I'm usually of the mind that an episode that places Sheldon and Penny together in an amusingly awkward situation is going to result in hilarity.  That said, "The Thespian Catalyst" was just mildly amusing.

Of course, there was the requisite condescension on the part of Sheldon, and a brief glimpse of the humorous eye twitch that first made its appearance when Penny presented him with Leonard Nimoy's DNA (I guess it only comes out when Spock is part of the story), but it didn't seem to bring the funny as it usually does.

On the other hand, Raj stole the show with his escalating fantasies of something unforeseen taking Howard out of the picture so that he could take over Howard's duties of fulfilling Bernadette's needs. 

I'm finding more and more that Raj's solo efforts are becoming the highlight of each episode. While the writers clearly write the wittiest, or at least the best attempts at a one-liner, for Sheldon, Raj's laid-back deadpan reactions are the highlight for me these days.

The Bollywood-tinged dance sequence at the end was enough to warrant the future consideration of a Raj spinoff.

Question, though: when did Raj start being able to speak freely in front of Bernadette? This was the first time I noticed it, at the restaurant in the beginning, and I don't think he was drinking alcohol at the time.  Maybe our little Koothrapali is finally growing up!  He's certainly not gay.

Jeffrey Kirkpatrick is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.