8.01 The Locomotion Interruption (September 22)

[Tuesday Pajamas]

Not more f**kin selfies...

[Toad]

See. Pictures like this just kill me because it's like looking right at Vintage Sheldon circa s2. My word it's uncanny. The hair, the head tilted forward, the eyebrows imperiously arched, the finger poised in mid-lecture (one assumes). It seems Jim can still muster the body language, at least in this one panel, so it's heartrending to know that virtually everything else that defines Sheldon has been snuffed out.

Ah well. This is just a filler moment in between kisses though, so, ultimately it's unimportant.

[Louise]

[/quote]


I always love H. in a motorcycle jacket. I will pretend that this scene involves him and Raj having a cute argument about where to go for their date night Or maybe Raj is berating him for not wearing a helmet...

Like I said, I enjoy intentionally misreading the screencaps...

[Tuesday Pajamas]

So do we! and we did run caption competitions for a while, if you'd like to come up with one for this? ...no pressure of course.

[Toad]

[Idle Miscreant]

Considering I'm not watching this next season (or tomorrow's and tomorrow's and...) I don't know why I care, but I'm greatly disappointed to see no reappearance of the Vintage Sheldon voice. I was hoping Parsons might resurrect it.

But no, it's that bloody annoying, nasally flat twang again. It's abrasive, grating and far too loud. It's the voice we all turn the volume down on in our house. We can tell what season it is based on whether we can hear Sheldon from three rooms away.

Sheldon had a beautiful, modulated, fluting voice for the first four years...WHAT THE DEVIL HAPPENED TO IT?

Take any scene at random (barring the scenes where he's imitating his parents), and bloody LISTEN to it!





It was the voice which partially marked him out as different, an alien species. Now he just sounds like a redneck. Or rather, like his parents ALL THE TIME. Possibly that's the point, in which case that's both unoriginal and HIGHLY FUCKING DEPRESSING.
'Tis a terrible loss.

[Trust No One]

Considering I'm not watching this next season (or tomorrow's and tomorrow's and...) I don't know why I care, but I'm greatly disappointed to see no reappearance of the Vintage Sheldon voice. I was hoping Parsons might resurrect it.

But no, it's that bloody annoying, nasally flat twang again. It's abrasive, grating and far too loud. It's the voice we all turn the volume down on in our house. We can tell what season it is based on whether we can hear Sheldon from three rooms away.

Sheldon had a beautiful, modulated, fluting voice for the first four years...WHAT THE DEVIL HAPPENED TO IT?

Take any scene at random (barring the scenes where he's imitating his parents), and bloody LISTEN to it!





It was the voice which partially marked him out as different, an alien species. Now he just sounds like a redneck. Or rather, like his parents ALL THE TIME. Possibly that's the point, in which case that's both unoriginal and HIGHLY FUCKING DEPRESSING.
'Tis a terrible loss.

Many have made the point Gripe that we are getting more JP now than we are Sheldon. If JP has the power to add more of himself maybe he should demand more Shenny scenes?

[Tuesday Pajamas]

Oh, yes they use a Sheldon/Penny scene. How predictable, they ALWAYS do.

Shenny is what the public really want. It's what sold the show via syndication and still sells the promos. You don't have to be a Shenny shipper to see that. The real ep is going to be a let down to the casual viewers because there are no Shenny scenes expect that tiny snippet.

[Idle Miscreant]

Many have made the point Gripe that we are getting more JP now than we are Sheldon. If JP has the power to add more of himself maybe he should demand more Shenny scenes?

Parsons wanted a relationship for Sheldon with Leslie Winkle. "If the hate burns bright, why can't the love?" was I believe his rationale. By his own admission he DID badger them, and he got bupkis. Or rather, two years later he got Fowler (which is completely opposite to the kind of relationship he envisioned for Sheldon with Winkle, I might add). Anyroad, now he's got a relationship, although it's not the sort of vivid romance he might have envisioned for Sheldon (or for himself to show off his romantic chops) it's still a protocol relationship, so there's no reason for him to complain.

Except about the complete destruction of his character, but to be fair, he doesn't watch the early seasons obsessively (or potentially even at all) so it's possible he's completely unaware of the change. Although he IS aware that Sheldon is more JP nowadays than Sheldon, evidently. There was that interview where he said they ask him to incorporate certain mannerisms of his own into the Sheldon character, and he found that baffling.
If anyone finds that interview, let me know. I've lost the fucker.

PJ -

Of course S/P scenes sell the show. They're the whole basis for the (widely accepted as) brilliant first three seasons. (You know, those seasons that win all the Polls and contain the iconic episodes that Joe Public lists when asked his favourites...)

Very simple reasons behind it;

a) Sheldon and Penny are the two most popular characters by a VERY long damn way, b) the clash of worlds is a comedic staple, c) the reaction shots of Sheldon to Penny and Penny to Sheldon utilise the full scope of the actors' comedic talents (and this IS meant to be a bloody comedy).
They play off each other with remarkable facility. They are the classic comedy duo. But we know this. The public know this. Even the bloody Powers That Be know this, but yet they choose to grimly plod on with the 'romance', like a man pushing a square-wheeled cart up a mountain for no purpose.

[Louise]

"There was that interview where he said they ask him to incorporate certain mannerisms of his own into the Sheldon character, and he found that baffling.
If anyone finds that interview, let me know. I've lost the fucker."

Did they really? That is so weird and interesting. How long ago was this? Do you think it's a nod to the fangirls who have a crush on the actor, not the character?

Just yesterday, I was thinking that even though I don't study Sheldon as devotedly as some of you, I can feel the "wrongness" of what they've done with him. It provokes an instinctive, gut-level feeling of wrongness, and it's saddening.

All these arguments about "character development" are rendered ridiculous by the simple fact that people don't change that much. They might change their opinions or attitudes on a specific subject, but they certainly don't change their voice and physical mannerisms. In the real world, the amount of change these characters have undergone in a relatively short period of time would be a sign of mental illness or some serious psychological blow.

Its the most noticeable with Sheldon, but as I've mentioned before, I don't like the soft, nicey-nice tone of voice that Helberg sometimes has, now. (I'm not even going to call this person Howard.) Of course, people behave differently in different situations, and I'm not saying his character is incapable of being gentle and loving, but it's just too saccharine. He had moments of being shy, vulnerable, and cute in the earlier seasons, but they weren't overdone. I do not want to hear this character cooing about how badly he wants a baby. That is just wildly OOC.

Like you, I don't think sex is totally antithetical to the nature of Early Sheldon. He could've had an encounter with Leslie or Penny or someone, but it wouldn't take over his whole life. Again, I haven't analyzed Sheldon like you have, but I think it's plausible he might've tried sex out of pure curiosity, as a novelty, an experiment. Or maybe he would be one of these people who are very good at compartmentalizing and keeping that part of his life separate from his work.

Sheldon/Leslie could've been very amusing and entertaining, if they didn't belabor it and it didn't go on for too long. Any romance on this show should've been handled in a very light, fun, non-serious way.

As someone was pointing out yesterday, almost *everything* about this show has changed: tone, style, premise, characterization. That goes way beyond "character development." It shows that the Canons do not know the actual definition of the phrase "character development", at all. It's just a euphemism for anything that brings them more romcom and eliminates the stuff they find uncomfortable.

What we are looking at here is not a mere shark-jump, it's a re-make. I would actually feel *so* much better if they would simply give this "new" show a different name.

I'm sure the Shenny fans can point to many early-season moments where Sheldon learned something from Penny and vice versa. Howard was learning to be a more considerate friend through his interactions with Raj. Raj was learning to be a bit less full of himself through his interactions with the others. *That* is the type of character development that is appropriate for a sitcom. It can and should be subtle.