The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Premiere Review: New Dog, Old Tricks (and a Controversial Haircut)

The Big Bang Theory S08E01 & S08E02: "The Locomotive Interruption" & "The Junior Professor Solution

Yawn.

After a promising season 7 finale that shook up the status quo with Leonard and Penny shacking up and Sheldon hitting the rails for some quality nervous-breakdown time, The Big Bang Theory's two-episode Season 8 premiere felt like a step backward in some ways. However, this is a series that's always preferred baby steps to giant leaps in its approach to change, and it's clear that Sheldon's move to the classroom wouldn't've been possible without his cross-country sojourn. I just think I might have preferred to see Sheldon tormenting students for once, instead of tormenting Howard.

Anyone who was concerned about a Sheldon-free Season 8 need not worry. After he got his pants stolen, Sheldon grew tired of the hobo life and returned to California, where Penny's new hairstyle horrified him and HR broke the news that the only way he could avoid studying string theory for the rest of his natural life was to take a promotion to Junior Professor—complete with the responsibility of teaching grad students. I guess Rate My Professor is still the holy grail of class scheduling, though, because Sheldon's reputation as an obnoxious weirdo preceded him and no one signed up for his class... except Howard.

It turns out that, after years of justifying his engineering degree to the others, Howard has decided to get his PhD after all.

While Howard and Sheldon returned to career promotions, Penny faced a life-altering gig (of sorts) when she interviewed with Milton from Office Space (Stephen Root!) and landed a job as a drug rep after the two bonded over how scary Bernadette is. New job, new hair, and while Penny's decision to quit acting and hitch her star to something else is probably smart, it's also kind of sad, because it seems that everyone on this show gets to follow their dreams except for Penny.

Well, Penny and Stuart.

Still reeling from the loss of his comic store, Stu appeared to find solace in Howard's mom. Dude has no idea what he wants to do with his life, but at least he's happy with Deb Wolowitz, so... congrats-I-think? (Plz no awkward Stuart-becomes-Howard's-stepdad story? The "dad fight" this week was painful enough.)

And then there was Amy, doing Amy stuff. I was waiting for her dealings with Penny and Bernadette to blow up in her face, and was pleasantly surprised when they sort of disappeared, like the bubbles in a bottle of fizzy water that's gone flat. In fact, that may be the best way to describe The Big Bang Theory's Season 8 premiere. Fizz "makes beverages more interesting," says everyone who can't handle plain water because it's "boring." But if the worst of The Big Bang Theory is plain water, then this premiere was a bottle of slightly stale Perrier. It was interesting for all the small changes carried over from Season 7, like Penny's pursuit of jobs outside of acting and Sheldon's newfound bravery, but for all of the interesting bits, there was plenty of the same old sh*t. Sheldon terrorized Howard. Amy was desperate and a little pathetic. Penny proved incapable of making it through an interview for a big-kid job without charm and sheer luck saving her ass... which may actually be the case for any job interview.

Still, there's a lot to be excited about with regard to this coming season. Leonard and Penny are more stable than they've ever been. Sheldon and Amy have finally reached their own awkward version of comfort with one another that's both endearing and off-putting and entirely them. While the opportunity to feature some Sheldon-teaching-the-ignorant-masses was squandered on yet another round of Sheldon-torments-Howard, this was only the season premiere and we have plenty of time to get Sheldon in a room full of terrified grad students. On that note: Penny in a room full of sales targets is going to be priceless, though a little predictable, when it finally happens. Wouldn't it be great if The Big Bang Theory surprised us all and Penny ended up being an awesome drug rep? C'mon, TBBT, I know you have it in you.

THE STRAY OBSERVATION ADDENDUM

– "Why don't I get you a job at the sitting-around-all-day-wearing-yoga-pants factory?" OMG Bernadette, that sounds like the best job ever.

– Pantsless Sheldon in the train station was kind of amazing. Also, as a loser who gets totally geeked at the mundanity of mass transit, Sheldon's observations about train station ketchup dispensers was kind of amazing.

– I like Penny's hair. I like that Sheldon freaked out at Penny's hair.

– Sheldon's self-consciousness about Amy perceiving his rescue from the Kingman, AZ police station as a failure was sweet. I'm just sad that his big adventure ended up being "a failure," though I'll also happily argue that just leaving on the adventure was a huge victory for Sheldon.

What did you think of this premiere?