Our take
The show's take on It's a Wonderful Life, with the friends imagining a world without its most difficult member. The what-if sketches are a mixed bag that lean on old running jokes, but the idea is a nice way to say how much one awkward man holds the group together. The tree-decorating party is cosy, and the screensaver reveal at the end is one of the sweetest beats in a long-running relationship.
What happens
Just as he is about to leave for the airport, Sheldon tells his friends he is going to Texas to stand in for his brother-in-law at his sister's home birth. With Sheldon away, the others throw a Christmas tree decorating party at his flat and gleefully break his rules, such as his ornament template. After a talk about It's a Wonderful Life, Amy points out that they might not even be friends without Sheldon, and the group imagines what their lives would have been like if Leonard had never moved in with him. In the daydreams Leonard and Raj become very overweight flatmates, Howard still lives with his mother in a darker turn, Penny's old boyfriend Zack reappears, and Stuart keeps inserting himself into other people's fantasies. Sheldon checks in by video call while helping a new Cooper into the world. Amy has a low moment, until Leonard shows her that her picture has joined the scientists and superheroes on Sheldon's screensaver.
Can the kids watch it?
Rated 12 by the BBFC for moderate sex references; best for 12 and over.
Cast and crew
Starring
- Johnny Galecki as Leonard Hofstadter
- Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper
- Kaley Cuoco as Penny
- Simon Helberg as Howard Wolowitz
- Kunal Nayyar as Raj Koothrappali
- Melissa Rauch as Bernadette Rostenkowski
- Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler
Guest stars
- Laurie Metcalf as Mary Cooper (voice)
- Kevin Sussman as Stuart
- Carol Ann Susi as Debbie Wolowitz (voice)
Writers
- Steven Molaro
- Eric Kaplan
- Maria Ferrari
- Jim Reynolds
- Steve Holland
- Tara Hernandez
Director
- Mark Cendrowski