11-13-2014, 11:10 AM
Some of my favorite early season stuff, the stuff that would have me laughing or at least grinning was the Penny/Sheldon/Leonard dynamics. Especially if Penny got Sheldon wound up and Leonard ended up in the middle. Like this exchange in Dead Hooker:
Penny: Okay, honey, did you even know the people that are moving out?
Sheldon: I never met them. That’s what made them perfect, there were no awkward hellos in the halls, there was no clickety-clacking of high heel shoes on hardwood floors, they may as well have been a family of cats just jumping around from drape to drape without that annoying ammonia urine smell.
Penny: Well, I’m sure the new people will be just as quiet.
Sheldon: You can’t know that. How can you possibly know that?
Penny: You’re right, I can’t. You know what? Anyone could rent that apartment now, an opera singer, the cast of stomp, yeah, a tap-dancing pirate with a wooden leg.
Leonard: Why are you making it worse?
Penny: I tried making it better, he wouldn’t go for it.
Of course it was fun just watching Penny and Sheldon interacting. One of the early interactions I find funny is in Tangerine from season one. When Penny asks Sheldon for advice about going out with Leonard they have a discussion with Sheldon trying to find his "seat" in her apartment. The conversation goes on as he tries to find the optimal place in the room. He is so matter of fact and it cracks me up. They just play off each other so well.
I like the snarky comments dished out by Howard, Penny, and occasionally Raj.
I like this one by Penny from Golowitz
Howard (after Raj whispers): Yes, she’s pushy and yes, he’s whipped, but that’s not the expression. Come on, I want to stop at Walgreens and pick up some more eyeliner.
Leonard: They’re gonna get beaten up at that club.
Penny: They’re gonna get beaten up at Walgreens.
Then there is Sheldon on coffee:
Sheldon: Look at Planck’s Constant. People say it’s arbitrary. It could not be less arbitrary. If it varied even slightly, life as we know it would not exist. Bam! Now, now, let’s reconsider the entire argument, but with entropy reversed and effect preceding cause, so you are thinking of a universe that’s not expanding from the centre, no, it is retreating from a, from a possibility space. Bam! This is a space where we are all essentially Alice through the looking glass, standing in front the Red Queen, and we’re being offered a cracker to quench our thirst. Bam! Of course, in another universe, let’s call it universe prime, there’s another Sheldon, let’s call him Sheldon prime…
********************
In the old seasons, they would help each other, but that didn't mean they wouldn't snark about it. Like when Howard got the Mars Rover stuck.
Howard: Anything?
Raj: Actually, I was just checking my e-mail. But, uh, no, the Rover is not responding.
Sheldon: I believe the appropriate metaphor here involves a river of excrement and a Native American water vessel without any means of propulsion.
Howard: Hang on, there’s got to be other options.
Raj: You could try calling Triple-A, but based on NASA’s latest timetable, they won’t get there for 35 years.
Sheldon: Plus I understand you have to be standing next to the vehicle with your card when they arrive.
***************
While I have occasionally found some funny spots in the newer seasons, Vortex and the game night episode comes to mind, I find too much of the humor of the last few seasons to be more along these lines- from Parking Spot
Bernadette: Hang on. None of Sheldon’s theories have ever been definitively proven. My husband actually went to outer space.
Amy: That’s an impressive accomplishment. He’s now an inspiration to millions of Americans who know you don’t have to be special or even qualified to go into space.
Penny: You know, I remember the first time I got a bikini wax. My sister did it with melted Crayolas and duct tape. It’s a bad idea.
Bernadette: Gosh, Amy. I’m sensing a little hostility. Is it maybe because, like Sheldon’s work, your sex life is also theoretical?
Penny: Damn.
****************
The tone has gotten decidedly meaner. In the earlier seasons it was more fun to watch because the characters were so much more likable. You got the sense that even when they were being snarky with each other they still liked each other. Now the humor is harsher and the characters have taken such a hit in the likability department that it seems more malicious and hurtful. I really don't get why people find that funny. I can forgive a lot in writing if the author can give me likable characters with a consistent personality that engage me. Not characters with no flaws, but characters that even with their flaws have redeeming qualities that you can identify with. That also doesn't mean that a character cannot change, just that the change should be organic and fit in with the known characteristics of the character. Characters whose personalities change to fit the writers agenda or vision are just a sign of lazy writing or a writer that has backed himself into a corner. It is hard to suspend belief and not become hypercritical when a writer does this because you can't really become invested in a character that has no fixed personality or predictability. They just become a vehicle for the authors plan, even if that plan is an anathema to the original personality of the character.
Penny: Okay, honey, did you even know the people that are moving out?
Sheldon: I never met them. That’s what made them perfect, there were no awkward hellos in the halls, there was no clickety-clacking of high heel shoes on hardwood floors, they may as well have been a family of cats just jumping around from drape to drape without that annoying ammonia urine smell.
Penny: Well, I’m sure the new people will be just as quiet.
Sheldon: You can’t know that. How can you possibly know that?
Penny: You’re right, I can’t. You know what? Anyone could rent that apartment now, an opera singer, the cast of stomp, yeah, a tap-dancing pirate with a wooden leg.
Leonard: Why are you making it worse?
Penny: I tried making it better, he wouldn’t go for it.
Of course it was fun just watching Penny and Sheldon interacting. One of the early interactions I find funny is in Tangerine from season one. When Penny asks Sheldon for advice about going out with Leonard they have a discussion with Sheldon trying to find his "seat" in her apartment. The conversation goes on as he tries to find the optimal place in the room. He is so matter of fact and it cracks me up. They just play off each other so well.
I like the snarky comments dished out by Howard, Penny, and occasionally Raj.
I like this one by Penny from Golowitz
Howard (after Raj whispers): Yes, she’s pushy and yes, he’s whipped, but that’s not the expression. Come on, I want to stop at Walgreens and pick up some more eyeliner.
Leonard: They’re gonna get beaten up at that club.
Penny: They’re gonna get beaten up at Walgreens.
Then there is Sheldon on coffee:
Sheldon: Look at Planck’s Constant. People say it’s arbitrary. It could not be less arbitrary. If it varied even slightly, life as we know it would not exist. Bam! Now, now, let’s reconsider the entire argument, but with entropy reversed and effect preceding cause, so you are thinking of a universe that’s not expanding from the centre, no, it is retreating from a, from a possibility space. Bam! This is a space where we are all essentially Alice through the looking glass, standing in front the Red Queen, and we’re being offered a cracker to quench our thirst. Bam! Of course, in another universe, let’s call it universe prime, there’s another Sheldon, let’s call him Sheldon prime…
********************
In the old seasons, they would help each other, but that didn't mean they wouldn't snark about it. Like when Howard got the Mars Rover stuck.
Howard: Anything?
Raj: Actually, I was just checking my e-mail. But, uh, no, the Rover is not responding.
Sheldon: I believe the appropriate metaphor here involves a river of excrement and a Native American water vessel without any means of propulsion.
Howard: Hang on, there’s got to be other options.
Raj: You could try calling Triple-A, but based on NASA’s latest timetable, they won’t get there for 35 years.
Sheldon: Plus I understand you have to be standing next to the vehicle with your card when they arrive.
***************
While I have occasionally found some funny spots in the newer seasons, Vortex and the game night episode comes to mind, I find too much of the humor of the last few seasons to be more along these lines- from Parking Spot
Bernadette: Hang on. None of Sheldon’s theories have ever been definitively proven. My husband actually went to outer space.
Amy: That’s an impressive accomplishment. He’s now an inspiration to millions of Americans who know you don’t have to be special or even qualified to go into space.
Penny: You know, I remember the first time I got a bikini wax. My sister did it with melted Crayolas and duct tape. It’s a bad idea.
Bernadette: Gosh, Amy. I’m sensing a little hostility. Is it maybe because, like Sheldon’s work, your sex life is also theoretical?
Penny: Damn.
****************
The tone has gotten decidedly meaner. In the earlier seasons it was more fun to watch because the characters were so much more likable. You got the sense that even when they were being snarky with each other they still liked each other. Now the humor is harsher and the characters have taken such a hit in the likability department that it seems more malicious and hurtful. I really don't get why people find that funny. I can forgive a lot in writing if the author can give me likable characters with a consistent personality that engage me. Not characters with no flaws, but characters that even with their flaws have redeeming qualities that you can identify with. That also doesn't mean that a character cannot change, just that the change should be organic and fit in with the known characteristics of the character. Characters whose personalities change to fit the writers agenda or vision are just a sign of lazy writing or a writer that has backed himself into a corner. It is hard to suspend belief and not become hypercritical when a writer does this because you can't really become invested in a character that has no fixed personality or predictability. They just become a vehicle for the authors plan, even if that plan is an anathema to the original personality of the character.
Oh wow, oh wow, what an adventure.