Your Definitive "Jump The Shark" Moments

[Louise]

That scene was about Howard giving up his fantasies(both hetero and homosexual), deciding to live the real world.

Yes, definitely. I just think the message was a bit obvious and preachy.

Of course, it can be damaging to a person if they're so consumed by their inner fantasy-life that they reject opportunities to make connections with other people. Maladaptive daydreaming, I think it's called. Interesting concept. I'm just not sure that a sitcom needs to "go there."

The stuff with Takei and Sackhoff is cute, and certainly fits with the show's "surreal" atmosphere. I just find it a bit cutesy and cringey, a bit heavy-handed.

And as we've observed, there's nothing so remarkable about Bernadette that she'd inspire someone to change their life, unless H. is so pathetically desperate for attention that literally anyone will do. And that's kinda sad.

It's like the opposite of "fridging": instead of being killed-off just to get a reaction from male characters, female characters are brought to the forefront just to get a reaction from male characters.

ETA: here again we have the message that only through a romantic/sexual relationship can one learn, grow, become a bigger person, or develop more empathy for others. Marriage/monogamy/romance is the only way to achieve adulthood or "live in the real world." B. is this savior-figure who comes along to drag Howard out of his dreamworld. It doesn't get much more Deus Ex Machina than characters *literally* appearing out of thin air and giving advice.

After all, it's not like the guys could learn to be kinder, more patient, more understanding, or more open-minded through their interactions with *each other*, or Penny, or family members, or people at work, or whoever. Right? ::

This show is good at light, absurdist comedy. The minute they decide there's going to be a message or a deeper meaning, they fumble it, nine times out of ten. That's when things get anvilicious...

I've often mentioned my fondness for Cornhusker Vortex, because of Howard learning to be a better friend towards Raj. But, at the last minute, that progress gets undone and played-off as a joke. I might be really, really reaching here, because I know that the "stinger" or tag-scene is a standard sitcom convention, but the takeaway message seems to be that learning/growing in the context of a *friendship* isn't real and doesn't count.