The Big Bang Theory 5x09: The Ornithophobia Diffusion

Original Air Date: 10 November 2011

Storyline: Sheldon tries to cure his phobia of birds after a blue jay lands on their window ledge and wouldn't go away. Meanwhile, Leonard and Penny go to a movie just as friends, but the experiment proves harder than they had thought.Trivia: Leonard notes that he and Penny haven't spent time alone together since they broke up, though they spent an evening painting each others nails and reminiscing in "The Staircase Implementation".

Sheldon refers to the bird as a blue jay, however, it is a black-throated magpie-jay.
We learn s.cooperphd@yahoo.com is Sheldon's e-mail address.
Bill Prady (@BillPrady) tweeted that they had a choice of using a black-throated magpie jay, a pigeon, or a crow to use in the episode, explaining that they decided on the jay because "the crow was too big, the pigeon too dumb". He also tweeted that the reason Sheldon misidentifies it as a blue jay is that "Birds (because he hates them) are not one of Sheldon's areas of expertise."

Best Quote:

Raj: Come on, Sheldon, Star Wars.
Howard: I'm pushing play. I mean it. If we don't start soon, George Lucas is going to change it again.
The Science: It's called ornithophobia. And someday it will be recognized as a true disability, and the landlord will be required by law to put a giant net over the building.

Review: Sheldon's fear of birds - or ornithophobia - is again explored, after a brief recollection of being chased by a chicken right into a tree in one of the previous episodes (and I'll reward the person who will tell me what episode that is, cause I can't remember that now and am too lazy to search for it). It's a perfectly justified one, after all, the entire bird population has been out to get him ever since he was young enough to ride in a stroller! And I agree with Raj, his childhood memories regarding the times he had been attacked by a bird are way more fun than Star Wars, though for me everything is more fun than Star Wars.

One of the reasons I love Sheldon so much is for his sometimes illogical interactions with the world around him. For a scientist, he can be pretty cut off from reality at times. Every effort made to scare the bird off was hilarious, especially when you add those up to the conclusion, when Sheldon actually made up with the blue jay and decided he wanted to become a mommy. And of course, how can you scare off a bird with a cat drawing that didn't have whiskers?
While all this was happening - or maybe due to all this, Leonard decided to go on a non-date with Penny. Just hanging out, sex being off the table, should have been easy for them, right? It's not like they haven't been friends for four years. But the non-date turned into a walk down the memory lane, just not in the way you might have imagined. I, as Penny, loved the confident, stand-up-for-himself Leonard, and he had fun getting back at her for the lack of compromises he made during the time they were together. I loved her face when he kept asking her to pay her share for the movie tickets and fries. After all, it wasn't a date!
Of course, with sex back on the table, Leonard turned back into the asthmatic dumbass who just wanted to be whatever Penny wanted him to be, but this was the first time I felt he was himself around her and there may be hope for them together after all. 
Other hilarious stuff: Raj's choices for an ankle tattoo. Or even the fact that he considered getting an ankle tattoo. Not overthinking Leonard's wardrobe. Amy's reaction to Sheldon calling the bird "Lovey-Dovey". Bernadette snapping out of her usual sweetness when Sheldon wouldn't pet the bird.
I wouldn't call it the best episode of the season so far, but it was pretty close. It was hilarious from beginning to end and it's what I want from my favorite geeks on the planet.
The Big Bang Theory 5x08: The Isolation Permutation Back to Season 5