Eighth Season of The Big Bang Theory Distills Comedy onto High Definition Blu-ray Discs

In the annals of television comedy, some pairings are simply classic to the point of everlasting. I thus posit that the partnership of Leonard and Sheldon has already made that list (although Sheldon might point out that it would be more proper to call the team Cooper and Hofstadter, because traditionally comic pairings are known by their last names, the listing would be alphabetical, and -- most importantly -- it would list him first).

However, to simply reduce THE BIG BANG THEORY to nerdy roommates Leonard and Sheldon (Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons) would be grossly unfair, because the show's success is due to its ensemble nature. The science squad would be woefully incomplete without the acerbic man-child Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and innocently naive Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar).

The series has evolved from its initial premise of the four geeky guys and the young hottie who moves in across the hall named Penny (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting). Howard has gotten married to perky Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), Leonard has finally gotten engaged to Penny, Sheldon (of all people) has a serious if quirky relationship with Amy (Mayim Bialik), and now even Raj has a steady girlfriend in the darkly comic Emily (Laura Spencer). Penny's even found a well-paying job as a pharmaceutical sales rep. Things should be the best they could be for the boys.

But the eight season of the series brings things back down to Earth. After the comic store burns down, the owner, Stuart (Kevin Sussman) winds up moving in with Howard's mother, much to Howard's agitation. Later in the series, however, when the store re-opens, Howard breaks off his latest argument with Stuart when a phone message brings that news that Howard's mother has died. Mrs. Wolowitz was never seen on camera, but her gravelly voice was just as much a part of the show as any other character. The plot was a touching tribute to the actress, Carol Ann Susi, who passed away from cancer, and her passing is at the core of a handful of episodes throughout the rest of the season.

As for the team of Cooper and Hofstadter, the long-running subplot involves a paper they co-author which has begun to receive serious attention in the scientific community. And while this leads to fighting with an online troll, a trip that results in a detour to Skywalker Ranch, and an argument when Leonard's name gets left out of a review in Scientific American, it reminds us that Sheldon isn't the only super-genius in the crew, something that often gets lost when the others royally screw something up (like an expensive drone or a baseball-pitching robot).

Guests this season include Billy Bob Thornton as a middle-aged doctor who out-geeks the geeks when it comes to toys and videogames, and who believes Penny's flirtatious sales pitch was a serious come on, Christine Baranski and Laurie Metcalf as Leonard and Sheldon's mothers who get into a confrontation over psychology and religion, and FIREFLY's own Nathan Fillion as himself. And it's always nice when Wil Wheaton drops in, as he does here to do a podcast with Penny after one of the films she acted in, SERIAL APIST, becomes a cult favorite; Kevin Smith calls in and praises Penny's performance and offers her a role in his next film.

Good comedy is often punctuated with romance and heartbreak, and this season even Sheldon isn't immune. From the jaw-dropping moment he delivers those three little words to the final scene of the season nobody saw coming, THE BIG BANG THEORY continues in its eighth season to deliver a healthy quantity of laughs with just the right amount of "Awww" moments.