11-27-2014, 07:53 AM
Av Club "Jim Parsons" May 1, 2009
http://www.avclub.com/article/jim-parsons-27415
Memorable Lines:
Parsons: From the end of last season and into this season even more strongly, I’ve felt that Sheldon and Penny are kind of the North and South Pole of character types on this show. Sheldon’s extremely cerebral and absorbed in that world of science, and Penny’s maybe the only one on the show with her feet in the real world. If anybody has street sense on this show, it’s definitely Penny. And so I felt last season, and I still feel now, that it’s good for the character dynamics to throw these two opposites together.
Parsons: Sheldon, for the most part, as far as we know from what’s been written so far, is okay with [not fitting in]. He actually is, in a lot of ways, quite pleased with himself. He enjoys the life he leads, and is very comfortable with himself. I do think, though—and there’s been things in the scripts hinting at this—that he had to travel a while to find that place.
Parsons: One of the things that I’ve been so lucky with, working with these writers as an actor, is that they’ve been so clear on Sheldon from very early on. And while the character has deepened due to all of us working on it together, it’s very rarely deviated from some essential things such as that. He’s not a touchy-feely person… little things like that. There’s just a clarity on the part of the writers.
Mood of the Masses:
The reviewers agreed with TPTB's position not to assign Aspergers to Sheldon as "there's probably something deep down inside the viewer's mind that would make 'guy with a disorder' someone to pity but 'guy with quirks' to be an acceptable target of humor."
There was discussion as to where the guys fit in at the university and the consensus was that they were postdocs given that they didn't teach, Leonard had to beg for laser time, etc. As one string theorist said, "realistically they'd be working all the time, they'd also be poor (apartments that size in LA, I don't think so) and a lot more depressed, but you know that makes for boring tv."
Best Quote: The BBT/HIMYM sitcom block on CBS has some of best character-based comedy on TV. I love 30 Rock dearly, for example, but it's hard to have "character-based" humor when you're willing to change your characters wildly for the sake of a joke. For example, if Tracy Jordan does a funny thing, it's funny because it's funny, not because of how you know a character perceives it, because you never know how a given character feels about Tracy until they express it that week. These shows (and BBT with Sheldon in particular) are filled with moments where the humor doesn't come from the occurrence (Penny sitting in the chair closest to the door) but from you knowing how Sheldon will react (upset because it's his chair) it might, and probably will, become a broad "you're in my chair" moment, but the 30 seconds of silent fidgeting from Sheldon are the best of the joke, and being able to anticipate and enjoy that reaction literally defines "character-based" comedy. (Andyl)
Entertainment Weekly Aug 18, 2007
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20054627,00.html
Memorable Line:
Lorre: ''Talking about geeks and nerds — that's shooting fish in a barrel. We want to write about brilliant people, and how difficult it is for them to move through the world we take for granted. That's interesting.''
Mood of the Masses: No Comments
Variety, Review: Big Bang Theory Sept 19, 2007; Brian Lowry
http://variety.com/2007/film/reviews/the...200556192/
Memorable Line:
...there are some qualms surrounding how long the producers can mine the Leonard-Penny aspect of the show, a shallow vein if there ever was one. More promising is the interaction among the key duo [Sheldon and Leonard] and their Mensa-worthy friends.
Mood of the Masses: No comments.
http://www.avclub.com/article/jim-parsons-27415
Memorable Lines:
Parsons: From the end of last season and into this season even more strongly, I’ve felt that Sheldon and Penny are kind of the North and South Pole of character types on this show. Sheldon’s extremely cerebral and absorbed in that world of science, and Penny’s maybe the only one on the show with her feet in the real world. If anybody has street sense on this show, it’s definitely Penny. And so I felt last season, and I still feel now, that it’s good for the character dynamics to throw these two opposites together.
Parsons: Sheldon, for the most part, as far as we know from what’s been written so far, is okay with [not fitting in]. He actually is, in a lot of ways, quite pleased with himself. He enjoys the life he leads, and is very comfortable with himself. I do think, though—and there’s been things in the scripts hinting at this—that he had to travel a while to find that place.
Parsons: One of the things that I’ve been so lucky with, working with these writers as an actor, is that they’ve been so clear on Sheldon from very early on. And while the character has deepened due to all of us working on it together, it’s very rarely deviated from some essential things such as that. He’s not a touchy-feely person… little things like that. There’s just a clarity on the part of the writers.
Mood of the Masses:
The reviewers agreed with TPTB's position not to assign Aspergers to Sheldon as "there's probably something deep down inside the viewer's mind that would make 'guy with a disorder' someone to pity but 'guy with quirks' to be an acceptable target of humor."
There was discussion as to where the guys fit in at the university and the consensus was that they were postdocs given that they didn't teach, Leonard had to beg for laser time, etc. As one string theorist said, "realistically they'd be working all the time, they'd also be poor (apartments that size in LA, I don't think so) and a lot more depressed, but you know that makes for boring tv."
Best Quote: The BBT/HIMYM sitcom block on CBS has some of best character-based comedy on TV. I love 30 Rock dearly, for example, but it's hard to have "character-based" humor when you're willing to change your characters wildly for the sake of a joke. For example, if Tracy Jordan does a funny thing, it's funny because it's funny, not because of how you know a character perceives it, because you never know how a given character feels about Tracy until they express it that week. These shows (and BBT with Sheldon in particular) are filled with moments where the humor doesn't come from the occurrence (Penny sitting in the chair closest to the door) but from you knowing how Sheldon will react (upset because it's his chair) it might, and probably will, become a broad "you're in my chair" moment, but the 30 seconds of silent fidgeting from Sheldon are the best of the joke, and being able to anticipate and enjoy that reaction literally defines "character-based" comedy. (Andyl)
Entertainment Weekly Aug 18, 2007
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20054627,00.html
Memorable Line:
Lorre: ''Talking about geeks and nerds — that's shooting fish in a barrel. We want to write about brilliant people, and how difficult it is for them to move through the world we take for granted. That's interesting.''
Mood of the Masses: No Comments
Variety, Review: Big Bang Theory Sept 19, 2007; Brian Lowry
http://variety.com/2007/film/reviews/the...200556192/
Memorable Line:
...there are some qualms surrounding how long the producers can mine the Leonard-Penny aspect of the show, a shallow vein if there ever was one. More promising is the interaction among the key duo [Sheldon and Leonard] and their Mensa-worthy friends.
Mood of the Masses: No comments.
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