Being an audience member at THE episode.. “The Opening Night Excitation”
It was a long day for us fans, but we were excited never the less. As huge Shamy fans we were excited to see what was in store for the mid season finale. The previous week ‘The Earworm reverberation” was taped. Us fans that are super into the storylines, well.. we cant wait for the episode to air. We need to know what happens straight after filming. It’s like our drug. from then we build our excitement, we speculate and analyse. In all honesty, We have a fantastic community of fans and its so fun to be able to share this hobby and passion with so many interesting people from across the world.
The day started out early morning for us. As we only held standby tickets for the taping we decided to get there early in the morning for a better chance of getting in. I attended with 3 of my closest friends who will remain nameless out of privacy respect. We spent the day waiting among other fans in the standby line. We do have a lot of fun. We speculate what could happen, We talk about past episodes, We play games, We order food… We just make the most of it. Personally, I was expecting Sheldon to propose to Amy that night, That was my suspicion for the taping ahead of us. But boy was I wrong, And honestly? I am more then ok with that.
After many hours waiting, we finally got the ok to be taken up to the soundstage. The waiting to see if you get in is always agonising and stressful, But it’s always worth it when you get in. The Audience Unlimited staff are always so accommodating and kind. I cant thank them enough for the hard work they put in having to organise us crazy fans. Thank you!
We were seated in the very last row near the centre so we had a good view over the sets in front of us. Amy’s apartment was sitting behind Penny’s apartment, Set up in the same position as the previous week which for me was a VERY good sign of things to possibly come. We knew Bob Newhart would be appearing in this episode. And what can I say? It was an absolute honour to see him acting in the flesh.
All the team and crew that work on the set are always so friendly. You are made to feel so welcome and Mark Sweet, The MC for the show does a fantastic job keeping the audience in the know about what is happening. He keeps the comedy going between takes, Inviting fans up to take part in games and dances.
The episode started off. And straight away we were into the Star Wars theme with the guys freaking out over trying to get movie tickets after they were released early. Jim Parsons dropping to his knees to pray was just to funny for words!. The plot with Sheldon’s dilemma was unveiled in the next scene. Amy’s birthday falling on the opening night of new Star Wars film. Straight away Sheldon dismissed spending the time with Amy claiming he bought the tickets before they reconciled, which to him was his “Get out of class” card. From there I personally thought that Sheldon was going to be his old self. Putting the film before Amy. Did the last 8 months teach you anything? We were about to find out.
The legendary Bob Newhart appeared in Sheldon’s bedroom sporting his Obi Wan Kenobi robes or “moo moo” has he referred. Professor Proton (being part of Sheldon’s sub conscious mind) visits Sheldon in his time of need and advice. Sheldon started to speak of his dilemma which immediately buried my previous fears. What amazed me, As someone who has watched Sheldon Cooper’s character for so many years, I was actually amazed at how easily his mind was made up to skip Star Wars to spend the time with Amy.
Me and my girls are huge Shamy fans. We as the fans say “Ship” them. A lot of people would consider “shipping” crazy or weird. But really? Do you know what? It makes us happy. We love this couple so much that we actually emotionally feel what they would to an extent, We get excited, we get the butterflies in the stomach and we day dream about them. Isn’t that the aim of good writing though? to capture the audience in such a way they can relate to these characters on a emotional level?. For us, That is certainly the case with Shamy. The hand holding, The emergency contact, The D&D game, The train kiss, The first “I Love you”, The Fort sleep over. The engagement ring.. The list goes on and on. For every small moment with this couple, the fans that “ship” them become overwhelmed with happy emotion and feeling. We love them so much. This break up was very difficult for the most part for us. We always knew that Shamy are end game and the pay off so to say would blow our minds (which it does). We have stuck with this relationship for 5 ½ years and we are not ashamed to be such big fans of this couple and embrace how it makes us all feel. You would be amazed at how many people “Ship it” without even realising.
I was expecting Sheldon to show his disappointment through out the episode that he had decided to skip Star Wars. To my surprise, Sheldon seemed more focused on Amy’s Birthday to even care about Star Wars which 1 year ago would have seem implausible. It was evident that Sheldon had grown a huge amount from his behaviour. He wasn’t even resentful at giving his ticket away, Well, Apart from who was worthy enough to get his ticket that is.
What was I expecting to happen? Honestly? An engagement. The scene was set. He had his girl back, He loves her, He has given up something so dear to him to be with her, We knew the ring was still in play What else could it be? “What is the third gift idea?”
“Coitus”
Wait what? Did? DID HE REALLY JUST SAY THAT? WHAT? To say I was freaking out at this point was an understatement. My mind snapped in the same fashion as Penny’s wine glass (To which I have to applaud Kaley for accidentally tipping the contents into her shoe).
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! Me and my friends were literally embracing each other like the world was about to collapse from beneath us. We were totally in shock, Is this really going to happen? Were we going to be that THE episode we have all waited for? Was it time?
We watched the scene being re-shot to confirm what we just heard. We anticipated every scene to come. It couldn’t be true could it? We were certain it was going to be a cliff hanger or something would happen to change the plot. we were sure of it. Needless to say, My certainty on the wedding ring had gone out the window at this point. But I was FINE by that.
While clutching my friends hand for dear life, we watched the remainder of the scene finishing with Sheldon’s speech on how Amy was special to him and this was something he was ready for this step with her. “So it’s settled, Amy’s birthday present will be my genitals”. I have no shame admitting that I screamed with disbelief at this last line, along with the whole audience. We had a fantastic audience that night. So much enthusiasm and cheering!.
The plot was set. Would they actually go through with it though? And the question I had always asked with this situation. Can the writers keep Sheldon and Amy in character for this moment. The writing on this show is so skilful and genius. I had no doubt they would pull it off. I was still very anxious to see how this would play off though. We watched the rest of the scene unfold with much anticipation of how this would happen and Hoping it would happen.
The scenes leading up to the moment from all characters were fantastic. For an untrained actress, Mayim Bialik absolutely nails any scene depicting deep emotion or excitement. How she does this is beyond me, But she does it in such a way that you can feel the the comedy and emotion behind Amy getting the news was so fun to watch. I’m kinda glad that she found out from Penny and Bernadette. It really set up for THAT scene.
I can’t go without mentioning the guys plot. Inviting Will Wheaton to the Star Wars premier was a stroke of comedy genius that we didn’t see coming. I’m not a Star Wars or Star Trek fan admittedly. But When Will Wheaton walks into that movie full of Star Wars sorting his Star Trek uniform in front of a bunch of Star Wars dressed super fans. Oh. My. God! How unbelievably clever and Funny! See thats one thing I absolutely adore about BBT style of writing.. The comedy is so clever. It always amazes me how they can stitch the 2 together and come up these jokes. You cant help but admire the skill of this kind of writing.
Bob Newhart returned to give Sheldon advise on his and Amy’s big night. The sexual innuendo joke with Professor Proton “accidentally” impales himself with his lightsaber… I don’t really need to explain that one I hope!. It was amazing to see Sheldon taking this so seriously. “He doesn’t want to become overwhelmed and ruin the evening”. Professor Proton points out that is its with the right girl, Everything will be fine. It was that kind of scene that made you want to scoop up Sheldon and just hug him. It was so well done. And the important thing here? This is Sheldon’s Subconscious. This is what is in his mind. So it’s sheldon telling himself these things. I loved that this was being pointed out. Sheldon really has evolved.
To me and my friends, The taping so far was just to good to be true. They were absolutely nailing this. We hardly let go of one another hand the whole time. It was hard to keep our emotions to a quiet point. It was happening. It was really happening. And we were there to witness it.
The stage was set, Jim and Mayim were getting their final touch up of make up. It was time to start this off. I would be lying if I said I was completely calm. My heart was pounding. All the questions over so many years were about to be answered. And how would this be addressed?
The answer? Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
The way both the Sheldon and Amy characters were kept during the whole sequence of events absolutely blew my mind. Amy was her excited confident self and again, Mayim kept the comedy with the raw emotion. The moments between them were believable for the characters in front of us. And Jim. How Jim kept Sheldon as Sheldon during this episode was a performance I will never forget. He kept the comedy, He kept the quirkiness, He showed the nerves… I know the writers give them what to work with, But the work of actually portraying Sheldon is incredible to say the least.
Everything just seemed to fall in place perfectly. The kissing on the couch, Now I was lucky enough to see the Earworm taping. I still had not recovered from he previous weeks kissing. And here they are again. My instinct reaction to seeing these guys kiss is to just scream. The excitement of seeing it play out is one that is hard to come by. It’s honestly the best feeling. Butterflies, Excitement, Happiness.. Just all the good things.
I think what is shocking a lot of people, but it’s somethings he fans predicted would happen. The role reversal. Amy becoming nervous and Sheldon to be the one to be there for her. It was incredibly sweet and to see this side of Sheldon is something that us fans have been dying to see. It’s the sort of thing you would only read in a fan fiction. But here it was, playing out right in front of us.
“We will just have to find out together”
The line that sealed the deal. As Sheldon and Amy lovingly move in to kiss, The moment we had all been waiting for, for 5 ½ (or 9 years) was about to unfold. The smiles on their face was enough to bring a tear to my eye. As they leaned in, I screamed (As I do a lot apparently) But, It wasn’t only me. The whole audience were cheering these guys on. The atmosphere in that studio was one Ive never felt before. It was like a whole stadium cheering at their team winning the superbowl.
I didn’t know if I was having a panic attack or how I was functioning. I was completely out of my body and in a world of pure bliss. I didn’t care what I looked like, I didn’t care what anyone thought of me. I just wanted to voice and show my excitement. I had my hands gripping my head in absolute disbelief that this was happening.
They cut the scene just before Sheldon and Amy kissed and broke to the movies showing the guys excited that Star Wars was about start. They couldn’t believe it was happening. It was like they were filming our reactions in the audience to an extent. How they managed to write this in with Shamy having sex was the absolute genius and comedy I mentioned before. It played out absolutely perfectly. They managed to keep the comedy, The characters, The emotion and the cleverness in one of the most anticipated scenes of The Big Bang Theory ever.
The deed was one, they did it. Sheldon relaxed and Amy looking like she had just been dragged through a hedge backwards after running a marathon. Hair everywhere, panting and a grin on her face that I think we all had. I can understand that scene must of been so uncomfortable for Jim and Mayim. But WOW. THEY ACTUALLY DID IT. And do you know what? HE LIKED IT. I was sitting there cheering as much as I could with whatever breath and voice I had left in me. My arms up in the air like my team had just scored (Well, They kinda did!).
And they STILL managed to keep all the elements that makes Big Bang Theory so great in that scene. It was sweet, We had the comedy and we had our answers. Did the writers pull this off and absolutely nail this? (Pun intended). Oh yes. They most certainly did.
We see the guys one last time at the movies after the film had finished. They were all in the after sex resting pose. Just breathless and in a state of amazement. Portraying the 2 storylines into 1. Just epic.
Well what more can I say. The show delivered. I cant stress how perfect this ended up being. Being an audience member that night had to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I got to witness TV history with my closest friends. I got to experience the emotion, I got to be part of that episode.
I walked out of that studio and felt like I could collapse with happiness. I wanted to just jump around like I was mashing at a gig, But unfortunately I can’t right now due to injury. Boo!
To express in words my admiration and love for this show, the storylines the characters, the team the puts it all together and the fandom would be impossible. There is just no way.
Being a fan of the Big Bang Theory is an incredible ride. There’s not much more I can say but thank you to everyone involved. I will be along for this ride until the end. Im excited to see what happens next!
I hope you all enjoy the episode!