Sheldon: I don't know, but if cats could sing, they'd hate it too. Leonard: See you. (Penny exits singing)
Sheldon: You just lied to Penny. Leonard: That would have hurt her feelings. Sheldon: That's the best part, you don't have to, see I told Penny that you would be embarrassed, if you knew that she found out that you had lied, so she's agreed to operate as if the original lie was still in force. Leonard: Because Sheldon doesn't have a drug addicted cousin Leopold. Sheldon does not have a cousin Leo. Sheldon: I'm sorry, Leonard, this is Toby Loobenfeld, he's a research assistant in the particle physics lab, but he also minored in theatre at MIT. Toby: It was more of a double major actually. How did the intervention go. Penny: By the end. Penny is on the sofa with Toby.
Plan: A: the musical Rent; Q: What musical is Penny given a part in? A: Leonard; Q: Who lies to avoid having to see Penny perform? A: Leo; Q: What is the name of the character that Toby Loobenfeld impersonates? A: Sheldon; Q: Who is obsessed with his lie's credibility? A: her off-key singing; Q: What did Leonard and Sheldon dislike about Penny's performance in Rent? A: cats; Q: What animal did Sheldon say would hate Rent? A: her feelings; Q: What does Leonard lie to avoid hurting? A: Leonard's lie; Q: What did Sheldon think was inadequate? A: his nonexistent drug-addicted cousin; Q: What is "Leopold Houston"? A: an intervention; Q: What does Leopold Houston need the night of the play? A: a research assistant; Q: What is Toby Loobenfeld's job? A: Physics and Theatre, impersonate cousin; Q: What did Toby Loobenfeld double major in? A: Theatre; Q: Toby Loobenfeld double majored in Physics and what other subject? A: the lie; Q: What does Toby Loobenfeld try to convince Penny is true? A: the video; Q: What must Leonard see to believe Penny's lie? Summary: Penny is given a part in the musical Rent, but after Leonard and Sheldon hear her off-key singing (Sheldon commenting, "if cats could sing, they'd hate it too"), Leonard lies to avoid having to see her perform and hurt her feelings. Sheldon, worried that Leonard's lie was inadequate, devises an intricate lie about his nonexistent drug-addicted cousin "Leopold Houston" needing an intervention the night of the play). Sheldon is so obsessed with his lie's credibility that he has Toby Loobenfeld, a research assistant who double majored in Physics and Theatre, impersonate cousin "Leo" to convince Penny the lie is true. In the end, Leonard must still see the video of Penny's performance, and Penny and "Leo" start flirting.