The Big Bang Theory’s Nerd Nanny

In the TV Tropes entry on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, a post about female characters that serve as the romantic interest for a socially awkward or moody male character. Of the tropes mentioned I chose the Nerd Nanny. The Nerd Nanny, is defined as a female character who “is constantly trying to motivate the Non Action Guys to do anything, sometimes even to pay attention to her, but they usually won't have any of it.” She is attractive, but the guys never seem to notice how hot she is, “unless some story-driving UST is needed.”  In addition she almost never leaves them for a different housing situation. The example given in the Nerd Nanny entry displays a picture of the television show “The Big Bang Theory”. A show that I had in mind after reading about the Manic Pixie Girl, however in the picture it shows the character Penny surrounded by the male characters of the show. I on the other hand I believe Bernadette played by Melissa Rauch would fit the description of the Trope. Here’s why.

Howard is Bernadette’s love interest, who fits the trope’s description of the male character. Howard is a nerdy guy that in the beginning of the series, always attempted to date women to the point of obnoxiousness.  It’s in the 4th season episode “The Killer Robot Instability”, when Penny expresses her frustration with his personality by yelling, “No woman is ever going to flirt with you! You're just going to grow old and die alone!"  After this, Howard stays in bed depressed and calls in sick to work for days. Howard’s friends try to console him, but it’s when Penny acknowledges that he is emotionally sensitive is when he feels better.

He meets Bernadette in the third season as a blind date, doubling with his friend Leonard and Penny. She is in college at the time working on her PhD. Her and Howard connect, but you don’t see her again until the fourth season. It is later revealed that they broke up, because Howard “cheated” on her by having his World of Warcraft character have sex with another character. They get back together after Bernadette initiates a conversation, where she expresses how much she likes Howard.  Enforcing the fact that she will never leave him and is a forgiving person.

Bernadette is the one that motivates her love interest Howard, into going into space in the fifth season, after he realizes how hard space travel training is. In the episode “The Alien Parasite Hypothesis”, she admits to her friends that she pretends that Howard is smarter then her so he won’t feel less manly. She ends up acting like his mother after she moves in with Howard (At his mother’s house, which she was not for).

Finally, it is never addressed that Bernadette is actually an attractive woman, until the episode “The Car Displacement”, when it is revealed that she used to date one of her former professors played by former basketball player turned actor Rick Fox. Howard expresses his jealousy and even goes to the length of telling her that he didn't think she could ever date a “guy like that”.  

So, it’s Bernadette, not Penny that fits the description, of the Nerd Nanny. But viewers have accepted this, which is why The Big Bang Theory is one of the most watched shows on television today.