Melissa Rauch's Favorite The Big Bang Theory Episodes

When it comes to beloved long-running series, everyone has their favorite episodes. We here at /Film labored over our definitive list of the top 25 "Simpsons" episodes, for example — a monumental task that required balancing a wide array of writers' opinions. Of course there is no definitive "best episode" of any show, but there's often a general consensus at play (how could the aforementioned list not include "Marge vs. The Monorail?") Sometimes, however, when stars or writers of a particular series reveal their personal favorite episodes, it can carry a little more weight than the general public.

Joss Whedon, for instance, thought one "Buffy" episode was the best thing he ever did, which, considering the man's fastidious oversight of the series, does seem to make that particular installment seem somehow more special. Elsewhere, Rod Serling's favorite "Twilight Zone" episode had one of the saddest endings in TV history, but because it's Serling-approved, it could surely never be considered a bad episode.

For those who prefer their entertainment a tad more lighthearted, there's "The Big Bang Theory" star Melissa Rauch and her list of favorite episodes. The actress, who played Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, was highly complimentary of the series throughout her tenure, previously speaking about how "Big Bang" scripts left little room for improv and saying, "I love it so much, but you don't want to mess with what they write because it's almost like this beautiful concerto that you don't want to mess up one note of."

Rauch was an unabashed fan of the show in addition to starring in it, and like all fans, she has her own list of favorites.

Speaking to Today in 2019, Melissa Rauch revealed one of her favorite episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" was the Season 7 installment "The Scavenger Vortex," which saw the characters paired off and sent on a scavenger hunt, causing Bernadette to reveal an ultra competitive side. "We laughed the entire way through it," said the actress, "to the point we were in tears, we were laughing so hard. That one remains a favorite."

Next up on Rauch's list of the best "Big Bang Theory" episodes was the season 8 installment "The Troll Manifestation." The episode sees the girls revealing embarrassing moments from their pasts, including Bernadette's days spent as a beauty pageant contestant, during which time she campaigned for Miss California Quiznos 1999. The actress told Today:

"Miss California Quiznos, where I got to get all dressed up in pageant gear, was by far one of the most fun things I've ever done — especially since I'm from Jersey, so having any excuse to pouf my hair out to those high, high extreme heights was just a joy."

Rauch, who joined the hit sitcom in its third season back in 2009, also spoke about the season 5 episode "The Shiny Trinket Maneuver," in which Bernadette played assistant to Howard Wolowitz for his magic show. She said:

"I think the first time that we saw some of Bernadette's attitude was when she assisted Howard at a children's birthday party where he was a magician. She was his trusty assistant and she was not happy dealing with the kids there and that was early on when we've got to see a part of this side of Bernadette that we hadn't seen in earlier episodes, where she just was shutting everyone down really, really quickly left and right. So that was that was one of my favorites."

Whether you agree with Rauch's top episodes or not, it's clear the actress was a fan of the show, which wrapped up in 2019 after 12 seasons. At the very least, you can take this as a sign to revisit some classic "Big Bang Theory" episodes.