
Mensa-fied best friends and roommates Leonard and Sheldon, physicists who work at the California Institute of Technology, may be able to tell everybody more than they want to know about quantum physics, but getting through most basic social situations, especially ones involving women, totally baffles them. How lucky, then, that babe-alicious waitress/aspiring actress Penny moves in next door. Frequently seen hanging out with Leonard and Sheldon are friends and fellow Caltech scientists Wolowitz and Koothrappali. Will worlds collide? Does Einstein theorize in the woods?

Leonard, Penny and Raj settle into their new living arrangement; Sheldon expresses interest in Amy's work.

Sheldon pushes himself to the limit when he collaborates on projects with Leonard and Wolowitz as well as Amy on the same day; Bernadette nears the end of her maternity leave and must return to work.

Howard's mom winds up in the hospital after hearing news of her son's engagement to Bernadette.

Bernadette gets her Ph.D., inspiring the guys to tease Wolowitz about his lack of a doctorate; Raj becomes Sheldon's roommate.