01-08-2015, 07:41 AM
Youtube "helpfully" recommended I watch this Promo. It's quite strange seeing a bit of season 8 directly on top of months of strict S1-4. The Sheldon character has completely vanished. I don't know who this is at all.
There are, of course, far more vicious bizarro-Sheldon moments, but I don't want to see them. The problem with the above scene, and my reason for posting it, is that it's an example of sacrificing character for humour, in this case a single joke about phone reception.
Sheldon (ORIGINAL Sheldon) would have had endless ways of entertaining himself (and aggravating Leonard)!
He also would have stored the possible pre-phone entertainment scenarios in his head, and not needed to look them up in the first place. Original Sheldon was bloody Wikipedia.
They keep dropping essential Sheldon characteristics, willy-nilly, with no regard for the fact that the life of a character is tied to its consistency.
KNOWING how Sheldon will react in any given scenario was an enormous part of the humour and his appeal. This was possible because for 4 years he was a largely self-consistent character. He had very certain, dependable traits. Which are now gone.
Look at this list again:Vintage Sheldon Quirks
I don't think the fucker has ANY of these left!
And these are IMPORTANT characteristics. Suddenly making Sheldon some sort of idiot who is dependent on his smart phone, for the sake of a smart phone joke, is incredibly insulting to the character. It's been happening for three years, and has increased exponentially since mid-way through S7.
I'm particularly peeved, because these are very intelligent writers, and whilst comedy might be enormously difficult to write, it is surely a simple thing to keep to a list of 12 basic Sheldonian characteristics, or even the 6 most essential. These characteristics MADE the character in the first place. It's those quotes and THAT Sheldon which is on all the merchandise. It's THAT Sheldon which people immediately think of when you mention TBBT. The brilliant, odd, bazinga-spouting alien with unalterable routines, triple-knocking on Penny's door.
Bring him back you goddamn CBS bastards (or whichever head-honcho is bloody responsible) or I'll be playing the goddamn bagpipes outside your door in television hell.
There are, of course, far more vicious bizarro-Sheldon moments, but I don't want to see them. The problem with the above scene, and my reason for posting it, is that it's an example of sacrificing character for humour, in this case a single joke about phone reception.
Sheldon (ORIGINAL Sheldon) would have had endless ways of entertaining himself (and aggravating Leonard)!
He also would have stored the possible pre-phone entertainment scenarios in his head, and not needed to look them up in the first place. Original Sheldon was bloody Wikipedia.
They keep dropping essential Sheldon characteristics, willy-nilly, with no regard for the fact that the life of a character is tied to its consistency.
KNOWING how Sheldon will react in any given scenario was an enormous part of the humour and his appeal. This was possible because for 4 years he was a largely self-consistent character. He had very certain, dependable traits. Which are now gone.
Look at this list again:Vintage Sheldon Quirks
I don't think the fucker has ANY of these left!
And these are IMPORTANT characteristics. Suddenly making Sheldon some sort of idiot who is dependent on his smart phone, for the sake of a smart phone joke, is incredibly insulting to the character. It's been happening for three years, and has increased exponentially since mid-way through S7.
I'm particularly peeved, because these are very intelligent writers, and whilst comedy might be enormously difficult to write, it is surely a simple thing to keep to a list of 12 basic Sheldonian characteristics, or even the 6 most essential. These characteristics MADE the character in the first place. It's those quotes and THAT Sheldon which is on all the merchandise. It's THAT Sheldon which people immediately think of when you mention TBBT. The brilliant, odd, bazinga-spouting alien with unalterable routines, triple-knocking on Penny's door.
Bring him back you goddamn CBS bastards (or whichever head-honcho is bloody responsible) or I'll be playing the goddamn bagpipes outside your door in television hell.
"WHERE THE HELL'S MY PARACHUTE?"