‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 7, episode 11 preview: Penny’s Christmas ‘gift’ for Leonard

Ready for some “Big Bang Theory” holiday cheer? There’s nothing like a Christmas episode of your favorite sitcom to really start to get you feeling festive, especially when that show has the potential to pull off a classic. We don’t quite know if we are going to get that yet from the new episode of “The Big Bang Theory” that is airing on CBS Thursday night, but at least some of the inner workings of one are there.

For one, you’ve got a premise that is pretty clear right away: Christmas without Sheldon. While this will eventually morph into some members of the gang imagining what life would be like without him, it starts with them merely engaging in another new tradition: Decorating a Christmas tree without Sheldon around. Suddenly, there are no rules governing what they can and cannot do when it comes to the tree. There’s a possibility for chaos, and at least being able to put “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” characters close to each other!

Also in the sneak peek below, you can see Penny decide to give her boyfriend Leonard a very special Christmas gift because she doesn’t have a ton of money to work with: Herself. At first, this seems rather sweet … but then you realize that she literally just stuck a bow on her hat, and that she has given him this gift on at least one Christmas before. (Yes, you can probably guess where the punchline for this joke is going. Shocker!)

This will be the last “Big Bang Theory” for 2013, so let’s hope for laughs, happiness, and hopefully some sort of cool teaser to have us excited about what the show has planned for 2014. January 2 is the date of the first episode back.

Want to see some more scoop on what Sheldon is up to in this holiday spectacular? Then just click here to see another video.

Photo: CBS