This episode serves as an inside joke to Johnny Galecki and Mayim Bialik being each other's first on-screen kisses on "Blossom" twenty years earlier. Even as Sheldon and Amy are becoming TV's new quirky couple, Amy does not find all of his child-like qualities particularly endearing. He goes to a lecture on model trains expecting not to be impressed, only to buy the new train set. On the same note, Amy complains that Sheldon acted like a child when they went to a wedding together, and so Leonard is her plus-one this time around, ending up in accidentally making Leonard fall in love with her. Whether she simply misread a peck on the cheek or was hoping to make Penny jealous, we'll never know. It certainly elicited feelings of possessiveness towards his "friend who's a girl, but not his girlfriend" in Sheldon. Meanwhile, Howard and Bernadette mull over living arrangements, culminating in the hilarious exchange between Bernie and her future mother-in-law.
The Big Bang Theory (TV Series)
The Pulled Groin Extrapolation (2011)
User Reviews
Review this title8 Reviews
Amy shows a willingness to manipulate circumstances to achieve her goals
Doctor_vanNostrand1 June 2012
Warning: Spoilers
The third episode, yea
raulfaust5 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
As matter of fact, I wasn't really enjoying this 5th season. In my opinion, the first two episodes were just weird and the characters were too different from what they were in the fourth season-- which was the best for me. In this 3rd episode, the writers still made the characters act kinda weird, but some jokes are quite funny as they are supposed to be. Others are a little weak and forced, but they don't spoil this episode's overall quality. The final scene with Bernadette angrily screaming to Howard's mother was indeed hilarious, I laughed out loud at 1 in the morning, which is very unusual to me. I hope the next episodes keep getting better!!
"The Pulled Groin Extrapolation" was another pretty funny ep of "The Big Bang Theory"
tavm17 November 2011
In a nutshell about this season's ep of "The Big Bang Theory": Sheldon wants to stop at a train store and since Penny has to go to work, it's Raj driving him there as well as Howard and Bernadette to the movies. During the ride, Howard blurts out she's going to move in with his mother after the wedding which doesn't sit too well with Bern. But she eventually agrees to try it for a while. Meanwhile, Amy has stayed back at the apartment while Leonard tries to work on the computer. After some awkward talk, it seems Amy wants Leonard to be her date to a wedding since Sheldon doesn't behave himself well at those things, at least according to Amy. I'll stop there and say that while this ep wasn't as funny as the first two this season, it still had some moments such as Bernadette's impersonation of her future mother-in-law and Amy's characterization during the whole thing. So on that note, I rather still enjoyed "The Pulled Groin Extrapolation" ep of "The Big Bang Theory".
The Pulled Groin Extrapolation (#5.3)
ComedyFan201022 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Wasn't bad. Leonard and Amy hanging out could have been funner. But it was very funny when she thought Leonard fell in love with her and Sheldon punching him. Bernadette living with Howard and his mom was also good. The best of course was Bernadette yelling to Howard's mom from the bedroom.
Little Trains
Hitchcoc12 October 2021
After a battle between Bernadette and Howard involving living with his mother after their marriage, Sheldon has had enough and gets dropped off at a model train store. Sheldon refuses to take Amy to the wedding of a couple colleagues so Leonard is pushed into it. It turns out they actually have fun. Clueless Amy makes the most of it. The scenes in Howard's bedroom with Bernadette are really creepy.
The 3rd episode
fergyme1 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
The third episode and they still haven't really addressed the Raj and Penny thing from last year. Are they planning to get to that at some point? There were elements of Penny wanting to get back with Leonard in this episode and who knows, maybe Amy is trying to do something to force the issue. Anyway, a bit less satisfying than other episodes. The Howard and Bernadette relationship promises to be a funny one. Bernie is sounding more and more like Howard's mom and by the looks of things, he'll be another whipped boy by a woman who for all intents and purposes is his mother, 30 years younger. Sheldon and his toy train was cute, but it still leaves him out of the picture too much. Amy seems to be "carrying the water" when it comes to the nerd laughs.
The Pulled Groin Extrapolation
studioAT4 April 2024
Bravo Mayim Bialik. Pretty much given the episode to shine by the writers she more than rises to the chalenge. She is very funny here, and I liked the way that they paired her up with Leonard for an episode too.
Bernadette isn't very funny in comparison, and of the two female characters they introduced midway through the shows run she is by far my least favourite. From the screechy voice to being a rather 2D character, I'm never disappointed when she doesn't appear. She is better here though marginally.
Overall, this is a fun, rather different sort of episode. AKA - one that doesn't rely heavily on Sheldon to carry it through.
Bernadette isn't very funny in comparison, and of the two female characters they introduced midway through the shows run she is by far my least favourite. From the screechy voice to being a rather 2D character, I'm never disappointed when she doesn't appear. She is better here though marginally.
Overall, this is a fun, rather different sort of episode. AKA - one that doesn't rely heavily on Sheldon to carry it through.
A whole episode for Yoko was just too much
FilmLover735 January 2023
On the plus side, Mayim Bialik is a good actress with lots of experience. That really is a very small plus, however, as her character in this classic TV series is, without a doubt, the most "forced" fit I have ever seen in all of the modern entertainment landscape.
I know the decision was made by Chuck Lorre to move the series toward a modern-day "Friends." Actually, I believe this was what he had in mind all along. The show would never have gotten off the ground starting off like that however, but with the strength of Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, and the many other excellent professionals in the original cast, along with a great start-up story line, we all got hooked. Then the bait and switch took place.
OK, so if Sheldon needed a girlfriend, how could Chuck Lorre really think this was the best option he had? Sheldon's character could be summed up with a lot of different words - but obnoxious has never been one of them. This word fits the Amy character, and Bialik's perfect portrayal of her, "to a T." Leonard described Sheldon as "quirky." That is pretty accurate - not just for Sheldon but for almost all of the others. However, the obnoxious description only fits one character: Amy.
It is obvious that Bialik's entry into the show was long planned - with earlier references to her character Blossom mentioned in previous episodes. Her selection among all of the other available actresses could not have been her real-life scientific background, as Chuck Lorre has tried to explain - to head off, I believe, what he knew would be the resulting criticism of his choice. Jim Parsons, who stands at the top of the show's scientific pyramid, has admitted many times in interviews that he knows nothing about science or technology. So why this whiny, self-absorbed actress and her perfectly matched character?
As for the Friends plot swap, someone may say that "you can't argue with success," but to prove that that success was primarily based on the Friends-swap it would require an analysis with a very long, long path down a lot of decision trees. The show was a success when it was still about this daffy waitress with no last name and her relationship with bunch of nerds across the hall. It would have remained a success with the addition of few minor characters and guests along the way - sparing us the weekly pain of putting up with Amy.
I know the decision was made by Chuck Lorre to move the series toward a modern-day "Friends." Actually, I believe this was what he had in mind all along. The show would never have gotten off the ground starting off like that however, but with the strength of Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, and the many other excellent professionals in the original cast, along with a great start-up story line, we all got hooked. Then the bait and switch took place.
OK, so if Sheldon needed a girlfriend, how could Chuck Lorre really think this was the best option he had? Sheldon's character could be summed up with a lot of different words - but obnoxious has never been one of them. This word fits the Amy character, and Bialik's perfect portrayal of her, "to a T." Leonard described Sheldon as "quirky." That is pretty accurate - not just for Sheldon but for almost all of the others. However, the obnoxious description only fits one character: Amy.
It is obvious that Bialik's entry into the show was long planned - with earlier references to her character Blossom mentioned in previous episodes. Her selection among all of the other available actresses could not have been her real-life scientific background, as Chuck Lorre has tried to explain - to head off, I believe, what he knew would be the resulting criticism of his choice. Jim Parsons, who stands at the top of the show's scientific pyramid, has admitted many times in interviews that he knows nothing about science or technology. So why this whiny, self-absorbed actress and her perfectly matched character?
As for the Friends plot swap, someone may say that "you can't argue with success," but to prove that that success was primarily based on the Friends-swap it would require an analysis with a very long, long path down a lot of decision trees. The show was a success when it was still about this daffy waitress with no last name and her relationship with bunch of nerds across the hall. It would have remained a success with the addition of few minor characters and guests along the way - sparing us the weekly pain of putting up with Amy.
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