Was fun to see a Howard episode again. And in this one he was actually acting like a normal guy! His talk with Penny was pretty fun and the kiss moment just hilarious. And btw to the other reviewer, it wasn't about him being a geek or ugly but being an inconsiderate and rude creep. As Penny said if he would try less and be more normal he would have more chances. But this is who his character is and he makes us laugh.
And how great it was to see Kripke in this episode. Such a fun secondary character. We all want more of him
8 Reviews
Welcome to Robot Wars
Hitchcoc2 October 2021
The guys engage in the latest technology fad, Robot Wars. They create one and do battle with Kripke. Kripke is a nerd like them. He has an obvious speech impediment with which he seems totally comfortable. I don't know if this is the greatest episode, but the scene where Penny is coming up the stairs and the thing goes through the door is worth every minute. There is also an ongoing thing between Howard and Penny after she insults his juvenile behavior.
The Killer Robot Instability is another quite entertaining episode of "The Big Bang Theory"
tavm22 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers
With this, the first episode of the new year, we find how sensitive Howard is when, after coming on to Penny as usual, Penny really insults Howard to the point that he goes back home and stays there for a while even with his overbearing mother still living inside. He with Sheldon, Leonard, and Raj had made a robot named MONTE that they want to enter in a fighting contest. At the university, a fellow staff member named Barry Kripke challenges his robot to a duel with theirs. And after Penny, having talked to Leonard about her "owing him one", apologizes to Howard, Howard tells about his rejection from a "chipmonk teeth" girl in the 9th grade which makes Penny melt as she tells him how she likes "this" guy. Howard then (in a hilarious close-up, point-of-view shot) tries to kiss Penny. Penny raises her fist...What I just described wasn't the only funny scenes in this episode. This Kripke character talks like Elmer Fudd which has Raj asking, "Does anyone know what part of America that accent is from?" Also loved Howard's last line that I don't want to reveal here. Needless to say, The Killer Robot Instability is another quite funny episode of "The Big Bang Theory".
As a normal guy (bit nerdy but not overally) I'm shocked at some comments
Canada2415 May 2022
Can't believe some people actually sticking up for Howard in this episode and using "Beauty Insensitivity" as some type of reasoning. Here we have a guy who has continually sexually harassed a woman who on several occasions has told him to stop and that it makes her uncomfortable and its "creepy". Despite this he continues to do it and then gets yelled at and we're supposed to feel bad for him? Is sexual harassment ok if you're a nerdy white guy because you don't normally get the pretty girl so you can say and do whatever you want to people? Its insane. She was in her right a long time ago to tell him off and even worse if he didn't stop. Yes its a comedy and he's supposedly doing this because he knows no better, but thats not an excuse for harassment. If it makes her uncomfortable it has to stop immediately.
It amazes me how people could feel bad for someone harassing a girl just because the guy is nerdy or lonely.
It amazes me how people could feel bad for someone harassing a girl just because the guy is nerdy or lonely.
The Wolowitz Contemplation
Dramagoddess456430 October 2011
This episode touches on the fact that anyone that focuses solely on the character of Howard Wolowitz being annoying, creepy, rude, and misogynistic is missing out on the fact that when he's just in a situation that doesn't really have anything to do with women he's actually very smart, funny, caring and interesting. Penny WAS being overly harsh when she finally snapped at Howard. Though to be honest, if he never understands what women tend to actually want a man to act like he WON'T ever be with anyone in a meaningful relationship. I feel Penny has actually shown a rather large amount of restraint in not going off on him sooner when trying to get him to stop hitting on her. Leonard is proof that Penny isn't completely shallow and can see past the surface to how good a person can be, but when all she sees is the infuriatingly forward, ignorant and overeager side, that's what she's going to react to. That being said, this episode was hilarious and (hopefully) teaches a valuable lesson: People will react to the personality you tend to show them even if that's not who you really are.
not up to par
sherilcarey16 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This episode was still funny in some ways but it was also quite irritating. They have this character who is constantly massively offensive towards women in general and incredibly creepy and then when someone finally blows up he is supposedly "sensitive". You know they make a lot of fun from him being a creepy and nasty person and then they ruin that with whatever bizarre thing they are trying to do pretending that women are supposed to be good with his millions of inappropriate speeches. Suck it up ladies and let the man say whatever he wants no matter how disgustingly or degradingly he treats you.
The Beauty Insensitivity
ttapola28 December 2009
As another user commented, this "is another quite funny episode", but it touches upon a subject that is very real, very painful and very inappropriate to milk for comedy. Let's call this The Beauty Insensitivity.
The Beauty Insensitivity goes something like this: Beautiful and popular girls often don't even realize they are hurting someone's feelings when they reject, or worse, say something hurtful to a person who to them is "just some weird geek". To them, the concept of living in a world where you are over the years subjected to ridicule time after time is so alien it is practically unfathomable. One girl, who was 20 at the time, told me that she had been picked upon only *once* during her *twelve years* of school. I haven't asked for an update of her years in an University, but it's a pretty good guess she hasn't been picked on while studying there.
Being on the receiving end of The Beauty Insensitivity is painful and can, when being subjected to often enough, lead to complete incapability to what we call "normal" social relationships. It is a very serious problem in our current beauty-obsessed world and there exists a similar phenomenon hurtful for girls that we could call The Wallpaper Imperceptibility - the one you see often discussed about on TV, while the harmful obsession with beauty is ironically created by all media.
It would be commendable to pay as much attention to The Beauty Insensitivity as is paid to The Wallpaper Imperceptibility, but neither should be made fun of. And that's exactly what this episode does. On top of that, there is a certain scene that only reinforces the pain caused by The Beauty Insensitivity, leading us to the conclusion that girls apologizing for their Beauty Insensitivity still will always look down upon "geeks". And while that is probably largely true in the real world, it offends me that it is used to "comedic" effect here. I was not laughing and I bet there were a lot of "geek" viewers of this show that weren't laughing either. This episode is an unwelcoming stain in an otherwise excellent series. I'm hoping this was just an Inevitable Continuum Anomaly.
The Beauty Insensitivity goes something like this: Beautiful and popular girls often don't even realize they are hurting someone's feelings when they reject, or worse, say something hurtful to a person who to them is "just some weird geek". To them, the concept of living in a world where you are over the years subjected to ridicule time after time is so alien it is practically unfathomable. One girl, who was 20 at the time, told me that she had been picked upon only *once* during her *twelve years* of school. I haven't asked for an update of her years in an University, but it's a pretty good guess she hasn't been picked on while studying there.
Being on the receiving end of The Beauty Insensitivity is painful and can, when being subjected to often enough, lead to complete incapability to what we call "normal" social relationships. It is a very serious problem in our current beauty-obsessed world and there exists a similar phenomenon hurtful for girls that we could call The Wallpaper Imperceptibility - the one you see often discussed about on TV, while the harmful obsession with beauty is ironically created by all media.
It would be commendable to pay as much attention to The Beauty Insensitivity as is paid to The Wallpaper Imperceptibility, but neither should be made fun of. And that's exactly what this episode does. On top of that, there is a certain scene that only reinforces the pain caused by The Beauty Insensitivity, leading us to the conclusion that girls apologizing for their Beauty Insensitivity still will always look down upon "geeks". And while that is probably largely true in the real world, it offends me that it is used to "comedic" effect here. I was not laughing and I bet there were a lot of "geek" viewers of this show that weren't laughing either. This episode is an unwelcoming stain in an otherwise excellent series. I'm hoping this was just an Inevitable Continuum Anomaly.
The Killer Robot Instability
studioAT28 January 2022
Not the funniest episode from across the shows run, but an important one for it going forward as it tries to flesh out the character of Howard a little more.
I liked that Penny was trying to guide the geeks to become better people at this stage too.
The robot subplot I didn't overly enjoy, but apart from that, fine.
I liked that Penny was trying to guide the geeks to become better people at this stage too.
The robot subplot I didn't overly enjoy, but apart from that, fine.
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