It is an unwritten rule of television that you can’t have a long-running sitcom and not do at least a few holiday-themed episodes. Thanksgiving episode? The opportunity to bring in notable guest stars to play parents and relatives of the main characters? A must. Halloween episode? Throw the whole cast into silly and/or sexy costumes? Ratings gold.
And then there’s the Christmas episode. This is the opportunity for even the snarkiest series on television to open their Grinchy hearts to the unifying spirit of the season. (No show did it better than “Community.”) Sure, Christmas has been commercialized all out of proportion; it’s the most stress-filled time of the year, when everyone, regardless of yearly income, feels compelled to overspend to show everyone in their life they love them. But sitcoms ranging from the traditional (“Happy Days”) to the newfangled (“The Office”) have traditionally sidestepped this cynicism to warm our chilled, anxious hearts, if only for a half-hour.
One sitcom that straddled the traditional and modern styles was “The Big Bang Theory.” For 12 seasons, Sheldon, Leonard, Penny, Howard, Raj and the rest of the crew courted viewers both accustomed and new to the form. Arguably, its most traditional flourish was its adherence to holiday episodes. Creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady did six Christmas episodes over the series run, and they’re all well-liked by the show’s fans. (At the very least, they’re nowhere near the five worst “Big Bang Theory” episodes.) But one Christmas episode isn’t just considered the best of the six (according to the Internet Movie Database), but it also ranks as one of the series’ high-water marks full-stop.
The merriest The Big Bang Theory Christmas episode has a Leonard Nimoy connection
If you’re any kind of “Big Bang Theory” fan, you may already know the show’s top-rated Christmas episode on IMDb is “The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis.” This is the one that is ostensibly about Leonard’s excitement at being able to assist a renowned scientist getting undercut when he learns Penny is dating the man. What makes the episode sing, however, is its surprising B-plot, which involves Sheldon struggling to find a gift for Penny that will match in value what she has given to him.
Sheldon, with the barely helpful advice of Howard and Raj, winds up buying a wide assortment of bath items with the intent of winnowing them down to equal the expense of Penny’s gift. When Penny’s gift turns out to be a napkin used and autographed by Leonard Nimoy, an overwhelmed Sheldon gives Penny every single bath item and a hug.
Is “The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis” really that popular among “The Big Bang Theory” fans? At present, according to IMDb, it ranks second to the series finale “The Stockholm Syndrome.” So, have yourself a geeky Christmas, and, even if you’re not a fan, give this one a spin. It and the rest of “The Big Bang Theory” is currently streaming on Max.
