The Guitarist Amplification

The Big Bang Theory"The Guitarist Amplification"
Season 3
Number 7
Episode information
Directed by	Mark Cendrowski
Original air date	November 9, 2009
The Big Bang Theory Episodes
Previous	"The Cornhusker Vortex"
Next	"The Adhesive Duck Deficiency"

"The Guitarist Amplification" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on Monday, November 9, 2009.

In this episode, Leonard and Penny have fight over her former boyfriend and guitarist will be sleeping on her couch while he is visiting, causing Sheldon to revisit his traumatic past when his parents fight.

Plot

Sheldon invented his own board game: Research Lab ("The Physics is Theoretical, But the Fun is Real!") Sheldon is using Penny and Leonard as beta testers playing the game with him. They quit because Penny has to pick up her friend Justin from the airport. Justin plays the guitar and has a lot of stuff. He will be crashing on her couch for a couple of weeks while he finds some recording studio time. Leonard is shocked and wonders how close of a friend he is. He and Penny went out once or twice, but were never serious. Leonard, her boyfriend, doesn't like him in her apartment. Sheldon wants to get back to the game. As their fight excessively heats up, Sheldon gets emotionally upset and goes over to the kitchen and turns on the sno-cone maker to drown out the argument. Penny gives up trying to talk over the blender and leaves, while Leonard has won the first game of "Research Lab," and a celebratory sno-cone.

Leonard is still complaining about Penny in his car on the way to work. Sheldon doesn't appear to be getting used to people fighting. Leonard keeps complaining, causing Sheldon to jump out of the car and walk.

With only have seventeen minutes for guys to get to the movies, they run into Penny, who hopes Leonard is ready to apologize. Leonard doesn't and Penny again reads him the riot act in front of Howard and Raj. Sheldon leaves.

Killing time before the next showing, they go to the comic book store. Howard agrees that Penny was out of line, but she'll probably have a new boyfriend by this time tomorrow. Leonard will have to build a new girlfriend. Raj thinks Leonard is wrong. He tells about the time he took a cooking class with Howard, but Howard blew him off to do a liquid cleansing diet with his mother. They start arguing about his mother which freaks Sheldon out, now rants over his parents' argument before he storms out.

Sheldon goes to the Cheesecake Factory supposedly to have lunch to ask Penny to apologize to Leonard. She's not doing that. Sheldon mentions several complaints Leonard has about her: her driving, the bed full of stuffed animals that stare at him during their "amorous activities," her tardiness, or her singing. This revelation ticks Penny off even more. Her message to Leonard is that he can drop dead!

Sheldon quickly goes home and suggests to Leonard to apologize to Penny before she gets back. Before Leonard could answer to Sheldon, Penny angrily comes in to yell at Leonard over the list that Sheldon detailed to her. Sheldon suddenly disappears from the apartment in the middle of the fight, causing both Leonard and Penny to find him, who are still arguing. Sheldon goes to Raj’s apartment who is having a fight with his parents over coming to New Delhi for Cousin Sanjay's wedding. Sheldon again leaves. He then rings the doorbell at Howard's house, but after overhearing Howard and his mother fighting, Sheldon leaves before Howard can answer the door.

After driving around, they find Sheldon at the comic book store where he made a nest according to Stuart. Leonard describes how he pretends to be in an alternate universe where Leonard and Penny don't exist. Sheldon comments that he shouldn't flatter himself because he is just ignoring them.) Leonard and Penny try to convince him they're done fighting.

Leonard and Penny still haven’t resolved the Justin issue, though Penny tells Sheldon that in a relationship and people sometimes fight, but that they will always love him. Still sounding like Sheldon’s parents they buy him a toy robot and a comic book so that he will come home. Leonard, sounding like his father, complains that he'll just play with it twice and it will end up in his closet.

Finally while Leonard and Penny have restored their relationship, Justin is asleep on Leonard’s couch right next to Sheldon, prompting Sheldon to say "I should have asked for much more than a comic book and a robot."

Trivia

• Title Reference: Penny's visiting friend's occupation as a professional guitar player.
• This is the first time, Sheldon makes a sno-cone without his Original Snoopy Snow-Cone Machine, which will appear in "The Irish Pub Formulation".

v - e - d

Media The Big Bang Theory • Young Sheldon • Video Characters Main Characters: Leonard Hofstadter • Sheldon Cooper • Penny Hofstadter • Howard Wolowitz • Rajesh Koothrappali • Amy Farrah Fowler • Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz • Stuart Bloom • Emily Sweeney • Leslie Winkle Recurring Characters: Barry Kripke • Wil Wheaton • Althea • Kurt • Eric Gablehauser • Mary Cooper • Debbie Wolowitz • V.M. Koothrappali • Mrs. Koothrappali • Mike • Stephanie Barnett • Beverley Hofstadter • President Siebert • Zack Johnson • Priya Koothrappali • Wyatt • Mike Rostenkowski • Mrs. Rostenkowski • Alex Jensen • Janine Davis • Lucy • Professor Proton • David Gibbs • Claire • Stephen Hawking • Alfred Hofstadter • Colonel Richard Williams • Denise Minor Characters: Christy Vanderbel • Lalita Gupta • Toby Loobenfeld • Dennis Kim • Dimitri • Missy Cooper • Blain • Tom • Octavia • Maria • Lourdes • Ramona Nowitzki • Kathy O'Brian • David Underhill • Alicia • Mikayla • Captain Sweatpants • Lonely Larry • Dr. Crawley • Bethany • Sarah • Skeeter • Professor Laughlin • Abby • Martha • Officer Hackett • Sandy • Glen • Venkatesh Koothrappali • Sebastian • Louie/Louise • Joyce Kim • Mrs. Gunderson • Joy • Mrs. Fowler • Angela Page • Professor Glenn • Mrs. Latham • Todd Zarnecki • Susan • Randall • Colonel Richard Williams Episodes Season 1: Pilot • The Big Bran Hypothesis • The Fuzzy Boots Corollary • The Luminous Fish Effect • The Hamburger Postulate • The Middle-Earth Paradigm • The Dumpling Paradox • The Grasshopper Experiment • The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization • The Loobenfeld Decay • The Pancake Batter Anomaly • The Jerusalem Duality • The Bat Jar Conjecture • The Nerdvana Annihilation • The Porkchop Indeterminacy • The Peanut Reaction • The Tangerine Factor Season 2: The Bad Fish Paradigm • The Codpiece Topology • The Barbarian Sublimation • The Griffin Equivalency • The Euclid Alternative • The Cooper-Nowitzki Theorem • The Panty Piñata Polarization • The Lizard-Spock Expansion • The White Asparagus Triangulation • The Vartabedian Conundrum • The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis • The Killer Robot Instability • The Friendship Algorithm • The Financial Permeability • The Maternal Capacitance • The Cushion Saturation • The Terminator Decoupling • The Work Song Nanocluster • The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition • The Hofstadter Isotope • The Vegas Renormalization • The Classified Materials Turbulence • The Monopolar Expedition Season 3: The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation • The Jiminy Conjecture • The Gothowitz Deviation • The Pirate Solution • The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary • The Cornhusker Vortex • The Guitarist Amplification • The Adhesive Duck Deficiency • The Vengeance Formulation • The Gorilla Experiment • The Maternal Congruence • The Psychic Vortex • The Bozeman Reaction • The Einstein Approximation • The Large Hadron Collision • The Excelsior Acquisition • The Precious Fragmentation • The Pants Alternative • The Wheaton Recurrence • The Spaghetti Catalyst • The Plimpton Stimulation • The Staircase Implementation • The Lunar Excitation Season 4: The Robotic Manipulation • The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification • The Zazzy Substitution • The Hot Troll Deviation • The Desperation Emanation • The Irish Pub Formulation • The Apology Insufficiency • The 21-Second Excitation • The Boyfriend Complexity • The Alien Parasite Hypothesis • The Justice League Recombination • The Bus Pants Utilization • The Love Car Displacement • The Thespian Catalyst • The Benefactor Factor • The Cohabitation Formulation • The Toast Derivation • The Prestidigitation Approximation • The Zarnecki Incursion • The Herb Garden Germination • The Agreement Dissection • The Wildebeest Implementation • The Engagement Reaction • The Roommate Transmogrification Season 5: The Skank Reflex Analysis • The Infestation Hypothesis • The Pulled Groin Extrapolation • The Wiggly Finger Catalyst • The Russian Rocket Reaction • The Rhinitis Revelation • The Good Guy Fluctuation • The Isolation Permutation • The Ornithophobia Diffusion • The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition • The Speckerman Recurrence • The Shiny Trinket Maneuver • The Recombination Hypothesis • The Beta Test Initiation • The Friendship Contraction • The Vacation Solution • The Rothman Disintegration • The Werewolf Transformation • The Weekend Vortex • The Transporter Malfunction • The Hawking Excitation • The Stag Convergence • The Launch Acceleration • The Countdown Reflection Season 6: The Date Night Variable • The Decoupling Fluctuation • The Higgs Boson Observation • The Re-Entry Minimization • The Holographic Excitation • The Extract Obliteration • The Habitation Configuration • The 43 Peculiarity • The Parking Lot Escalation • The Fish Guts Displacement • The Santa Simulation • The Egg Salad Equivalency • The Bakersfield Expedition • The Cooper/Kripke Inversion • The Spoiler Alert Segmentation • The Tangible Affection Proof • The Monster Isolation • The Contractual Obligation Implementation • The Closet Reconfiguration • The Tenure Turbulence • The Closure Alternative • The Proton Resurgence • The Love Spell Potential • The Bon Voyage Reaction Season 7: The Hofstadter Insufficiency • The Deception Verification • The Scavenger Vortex • The Raiders Minimization • The Workplace Proximity • The Romance Resonance • The Proton Displacement • The Itchy Brain Simulation • The Thanksgiving Decoupling • The Discovery Dissipation • The Cooper Extraction • The Hesitation Ramification • The Occupation Recalibration • The Convention Conundrum • The Locomotive Manipulation • The Table Polarization • The Friendship Turbulence • The Mommy Observation • The Indecision Amalgamation • The Relationship Diremption • The Anything Can Happen Recurrence • The Proton Transmogrification • The Gorilla Dissolution • The Status Quo Combustion Season 8: The Locomotion Interruption • The Junior Professor Solution • The First Pitch Insufficiency • The Hook-up Reverberation • The Focus Attenuation • The Expedition Approximation • The Misinterpretation Agitation • The Prom Equivalency • The Septum Deviation • The Champagne Reflection • The Clean Room Infiltration • The Space Probe Disintegration • The Anxiety Optimization • The Troll Manifestation • The Comic Book Store Regeneration • The Intimacy Acceleration • The Colonization Application • The Leftover Thermalization • The Skywalker Incursion • The Fortification Implementation • The Communication Deterioration • The Graduation Transmission • The Maternal Combustion • The Commitment Determination Season 9: The Matrimonial Momentum • The Separation Oscillation • The Bachelor Party Corrosion • The 2003 Approximation • The Perspiration Implementation • The Helium Insufficiency • The Spock Resonance • The Mystery Date Observation • The Platonic Permutation • The Earworm Reverberation • The Opening Night Excitation • The Sales Call Sublimation • The Empathy Optimization • The Meemaw Materialization • The Valentino Submergence • The Positive Negative Reaction • The Celebration Experimentation • The Application Deterioration • The Solder Excursion Diversion • The Big Bear Precipitation • The Viewing Party Combustion • The Fermentation Bifurcation • The Line Substitution Solution • The Convergence-Convergence Season 10: The Conjugal Conjecture • The Military Miniaturization • The Dependence Transcendence • The Cohabitation Experimentation • The Hot Tub Contamination • The Fetal Kick Catalyst • The Veracity Elasticity • The Brain Bowl Incubation • The Geology Elevation • The Property Division Collision • The Birthday Synchronicity • The Holiday Summation • The Romance Recalibration • The Emotion Detection Automation • The Locomotion Reverberation • The Allowance Evaporation • The Comic-Con Conundrum • The Escape Hatch Identification • The Collaboration Fluctuation • The Recollection Dissipation • The Separation Agitation • The Cognition Regeneration • The Gyroscopic Collapse • The Long Distance Dissonance Season 11: The Proposal Proposal • The Retraction Reaction • The Relaxation Integration • The Explosion Implosion • The Collaboration Contamination • The Proton Regeneration • The Geology Methodology • The Tesla Recoil • The Bitcoin Entanglement • The Confidence Erosion • The Celebration Reverberation • The Matrimonial Metric • The Solo Oscillation • The Separation Triangulation • The Novelization Correlation • The Neonatal Nomenclature • The Athenaeum Allocation • The Gates Excitation • The Tenant Disassociation • The Reclusive Potential • The Comet Polarization • The Monetary Insufficiency • The Sibling Realignment • The Bow Tie Asymmetry Season 12: The Conjugal Configuration • The Wedding Gift Wormhole • The Procreation Calculation • The Tam Turbulence • The Planetarium Collision • The Imitation Perturbation • The Grant Allocation Derivation • The Consummation Deviation • The Citation Negation • The VCR Illumination • The Paintball Scattering • The Propagation Proposition • The Confirmation Polarization • The Meteorite Manifestation • The Donation Oscillation • The D & D Vortex • The Conference Valuation • The Laureate Accumulation • The Inspiration Deprivation • The Decision Reverberation • The Plagiarism Schism • The Maternal Conclusion • The Change Constant • The Stockholm Syndrome Locations The Apartment Building • Apartment 4A • Apartment 4B • The Elevator • California Institute of Technology • Wolowitz House • The Comic Center of Pasadena • Pasadena • The Cheesecake Factory • Raj's Apartment • Amy's Apartment • Howard and Bernadette's Apartment • The Stairs • Sheldon's Old Office • Raj's Old Office • Sheldon's New Office • Howard's Lab • The University Cafeteria • Kripke's Plasma Lab • International Space Station • The Kinetics Lab Songs Transportations See Also Unaired Pilot