Season 8 Musings

[Nutz]

O.k. I just have to ask this. Is anyone besides me a little worried about Penny's new job? She's depressed and a near alcoholic. It just seems like letting her have easy access to free prescription drugs samples is just asking for trouble.

[Louise]

"They do not, to wit, become a different person wearing the same clothes."


In a way, it can be comforting to know that these are simply NOT the same characters as before. They're not. They might as well have different names. It's a different iteration of the same franchise, sort of how there are different versions of Blackadder, yet played by the same actor.

Personally, I'd prefer to think that Howard and Raj ran away at the end of "The Gothowitz Deviation", while the other three escaped in the Time Machine

[Nutz]

I wouldn't treat a random stranger the way these characters treat their "loved ones." I'm a very assertive person and I don't take sh*t, but I don't scream at people or call them an idiot right to their face.

Yes, all couples argue and that's normal, but IMO this level of hostility is not normal or healthy. More importantly, it's not entertaining to watch. Watching people argue isn't funny, or endearing, or meaningful, or...anything. It's deeply squicky and unsettling.

I can only imagine that the people who enjoy this stuff have been burned in their own relationships at some point, so they have a hostile outlook. Or they subscribe to a phony feminism where the woman is always right and the man is always wrong.

It's like "The Guitarist Amplification", where Sheldon was distressed because everyone around him was arguing. Well, he must really be distressed, now.

If someone annoys you that much, and their behavior is that unacceptable to you, maybe that's a sign you shouldn't be together in the first place. Dontcha think?

I'd never treat a boyfriend/husband that way. I've been less harsh to random jerks who harassed me on the subway...

---

It occurred to me that I'd feel one hundred percent better (well, maybe eighty percent better), if they simply gave this "new" show a different name and stopped pretending that this is the same concept we were introduced to in 2007.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: S3 or S4 onward should be regarded as some type of reboot, re-make, or spin-off, much like the original unaired pilot was a very different spin on similar themes...

I agree. I keep waiting for the episode where Sheldon wakes up screaming Danger, danger, and we find out that seasons 4-7 were a nightmare brought about from bad Thai food (although I would allow season 4 minus the Penny/Raj hook up and a couple other episodes)

[Louise]

I agree. I keep waiting for the episode where Sheldon wakes up screaming Danger, danger, and we find out that seasons 4-7 were a nightmare brought about from bad Thai food (although I would allow season 4 minus the Penny/Raj hook up and a couple other episodes)

Yeah, S4 had some super-fun stuff, here and there. Somebody with better skills than me should make a "director's cut" of S4, with only the good stuff.

[Idle Miscreant]

"They do not, to wit, become a different person wearing the same clothes."


In a way, it can be comforting to know that these are simply NOT the same characters as before. They're not. They might as well have different names. It's a different iteration of the same franchise, sort of how there are different versions of Blackadder, yet played by the same actor.

Ah! I've ALWAYS (figure of speech) said watching TBBT in order was like watching Blackadder in reverse.

Which means you go from the weary, cynical HUMAN BEING;

Sheldon Season 1


To the bitter, slightly eccentric and misunderstood;

Sheldon Season 2


Through the somewhat maniacal, fey extrovert;

Sheldon Season 3 & 4


To...



The gibbering imbecile...
Sheldon Season 5, 6, 7


(Blackadder III/Sheldon 2 is my own favourite)

[Wisp]

What the fuck were they thinking with Blackadder 1? Geez. God. UGH. But it doesn't bother me at all because they knew what was wrong and put it right. I wonder how long it'll be before Sheldon goes completely silent like Mr Bean, testing frying pans for size in the supermarket by putting a raw fish in them...

[Louise]

"Moreover, people DO NOT drastically change their personality, interests, habits."

This is so true. Really, in terms of TBBT, there's a lot of misunderstanding as to what the phrase "character development" really means. Firstly, there's a limit to the amount of "character development" that I expect or want from a barely-20-minute mainstream sitcom.

Secondly, "character development" should not be a "get out of jail free card" for the writers. That phrase is being used as an all-purpose excuse for any arbitrary changes made to the show and the characters. It's really a pretty insidious trick, because claiming "character development" can now be used as a CYA device to excuse almost anything. It's a debate-ender, like saying "racist!"

I'd like to know who decided that a TV series, especially a comedy, is supposed to be all about "growing, changing, and maturing." I suspect that a lot of fans/viewers, particularly the younger ones, just parrot these phrases because it sounds good and it suits their shipping purposes.

"they do NOT suddenly lose their germ-phobia, their obsessive need for routines, and habit of spouting off unusual (and ostensibly unrelated) facts about the universe."

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that for some people, repetitive motions/behaviors are a response to sensory overload and a way of calming and soothing themselves. A coping thing. If so, it would be cruel to deprive them of that.

---

That's the thing isn't it. If you LIKE the lads just as they are, watching them get yelled at every episode can get very unpleasant.

It’s the same with this “growth” nonsense.
I like my friends immensely, flaws and all. The flaws are part of their identity. I cannot conceive of a situation where I might wish them to alter, to GROW, because then they would not be the characters I love. Moreover, people DO NOT drastically change their personality, interests, habits. The same person might get a little tireder as they get older, or mellow out a bit, BUT – and this is the knobbly crux of my contention – they do NOT suddenly lose their germ-phobia, their obsessive need for routines, and habit of spouting off unusual (and ostensibly unrelated) facts about the universe. They do NOT suddenly stand differently, speak differently, and engage in activities which their previous self abhors and had dismissed as irrelevant. They do not, to wit, become a different person wearing the same clothes.

What particularly irks me here, is that Sheldon as a FICTIONAL character, was drawn in a certain way. He’s not real, he’s ART. The appeal of this PARTICULAR way of drawing him was what made the show popular in the first place.

So he MUST be changed obviously.




(Shouty McCAPITALS is out today, I apologise...)

Real "growth" would mean seeing the characters become freer and more independent, with more self-respect. Self-actualization. Not becoming downtrodden and defeated...

[Louise]

"I cannot conceive of a situation where I might wish them to alter, to GROW, because then they would not be the characters I love."

We might ask, what happens to a comedy when everybody is the straight man?

[Tuesday Pajamas]

O.k. I just have to ask this. Is anyone besides me a little worried about Penny's new job? She's depressed and a near alcoholic. It just seems like letting her have easy access to free prescription drugs samples is just asking for trouble.

Space has already predicted a viagra storyline. I bet there are jokes about her with the drugs.

[Louise]

You know, I can't imagine that people who love this show in its current format would actually like S1 and S2. Particularly if you're a teenage girl who is obsessed with Mayim Bialik. I mostly stay away from Tumblr, but I get the sense that the Tumblr-ites actively dislike the pre-couples era, or they're sort of baffled and frustrated by it, because it's something they don't understand, and therefore they resent it.

More than once, I've seen "Thank God that A and B were added" types of comments. I think some people genuinely do not understand the appeal of the science stuff and the pre-couples format. When people defend the show's current version, there's often a flavor of subtle or not-so-subtle disdain for what came before.


Except for the early stages of Lenny, S1 and S2 holds nothing for the romance fans. I get the sense that they feel almost affronted by it, because it makes them feel dumb, or they just absolutely cannot wrap their heads around the possibility that one can have a story which is not about romance.

If you got together some of these canon-fans and showed them a bunch of TBBT clips that did not involve ANY relationship stuff, I honestly think they'd become bored and leave the room, or their only response would be that Jim Parsons is cute/attractive/sexy.

Put somebody who isn't tall, blue-eyed, or WASPy in that role, and there'd be none of this Shamy/Majim phenomenon, I bet you.

That's why Howard was the first to get thrown overboard: fangirls don't care about him. He's short and icky*, so the hell with him.

*In my book, he's the former but not the latter


I have seen people who insist that they've been watching since Day 1, that the show has not changed and that they like all of it. But, they don't seem to have an explanation for this viewpoint.

I think they are probably doing some mental ret-conning: in other words, they accept the earlier stuff because they view it as a prelude to the later stuff.