Blu-ray Review The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Three physicists, an engineer, and a gorgeous blond waitress-cum-actress wannabe make up the geeky, gooey center of this funny sit-com. A show that exists within the trappings of the age-old sit-com, but defies expectations with deliciously nerd-like forays into the world of Star Trek, Star Wars, and all manner of sci-fi and science goodness. The ‘nerdiness’ appeals on face value to a broad audience as they giggle at the geeks, and for the geeks out there, The Big Bang Theory has an abundance of winks, nods and deliriously generous high-fives to the world of comic-books and Comic-con; tips of the hat that many of us every-day nerds (as in, non-genius) can embrace with knowing grins.

The Big Bang Theory

The Complete Second Season

Studio: Warner Bros.
Year: 2008/2009
US Rating: NR

Film Length: 481 Minutes
Video: AVC MPEG-4 1080P High Definition 16X9

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Release Date: July 10, 2012

Review Date: July 8, 2012

“Scissors cuts paper. Paper covers rock. Rock crushes lizard. Lizard poisons Spock. Spock smashes scissors. Scissors decapitates lizard. Lizard eats paper. Paper disproves Spock. Spock vaporizes rock. And as it always has, rock crushes scissors”

About The Show

4.5/ 5

Four of the smartest, socially inadequate individuals grate nerves, intellectually jostle and jovially prod and poke one another as they face the seemingly insurmountable social mores of meeting girls and understanding their gorgeous friend, Penny. Without question the smartest of the four is Sheldon (Jim Parsons), who lives in a world where pure logic can be applied to any situation (from an evaluation of string theory to the algorithm for making new friends). A pompous but lovable soul, happily entangled in the complexities of obsessive compulsive tendencies, rigid routines, and robust rules that trap and guide his three friends that tolerate his idiosyncrasies, and accept his peculiar mode of navigating the world.

As Sheldon’s suffering roommate is Leonard (Johnny Galecki), perhaps the most relatable, socially experienced of the four high-IQ friends. His affection for their beautiful neighbor, Penny, which expresses itself in bursts of awkward schoolboy grins and oddly placed verbal flattery, is a core element of the show; a running ‘almost’ relationship that is enticed by Penny’s well hidden reciprocation of feelings from time to time. Next up is Rajesh Koothrappali, another PhD holding individual, whose smarts immeasurably outweigh his ability to even talk to pretty women - a task that renders him mute and as mature as a 7-year old pupil with a crush on a teacher. The lovely Penny lives across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard and has slowly become an integral part of the group. Though she glazes over when the complex astro-, and particle-physicist vocabulary is in full swing, she adds a human side to the rampant intelligence that bounces within the walls of her neighbor’s apartment.

And finally we have Howard Wolowitz, the only non-PhD in the four (he is a lowly engineer, though he works on NASA projects). Wolowitz live with his mother, smolders with inappropriate confidence in wooing the ladies, and suffers from a wildly gaudy sense of dress and woefully overzealous sexual charm.

Season Two

With plenty of real-life science concepts, theories, explorations, and discoveries making up plot and conversation points throughout the episodes in this second season, casual fans of astrophysics; people like me who love to read about dark matter, dark energy, string theory, quantum mechanics, and a host of other ideas I can barely wrap my brain around, The Big Bang Theory is a goldmine.

The second season explores the relationship between Leonard and Penny (or rather the initial lack thereof), the growing rivalry between Sheldon and Leslie Winkle, and a variety of scientific and women-related pratfalls from Howard and Raj (such as the Mars Rover escapade).

The scripts are often genuinely smart – with tongue-twisting exchanges that amaze and amuse us in equal measure, delivered with perfection by a cast whose talents are matched by their chemistry. Sheldon stands-out with truly the most amazing runs of big words and ideas in his infinite bid to prove he is the smartest, and gleefully the nerdiest, of them all. His pragmatic and logic-driven understanding and expression of all things create full-on belly laughs almost every time he opens his mouth. Take this moment, when Sheldon provides an unintended snide comment on his friend’s untenable predicament:

“I believe the appropriate metaphor here involves a river of excrement and a Native American water vessel without any means of propulsion.”

This deliberate method of expression is balanced through the series with self-knowing, self-deprecating commentary from the others, like this comment from Wolowitz after Koothrappali wants to make sure everyone is game for their evening plan to meet and pick up chicks:

 “Yes. Koothrappali's gonna wet himself, I will throw up, Sheldon's going to run away, and you're going to die. Shall we synchronize our watches?

The Big Bang Theory is always a pleasure to watch as the ensemble cast take the well-crafted dialogue and create hilarity with scientific precision. 

The Episodes

Disc One

Episode 1 - The Bad Fish Paradigm

Episode 2 - The Codpiece Topology

Episode 3 - The Barbarian Sublimation view

Episode 4 - The Griffin Equivalency

Episode 5 - The Euclid Alternative

Episode 6 - The Cooper-Nowitzki Theorem

Disc Two

Episode 7 - The Panty Pinata Polarization

Episode 8 - The Lizard-Spock Expansion

Episode 9 - The White Asparagus Triangulation

Episode 10 - The Vartabedian Conundrum

Episode 11 - The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis

Episode 12 - The Killer Robot Instability

Disc Three

Episode 13 - The Friendship Algorithm

Episode 14 - The Financial Permeability

Episode 15 - The Maternal Capacitance

Episode 16 - The Cushion Saturation

Episode 17 - The Terminator Decoupling

Episode 18 - The Work Song Nanocluster

Disc Four

Episode 19 - The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition

Episode 20 - The Hofstadter Isotope

Episode 21 - The Vegas Renormalization

Episode 22 - The Classified Materials

Episode 23 - The Monopolar Expedition Online

The Video

3.5/5

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Second Season is presented by Warner Bros. for the first time on Blu-ray, following suit on the later seasons which bowed simultaneously on both DVD and this HD format. It comes in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio – which is how it can be seen on CBS’ HD broadcast.

On Blu-ray, the image looks good though doesn’t have quite the same pop as the broadcast version. On my 73 inch display there are a few moments that appear softer than expected but the colors are as still quite striking with a bright and bold, happy, and friendly array of colors that showcase the fresh look of the show. Warner Bros. have provided all 23 episodes of this second season over two discs on Blu-ray and over 4 discs on DVD (both available in this package). Cramming 23 episodes on 2 Blu-ray discs does produce some unevenness across the episodes where the level of detail varies from good to just ok.  

The Sound

4/5

One of the distinct audio elements of the show when I watch this on TV is the transition effect used between scenes. Particles buzzing and zipping around fly from front, to rear, enveloping the surround speakers. That same effect is reproduced here nicely with the DTS-HD Master Audio though, beyond that sound effect and the opening credits song, this release doesn’t do terribly much with the audio. After a while the audience laughs, claps and oohs and ahs’ can become tiresome (one of the woes of this format comedy), but it is all cleanly produced.

The Extras

3.5 / 5

Physicist to the Stars (10:09): Series consultant, an real-life Particle-Astrophysicist Dr. David Saltzberg, Phd, discusses how he became involved with the show, his fun in adding the scientific concepts for discussion by the characters, and the warm reaction the show has received from the scientific community – which is both ribbed and revered by the show.

Testing the Infinite Hilarity Hypothesis in Relation to the Big Bang Theory (15:30): Interview with series creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, and show regulars – a fun look at the actor’s perspective of their characters.

Gag Reel (8:51): Many gag reels today present fast cuts of line flubs, or incongruent selections of cast members breaking into laughter – rendering them capable of delivering only the mildest of giggles…this gag reel, however, running almost nine minutes, is rife with hilarity as we watch the actors forget lines and trip up over the dialogue with sharp sides.

Final Thoughts

I am not a big fan of the traditional sit-com format. After years of enjoying shows like Seinfeld, The Cosby Show and others, I fell out of favor with the routine nature of that form of television. Formats for comedy shows employed by the magnificent Arrested Development, the brilliant Community and the hilarious Veep are far more original and entertaining. But there is something about The Big Bang Theory that works for me. This show’s creator is responsible for another poplar show still on the air, the awful Two and a Half Men, and though the fundamental DNA between these shows is the same, The Big Bang Theory somehow (mainly on the back of the superb Jim Parsons) works very nicely.

Overall (Not an average)

4/5

Neil Middlemiss

Kernersville, NC