The Big Bang Theory (TV Series) The Opening Night Excitation (2015) User Reviews

Finally a good episode

[shankarsaurav · 8/10 · 19 December 2015]

Big Bang Theory had been slipping away and the writers seem to have finally revived the show. Sheldon's character which has been in a rut for over a few seasons now, thankfully moves ahead.

The episode craftily leads to the "end-game" where both Amy and Sheldon don't seem to be rushed but ready. The Star Wars intro was quite apt and hilarious.

This episode will give you a few good chuckles (unlike the last few seasons!) and a hope for better episodes in the future. (Finally!)

The rest of the cast were bang on and the parallel reactions in the end was quite smart and funny.

A good, refreshing, much needed episode.

I liked it fine, too :-)

[mikedonn · 9/10 · 19 December 2015]

A really good episode - I'd say the best of the season so far!

The plot is simple yet great, the incorporation of the SW premiere and the opening text crawl were a really good idea. As was Will's idea on how to upset the movie premiere a little.

And coming to Sheldon's side of the story, although I was a bit surprised about his choice, once he reached his decision he applied his genius to the b-day gift dilemma and came up with a perfect yet logical choice :-)

I was a bit afraid of Arthur's return because I haven't been really excited about "his" previous episodes. But he was really good in this one and his final conversation with Sheldon rocked me off my chair (have to get a new one now).

So...overall 9 out of 10, the only point down being for things in this episode which were a little unrealistic - Sheldon's decision and Amy's "First Time" experience.

Best episode

[mamaray-44918 · 10/10 · 14 October 2020]

Couldn't stop laughing. Thanks writer's. Sheldon always has me in fits.

Two Virgins.

[Ddey65 · 9/10 · 10 January 2021]

Do I really have to use a reference to an album by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band for this?

Yeah, I do, and it's worth it.

After spending the first third of Season 9 broken up with Amy, only to be nagged by an old Beach Boys song that he couldn't get out of his mind, Sheldon and his girlfriend are reunited as a couple. However prior to this, he and his friends pre-ordered movie tickets for the opening night of the latest Star Wars movie "The Force Awakens." Unfortunately, the movie premier is scheduled for Amy's birthday. When Penny makes him realize he should spend time with her for her birthday rather than for a movie that every other geek is anxious to see, he feel a bit conflicted. That night he has a dream where he's visited by the ghost of the late Professor Proton star Arthur Jeffries (Bob Newhart) dressed like Obi-Wan Kenobi, who convinces him he's better off with his girlfriend.

The next morning, he decides to give his ticket away to somebody he thinks is a worthy fan, and visits Penny and Bernadette for birthday gift advice. He tells them he has three potential gifts in mind. The first being a one-day invitation for her to play the harp with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the second being a wool-related festival that he has no intention of attending due to his fear of sheep, and the third is to have sex with her. Penny's reaction may have been scripted, but it's still very easy to understand. Of course, we all know that Sheldon has been uncomfortable with the idea of touching anybody until sometime before this episode, and Amy has been anxious to be touched by the opposite sex before she ever met Sheldon. "Then it's settled. My birthday gift to Amy will be my genitals." Can you imagine a line that would normally be considered gross would be so heartwarming?

So who gets Sheldon's ticket? Why none other than Wil Wheaton who arrives dressed like Mr. Spock during the original version of Star Trek. Normally, that's like giving away Yankee Stadium to the New York Mets, or if you want to go way back, the former Brooklyn Dodgers or New York Giants baseball teams. Personally, I was never able to take sides regarding the Star Trek vs. Star Wars feud, but I'm not oblivious to it either.

Equally enjoyable is the subtle attempt by Penny and Bernadette to prepare Amy for her big night, and Bernadette's revealing motive for their suggested activities. The parallel dialogue between Sheldon and Amy in her bedroom and Wil Wheaton and Sheldon's friends is funny, but it has already been covered, so we won't go into that. But Wheaton does deliver some genuinely sage advice about the movie, which applies to a lot of others.

Also, Sheldon and Amy's first time, what little of it we see, turns out to be wonderful. And yet, this could've been much different, even for somebody their age. It could've been like Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton in "The Terminator." Who wants that?

The Big Night

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 9 November 2021]

Sheldon must choose between being with Amy on her birthday or going to the new Star Wars film. In order to decide, he talks to Professor Proton (Bob Newhart) seeking advice. Finally, he makes the decision but there is much more to this than a simple present.

Can I Love This Episode and Also Complain?

[ChaCha44 · 8/10 · 22 December 2015]

Any Sheldon and Amy fan will be thrilled that the two of them finally had coitus but in this fan's opinion it happened too soon (yes, even after five years).

After keeping the couple apart for so long, they should have gotten more mileage out of their break-up and reunion. We should have seen Sheldon on a date or two with another woman. We should have seen Sheldon and Amy with respective dates bumping into each other and seeing their reactions. And most importantly, if they were going to have them come together in a carnal way, there should have been a modicum of passion on Sheldon's part.

Yes, the writers wanted to keep Sheldon true to his character but the prompt to "give Amy coitus" should have introduced something that sparked within him. While their bedroom scene was sweet and tender, it would have been so much more gratifying if we heard some pillow talk. The other storyline of the opening of Star Wars was pretty good and tied into the Sheldon and Amy event. I did love the episode and there were plenty of laughs (particularly from Amy and Sheldon), I just didn't expect them to be brought together so soon and with a relative lack of passion.

The best episode I have seen since 5X24 The Countdown Reflection

[magicastor · 10/10 · 15 October 2021]

Both the Star Wars & Shamy plots were very well done.

I also believe this is the best episode I've seen since Howard and Bernadette's wedding.

Season 6 is where Big Bang Theory's quality started to go downhill and by Season 8 it became somewhat mediocre. Season 9 started off rough with Leonard and Penny fighting again but got better when Shamy got back together. This episode brought back my interest in TBBT and the scene where Shamy have coitus is ICONIC.

The 'Star Wars' plot was inevitable; had that storyline failed, the show would be forever gone

[SLionsCricketreviews · 6/10 · 19 December 2015]

As I was watching this episode, it dawned on me something quite huge: if this episode fails, "The Big Bang Theory" is eternally screwed. It takes a group of nerds and places them in the midst of an event we have all been waiting for: the release of Ep VII. And thankfully, "The Opening Night Excitation" for the most part, does work pretty well although it is hardly deserving of an IMDb rating of 9.4!

The gang have pre-ordered tickets for the opening night release of "Star Wars". Months later, as the day draws closer, Sheldon realizes that the opening night conflicts with Amy's birthday and ultimately, decides to go celebrate her birthday rather than seeing the movie he's been dying to see. In the meantime, the guys are forced to take another guest to the film, in place of Sheldon.

This is the aspect of the plot that is totally unrealistic and implausible: why would Sheldon go to celebrate his girlfriend's birthday over "Star Wars"? The writers completely missed out on what an important occasion this is for Sheldon, and threw it away weakly.

Berneadette is as annoying as ever, her facial expressions and her voice still remain one of the most irritating aspects of this show. As Bearnedette became more and more of a key character, the show's quality began to decline increasingly. Penny offers very little humour to the episode, and Kaley Cuocou continually gets those big cheques for doing nothing!

I am still having a bit of a hard time accepting the fact that Sheldon and Amy have engaged in coitus. But it is done well enough that I am able to interpret it as being away from Amy so long has pushed him to a position where he is more open with her, and willing to make decisions he wasn't the first time around. The problem with this show in general is it does not build up its characters well at all. As such, motives such as Sheldon's in this episode cannot quite so easily be justified.

Bob Newhart makes another guest appearance as Force Ghost Proton, and he is again great in this reprising role. However, the episode truly shines with Wil Wheaton and his attendance to the "Star Wars" premiere dressed in "Star Trek" attire. That was classic!

"The Opening Night Excitation" is actually funny. From the opening scene alone, there does seem to be a better injection of humour into the story. This is the plot that could not fail, and it certainly does not. The episode offers some heart, enough humour and just enough oddities that it is an above average "Big Bang Theory" episode.

This show is ruined

[tonynoemi · 1/10 · 18 June 2019]

Since Amy appeared, this show has been declining; abandoning the main topic of the whole series, dividing the group, and most importantly changing Sheldon's way of life and personality (although I like my characters to change, this was just awful), and with this episode most of all, we can see that the show has changed from a comedy into a drama and love story. I mean, Sheldon wold have never even doubted to go watch Star Wars. It just doesn't make sense, it's off topic, the show isn't funny anymore, and the writers have sucked in the last few seasons.

Simply TERRIBLE

And not even Star Wars can save BBT from Amy

[GeraltTargaryen · 3/10 · 4 October 2022]

I'm writing this review in 2022, after watching this episode of BBT. While I'm not particularly crazy about Star Wars like the guys in this show (neither about Star Trek, just for the record), I did went to cinema to see every Star Wars movie and spin-off in the last seven years. And I do remember the worldwide craze in December, 2015 when the 7th episode was released. But somehow, the writers of this show managed to overshadow even that, with the character Amy, and what she's doing to Sheldon.

Amy is the most homely, nasty, and audience-repelling character I've ever seen. She's simply unbelievable. And the change in Sheldon's characters are most unacceptable. The writers didn't even try to ease it. They just made him a different person out of nowhere, completely ignoring the character that they've been building in the first four seasons.

If you haven't seen this episode, don't let its rating fool you. That's for Star Wars. But if Sheldon wasn't enough to save this show from Amy, neither can Star Wars.