The Big Bang Theory (TV Series) The Staircase Implementation (2010) User Reviews

An episode I've been waiting for since the beginning!

[Jerique · 9/10 · 20 May 2010]

Ever since the start of the show, the big question on everyone's mind is "what happened to the elevator?" Finally, in a flashback episode to reveal how everyone met -which are always fun- it is shown why they must walk three flights of stairs.

From start to finish, this episode is a laugh riot and makes your stomach hurt from all the laughing. It's creative and interesting to learn how Leonard comes to live with the freak Sheldon. It's interesting how Sheldon is worse before Leonard arrives and it's great to see that Howard and Raj have always been lovable and quirky.

It would have been interesting to watch the show starting back in 2002 and venturing all the way until Penny moved in and such, but it's a great show and seems to improve with each episode.

The untold story of the ensemble characters, unseen facts which explain a lot....

[josecoto85 · 9/10 · 18 May 2010]

After an argument with Sheldon about the thermostat, Leonard takes shelter at Penny's, assisting her with a pedicure on her "man feet" while telling her the story about how he meet and moved in with Sheldon....

One of the best retrospective episodes I have ever seen on CBS, along with Bones 100th "The Parts in the Sum of the Whole", aired long ago....and Two and a Half Men's S07e21 "Gumby with a Pokey", which coincidentally aired the same night this episode did...

*************SPOILER ALERT*************************

We finally get revealed the reason why the elevator got out of order and how he got the red couch for $100, his first Video game night with Raj & Howard, as well as his almost one night stand with Joyce Kim ( Asian tail in tiny underwear....hmmmm)...

Here it is stated why Leonard lives with this, gentleman...because he saved him from revealing classified rocket fuel data to a North Korean Spy...probably getting him into federal prison, and, of course, blasting to hell and back alongside the elevator due to a faulty calculated rocket fuel demonstration to Mr. Wollowitz and Dr. Koothropally.

Most characters (except for Dr. Cooper) wore clothing even weirder than now...(even Howard)alluding the 80's, as stated by Leonard it as 7 years ago, putting those events around 2003-2004 ( BAZINGA, they didn't use that word today so i do)....

We also took a glimpse of Penny on her Highschool days, with an old boyfriend and a relieving Negative pregnancy test...

By the way, why a 9/10 review to a seemingly perfect episode??

They forgot to talk about Sheldon's father who might have been alive at the time, yet in Texas, it could been a hit watching him lecture "Shelly" from an old version Netmeeting, Skype or Messenger alongside Mrs. Cooper, yet I guess Indian parents are more prone to technology...

Also, they revealed the origins of Sheldon's spot at the couch, his previous irrelevant room mate, the previous occupant of Penny's apartment ( a 200 pounds "lady" ) and the decoration and furniture of Sheldon's lair before Dr. Hofstadter's arrival...quite similar to an adult Stewie Griffin's flat in the movie FAMILY GUY , STEWIE GRIFFIN THE UNTOLD STORY....

I hope they keep up for the fourth, and fifth, and 40th season!!! of this great show...that Penny and Leonard Broke-up thing is a recurrent element on sitcoms to keep getting guest stars as love interest for the main characters ( L. Winkle and Dr. Plimpton for Leonard, and the MEN AFTER MEN getting in and out at Penny's ( apartment )....

Anyway let's hope they get better ideas because you see what happened on Married with Children, Titus and Dharma and Gregg after implementing that kind of dynamics....almost immediate cancellation...though they were already long lost their way...

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER......

"The Staircase Implementation" is a funny enough look at the beginnings of the Leonard-Sheldon friendship on "The Big Bang Theory"

[tavm · 9/10 · 30 March 2011]

In this penultimate episode from the previous season of "The Big Bang Theory": Penny, doing her nails in her apartment, overhears Leonard arguing with Sheldon about the thermostat which ends with Leonard knocking on Penny's door and asking to sleep on the couch. As she asks how he managed to put up with him, we flashback seven years before when Leonard was looking for a place to live. He had longer hair then and the elevator actually worked at the time. Anyway, before going up, Sheldon's former roommate warns him to stay away. We find out why when we see what Sheldon's apartment looks like: mostly spare with only charts and lawn chairs decorated (and what do you know, Sheldon's chair spot is the same as his later couch one). Also, Dr. Cooper has a lot of rules, barriers, and pertinent questions like "Kirk or Picard?" (Leonard answers that he prefers "The Original Series" over "The Next Generation" but Jean-Luc over James T.) Later on, Leonard invites his new university friends Howard and Raj over for a video game challenge with the eventual permanent couch in tow. And it's here we also find out what happened to make that elevator stop working. Something to do with Howard's model rocket and Leonard's fuel...This origin story of how Leonard and Sheldon became roommates was quite funny what with all the details concerning not only what I cited above but also about Leonard's first time taking a girl to his new place, the previous tenant in Penny's, and how Sheldon saved Leonard's life a couple of times. Also, we briefly find out what Penny did seven years previous. So on that note, "The Staircase Implementation" comes highly recommended.

My favourite episode of the series

[superfox_888 · 10/10 · 23 June 2021]

I wrote an essay about this episode for University, I love it so much!

After a fight about apartment temperature, Leonard goes to Penny's place and explains how he came to live with Sheldon, and why he stayed. The episode also gives background information such as, how the elevator broke and how Howard & Raj came to be friends with Leonard (and Sheldon, by association).

All in all, it's one of the funniest episodes of the entire series.

The Staircase Implementation (#3.22)

[ComedyFan2010 · 10/10 · 30 July 2019]

This is an absolutely great episode that tells us how Leonard and Sheldon started living together. I loved it how Leonard was coming to meet Sheldon. And the cross dressing guy told him to go to the crazy guy across the hall. This joke would not be allowed today but it was pretty funny. We also get to see him meet Howard and Raj (Raj was somehow dressed as if it was 1980). We see where the couch came from and most importantly we learn about what happened to the elevator. Definitely a great episode.

Superb Retro Episode

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 7 October 2021]

When Sheldon and Leonard get into an argument, Leonard goes to Penny's. She quizzes him on why he ever moved in with the guy. What follows explains some of the best stuff I've ever seen. We get to know how the two got together. We find out how Howard and Raj came into the picture. We find out why the elevator hasn't worked for seven years. We get to know the crazy roommate agreement. It's hilarious from beginning to end.

Just what I needed

[woutdedroog-34655 · 10/10 · 12 August 2022]

This is the best episode yet and just really the one episode where I was waiting for seeing how Leonard and Sheldon became roommates and it was just mindblowing when Sheldon saved Leonard from death in the elevator.

The Staircase Implementation

[studioAT · 7/10 · 31 August 2022]

Leonard tells Penny about how he and Sheldon became roommates and what happened to the elevator.

It's flashback time as we get a glimpse into the backstory behind the characters, with some very funny results.

The Leonard/Sheldon dynamic is so crucial to the whole series, so to see how it all began is a lot of fun. Of course this was long before 'Young Sheldon', so it was the first time we got to see what Sheldon was like before the rest of the gang humanised him...a little.

The other characters get a bit side-lined (Penny/Raj/Howard), but that's to be expected. This is the origin story of Leonard/Sheldon, not theirs.

Overall, this is a fun episode, that solves some of the mysteries behind the characters that we have by this stage come to know and love.