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"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.

The Skywalker Incursion 27

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.

The Skywalker Incursion 21

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|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.

The Skywalker Incursion 15

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."  

The Skywalker Incursion 36

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[]

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.

Quotes[]

(The ending scene of Amy in her bedroom seeming to be quite upset at something)
Sheldon: (runs into Amy's bedroom in a panic dressed up the Fourth Doctor Who) Amy, the Daleks are right on my tail. Quick, we need to reset the time circuits. Oh no, I left my sonic screw driver behind.
(He exits Amy's bedroom in hurry shutting both doors behind him, Amy now thinks to herself).
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?

(The garage scene at the Wolowitz house)
Bernadette: So I put stickers on everything we’re going to sell. We just need help taking it out to the driveway.
Amy: Can I be in charge of pricing? I've been going to garage sales my whole life. Would you believe I got this pair of panty house for a nickel?
(Amy snaps her panty house for a second)
Howard: All right. Amy is in charge of pricing and being seventy-five.
Raj: Hey, Penny, can you give me a hand with this?
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 grins at Amy whilst holding the box)
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.
(Bernadette smiles crossly and walks away from Amy)
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: (he is not happy) Come on, one day, this may double in value and be worth half what I paid for it.
Bernadette: (suggesting sweetly to Howard) Sweetie, we have a lot to do. We don’t need to decide this right now.
Howard: Well, I guess as long as you’re keeping an open mind.
Bernadette: Of course.

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. Tattooine 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?

(The ping pong scene at the Wolowitz house where Raj and Penny are having their serves. Bernadette is walking up with a tray of glasses and a jug of red punch. Howard and Amy are sorting out stuff in the garage)
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: (speaks to Howard crossly) 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: (distracts Howard crossly) 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.
(Bernadette puts on a sniggering smile)
Raj: You could play Ping-Pong for it.
Howard: I would do that.
Bernadette: (asks and informs him crossly) How is that fair? You grew up with a table.
Howard: Yes, but I mostly used it as a battlefield in an ongoing war between the Transformers and the ThunderCats for control of a bra I had found in the woods.
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, (she's now fierce) where I hate that I know it belongs.
(Scene of Bernadette holding a glass of punch)
Bernadette: (with a shifty giggle) 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.
(Amy just looked grumpy by all of this)
Howard: So it’s settled. The fate of Doctor Who’s TARDIS will be decided by a Game of Thrones inspired death-match on the battlefield of ThunderCats versus Transformers.
Amy: If you still have that bra, I’ll give you a nickel for it.

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!)

Howard: Come on, Raj. You are the King Kong of Ping-Pong. You are the menace of table tennis. Put her away, ’cause I don’t have a third one. Yes. Woo.
Amy: Rajesh eight, Penny four.
Penny: Sorry, he’s really good.
(Bernadette slams the Ping-Pong table for a second with her hand crossly)
Bernadette: Hey, Raj.
(Raj looks at Bernadette)
Bernadette: (she asks Raj crossly) if Howard can’t keep the TARDIS, how great would it look at your place?
Raj: What?
Howard: Yeah, what?
Bernadette: (she now has a cunning plan) I don’t know much about Doctor Who, but if, um, you were to put this right outside your front door and open up the back, it would be like your entire apartment was the inside of the TARDIS, (Scene of a puzzled Howard and Raj) which is pretty cool ’cause on the show, (Scene of the cunning Bernadette) the inside of the TARDIS is bigger than the outside. (She now slams the TARDIS door cunningly) But then again, I don’t know much about Doctor Who.
(Bernadette's cunning speech is now over)
Howard: Don’t listen to her. You and I go way back, we’re like brothers.
Raj: We are. We are. Oh, no. What a terrible serve. Sorry, brother.
Amy: Eight-five.
Howard: This is ridiculous. I want a new champion. Amy, were you serious about being able to serve?
Amy: Uh, it, it’s been a long time. I don’t know. I’m probably pretty rusty.
Penny: Wow.
Howard: She’s my champion.
Bernadette: (she is so very cross with Penny) Well, if you can switch champions, so can I. I want Raj.
Penny: Hey.
Bernadette: (she yells at Penny crossly) Oh, come on, like you even care.
Penny: I care. Oh, wait, no, I don’t. Good luck, Raj.
(Bernadette now smiles at this)
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.
Geeky Guy: He’s right. Uh, Stormtroopers actually combine both the function of infantry and military police.
Leonard: Uh-huh, I’m normally very nice, but you shut up, too.
Sheldon: So, what are you in for?
Geeky Guy: Honestly, I just wanted to meet Mr. Lucas and say thank you. You know, growing up, the movies had such an impact on my life. I never really fit in anywhere. Till I discovered the worlds he created and finally found a place where I belong.
Sheldon: But why are you here?
Geeky Guy: Oh, I, uh, I hopped a fence, and they caught me in the sculpture gallery making out with a Chewbacca statue.
Sheldon: Excuse me. (Sheldon now walks up to Leonard) Leonard, they have a sculpture gallery.
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 exits and the security guard follows him out)

(The scene of the final Ping-Pong game at the Wolowitz house)
Howard: Okay, this is the match that decides it all. First to 11 wins. Serve switches every five points.
(Bernadette is now very cross by Howard's idea about the TARDIS)
Howard: And just so you know, when this started, I was going to put the TARDIS in a discreet corner of the house, but I’ve since turned mean, and now it’s going right in the middle of the living room on a rotating platform with a sign that says suck it. (yells to Amy) Game on.
Bernadette: Except, Raj is gonna win. Isn’t that right, Raj?
Raj: Uh, yeah, I mean, her serve was pretty good.
Bernadette: (She is now really angry with Raj) Come on, get in her head. Be intimidating.
Raj: Okay, uh, I’m gonna own you, bitch.
Penny: (shocked) Whoa.
Howard: (quietly) What?
Bernadette: (shockingly cross) Hey.
Amy: (angry) That’s not nice.
Raj: Let’s just play.
Howard: One-zero. Two. Three. Four. Five-nothing.
(Bernadette now turns enormously cross by this)
Howard: Wait, did you play badminton or sad-minton?
Bernadette: (she is still very cross with Raj) Don’t listen to him, all she’s got is a serve. (Scene of the unhappy Amy and pan back to the completely angry Bernadette) Now, grab a fresh tampon and put her away.
Raj: What, and that’s not offensive? Where’s the line?
Penny: (she snaps loudly at Raj) It’s in your purse. Play.
(Howard smiles shiftily, Amy warms up, Raj hits the ball and it bounces to the ground)
Bernadette: (out of vision) One-five.
(Raj hits the ball again and it bounces to the ground again)
Bernadette: Two-five.
(Scene of Amy struggling to get the ball)
Bernadette: Three-five.
(Raj hits the ball and Amy misses the ball)
Bernadette: (out of vision) Four-five.
(Scene of the ball bouncing to the ground and pan to Bernadette yelling with excitement)
Bernadette: Five-five.
Howard: Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten-five.
Bernadette: Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten-ten.
Amy: Well, that was an exciting 40 seconds.
Howard: It was, and now the serve is back to you, and the game is over.
Bernadette: (she suddenly has a thought) You know, Amy, I, uh, can’t help but wonder how Sheldon would react if the TARDIS was at your place.
Howard: Don’t listen to her, just hit the ball.
Amy: Keep talking.

(The scene of the six gang members with the TARDIS attached to wall outside Amy's bedroom)
Bernadette: If this doesn’t get him into your bedroom, (opens the doors) nothing will.
(Bernadette and Amy smile with excitement. Howard, Penny and Raj don't seem too pleased)

(The scene of Leonard and Sheldon climbing the last few stairs to their apartment)
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?
Leonard: You did flop around a lot.
Sheldon: I’ll take your word for it. I was too busy trying not to defecate.
Leonard: You know, when they were escorting us to the detaining room I looked through a door and I’m pretty sure I saw a display case with the Ark of the Covenant.
Sheldon: That’s amazing.
Leonard: I know.
Sheldon: And I also saw Jabba the Hutt riding by on a motorcycle. Although that was right after the tasing so you can say for sure?
Leonard: I-I guess this could count as an adventure.
Sheldon: It was. And even though we’re not allowed back there, they can never take the day away from us. Unlike my sense of smell, which hasn’t returned since the tasing. (Sniffs scented marker) No, I got nothing.

Gallery[]

References[]

  • [5] Taping Report by Jamie
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