"The Skywalker Incursion" is the nineteenth episode of the eighth season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on Thursday, April 2, 2015.
Summary[]
Sheldon and Leonard go to Skywalker Ranch to try and get in while the others are cleaning out Howard's garage for a garage sale. A battle of table tennis ensues over Howard's Doctor Who TARDIS machine.
Extended Plot[]
Sheldon is working on the opening joke for their lecture on Leonard's theory at University of California, Berkley. "What do you say to a graduate of the UC, Berkeley physics department? I'll have fries with that." Penny quips that when they chase them, Leonard will have to run faster than Sheldon. Sheldon also has a PRK or Public Restroom Kit stocked with everything he needs including toilet paper and a mirror to check under the stalls for weirdos. How weird is that?
Sheldon and Leonard are on their way to give a lecture at UC Berkeley and have plenty of time. Sheldon plays a game of "I can't spy" which includes sub-atomic particles. Leonard guesses the type of subatomic particle and the number of them right away so Sheldon does want to play anymore. They both think it's cool to be on a road trip and presenting a paper at another university together. Sheldon is so happy he's going to let Leonard turn on the radio and listen to music. He tells him to "Play that funky music white boy", but never heard of the song his reference came from.
We can't get rid of by TARDIS. It might get half it's value back.
At Howard's mother's house, the rest of the gang is preparing for a garage sale from the items in the garage. Amy is in charge of pricing since she has been going to garage sales forever. Raj finds a ping-pong table which Howard used to play with his Transformers. Raj and Penny used to play, while Amy only served since she had no one to play with. Howard is upset that Bernadette is planning on selling his Doctor Who TARDIS. He wants to save it until it's worth half what he paid for it. Bernadette doesn't want it moved into the house.
Listening to the radio Sheldon hears the "Play your funky music, white boy," Sheldon is confused that because they are asking the white boys to play it and yet the white boys are listening to this funky music. It's a paradox so Sheldon turns it off since music should be fun and not contradictory. Due to being ahead of schedule, they decide to head to Star Wars director George Lucas' headquarters at Skywalker Ranch and see if they can get in. Sheldon gets "so excited, that he just can't hide it", though he again misses his reference to a popular song.
Penny and Raj are playing ping-pong, though not too competitively. Bernadette wants to update the house to tasteful modern instead of Jewish mother ketchy. Amy talks about pricing the TARDIS, while Howard still wants to keep it. Bernadette suggests that they arm wrestle for it. Raj suggests ping-pong. Bernadette doesn't thinks that's fair since he grew up with it, though he just used it as a Transformer-Thunder-cats battlefield. Penny offers to play for Bernie because of all of the "Doctor Who" episodes Leonard has made her sit through. Howard chooses Raj since he was a champion boy's school badminton player. The fate of the TARDIS will decided by a Game of Thrones battle on the battlefield of Transformers and Thunder-cats.
Leonard and Sheldon pull up to the Skywalker Ranch gate.
Leonard drives up to the Skywalker Ranch gate and are in awe of it though it is so plain. Sheldon wants to try and get in. Leonard uses the speaker box and tells the Security guard that they are big fans, but not the crazy type that have a backpack filled with duct tape and rope. The guard can't hear them and buzzes them in.
Next they reach the security guard shack and Sheldon says they have defeated the first quest. Leonard insists that they are trying to meet George Lucas, not slay a dragon. He just wants to be honest with the guard. As a back-up plan Sheldon hopes that they have a nurse's office which will work as long as Leonard has a willingness to be gently stabbed. Leonard tells the guard that they don't have an appointment, but they're really scientists and big fans. The security guard won't let them in. Sheldon claims that he does the voice-over for Yoda. The security guard says no, but offers them free hats and t-shirts as souvenirs. Sheldon jumps out of the car and runs in. Other guards chase him and he gets tased in front of Leonard.
Penny is playing Raj and is losing 8 to 4. Bernadette tells Raj if he wins the TARDIS can be moved to his apartment. It would look great as his front door since the TARDIS is "bigger on the inside". Raj decides to lose. Howard demands a new champion and wants Amy to play for him. She claims to be rusty, but has a fast powerful serve that throws Penny. Bernadette chooses Raj to replace Penny.
Sheldon gets them held in detention.
Sheldon and Leonard are now being held in a detention room with another guy. Sheldon wonders if they are going to call the police. Leonard sarcastically says that Imperial officers will probably take them to a holding cell in the Death Star. Sheldon asks the other guy what he was in for. He wanted to get in and say thank-you to George Lucas for creating a world where he fit in. He also tried to make-out with a Chewbacca statue. Sheldon joins Leonard and tells him not about the other guy, rather about the statue garden they have. The guard lets them go with a warning, but they are not to return or they will be arrested. Also, they will have their picture taken for posting in the guard shack. The Wookie-kissing guy wants to know if he will get the same treatment. But the guard will not let him off so lightly. Sheldon wants to know if he can have his picture taken with George Lucas. After getting a dubious look from the guard, Sheldon says in his best Yoda voice impression, "Quite grumpy, you are."
Dr. Who invading Amy's bedroom.
The match is to eleven points. Raj can't return Amy's power serve and Amy can't return Raj's serves. The game goes to 10-10. Final point would allow Howard to keep his TARDIS until Bernadette convinces Amy that if she loses, she can have the TARDIS, replace her bedroom door with the box's door and lure Sheldon into her bed. So Amy throws the game and Howard loses. The door is installed as Amy's bedroom door. Bernadette tells her that if the TARDIS doesn't get Sheldon into her bedroom, then nothing will. Amy looks excited.
Leonard is climbing the stairs mad at Sheldon because they almost got arrested and missed their chance to give their lecture. And they were held in a room with a Wookiee crazy sex fiend. Sheldon's upside is that they got onto Skywalker Ranch which no one they know has done and with all the times he has irritated Leonard, he got to him hit with a taser. Leonard does admit that they could call it an adventure though Sheldon still hasn't recovered his sense of smell since his tasing.
Sheldon, dressed as the Fourth Doctor, runs into Amy's bedroom claiming that they have to "reset the time circuits" and finds Amy on her bed. He claims he left his sonic screwdriver outside and runs back out to get it. Amy realizes that she didn't think her plan through.
Credits[]
- Guest starring:
- Tate Ellington as Mitchell
- Michael Dempsey as Guard #1
- Mark Barrett as Guard #2 (Voice Only)
- Teleplay: Steven Molaro, Steve Holland & Maria Ferrari
- Story: Jim Reynolds, Tara Hernandez & Jeremy Howe
Notes[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to Leonard and Sheldon excursion to George Lucas' production facility Skywalker Ranch and Sheldon's illegal incursion.
- Music: "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry.
- Taping date: March 3, 2015
- This episode was watched by 13.89 million people with a rating of 3.4 (adults 18–49).
- Total viewers including DVR users 19.35 million.
- The Big Bang Theory was ranked #1 for the week ending 5 April 2015.
- This episode aired in Canada on April 2, 2015, with 3.68 million viewers with a weekly ranking of #1.
- In Australia, it aired on April 14, 2015, with 0.96 million viewers.
- Screened in Great Britain on E4 on Thursday 14 May 2015
- Chuck Lorre's vanity card [1]
- Episode transcript [2]
Critics[]
- Jesse Schedeen at IGN - {There} was a fun little sequence where the two tried and failed to con their way into seeing Mr. Lucas. It wasn't a terribly ambitious storyline, but it entertained. Especially when Sheldon ran off and found himself on the wrong end of a taser. If anything, I just wish this plotline had a bit more payoff...The Whovian humor was funny, but the real highlight was how this conflict devolved into a Game of Thrones-esque duel of ping pong. Star Wars, Who, and Game of Thrones - the show hit a nerd trifecta this week...While "The Skywalker Incursion" wasn't necessarily one of the more memorable installments of Season 8, it was nice to simply see the characters get back to basics and the show focus on humor over drama.
- IMDb user reviews [3]
Trivia[]
- Kaley Cuoco is an excellent ping-pong player since she was a nationally ranked child tennis player. Her ex-husband is also a former professional tennis player. The cast plays ping-pong with each other during breaks during show rehearsals.
- In "The Griffin Equivalency" (S2E4), after Sheldon gives then a demonstration of a creepy smile, Leonard quips, "We're here to see Koothrappali, not kill Batman." In this episode, he tells Sheldon that they are here to see George Lucas, not slay a dragon.
- Sheldon is back in Amy's bedroom; though there are no romantic actions; first time since "The Fish Guts Displacement" episode (S6E10).
- Bernadette is talking about redecorating the Wolowitz family house so they might be planning on moving into it.
- Penny actually likes the Game of Thrones television series because it has dragons and coitus.
- The guard at Skywalker Ranch calls "Code AA23" when Sheldon gets out the car and attempts to get into the premises. In the film Star Wars: A New Hope, Princess Leia was being held prisoner on board the Death Star in detention block AA23.
- Second episode where Sheldon trespasses on celebrity property and looks on the positive side of it, despite getting into trouble with the law. First was "The Excelsior Acquisition" (S3E16).
- Second episode where a main male character proves to be good at a sport due to practicing when younger. First was "The Wheaton Recurrence" (S3E19).
- This episode features one of Sheldon's classic car games, in particular a physics one he invented he calls "I Can't Spy": it’s all the nail-biting tension of "I Spy" but with the added fun of subatomic particles and waves outside the visible spectrum. Leonard correctly calculates the number of solar neutrinos passing through the car from a solar neutrino flux of 65 billion neutrinos per square centimeter per second [4] and an estimate of the car's surface area as 60,000 square centimeters, yielding 3.9 quadrillion solar neutrinos every second.
- The song that provokes Sheldon's bafflement in the car is "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry, which was a hit in 1976. Apparently it was born out of a gig rather like the "Blues Brothers" paying at Bob's Country Bunker, where a white band more used to playing rock music was mis-booked to a venue where a black clientele wanted to hear funk and disco music... the band had to think on their feet and get good at an unfamiliar musical genre. Very quickly.
- The other song that provokes Sheldon's bafflement is when Sheldon says, "I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it," and Leonard responds with, "I'm about to lose control and I think I like it." Those are the lyrics from the song "I'm So Excited" by the Pointer Sisters, which was a hit in both 1982 and 1984 (as a slightly remixed version).
- Koothrapali danced to this song in "The Excelsior Acquisition" (S3E16) after finding out that Stan Lee will have an autograph signing.
- Second episode in Season 8 of "The Big Bang Theory" where Bernadette is seen sporty top and bottoms, this time for a whole episode. The first episode she wore a different sporty top and bottoms was in a few scenes of "The First Pitch Insufficiency" (S8E3) when she was in a gymnasium involving baseball with Howard and Raj.
- Raj, Bernadette, and Howard share no scenes with Leonard and Sheldon in this episode.
- When Howard says, "Did you play badminton or sadminton" Kaley Cuoco can be seen mouthing his lines.
- They should have banned Sheldon Cooper not Leonard Hofstadter. Why Sheldon Cooper always get restraining orders from celebrities when he does not respect people's boundaries.
- Leonard would have been okay to take a picture of himself standing in the front gate of the skywalker ranch like other fans would do.
- Based on the wide shot, the Wolowitz home has a 3-car garage with a driveway that is approximately 50 feet wide.
Quotes[]
- Sheldon: Amy, the Daleks are right on my tail. Quick, we need to reset the time circuits. Oh no, I left my sonic screwdriver behind.
- Amy: Really should have thought this through.
- Sheldon: What do you say to a graduate of the UC Berkeley physics department? I’ll have fries with that. Because his education hasn't prepared him for a career in the sciences.
- Sheldon: In fact, if you’d like to celebrate with a little music; I would be okay with that.
- Leonard: Wha-a-a-t? This road trip just got crazy.
- Sheldon: Play that funky music, white boy.
- Leonard: I’m surprised you know that reference.
- Sheldon: What reference?
- Penny: Sure. Oh, we had one of these growing up. I used to play all the time.
- Raj: Oh, yeah? I love Ping-Pong.
- Penny: Oh, I meant beer pong.
- Amy: I had a table, too, but I didn’t have any friends, so all I did was serve.
- Bernadette: You know, you can leave one side up and play against it.
- Amy: And if I had a friend, they might have told me that.
- Howard: Excuse me. Why is there a sticker on this? It’s my TARDIS from Doctor Who. I was planning on moving it in the house.
- Bernadette: I think you just answered your own question.
- Howard: Come on, one day, this may double in value and be worth half what I paid for it.
- Sheldon: You know, we won’t be very far from Skywalker Ranch.
- Leonard: Oh, this is true. It’s not like we can get in there.
- Sheldon: Why not?
- Leonard: I don’t think George Lucas put his headquarters in the middle of nowhere because he wanted people dropping in.
- Sheldon: Yoda’s swamp was in the middle of nowhere. Tatooine was in the middle of nowhere. Hoth was in the middle of nowhere. That’s code, Leonard. He wants us to drop in.
- Leonard: We do have time. I mean, we could drive by and look at it.
- Sheldon: Yes. I’m so excited. And I just can’t hide it.
- Leonard: I’m about to lose control and I think I like it!
- Sheldon: What are you talking about?
- Penny: So when do you guys think you’re gonna move in?
- Howard: We’re still figuring how much remodeling we want to do.
- Bernadette: It’s tricky finding the right balance between tasteful modern and Jewish mother tchotchke crapfest.
- Amy: Have you made a decision about the TARDIS? I think I can sell it if we call it Big British Porta-Potty.
- Howard: We’re not selling it, it’s mine.
- Bernadette: You can’t just decide. How about I arm-wrestle you?
- Howard: That’s not fair. It’s like me challenging you to a sexy pants contest.
- Penny: Bernadette, for every episode of Doctor Who Leonard has made me sit through, I will play on your behalf and send that TARDIS back to Gallifrey, where I hate that I know it belongs.
- Bernadette: Yes, Penny plays for me.
- Howard: That’s not fair, she has upper body muscles.
- Raj: Dude, three-time Sanskriti School for Well-Born Boys badminton champion.
- Howard: That’s right, okay, Raj can play for me.
- Amy: Ooh, you just chose champions. It’s like we’re re-enacting the ancient German practice of trial by combat.
- Penny: Yeah, it’s also like when the Mountain fought the Red Viper in Game of Thrones.
- Bernadette: Leonard makes you watch that, too?
- Penny: No, no, I like that show. It’s got dragons and people doing it.
- Howard: So it’s settled. The fate of Doctor Who’s TARDIS will be decided by a Game of Thrones inspired deathmatch on the battlefield of ThunderCats versus Transformers.
- Sheldon: There it is. It’s just a gate. On a road.
- Leonard: Wasn't even that hard to find.
- Sheldon: This is so amazing!!
- Leonard: I know!! Do you want to get a picture?
- Sheldon: I want more than a picture. I want to go in.
- Leonard: Well, so do I, but they’ll never let us.
- Sheldon: Is that the attitude that helped you get Penny?
- Leonard: No, but I don’t have three years to make that gate feel sorry for me.
- Sheldon: All right. We have defeated the first challenge. Now, we must steel to face the monster who defends the gate.
- Leonard: We’re trying to pass the security guard, not rescue Zelda.
- Sheldon: Shedding the yoke of my oppressors, you blind sad little man.
- Guard: Don’t move. Code A-A-23. A-A-23.
- Guard 2: Copy.
- Sheldon: I can see the ranch, Leonard. Oh, it’s rustic. It’s lovely. I’d take a picture, but people are chasing me. I’m gonna make it! I’m gonna make it! The have Tasers, but they won’t dare use… (Screams!)
- Bernadette: Well, if you can switch champions, so can I. I want Raj.
- Penny: Hey.
- Bernadette: Oh, come on, like you even care.
- Penny: I care. Oh, wait, no, I don’t. Good luck, Raj.
- Howard: You know, I thought our friendship meant more to you.
- Raj: So did I.
- Sheldon: Do you think they’re gonna call the police?
- Leonard: I don’t know. Maybe they’ll call Imperial officers to take us to a holding cell on the Death Star.
- Sheldon: Oh, I think that’s below the pay grade of an Imperial officer. Storm troopers are really the ones who…
- Leonard: Oh, shut up.
- Security Guard: All right, I talked to my supervisor, and we’re gonna let you go with a warning. But if you ever come back, we will call the police and press charges.
- Leonard: We understand. Thank you so much.
- Geeky Guy: Uh, what about me?
- Security Guard: No, you’re not going anywhere, kissy face. Let’s go. I have to take your picture to post at the guard gate.
- Sheldon: Uh, one question about that picture. Can it be with George Lucas? Ooh, grumpy you are.
- Sheldon: Are you still mad at me?
- Leonard: Yes. We missed our lecture, we were almost arrested and you got me locked in a room with a man who forced his tongue down the throat of a stuffed Wookie.
- Sheldon: Boy, some folks are just glass half-empty.
- Leonard: The glass is empty, Sheldon. It’s completely empty. If you gave to a man who was dying of thirst, he would be dead. Do you know why?
- Sheldon: Before I answer, was he a smoker? I think you’re looking at this all wrong.
- Leonard: Fine, then tell me how I should be looking at it.
- Sheldon: Well, not only did we go to Skywalker ranch, we got in. And no one we know can say that. And for all the times you find me irritating, today you got to watch someone shoot me with a taser.
- Leonard: That part was pretty good....
- Sheldon: See?
Gallery[]
References[]
- [5] Taping Report by Jamie