, why didn't I just put you in the trunk?

Shel-Bot: Because I called shotgun, remember?

Leonard: Right.

(Sheldon turns his screen around to Leonard.)

Shel-Bot: You seem tense. Perhaps this will relax you.

(Sheldon plays a clip of German women doing a dance, while he is playing his recorder.)

Leonard: I don't wanna listen to music Sheldon.

(Sheldon's screen goes back to his face.)

Shel-Bot: Very well. I don't understand why you're not enjoying this. Together, in this car, with my enhanced capabilities, we're like Knightrider.

Leonard: Except in Knightrider, the car is a yammering sphincter.

(Sheldon turns his screen again.)

Shel-Bot: You mock the sphincter, but the sphincter is a class of muscle, without which human beings couldn't survive.

(Sheldon shows a picture of all the sphincters in the human body.)

Shel-Bot: There are over 50 different sphincters in the human body. How many can you name?

Leonard: I was wrong, this is exactly like Knightrider.

Shel-Bot: Perhaps you'd be interested in a different game?

Leonard: No.

(Sheldon's screen shows another picture.)

Shel-Bot: This is a photograph of the 1911 Solvate conference, on the theory of radiation and quanta. Using photoshop, I've introduced a few anachronisms, see if you can spot all 24. I'll give you the first one, Madam Curie, should not be wearing a digital watch. And Go.

(Sheldon plays his recorder again, to the theme of Jeopardy.)

Leonard: That's it, bye-bye.

(Leonard switches Sheldon's screen off. He continues driving until Sheldon's screen suddenly turns back on, with Sheldon being up close to it.)

Shel-Bot: BAZINGA!

(This scares Leonard and the car swerves and almost crashes until he can control it.)

Shel-Bot: I have an override switch.

Leonard: I almost died!

Shel-Bot: And I'm safe and sound in bed, who's crazy now?

Leonard: I'm still gonna go with you!

(Sheldon turns his screen around and grins.)

Videos
thumb|left|351px|Sheldon's Mobile Virtual Presence Device, and Penny singing 'soft kitty'