10-19-2014, 10:50 PM
(10-19-2014, 10:32 PM)Louise Wrote: Y'know, this made me think. If TPTB originally conceived of this show as a vehicle for JG, where Leonard and his pursuit of Penny were the main focus, then why add the Shamy and the H/B? If Leonard's the protagonist and the leading man, then seemingly they wouldn't want anything to distract from that; they wouldn't want other shippy/romance types of plotlines upstaging him.
If Lenny is the main event and JG is the golden boy, then what is the point of Shamy and H/B? It's almost like TPTB realized that Sheldon was the breakout character, but didn't understand the reasons why, so they started giving him more prominence, but in all the wrong ways. They think people like the Lenny, so they just decided to triple it?
Even if one accepts the idea that the Lenny is this show's central focus and Sheldon is supposed to be a secondary character, surely that's all the MORE reason why JG should get the romantic storylines and the other three guys should be left unattached, so that they can be used for the "nerdy hijinks" storylines. I feel like that was the original plan.
TPTB aren't even following their own gameplan. There isn't any gameplan. They're just fumbling around in the dark.
I find it laughable when canons actually believe that TPTB have some Master Plan™ and all this "character development" was carefully, intentionally plotted-out, starting from Day 1. No, these people are making it up as they go along, and then they create this mythology about "growth" and "character development" just to cover their ass and explain-away any continuity errors.
I know HQers really, really hate the Lenny, but at least it was there from the beginning and didn't involve brand-new characters suddenly appearing out of nowhere, three or four years into the game. If this show had ended after three or four seasons, as I believe it should have, then I don't know what that would mean for the Lenny, but at least they wouldn't be getting married, etc.
It seems incredible that TPTB would be *so* out of touch with viewer reactions that they still, after 8 years, believe that this is The Johnny Galecki Hour. But if it were, at least we wouldn't have Shamy or H/B. I know that's no comfort to people who (with good reason) hate the Lenny, but I'm just thinking out loud...
Another random thought: imagine, if you found someone who had zero prior knowledge of this show, and you showed them Season 1, and kept that person in a total vacuum, not reading/hearing/seeing any other comments, articles, opinions, etcetera, about the show. IMO, that person would never, never, never predict the the current state of the show, and the events of S3/4 onwards. They just wouldn't. Why? Because these developments aren't natural. They're not a natural outgrowth of what came before, they're worst kind of artificial tinkering by a God-like author/showmaker.
Also, and this might be wishful thinking on my part, but if you showed this same person just the first few eps of S1, and then showed them a particularly egregious ep. from S6 or S7, I think they wouldn't conclude it was the same show, at all. They'd think it was some type of SNL-style parody, or a different show with a few of the same actors.
(I also think nobody would describe Howard as creepy, if you showed them just the first few eps of S1 and kept them sequestered from outside opinions. But I'm obviously biased, on that topic.)
ETA: I still think the H/B wedding was a way of keeping the romance-lovers appeased, because TPTB know they can't roll out the Lenny and Shamy weddings, yet, or else their show and their money are over, so they have to throw the shippy types a bone, in the meantime. As the saying goes, "this oughta hold the little bastards for a while." It was possibly also a test to see if the audience would accept this sort of thing. And most fangirls don't care about Howard, so he's expendable.
It is very strange Louise that all these other Ships were added instead of just leaving the Lenny. I think it comes down to Johnny not being able to carry a show and TPTB know it. They need JP to carry most of the load it just has to happen without the Shenny.