The Sheldonian Orientation

[JustMyLuckiness]

No he can't, Bernadette! Oh I suppose he could (and would) if he was a "better person". But then there'd be no comedic routines built around Sheldon's Spot for there would BE no spot. Only selfish, broken people have spots. And I suppose if he wasn't so damned exasperating about his food our eyes would be welling over at:

Sheldon: Did you remember to pick up the chicken with broccoli?
Leonard: Yes.
Sheldon: Thank you!
Leonard: You're welcome.

BA-DUM-TISH   

Yeah I know it's not funny. AT ALL. But at least THIS Sheldon is a better person.
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My point, and I think I have one, is that one of the reasons, a BIG reason, TBBT became hugely popular and Sheldon such an iconic character is precisely because of his, for lack of a better word, annoyingness. But if in the dubious quest for better personhood you strip away the eccentricities, the fastidiousness and the haughtiness (elsewhere perceived as selfishness and robotic behavior) you're essentially left with a bland simper of a fool. I.e. comedy death.

The humor is (or was anyway) rooted in the intractability of the brilliant Sheldon Cooper and the tension that that created between him and everyone else. And Parsons has the incredible talent to mine it for everything it's worth without overplaying it.

Now alas the "humor" seems to revolve around Sheldon being humbled and hobbled and having to compromise. He's no longer written as a supremely self-assured being. And Parsons has had to overcompensate for this paradigm shift with manic gesticulations and a louder, twangier delivery. There's no subtlety in his performance, perhaps because there are precious few nuances left to play now. It's all about Sheldon the Giant Man-Baby learning how to love and make love to his saint of a girlfriend.

Somebody wake me when it's over...

When I watched the most recent seasons, the thing that keeps coming into my head is an image of the TBBT writers' table and seated around it are about a dozen Leonard and Amy clones wondering how to bring an exceptional human being - despite his eccentric nature - down to their level. That's about the only way I can logically explain it.