It's hard to imagine that season one of The Big Bang Theory aired 11 years ago. That 11 years ago, Sheldon got himself a loom, the boys' were sent home without pants and the couples we known and love were not yet formed.
When the sitcom first aired in 2008, little did audiences know what a science-comedic phenomenon it would become. Earlier this year, when The Big Bang Theory ended its run, fans were polarised. Some had continually called for the show to end, whilst others expressed sadness over its finale.
In general, The Big Bang Theory reeked of the wittiest and brilliant writing in its first half, seasons one through six. That being said, season one especially is filled with underappreciated humor. Here are some of those jokes.
"SOME POOR WOMAN IS GONNA PIN HER HOPES ON MY SPERM"
In the pilot episode, Sheldon and Leonard visit the 'High IQ Sperm Bank' to donate sperm for money. Originally it's Sheldon's idea because he wants to make a little extra money to get fractional T1 bandwidth in the apartment.
As the two are seated in the clinic, Sheldon comes to the conclusion that it's actually genetic fraud because there's a possibility that a toddler with the same DNA wouldn't come out as smart as him. He says "Some poor woman is going to pin her hopes on my sperm, what if she winds up with a toddler who doesn't know if he should use an integral or a differential to solve the area under a curve?"
After Leonard reassures him the mother would surely still love her child anyway, Sheldon doesn't see it that way, saying "I wouldn't."
"THAT'S WHERE I SIT"
You can never sit in Sheldon's spot, that's rule one. In the pilot episode Penny, the new neighbor, makes that mistake. Sheldon, being the gracious host that he is, gives her an earful. By earful we mean, some pretty complicated, science-jargon laced reasons as to why she should move immediately.
The now-legendary reasoning is "In the winter that seat is close enough to the radiator to remain warm, and yet not so close as to cause perspiration. In the summer it’s directly in the path of a cross-breeze created by open windows there, and there. It faces the television at an angle that is neither direct, thus discouraging conversation, nor so far wide to create a parallax distortion."
"IT TELLS US THAT YOU PARTICIPATE IN THE MASS CULTURAL DELUSION"
Did you know that the concept of Zodiac signs is a mass cultural delusion? At least according to Sheldon Cooper, it is.
In the opening episode, Penny introduces herself as a Sagittarius. Her zodiac sign, according to her, tells the guys way more than they should need to know.
But according to Sheldon it only tells them that she participates in the "mass cultural delusion that the Sun’s apparent position relative to arbitrarily defined constellations and the time of her birth somehow affects her personality." Neat.
Waitressing Is a "CARBOHYDRATE DELIVERY SYSTEM"
The show established Leonard's incapacity to flirt and talk with women early on. He calls Penny's waitressing job at the Cheesecake factory as her "acting as like.. a carbohydrate delivery system."
By this point, Penny is very well accustomed to Leonard and Sheldon, so she comes up with a quick-witted answer in no time. "Call it whatever you want, but I get minimum wage."
"COME FOR THE BREASTS, STAY FOR THE BRAIN"
Dr. Leslie Winkle, an experimental physicist at California Institute of Technology was one of the most quick-witted characters on the show. We are not talking of a mean sense of humor, rather intelligent humor. Remember the time she explained the chemistry of sex?
Penny: "Wow, a girl scientist!" Leslie: "Yep, come for the breasts. Stay for the brains." This was just one of the earlier of Leslie's legendary quips and insults. Every appearance was punctuated with smart comments and quick thinking.
"Why are you telling me about my own culture?"
One of the groupmates, Raj Koothrappali is from India, and he adds to the social variation in their dynamics. Audiences are given a peek into Indian culture, every time Rajesh's parents, Doctor and Mrs. Koothrappali, call from India.
In "The Grasshopper Experiment", Rajesh's parents call to inform him they have set him up with some Indian girl Lalita Gupta, practicing dentistry in L.A.
Whilst Rajesh tries stopping them from meddling in his life, Sheldon slyly reminds him that his parents don't consider this as meddling and that, "Indian parents continue to have greater than average involvement in their children's love lives." An angry Raj retorts "Why are you telling me about my own culture?" The first of many similar exchanges.
"PANTS MUST BE WORN AT ALL TIMES IN THE TIME MACHINE"
Remember the gigantic time machine from the movie Time Machine in "The Nerdvana Annihilation"? Leonard leads the gang to buy this machine prop, which takes up half the boys' living room. Howard and Raj also pitch in on condition that everyone will take the prop home in turn.
To Howard, this time machine shall serve the purposes of a "chick magnet", something he is going to use to woo the ladies. And he's not shy about it, either. This leads Sheldon to add the rule "In addition to the expected no shoes in the time machine and no eating in the time machine, I propose that we add pants must be worn at all times in the time machine."
"THEY TRIED TO FIX ME UP WITH THEIR SON!"
In "The Nerdvana Annihilation", Penny is late for work, as the guys' time machine prop has blocked her way. Unable to go down the stairs, Sheldon advises her to go up the roof, and hop over the small gap between this and the other building.
The small gap turns out to be a three feet wide gap and she slips and skins her knee. And when she does manage to take the leap, it turns out the door to the stairwell of the second building is locked. She is thus forced to go down a fire escape which ends on an Armenian Family's floor.
This lovely Armenian family feeds her eight courses of lamb. And, it gets worse. They try to fix her up with their son.
"HE ONCE SPENT NINE MONTHS WITH MY LEGS WRAPPED AROUND HIS HEAD"
In "The Pork Chop Indeterminacy", Mary Cooper sends over her daughter and Sheldon's twin sister, Missy to Sheldon. The immediate purpose is to get Sheldon's signatures on his father's estate papers.
Missy visits Sheldon's office, causing the males at CalTech to hover around. Because Sheldon is so disconnected from his twin sister, none of his friends have an idea who she is to him.
Leonard asks "So how do you two know each other?" To which Missy replies, "Oh, he once spent nine months with my legs wrapped around his head." This is Missy's eyebrow-raising way of describing the fact she and Sheldon are twins.
"Alright, the cat's alive, let's go to dinner."
Schrödinger's Cat is referenced in "The Tangerine Factor" by Sheldon Cooper. The premise of this joke is that Leonard asks Penny out for a date, which she agrees to. Since Leonard isn't the type of guy Penny usually goes out with, she has second thoughts about the date. As does Leonard.
Before the date, Penny and Leonard both turn to Sheldon for advice, separately though. And he advises them to go through with it. The date could turn out to be both good and bad, based on the whole premise of Schrödinger's Cat. Leonard immediately gets it, but Penny requires some classwork.