Sheldon and Amy look through the copy of "Scientific American" that praises the paper Leonard and Sheldon wrote about together but they don't mention Leonard's name in it because Sheldon had spent so much time talking about the theory during the interview that he inadvertently failed to mention Leonard's name. When Sheldon informs Leonard of this, Leonard is hurt by the omission, just as Amy had told Sheldon he would be. Sheldon is unable to make him feel better.

Howard, Bernadette, and Raj head to Howard's mother's house to clean up the place and sort through her belongings. When they arrive, Stuart lets them know that the power is out on the whole block. Howard becomes upset because the last food his mother has ever made is now defrosting in the freezer and will be ruined. As a way of coping, he decides to invite the rest of the group over so it will be as if his mother is feeding everyone for the last time.

Penny tries to cheer Leonard up by doing some online shopping for him, opting to look at a flying camera remote-controlled by an iPad. He's unable to be cheered up when Sheldon comes over and says that he tried to tell the editor about the mistake but the editor had already preferred Sheldon's work for some time and only mentioned the idea in the magazine because his name was attached to it. Sheldon also lets them know that they've been invited to Howard's mother's place for dinner.

Respectively, Amy and Penny try to make their boyfriends see the error in their ways. Sheldon should respect that it was Leonard's idea and Leonard should respect all the work that Sheldon did to develop the theory. At the dinner, the pair argue over whether an idea's inspiration or execution is more important. Once the argument has escalated, Bernadette takes the pair to another room and berates them for arguing when this is supposed to be a special occasion in memoriam of Howard's mother. While the rest of the group are at the dining table, Howard notes that Bernadette's yelling sounds like his mother's, but everyone else pretends not to hear it.

After dinner, everyone is laying around feeling over-stuffed from all the food. Sheldon discovers that another online publication has talked about the paper and this time they mentioned Leonard's name with it. The group is happy about this, but is more excited by Bernadette popping in to say that she has found more Tums.

The Big Bang Theory airs on Thursdays on CBS at 8PM.

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Amy agrees to help Barry with his work on string theory, which upsets Sheldon since she didn't help him when he was still working on it. Sheldon complains about it to Penny, who advises him to let it go. Penny further suggests that thinking of something else could help, or visualisation. However, Sheldon then tells Penny that Amy has been giving her puzzles to do to compare the results against that of the monkeys in her lab. This angers Penny, and this allows him to deflect his own anger towards Amy. Amy then becomes angry once she learns that Sheldon told Penny about Amy's experiments.

Stuart is finally able to re-open the comic book store, which impresses most of the group. However, Howard loses his temper because Stuart has some of the den furniture Howard's mother gave him, not to mention she helped him financially in order to be able to re-open. Leonard and Raj run into Nathan Fillion at a deli, who at first claims to not be who they believe him to be. He later admits to being Nathan Fillion and offers to take a picture with them. Raj then asks him to prove his identity by quoting Firefly, which he does successfully, and they take the photo together though Nathan is quite annoyed.

Leonard is annoyed at learning from Penny about the experiments, as he realises that Sheldon was doing the experiments on him too. Their disagreement is interrupted by Howard coming out of the back of the comic book store. He gets a phone call from Florida where his mother was visiting family, and passed away while taking a nap. The group puts their differences aside to comfort Howard in his hour of need. Even Sheldon is sensitive about the matter, telling him that he has friends to help him (unlike how Sheldon was when he lost his own father). Howard and Bernadette leave for Florida, and the rest of the gang toast the memory of Mrs. Wolowitz and the many positive(ish) memories they had of her.

The Big Bang Theory airs on Thursdays on CBS at 8PM.

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Penny begins to clean out her closet to make room for her work clothes. Amy and Bernadette are amazed to see Penny still has her prom dress. Amy admits she never went to prom and was only on the clean-up crew. Bernadette also had a terrible prom, as her date only asked her to pursue her friend. Bernadette proposes they have a prom do-over which they will have on the roof.

Leonard is stressed that Stuart will attend with his mother and calls Leonard to express his distress. Stuart insists that "nothing weird" is going on with his mother but then has to go because Leonard's mother has drawn a bath for him.

Sheldon visits Amy and suggests that they make the prom fun by pretending to be aliens. Penny then asks Sheldon if he will engage in any "post-prom mating activities" with Amy. Sheldon becomes alarmed when he realises the legitimacy in the de-virginising tendency of prom-goers. Sheldon panics and returns to the apartment when he sees how pretty Amy looks for prom.

Stuart has decided to embarrass Howard by bringing Howard's second-cousin Jeanie, the girl Howard lost his virginity to. Raj's girlfriend Emily makes Bernadette uncomfortable by professing her love for the darker versions of fairy tales. Howard attacks Stuart in the limo for getting involved in weird relationships with his family members.

Leonard and Penny head to the roof and admit that they wouldn't have danced with one another at their proms but are happy to be together now. They begin to dance with each other despite their being no music playing.

Amy goes to check on Sheldon, who is having a panic attack. He tells Amy that he feels pressure about the social stigmas about having sex and for what Penny and Leonard said. She tells him that there is no pressure for them to spend the night together. He asks if he was hoping for them to be intimate and she says she is always hoping for that but she understands the pace of their relationship. She wants to say something to him but that he doesn't have to say it back but before she can say anything, he says, "I love you too." Amy is elated but then begins to have a panic attack.

Everyone arrives at the prom but when Stuart receives a jealous call from Debbie, he abandons Jeanie.

The Big Bang Theory airs on Thursdays on CBS at 8PM.

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Raj brings over his girlfriend Emily to meet the group. Penny later tells Bernadette and Amy that she feels Emily didn't like her, despite agreeing to let Penny practice out her sales pitch on her. When she meets with Emily to give her pitch, she asks Emily what's wrong. Emily admits that she is upset that Penny had previously hooked up with Raj. Emily later apologises to Penny, saying she became jealous upon seeing how pretty Penny is. They appear to make up but after Emily leaves, both women say they hate one another.

Stuart's comic book store is closed because he didn't get much money from the insurance company. The guys don't like the alternative store they're going to, while Howard is especially resentful since his mother is splurging on Stuart, even buying cable for him. Leonard suggests they invest in Stuart's comic book store so it can re-open and they'll be part-owners. When the men suggest it to their ladies, Penny isn't all that into the idea, but Amy and Bernadette eventually come around to the idea. Howard and Bernadette go to Mrs. Wolowitz's house to tell Stuart the good news but he then tells them Mrs. Wolowitz has already given the money to her little "bubala," which makes Howard upset and jealous yet again.

The guys are disappointed to have a place to themselves to sit and read comics in peace in comfortable seats with snacks, not realising that they are doing just that in the apartment.

The Big Bang Theory airs on Mondays on CBS at 8PM until it moves to its normal Thursday timeslot beginning October 30.

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S8E1 - "The Locomotion Interruption"

Sheldon has his possessions stolen and is arrested for being a public nuisance. He calls Leonard to pick him up and Leonard decides to bring Amy along, who is annoyed he didn't call her instead. Bernadette gets Penny has an interview for a job selling pharmaceuticals. Howard and Raj visit Mrs. Wolowitz and learn that she is now dating Stuart; this news horrifies Howard. Raj tells Howard that perhaps he's overreacting to the news but he's later creeped out too when they try calling Mrs. Wolowitz for Howard to apologise and then they find that the outgoing voicemail is of both Mrs. Wolowitz and Stuart.

Leonard and Amy pick up Sheldon, who tells them on the ride home that he never even left the train station in any of the cities he stopped in, only caring about the trains themselves. Amy tells Sheldon off for insensitively leaving without saying goodbye and then calling Leonard for help instead of her. He then asks Penny to plug her ears so he can have a private word with Leonard. She obliges and then Sheldon reveals that he wants to "have coitus" with Amy and didn't want to call her and put his failures on display. Leonard advises him to just tell Amy the truth so Sheldon tells Amy he didn't want her to think less of him. She tells him it's okay to her that he's not perfect. He then asks for another private moment and tells Leonard that Amy has hurt his feelings and now he wants to break up with her.

Penny doesn't do well at her job interview initially. As she's leaving, she asks the interviewer to not tell Bernadette how badly she did because she finds Bernadette terrifying. The interviewer says he feels the same way and the two bond over their shared fear of Bernadette. This leads to Penny getting hired. Stuart goes over to Howard's to apologise but they then end up getting into another argument. Stuart tells Howard if he wants to apologise, he can find him at Mrs. Wolowitz's house, where he will be living.

Leonard and Amy tell Sheldon that he didn't fail entirely and that no one would have believed he was going to leave and go cross-country before he left. Sheldon sees the truth in their words and of course takes it overboard, declaring he can now take on any changes in life. But upon going inside the apartment and seeing Penny's shorter haircut, he says that he can't take it and leaves. He returns later and shows Leonard and Penny photos from his trip.

S8E2 - "The Junior Professor Solution"

Tension arises between Bernadette and Penny when Bernadette advises her to study up using the notes she has given Penny but Penny says she'll learn what she needs to know during training. Penny goes to Amy to complain about Bernadette's behaviour, presenting Amy with the opportunity to gossip and trash-talk, something she didn't get to do as a schoolgirl. She later gossips with Bernadette about Penny, revelling in every bit of it. She is now the popular girl. Penny later decides to buckle down and study and Bernadette realises she was being a bit too hard on her, thus ending Amy's time as a mean girl.

Sheldon is offered the opportunity to be promoted to a junior professor, which would give him more money and the job of teaching a class whatever he likes. But Sheldon is unhappy, not wanting to teach a class, though this is the only way he'll be able to move away from working on String Theory. Just when Sheldon begins to warm to the idea, he finds that no one has signed up for his class because of his reputation for being obnoxious. Howard offers to take Sheldon's class, as he is considering getting his doctorate. Sheldon disrespects Howard, per usual, claiming he isn't smart enough to take the class. Howard ends up quitting the class when Sheldon refuses to teach properly, only aiming to make things difficult and humiliate him. The boys later quiz each other on various trivia and revel in how smart they are, rewarding each other with sweets.

The Big Bang Theory airs on Mondays on CBS at 8PM, but will return to its regular Thursday slot time on October 30.

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