The second season of "The Big Bang Theory" has received a lot of positive buzz, especially for Jim Parsons, who plays the quirky Sheldon Cooper, Ph. D. Parsons is considered to be a break-out possibility for an Emmy nomination this year, and has been invited by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to announce the nominations, along with "Grey's Anatomy"'s Chandra Wilson, for the "61st Primetime Emmy Awards" on July 16. ET checks in with the funny man, who dishes on the possibility of Sheldon falling in love, the casts' favorite pastime and his favorite funny scene.

ET: Are you superstitious? Last year both Neil Patrick Harris and Kristin Chenoweth, who announced the nominees, received nominations. Lightning could strike twice.

Jim Parsons: That would be the most delightful bolt of lightning to be hit with that I could imagine, but I have no idea. I was and still am so excited that they called me. It is not even something I would have ever dreamed of doing. It is not one of those goals where you say, "I think I want to announce the nominations for the Emmys one day." There could be that moment when you are not nominated and you feel awkward, and you could be nominated and you feel awkward. I don't care. I love TV. I have always loved TV and this is just such an honor, to use a cliché, to get to do this. The only downside to this is being picked up at 4:30 a.m. in the morning.

ET: There isn't just Emmy buzz this year, but Matt Roush at TV Guide called you a "comic genius" and "the funniest misfit since Felix Unger," and USA Today hailed you as the "season's breakout comedy character." How nice is that to hear, and who keeps your ego in check?

Jim Parsons: I guess the ego is kept in check by having to do the job again and again every week. It is very real having to get it done every week, and it is very fun. It is very flattering to read that kind of thing. I try to not go trolling around for it. I wait until someone hands it to me to read, because it is crass trying to go looking for those kinds of comments about yourself. It makes you feel how you feel when you blush without actually blushing.

ET: It has to be rewarding because everybody thinks that you were discovered on this show, but you actually have been working a lot prior to this.

Jim Parsons: I have. Even to this day, the strong majority of what I have done is in theater growing up, and there is no way that anybody could have seen it, except for 80 to 100 people at once. It has only been in the last few years that anybody outside of a one-room theater could have seen me. So in that way, it is very new. I understand where this thought process comes from. But you are right. I have been doing this for a long time, and I, obviously, enjoy doing it.

ET: The burning question on everyone's mind is: Is there romance in Sheldon's future? How about a Penny (Kaley Cuoco) hook-up?

Jim Parsons: I am going to say yes to the first part. There has to be romance in Sheldon's future. Two things on that: That is not anything someone has told me, or I have read, so it may never happen, but I think it probably will. Two, I think it is a long way off. I think it seems far-fetched right now for him to be open to a relationship of that sort, or even cognizant of it.

As for the Penny equation, I would be jaw-dropped if that ever happens. That doesn't mean it couldn't. Opposites attract. It is a possibility, but, oh, that would surprise me.

ET: You are good with the zingers with her.

Jim Parsons: The scenes with Sheldon and Penny are so fun to be a part of, and Kaley as a sparring partner as an actor is such a treat. What a welcome surprise. Not her, but the development of those two characters in the forced relationship that they are in because of the physical proximity and Leonard's (Johnny Galecki) much-more-open interest in her.

ET: Last time I chatted with Kaley, she was saying what good buddies you all are, and that you play pool together.

Jim Parsons: Ping pong. You got the "p." We have tournaments. I have to hand it to Kaley. She goes far in the tournaments. And Kunal [Nayyar] and Simon [Helberg] go pretty far, too, in the tournaments. I do not, although, I do love it, and I am competitive, but I don't do well at it. And Johnny doesn't play at all.

ET: What's coming up for the new season?

Jim Parsons: Not a clue. I think we are the most unknowledgeable set in TV. We don't get our scripts until the day before the table read. I am not sure if it is top secret, or because it is not finished.

ET: What do fans ask you the most often?

Jim Parsons: The two things are the same answer: What is the hardest line you have ever had to do, and can you say, "Rock, paper, scissors?" That is the hardest line I have ever had to do, and the answer is: No, I cannot do it. I could barely do it the night that we taped it. I don't know why. It is not like I can repeat any of the science either. I don't know if it is because the science is so foreign to me and, therefore, I am divorced enough from it that rote memorization comes out of my mouth. Rock, paper, scissors, I knew what it was enough that I got in my own way long enough to describe it -- and doing hand signals at the same time.

ET: Are Sheldon's mannerisms and quirks based on anyone you know?

Jim Parsons: No. I am happy to say that a lot of it just comes out of what is happening in the script. A lot of it comes out of me naturally when I am trying to do it. That is good in some ways and embarrassing in others. If anything, I take my cues more from word choice and the rhythm of the Sheldon speak. There is a real click to it.

ET: How was your visit to Cal Tech? Did you earn your geek creds, or did you feel out of place?

Jim Parsons: I don't think that earned us anything more than the degree that people could see you are not as smart as these characters. The one thing it did do is we realized that there is no stereotype of the people in science in general. There are certainly things you can pick up on, certain commonalities, certainly the common language, but they were just all different shapes and sizes and different types of people. It was rewarding as an actor to see how grounded in reality you could keep all this to a certain degree, and that the world was your oyster as far as the type of person you "wish to play." Of course, they are just human. But they are geniuses. And we put this nerd/geek thing on top of it.

ET: What is your favorite funny moment from the show?

Jim Parsons: One of my favorite things we did this year is Sheldon was learning to drive, where they had a simulated car-type video game, where he could learn the rules of the road. It involved everybody in the cast, and it was just absurd. It just bordered on vaudeville. It was so much fun to do. It was one of the only times I had trouble keeping a straight face.

"The Big Bang Theory" airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. on CBS.