Season 8 Musings

[Idle Miscreant]

"When people defend the show's current version, there's often a flavor of subtle or not-so-subtle disdain for what came before......I get the sense that they feel almost affronted by it..."

You're bang on there. And the rest. Have a sexy picture of Groucho Marx, as I don't have a cigar for you.



If Parsons weren't so attractive there wouldn't be any of this screaming piffle...
And aye, no Shamy cult either. Relationship of the mind my arse...Or rather, Jim's arse, apparently. Sheldon could be going out with a box of shredded wheat and there'd be a hysterical following for it.

[Louise]

"When people defend the show's current version, there's often a flavor of subtle or not-so-subtle disdain for what came before......I get the sense that they feel almost affronted by it..."

You're bang on there. And the rest. Have a sexy picture of Groucho Marx, as I don't have a cigar for you.



If Parsons weren't so attractive there wouldn't be any of this screaming piffle...
And aye, no Shamy cult either. Relationship of the mind my arse...Or rather, Jim's arse, apparently. Sheldon could be going out with a box of shredded wheat and there'd be a hysterical following for it.

Haha, Groucho is always apropos!

Personally, I don't find JP especially attractive, in that way.

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Haha, Groucho is always apropos!

Personally, I don't find JP especially attractive, in that way.

"Sheldon could be going out with a box of shredded wheat and there'd be a hysterical following for it."

I propose this as a new pairing. Also Raj/Siri and Howard/Robot Arm.
And maybe Captain Sweatpants/Whoever.

[Idle Miscreant]

We have a specific thread for thrilling new pairings;

http://shennyhq.co.uk/dir/showthread.php?tid=34

Personally my favourite there is Sheldon/Mitosis Sheldon.



Actually no. Just looking at it now, I think Sheldon/BoxOfWheat might be less sanity destroying.

[Louise]

The plot should flow from the characters, and characterization should flow from the actors. This show has it backwards. They have a pre-determined, artificial storyline, and they won't deviate from it, or compromise. They're making actors fit the role instead of vice versa, and making characters fit the plot, and making the plot fit some heavy-handed agenda.
It feels like they're breaking all kinds of rules about storytelling, and not in a good way. I'm super-duper in favor of rule-breaking if it results in something experimental, fresh, original. But it's like these people forgot what they were told in 7th-grade English class, about constructing a workable narrative.

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I swear I've posted some positive things, too! Videos, and pics of my memorabilia, and all that

[Louise]

The thing is, I'm not opposed to romance per se; it's just that not EVERYTHING has to be about romance. If I want romance and relationships, I'd rather read a novel or watch an hour-long drama like Downton Abbey, not a sitcom.

And shows CAN incorporate themes of romance/dating/relationships without letting it take over everything. Frasier Crane had a different girlfriend in practically every episode, it seems like, but the most important relationship on that show was between the two brothers, or between the brothers and their father. (I'm not big on Niles/Daphne becoming an actual thing, but that's another conversation.)

I'm not always opposed to the addition of new characters, either, although I tend to be very skeptical of it. It's fine that Ed Helms was added to the cast of The Office in the third season, for example. New characters should fit seamlessly; they shouldn't disrupt the show's whole premise and format.

A character whose sole purpose is to come into an established group and "shake things up" is a textbook Mary Sue. A and B are textbook Mary Sues.

Anyway, I'm rambling...

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What's hardest to swallow about the newer episodes is the inconsistency of tone:

poop joke..."serious" moment with everyone crying and hugging...poop joke.

It's jarring.

[Wisp]

Precisely what I think about the weird schizo tone-shifts. They can never just let a heartwarming (HA! This show? HAAAAAA..... sob....) moment be without chopping its head off. It seems to be their way of trying to keep the show light. What they don't seem to realise is that they had everything exactly right before. NOW, they chuck in a bit of squick just about anywhere they can. Sheldon suggesting INFECTED GENETALIA as a turn-on for that Alex woman was a monumental low for me. And he toppled over the edge of sympathy completely as he got more and more insensitive and made deliberately offensive, obviously dodgy comments that he would surely be aware of if the characters really had "opened his eyes" to becoming a "real person."

As for the tone-epilepsy they seem to have going on, I'd like the show to end on a sad moment for once, without a stupid joke thrown in. It makes it all the more obvious that the writers and actors have very little faith in the likeability of the characters now. The ending of Community's season 2 is a sort of example of a nice "sad ending" because as much of a dick as Pierce was, the characters were still saddened by him leaving, especially since they had just been paintball-battling inside a strangely insular community college for about two days straight, and that's how the season ended. Given that we sort of got that similar downer "oh no, a main character's going" with Sheldon fucking off to the train station, I was hoping we'd have some sort of return of gravitas to the show. Yeah Pierce came back in the first ep of s3 and was still the same dicky racist homophobe as before, but the point is that most good comedy writers care enough about their characters to give them straight, poignant moments, without a "later losers!" or a poop joke added on.

[Louise]

Gosh, but it's good to be with other Nostalgics! You guys are awesome.

[Louise]

We have a specific thread for thrilling new pairings;

http://shennyhq.co.uk/dir/showthread.php?tid=34

Personally my favourite there is Sheldon/Mitosis Sheldon.



Actually no. Just looking at it now, I think Sheldon/BoxOfWheat might be less sanity destroying.

On a lighter note, I'm very curious about who that is, in your icon.

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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.

Slightly OT, but that's not the type of job you get just from being recommended by a friend, or without a bachelor's degree. I know that people want Penny to have a better job, and I understand why, but that part is pretty unrealistic. It's almost like "Penny becomes a nurse because B. put in a good word for her." One gal I knew with that job had a bachelor's in chemistry.

On re-reading, I'm sorry if that sounded insensitive, I'm just saying...

[devilbk]

On a lighter note, I'm very curious about who that is, in your icon.

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Slightly OT, but that's not the type of job you get just from being recommended by a friend, or without a bachelor's degree. I know that people want Penny to have a better job, and I understand why, but that part is pretty unrealistic. It's almost like "Penny becomes a nurse because B. put in a good word for her." One gal I knew with that job had a bachelor's in chemistry.

On re-reading, I'm sorry if that sounded insensitive, I'm just saying...

If we were dealing with reality, Leonard, Raj and Howard would have lost their jobs after season 2 for academic malfeasance, Bernie would be dead because she plays fast and loose with deadly pathogens and Amy would never have survived high school. And Sheldon would likely be in jail for hacking government computers. TBBT isn't reality. But it's not even good fantasy. It's a group of not very likable snooty people who make fun of each other and everyone else while their own lives are pretty ordinary.

[Idle Miscreant]

On a lighter note, I'm very curious about who that is, in your icon.

Captain Yossarian! From Catch 22. Admirably played by Alan Arkin. Yossarian was a hero of mine when I was younger. In my profile picture he's just realised Milo Minderbinder has sold his parachute.




Incredible cast actually, just here you've got Art Garfunkel, Charles Grodin, Arkin, Martin Sheen & Jon Voight. But there's also Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins and Orson Welles staggering around for godsake...
Brilliant film. Flawless book. Or vice versa. Too early in the morning.