‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 8, episode 1 review: Penny’s new job; Sheldon returns

Tonight, “The Big Bang Theory” returned for its eighth season, and there was some crazy hijinks that unfolded. There was some evidence of change, but at the same time, nothing felt necessarily forced. It was better than most of season 7 already, and that gives us hope that the rest of the season will improve.

The premise of the half-hour was simple: Sheldon returned to California after many weeks aboard a train, where he literally did nothing other than hop from one station to the next. His return was all sorts of awkward, especially since he decided to ask Leonard to come and rescue him from a terrible, pants-less situation rather than Amy.

He eventually made it clear that the reason he chose Leonard was only because he failed, and he didn’t want her to be disappointed. There were some good lines in here, as well, and the show proved to not lose much of a step.

Elsewhere, Penny got a job in pharmaceutical sales, mostly because she and her new boss are both terrified of Bernadette; meanwhile, Howard had a problem with Stuart staying with his mother, and Raj wasn’t much support.

We only feel occasionally like “The Big Bang Theory” really rises to the level of being super-outstanding TV that is better than almost anything else out there, and the rest of the time it just uses its formula for being TV comfort food. You know what you are going to get, and luckily, the writers know this enough by now that they do not disappoint you. We enjoyed the premiere, and the lack of new episodes lately made this feel like going back to an old favorite. Grade: B+.

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Photo: CBS