Oh, Penny.  It was so good to have you back on last night's The Big Bang Theory.  Even if you did have to get conveniently promoted to a bartender so you could hide your broken leg behind a bar.

No matter how brief, her scenes with Sheldon had such amazing comedic chemistry.  Even weak by the high standards they've set together in prior episodes, their scene together was the highlight of "The Apology Insufficiency."  That, or the Gorn.

This week also marked the much-hyped guest starring appearance by yet another nerd fantasy hottie, Eliza Dushku.  The weirdly hot Dushku certainly proved she lacked comedic acting skills (sorry, Buffy fans), playing her character extremely flat, failing to deliver the couple jokes she was handed.  Her six foot two Navy SEAL husband?  That could have been funny in more capable hands. 

Luckily, she at least provided Sheldon, Raj and Leonard a straight guy to play off of.  Unfortunately, their scenes were cut extremely short in favor of what the TBBT has become: the Sheldon show.

I know there's only so many weeks in a row we can continue to complain that other characters are pushed to the background in favor of making every storyline about Sheldon.  But, don't worry, we'll keep doing it until Chuck Lorre and company gives our other very capable actors their chances to shine.

We hate to complain about a show that continues to make us laugh, but it's just lost its nerd magic that made it unique in prior seasons.  Now it just feels like a generic sitcom with one quirky character.  That's been done before.  The Big Bang Theory from the first few seasons?  That was unique.

All complaints aside, the episode was a slight improvement over last week's and at least saw a nice heartfelt apology and human side to Sheldon.  That's always entertaining.  And did we mention the hilarious dream sequence featuring a Gorn in his spot?

Now for our favorite of the always hilarious The Big Bang Theory quotes from the episode:

Penny: Sometimes stuff just happens and there's nothing you can do about it. For example, Lisa Peterson hasn't talk to me since the eleventh grade because no matter how much you apologize you can't go back and un-dryhump someone's boyfriend. | permalink

Wolowitz: You love that spot.
Sheldon: No, I love my mother. My feelings for my spot are much greater. It is the singular location in space around which revolves my entire universe. And now it's yours. | permalink

Leonard: Hi. I'm Leonard. You are beautiful. You pop, sparkle and buzz electric. I'm going to pick you up at eight, show you a night you will never forget.
Raj: Where are we going? | permalink

Raj: Please don't send me back to India! It's so crowded. It's like the whole country is one endless Comic-Con, except everyone's wearing the same costume -- Indian Guy. | permalink

Eric Hochberger is the programmer of TV Fanatic, so please forgive his mediocre writing. His programming is far better. Follow him on Twitter and/or email him. Just don't request threaded comments. They're coming.