The Work Song Nanocluster

"The Work Song Nanocluster" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on March 16, 2009.

Summary
Penny starts her own business and asks Sheldon for help. The other guys become involved and they end up spending all night trying to ship an order for one thousand “Penny Blossoms.”

Extended Plot
The guys are playing Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Chess, when Sheldon goes over to Penny's with a delivery. While insisting she signs the delivery, he learns that her delivery consists of rhinestones, and that she is manufacturing flower barrettes which she has dubbed "Penny Blossoms". Sheldon comments how her process is not optimized enough for her to maximize profit, and starts helping her after she insists he do so.

When the guys hear Penny and Sheldon singing "Blow The Man Down" in her apartment, they discover how the two are working on Penny Blossoms. After manifesting bafflement, Leonard, Howard and Raj start offering suggesting to improve the final product, and the manufacturing process is transferred over to Sheldon's apartment.

The Penny Blossom business by now is in full flair, and Leonard has even established a website from which people can create orders. Although the others criticize him for the fantasiously feminine design making up the site, Leonard points out that they already have orders. The business seems to kick off to stupendous success, especially when The 5th Annual East Rutherford, New Jersey Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance Luau place a mass-order of a thousand Penny Blossoms, but Leonard makes the mistake of adding a "One-Day Rush" button on the website, meaning that the group has to manufacture the thousand Penny Blossoms in twenty-four hours. The task is herculean, and the guys end up spending the entire evening and most of the night fabricating the flowers. In order to finish in time, Sheldon even succumbs to drinking coffee, something which he has always insisted against in order to avoid opiates or hallucinogenics. Sheldon goes into hyperdrive mode constantly talking, but not helping in making the product.

Just as the group finishes exactly one thousand Penny Blossoms, Leonard goes to print the shipping address, but reveals to the group that they have received another mass-order of one thousand Penny Blossoms from the Alliance, again with a One-Day Rush. The guys refuse to help Penny with the new order, and Penny is left alone in her business, until Sheldon makes a highly hyperactive final appearance dressed as the Flash, but leaves soon after to get coffee when he learns that there's none left.

Some time later, the guys are playing Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Lunch, with Raj remaining in the game by passing all obstacles and earning himself a slice of pizza. Leonard ends the episode by stating how Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Lunch "is just stupid".

Quotes

 * Sheldon: I'm a physicist. I have a working knowledge of the entire universe and everything it contains.


 * Penny: Who's Radiohead?


 * Sheldon: [after twitching for a moment] I have a working knowledge of the important things.

Trivia

 * This episode only took place in three locations (Apartments 4A and 4B, and the hallway), the least of all the episodes in the series. More associated with the Star Trek series, this is an example of a "Ship in a Bottle" episode that uses only the main sets (No ships or planets outside the ship.)
 * Penny  is seen wearing the Penny Blossom in the next episode.
 * Howard mentions that a cyanoacrylate would make a better adhesive. Cyanoacrylate adhesivesare commonly known as super glue or crazy glue, as small amounts dry very quickly and create powerful bonds.
 * The guys all play a game they invented called Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Chess.
 * The song the guys were singing during Chess was Aram Kachaturian's "Sabre Dance".

Critics
"This show is rife with brilliant humor and quirky characters. Parsons and Cuoco have a unique partnership that brings out the best in them both." - The TV Critic's Review