photo: cbs
The Excelsior Acquisition
Original Air Date: Mar 1, 2010
Theresa – Staff Writer
Theresa@thetwocentscorp.com
Aaaand we’re back. My goodness, that felt like forever – I need my BBT fix! I forgive you though, CBS, because Raj’s soundtrack shirt was one of the best running gags ever! Really, who among us has not dreamed of making an entrance to the tune of the Imperial March? J
Once the boys are all present at the comic book store, they discover that Stan Lee (creator of pretty much any comic they’ve made into a movie) is coming for a signing. Raj makes his awesome shirt play “I’m So Excited” while the collective geekgasm occurs.
Later, the boys are trying to decide what they’ll have Stan Lee sign, during which The Shirt chimes in with the Jeopardy! theme. Sheldon, just to be weird and different, decides he wants him to sign Batman even though it’s not his creation, and Raj jumps on his “unique” bandwagon. Penny comes in and tries to be excited, but fails miserably because she has no idea who Stan Lee is.
While Howard is looking for something in Sheldon’s desk, he finds several unopened paychecks – because Sheldon needs not money and believes ATMs will lead the robot revolution – as well as a summons for running a red light. “DUN DUN”, says The Shirt, since Raj cannot speak in front of Penny. Turns out Penny pawned the ticket off on Sheldon because he was driving her to the hospital at the time. Howard does a dead-on impression of Sheldon’s horrified face as caught on camera to prove it. BUT, it gets worse – the court date is on Stan Lee Day, and despite Sheldon’s assumptions, his friends are not planning on missing that to see him in court.
That leaves Penny. After cruelly not letting him finish his third knock, Penny is forced to rehearse a testimony Sheldon scripted for her “in her vernacular”, which is apparently that of someone who lives in the backwoods of the Valley. At court, Sheldon argues that on the grounds that 1) he was not taught driving properly, 2) in a crisis situation, and 3) unable to confront his accuser (the camera), he is not guilty. The judge begs to differ, and no one cares about which spot Sheldon wants in jail.
Penny calls Leonard, who is at least more sympathetic than he has been lately, but he’s not leaving the line for Stan Lee. It’s okay though, because Sheldon’s ready to apologize as soon as he sees the toilet. So, here, part of me says “Really? You couldn’t get more out of Sheldon in JAIL?”, but then another part of me says, “You know what? Thanks for not doing the Sheldon overkill thing!” Anyway, it turns out Sheldon not only missed out on the signing, but also on Stan Lee taking the boys out for gelato. Even Raj, who he hated for criticizing all his alliterative character names. Penny apologizes, but Sheldon tells her the “moving finger” of time has moved on!
Penny feels awful and agrees to be Stuart’s date to a wedding – if she can bring Leonard – in exchange for Stan Lee’s address. She brings Sheldon to his house, where the celebrity lambasts them for thinking they can just show up at his door. A clueless Sheldon accepts his sarcastic invitation to watch the Lakers game, Penny runs, and Sheldon ends up with a restraining order he can hang right next to his one from Leonard Nimoy.
While Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg are often given good side jokes, I think they stole this one and ran away with it. I don’t think Simon’s ever given a delivery that wasn’t precise and hilarious! And Kunal had not only The Shirt, but also ever more frustrating listings of comic book character names. I love these guys! What about the rest of you? What did you think about this episode and its amazing guest star? Give me your Two Cents!
Best Lines
Howard: Ow, paper cut! Nothing worse than a paper cut!
Raj: Obviously you don’t remember your circumcision.
Howard: Sheldon, why do you have all these unopened paychecks in your desk?
Sheldon: Because most of the things I’m planning to buy haven’t been invented yet.
Sheldon (to Penny): Please try to wear something appropriate. It won’t help my case if the judge is trying to read the word ‘Juicy’ scrawled across your buttocks.
Sheldon (to traffic court judge): I would point out that I am at the top of my profession, while you preside over the kiddie table of yours!
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TheTwoCents 
Some of Stan Lee’s most dramatic acting to date. Bazinga excelsior!
Judge J. Kirby, the judge who heard Sheldon’s case, was a nice Easter Egg for comic book fans 🙂 (He was a long-time co-creator with Stan Lee: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kirby)
THE SHIRT!!! That was my favorite part!!!
And Sheldon’s suit!!
I also was really impressed they kept the date of the ticket exact with the date of the episode (yes, I’m a dork and looked it up). 🙂
Wow, nice catch on the details, you guys!
You know, some sneaky part of me was hoping that the reason Penny was denying anything about the ticket was because she never told Leonard about Sheldon getting a peek at her tattoo, lol, but that might have been a little much.
They sell that shirt at ThinkGeek, one of my favorites, but I hadn’t imagined all of its possibilities! Man, I would love to “wrong!”-buzz people all day, hahaha!
I would “Jeopardy” people in line at fast food restaurants! LOL