Why So Blu?

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Eighth Season (Blu-ray Review)

It’s another year and I’m back!  And so is he!  Who?  Why Sheldon Cooper of course!  He’s back from his seventh season soul-searching cross-country train trip  and that means The Big Bang Theory gang’s all here to spread another year’s cheer as TV’s most celebrated comedy in the complete eighth season of the infamous CBS sitcom.  So as the most-watched entertainment series on broadcast TV, The Big Bang Theory continues to capture the hearts of viewers and critics alike, with original episodes averaging more than 21 million Total Viewers per week during the 2014-2015 season.  Best of all, now fans can relive all of 24 episodes of laughs from the past year when Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Eighth Season on Blu-ray Tuesday, September 15th.  So what do you say we start talking about everything that goes down in season 8 and then bust a move into the reason you’re all here, the A/V specs and all the extras you’ll find within?  Alrighty then!  Let’s get get this Blu-ray party of laughs started!

Season

Yes, yes.  It’s true.  Including this eighth season, there are at least two more years of The Big Bang Theory left on television.  That much is true due to the stars’ newly bloated contracts (yeah I’m jealous…sue me).  You want to know what else is true?  The hit CBS sitcom stars series favorites Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik, Melissa Rauch and Kevin Sussman all return for this eighth season we’re here to talk about today plus many guest stars such as the beloved regular Wil Wheaton and newcomer to the show, Billy Bob Thornton, but I’ll leave it at that.  I have to let you roll from here with some surprises.  The biggest thing I want to tackle today is talking about whether The Big Bang Theory simply ran out of steam this eighth season.  Don’t get me wrong, I laughed my cute, little behind off at times, but was it as gut busting hilarious as the previous seven seasons?  That’s what I hope to debunk, but for now I digress.  Let’s talk about a high level summary of key events that go down in season eight.  I’m ready if you are.  Hit it Flo Rida!

So with the sad cliffhanger that season seven left us with I’m happy to reiterate my report from up above.  Sheldon Cooper is back.  I know if you’re reading this, you already know who’s who by character names so I’ll dispense with having to burden you with the corresponding name of the actor that plays them.  Let’s see what else happens here that I can share with y’all without going into any spoiler territories for the folks who haven’t seen this season yet.  Leonard’s minor surgery becomes a major catastrophe for his roommate.  Howard completely loses his marbles as he obsesses over his mom’s relationship with former comic book retailer-turned-caretaker Stuart. There’s a disturbance in the Force with the “Roommate Agreement” over the engagement between Penny and Leonard, namely who’s going to be living where.  We also continue on with Sheldon’s uncomfortable relationship with neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler, Raj’s newfound ability to talk to and date women without the consumption of alcohol and there’s also the very peculiar, but successful results of Penny’s technique as a pharmaceutical sales rep.  Who knew, right?

There’s a lot more that happens throughout the course of the 24-episode season, but perhaps the biggest shocker was Howard having to deal with the loss of his mom, as the real life actress who played her…I will drop a name now in her honor…Carol Ann Susi…tragically passed away last November.  As a result, you can see how things get a bit somber this season, but that’s not all.  The cliffhanger this eighth season makes Sheldon leaving on a train last year as trivial as finding a parking spot at the grocery store every Sunday morning.  The last episode of season eight really pulls you down and weighs heavy upon you.  However, I guess that’s a good thing too.  It shows you how much you really care for these characters, does it not?  Sure it does!  A gasp response to the final moments in season eight are only to be expected.

I next want to call your attention to my seasonal score of four up above.  That’s obviously not as good as what I gave season seven last year here, is it?  No it’s not!  So in thinking about this I had to come up with a reason as to why I still absolutely adore this show, but also explain how it’s sort of losing some steam and of course find a way to back my thoughts up with whimsical words.  Below is the result of all my mastermind brain dumps over the course of this week.  Are you ready to dissect this all with me?  You have to be!  Suck it up!  Here we go!

I think what made The Big Bang Theory work so well over the years was the neediness of the guys mixed with the uncomfortableness of trying to find love, whether lone get a date with a girl for that matter.  This is a show about geeks, and as a result geeky stuff.  However, now every character it seems is in some serious romantic relationship with problems.  WTF?!  You just gave Raj the ability to speak to any woman without consuming a drop of alcohol and he’s all the sudden in a serious relationship.  Seriously?  Even worse, he’s thinking about breaking things off Miss Emily.  Then there’s the ongoing conundrum of what the hell is really up between the awkward Sheldon and the equally awkward Amy, the never ending bickering and engagement between Penny and Leonard and the same old happening with Bernadette and Howard.  Maybe it’s time we shake things up, eh?  For me, perhaps the best moments of season eight involved Stuart, and Howard’s deductions as to what the hell kind of relationship he and his mom was having within the confine of his childhood home.

However, let’s not kid ourselves.  The real reason season eight doesn’t get awarded a perfect score of five is because of Penny’s ugly boy hair.  Seriously?  What the hell is up with that?  Kelly really thought she looked attractive with short hair?  Ugh.  I secretly found myself rooting for Leonard to leave her.  Haha.  Now seriously, I think you get the point.  There’s a lot of things different about season eight, but gone are the days of the four guys all geeking out together (unless you count the time when the girls go to Vegas) and the lore of the neediness we all fell in love with here in The Big Bang Theory.  I do have to admit though, after watching this season for a second time now while reviewing this Blu-ray, I appreciate these episodes so much more than I did during their original airdates.  I actually found myself chuckling at things I did not pick up the first time around.  On the flip side though, the overall somberness and underlying context of some of the episodes, as well as the absence of the Cheesecake Factory (haha), do create some weary watching moments.  I’m not going to sugar coat that at all.  The final episode of the season is quite the Debbie Downer.  I’m just fair warning you.  But needless to say…The Big Bang Theory is still a blast to watch.  There’s no denying that.  Don’t argue with me!  The laughs are still loud and large.  Let’s just hope there are still good things in store for us this coming September in season nine, or else the seasonal score might get reduced to only a four.  Gasp!  I know!

So when you slide off the outer shell from your Blu-ray Combo Pack of The Big Bang Theory and you open the case you’ll find two Blu-ray discs.  They finally let go of the DVDs in the set and they’re no longer found here.  We’ll talk a little more about what’s all on these Blu-rays in greater detail down below in the Special Features section, but all I want to cover here before moving onto the vitals of them is the fact that Episodes 1-12 (as listed in order below) can be found on the first Blu-ray disc where as Episodes 13-24 are housed on the second Blu-ray disc.  Capiche?

1. The Locomotion Interruption 
2. The Junior Professor Solution 
3. The First Pitch Insufficiency 
4. The Hook-Up Reverberation 
5. The Focus Attenuation 
6. The Expedition Approximation 
7. The Misinterpretation Agitation 
8. The Prom Equivalency 
9. The Septum Deviation 
10. The Champagne Reflection 
11. The Clean Room Infiltration 
12. The Space Probe Disintegration 
13. The Anxiety Optimization 
14. The Troll Manifestation 
15. The Comic Book Store Regeneration 
16. The Intimacy Acceleration 
17. The Colonization Application 
18. The Leftover Thermalization 
19. The Skywalker Incursion 
20. The Fortification Implementation 
21. The Communication Deterioration
22. The Graduation Transmission
23. The Maternal Combustion 
24. The Commitment Determination

Video 

• Encoding: AVC MPEG-4
• Resolution: 1080p
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Clarity/Detail: I said it before last year in regards to season seven on Blu-ray and I’ll say it again here.  The level of detail and clarity is outstanding.  In my opinion, this is the only way to experience The Big Bang Theory.  If you watch the show with eagle eyes like mine you can’t help noticing all the little details in the background and textures abound in the clothing, furniture, etc.  Despite the characters in the foreground, everything you see is razor sharp.  Honestly, I even noticed a smudge of perspiration on Leonard’s forehead in the first episode when he was on his way to pick up estranged Sheldon in Arizona.  I know it’s shot for television and it doesn’t have that cinematic feel like a film on Blu-ray, but anyone that nitpicks the clarity of this presentation is evil, manipulative, demon love child of Satan.  LOL.  I’m joking.  They just suck.  You get the “picture.”  Things look prodigious here!
• Depth: Because of the clarity and sharpness of the image, the onscreen characters all have that three-dimensional pop we know and love on the Blu-ray format.  Therefore, the onscreen subjects are so separated from the backgrounds, which are still incredibly rich and detailed in themselves, that the image seems to go on and on forever in the depth department.  Bazinga!  You can’t touch this unless you’re Mr. Fantastic.
• Black Levels: Black levels are all deep and inky throughout here like the ink in the comic books the guys on the show all bow down to and worship.  I have no complaints whatsoever in this category.
• Color Reproduction: The same goes for the exact verbiage I used last year.  I found the colors in this Blu-ray’s video presentation to be like the show itself, rich, full of sprite and of course very vibrant!  Howard is still able to pull off colors and clothing schemes that I can never imagine myself ever having the courage to try.
• Flesh Tones: The skin tones all look pasty white, in other words, natural throughout.
• Noise/Artifacts: There’s absolutely nothing my eyes could detect here that I believe could ever conceivably distract you from enjoying the sharp, vibrant Blu-ray presentation.

Audio

• Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Dynamics: Like I said last year and the same holds true here, this show is a television comedy so don’t expect any miracles here.  While we want the dynamics to be larger than life here, there’s nothing wrong with them just being satisfactory either when it comes to grading comedies.    Don’t get me wrong, there are some noticeable moments, but for the most part it is what it is, a bunch of geeks sitting around in an apartment having fun with their inner geeks and awkward social insecurities, but now…they’re in full fledged relationships!
• Low Frequency Extension: The LFE is very subtle and non-existent at times.  This is a primetime comedy, that’s it…nothing more and nothing less.  So you can kind of draw your own conclusion as to how much the LFE channel will be employed throughout.
• Surround Sound Presentation: Rest assured, the surrounds are here, but you have to seek them out and listen for them.  Quite honestly, you really don’t notice the rears at all until the traditional transition screens appear that catapult us the viewers from one scene to another or that segregate the commercial breaks.  That familiar swishing and swirling sound creeps up and pumps up the rears behind you.  But yeah…I can see you always wanting more of course.
• Dialogue Reproduction:  Spoken words are spectacular here in this category.  After all, and I’m starting to sound like a broken record I know, but The Big Bang Theory is a comedy we’re watching and you couldn’t ask for anything more in the dialogue department.  From the laugh track to the clear and intelligible dialogue throughout not one spoken word was missed here on me and my Yoda ears.  Mmm…hear you I do!

Extras 

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Eighth Season on Blu-ray contains all-new extras including 4 featurettes as well as the show’s 2014 Comic-Con panel in San Diego.  The latter extra I just mentioned alone is worth its price in gold to almost every fan of The Big Bang Theory.  Comic-Con is the holy Mecca land for geeks alike and it’s great to see it represented here in this 2-disc Blu-ray set, right where it truly belongs.  Best of all, you also get a redeemable voucher code that enables you to own and watch all 24 episodes in Digital HD on any of your favorite UltraViolet playback devices.  What more can you ask for?  Shh.  That was a rhetorical question.  Let’s take a closer look at things under the microscope down below of all you’ll find in way of supplemental featurettes here.

• Shooting Stars: BBT on BBT (HD, 5:00, Disc 1) – This extra is basically behind the scenes with Billy Bob Thornton’s guest starring role on the show.
• 2014 The Big Bang Theory Comic-Con Panel (HD, 28:20, Disc 1) – Here we have the writers of the show at our Mecca land of Comic-Con in 2014 discussing the upcoming eighth season we just talked about in detail up above.  This one is hosted by Craig Ferguson.  Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome even perform a song!  The show even has a science consultant.  Haha.  It’s a big panel!  Will Wheaton even makes an appearance.  Sadly, no star powered cast members show up at all.  Boo!
• Constellation Prize (HD, 3:52, Disc 2) – Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting and Chuck Lorre get immortalized here on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
• Here’s To You, Carol Ann Susi (HD, 9:47, Disc 2) – This one is in memory of the late actress who played Mrs. Wolowitz and passed away last year.  So as you can imagine this is kind of like a best of moments as well as some heartwarming ones too with the cast and crew who all fondly remember her and talk nothing but good things about Carol Ann.  While this one is quite funny reliving all the hilarious moments, it’s also equally sad too seeing the characters and everyone talk about how they lost a member of the family.  Now I’m sad.  Wow!  There’s even a tiny picture of Carol Ann on Sheldon and Leonard’s refrigerator.  I never noticed!
• It’s A Quark…It’s An Atom…It’s the #BBTSuperfans! (HD, 12:29, Disc 2) – Three superfine from across the globe win a trip to LA to see a live taping of the show.  How cool is that?  I know!  It sounds like these guys were up all night trying to win this contest.  Impressive!
• Gag Reel (HD, 7:17, Disc 2) – These weren’t gut busting funny or anything like that, but as a fan of the show I had great time with these gag moments.

Summary 

So there you have it folks, another year in the books.  The CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory still affords me an escape in life away from the unpleasantries of it all sometimes.  It’s wildly entertaining in a geeky way, still fresh and funny and quite frankly it never grows old on me.  I can’t say that for very many shows.  The haters out there will say what they want, but the person that matters the most in this review is myself and I know how to let the good times roll with the four coolest geeks in Pasadena, Howard, Sheldon, Leonard and Raj, and of course their ladies now too.  Haha.  So here’s the deal people (without the sales pitch).  The Big Bang Theory The Complete Eighth Season releases on Blu-ray and DVD September 15th.  If you like what you read up above, please help support our site by clicking below to bring the set home and re-live each laugh over and over again!  Thanks for reading!  Enjoy!

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Re-Live All The Laughs of

The Big Bang Theory Season 8

on Blu-ray September 15th

PRE-ORDER Now!

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