An Un-unravelable Web?

[wellplayedpenny]

“Part of what’s wonderful and unique about [Sheldon] is he has chosen not to play in the relationship game either way — heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, any sexuality,” Lorre said. “He has said, ‘This is not for me. I’m a scientist. All I’m interested in is science and what George Lucas thinks.’ We’ve stumbled into creating a character who has chosen a lifestyle for himself that is unique. And I don’t see any reason to modify it.” (2010) http://insidetv.ew.com/2010/01/09/big-ba...d-sheldon/

"Whether you agree with it or not,whether you agree on how, [Sheldon] is having a relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler. That's THE relationship. They've established a relationship that works for them...and I think that's admirable" (Lorre 2012) http://longlivetheshamy.tumblr.com/post/...on-amy-the

So much for an un-unravelable web....

Obviously there's been a massive shift on The Big Bang Theory and I'd like to map out the thought process of TPTB regarding how they see the show (plot, characters, etc) so as to better clarify the transition.

This is a thread where we compile the articles/interviews with the creators, show runners, actors, writers, etc. where they express their pov regarding the show, its characters and the direction of the series.

Please attach the link to the article and it would be much appreciated if you could note the date of the article/comment and who said it for quick reference.

[Gamma]

http://collider.com/movie/article.asp/aid/8685/tcid/1


Here is a really early one from comic-con 8/08. It is Prady and Lorre.


"Lorre: They're not slackers. This is not "Friends". These are very, very remarkable characters and if we stay true to that then it's quite a joy to be a part of."

[Idle Miscreant]

I can see this is going to be the most depressing thread on the whole forum...


The follow up to that Lorre quote was;

Added fellow e.p. Bill Prady: “[Sheldon] has made [a] choice that work and all of that is where he finds his passion.”

Lorre acknowledged that Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco have “become a natural comic pairing because [Penny] can tell him the truth. She’s not intimidated by him. They bounce off each other beautifully.”

So they were quite set in the Sheldon characterization of one for whom "the quest for truth" was all that mattered. Which was an old and noble concept. That's gone out the window at considerable velocity...

Also they knew the worth of the S/P interplay, as did Parsons according to a number of articles, including this one;
http://www.avclub.com/article/jim-parsons-27415

Interesting stuff in there about his contributions to the Sheldon character.
No time to quote alas! Some less disorganised fecker will have to sift through it.

Collection of TBBT articles at Tripper's forum; http://the-big-bang-theory.com/articles/
(unfortunately some of the links are dead)

[wellplayedpenny]

Re: http://insidetv.ew.com/2010/01/09/big-ba...d-sheldon/
EW 'Big Bang' Scoop: Romance for Penny and Sheldon?

Memorable lines: see my Post 1 and Gripe's Post 3 so I won't have to repeat.

I'm adding a FYI segment called 'Mood of the Masses' where I'll note the general gist of the comments on the article.

Mood of the Masses: The "general fan" was split into the following opinions: Sheldon is asexual and to pair him with anyone would be catastrophic as "the whole dynamic shifts in a really bad way." OR Penny and Sheldon have great chemistry as friends and want it left that way as they are "non-romantic soul mates".

There was a definite grumble against the influx of relationships on the show as they wanted the characters to develop but wanted to "keep their dynamics the same as in 4 nerdy/geeky guys and their friend Penny". The general fan seemed to find the Lenny relationship annoying as "Penny/Leonard have zero chemistry". There is too much emphasis on the Lenny and "honestly, those two are the most boring characters on the show". Moreover, "the Leonard and Penny relationship has really turned the great, well-developed Penny from season two into simply “Leonard’s girlfriend” in season three." They also note that Leonard has become a noticeable douche. Readers " hate how Leonard has sort of become the “cool” guy of the group criticizing the other guys."

The Pro-Lenny sentiment hated it "when fans force what happens in a show" as at this time the Shenny sentiment was at its height. The view was that "a writer shouldn't have to change the story just to make some fans happy" and how nice that the writers support Lenny!

Best Quotes: I think a lot of the Sheldon/Penny fans will be a lot happier if they just broke Leonard and Penny up. They just don’t work on screen, and there is absolutely nothing romantic about them either. I can see Leonard’s reasoning for liking Penny, but that doesn’t go beyond that he’s attracted her. But why does Penny like HIM? Besides the fact that he’s a “nice guy”. I just think this show is more successful when they don’t focus on relationships, and more on the comedy. (Shari)

I just thing that Johny and Kaley have good chemistry, and the producers were liking the idea of the awkward nerdy guy getting the middle earth barbie….
But then it came Jim Parsons, with his outstanding acting and the insane chemistry with Kaley and now, Lenny looks, well…dull. And boring.
Either you like Lenny because of the self-insertion, or you like Shenny because they are the hottest, Sheldon is the alpha of the group, insanely smart and blue eyed, and Penny is wild and blond and insistent and they bounce of beautifully even in friendship, the romantic possibilities are insane and hilarious, but it’s an explosive, intense, very difficult couple and I really don’t think the writers can handle such an intricate possibility, either is going to be the most amazing pairing in the TV world or it will be so so bad, people will prefer to burn the Season DVD’s in communal fire. So they choose to stick with the easier Lenny. (Fer)

[Idle Miscreant]

"Female on male sexual coercion in The Big Bang Theory isn’t funny."

http://mymisanthropicmusings.org.uk/fema...snt-funny/

Mood of the Masses material...
Current season viewers speaking about Sheldon; (link in chat)

"he went from behind a spot on exaggeration of a physics nerd, who thinks rationally way too much, to being a childlike person. Nowadays, instead of saying things that are way too rationalized and that lack an emotional understanding of what goes on, he simply says random stupid things." (baremu)

"Why have they turned Sheldon into a childish idiot savant? In tonight's episode, Sheldon is depicted as not even capable of using a revolving door without being confused.
Really, this show has devolved so far from the original premise that it's almost impossible to believe these people are supposed to be intelligent scientists anymore." (Dalton)

"I got the same vibe as well. He was totally acting like somewhere between a mentally handicapped ward and a crazy zealot. An unreasonable, and stubborn person who couldn't weigh out the benefits of getting a surgery vs not getting one, a person whose opinion matters so little to his friends, even his g/f btw, that she outright lies to his face about his roommate's whereabouts so that he won't further pursue his obtuse personal agenda. A person whose superior intellect has zero application beyond the confines of the university where he works and/or his private study given that he can't do something simple such as not run into a door when the lights go out, or much less, open that door.
I honestly don't get what Sheldon is supposed to be anymore." (racl)

[wellplayedpenny]

Collider Lorre and Prady Comicon 8/1/2008

http://collider.com/movie/article.asp/aid/8685/tcid/1

Memorable Lines:
Lorre: There has to be science but there has to be comedy. You don't get the science, you'll still get the comedy. It's like if the show is in Portuguese, you should still be able to laugh. That's the bar you have to jump over as writers.

Prady: But I think we found ways to stay true to the characters we established. We learned great things about our performers. To discover that Kunal had the range he had and that we could build stories around Kuthrappali (sp) and Wolowitz; that we have some strength on the bench. We don't write away from any performer which is rare in television. We can write for any of them and get great stuff. We learned to listen to the characters. When we got off track and had weeks where [we] had to do some repair, it's because we had stopped listening to the characters.

Lorre: They're not slackers. This is not 'Friends'. These are very, very remarkable characters and if we stay true to that then it's quite a joy to be a part of.

Prady: Leonard looked at [Penny in the first season] almost as an object but now you have to deal with her as a complete person with her own complete set of feelings which to the Leonards of the world is somewhat surprising.

Mood of the Masses: No comments.

[wellplayedpenny]

Av Club "Jim Parsons" May 1, 2009

http://www.avclub.com/article/jim-parsons-27415

Memorable Lines:
Parsons: From the end of last season and into this season even more strongly, I’ve felt that Sheldon and Penny are kind of the North and South Pole of character types on this show. Sheldon’s extremely cerebral and absorbed in that world of science, and Penny’s maybe the only one on the show with her feet in the real world. If anybody has street sense on this show, it’s definitely Penny. And so I felt last season, and I still feel now, that it’s good for the character dynamics to throw these two opposites together.

Parsons: Sheldon, for the most part, as far as we know from what’s been written so far, is okay with [not fitting in]. He actually is, in a lot of ways, quite pleased with himself. He enjoys the life he leads, and is very comfortable with himself. I do think, though—and there’s been things in the scripts hinting at this—that he had to travel a while to find that place.

Parsons: One of the things that I’ve been so lucky with, working with these writers as an actor, is that they’ve been so clear on Sheldon from very early on. And while the character has deepened due to all of us working on it together, it’s very rarely deviated from some essential things such as that. He’s not a touchy-feely person… little things like that. There’s just a clarity on the part of the writers.

Mood of the Masses:
The reviewers agreed with TPTB's position not to assign Aspergers to Sheldon as "there's probably something deep down inside the viewer's mind that would make 'guy with a disorder' someone to pity but 'guy with quirks' to be an acceptable target of humor."

There was discussion as to where the guys fit in at the university and the consensus was that they were postdocs given that they didn't teach, Leonard had to beg for laser time, etc. As one string theorist said, "realistically they'd be working all the time, they'd also be poor (apartments that size in LA, I don't think so) and a lot more depressed, but you know that makes for boring tv."

Best Quote: The BBT/HIMYM sitcom block on CBS has some of best character-based comedy on TV. I love 30 Rock dearly, for example, but it's hard to have "character-based" humor when you're willing to change your characters wildly for the sake of a joke. For example, if Tracy Jordan does a funny thing, it's funny because it's funny, not because of how you know a character perceives it, because you never know how a given character feels about Tracy until they express it that week. These shows (and BBT with Sheldon in particular) are filled with moments where the humor doesn't come from the occurrence (Penny sitting in the chair closest to the door) but from you knowing how Sheldon will react (upset because it's his chair) it might, and probably will, become a broad "you're in my chair" moment, but the 30 seconds of silent fidgeting from Sheldon are the best of the joke, and being able to anticipate and enjoy that reaction literally defines "character-based" comedy. (Andyl)

---

Entertainment Weekly Aug 18, 2007

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20054627,00.html

Memorable Line:

Lorre: ''Talking about geeks and nerds — that's shooting fish in a barrel. We want to write about brilliant people, and how difficult it is for them to move through the world we take for granted. That's interesting.''

Mood of the Masses: No Comments

---

Variety, Review: Big Bang Theory Sept 19, 2007; Brian Lowry

http://variety.com/2007/film/reviews/the...200556192/

Memorable Line:
...there are some qualms surrounding how long the producers can mine the Leonard-Penny aspect of the show, a shallow vein if there ever was one. More promising is the interaction among the key duo [Sheldon and Leonard] and their Mensa-worthy friends.

Mood of the Masses: No comments.

[Trust No One]

Av Club "Jim Parsons" May 1, 2009

http://www.avclub.com/article/jim-parsons-27415

Memorable Lines:
Parsons: From the end of last season and into this season even more strongly, I’ve felt that Sheldon and Penny are kind of the North and South Pole of character types on this show. Sheldon’s extremely cerebral and absorbed in that world of science, and Penny’s maybe the only one on the show with her feet in the real world. If anybody has street sense on this show, it’s definitely Penny. And so I felt last season, and I still feel now, that it’s good for the character dynamics to throw these two opposites together.

Parsons: Sheldon, for the most part, as far as we know from what’s been written so far, is okay with [not fitting in]. He actually is, in a lot of ways, quite pleased with himself. He enjoys the life he leads, and is very comfortable with himself. I do think, though—and there’s been things in the scripts hinting at this—that he had to travel a while to find that place.

Parsons: One of the things that I’ve been so lucky with, working with these writers as an actor, is that they’ve been so clear on Sheldon from very early on. And while the character has deepened due to all of us working on it together, it’s very rarely deviated from some essential things such as that. He’s not a touchy-feely person… little things like that. There’s just a clarity on the part of the writers.

Mood of the Masses:
The reviewers agreed with TPTB's position not to assign Aspergers to Sheldon as "there's probably something deep down inside the viewer's mind that would make 'guy with a disorder' someone to pity but 'guy with quirks' to be an acceptable target of humor."

There was discussion as to where the guys fit in at the university and the consensus was that they were postdocs given that they didn't teach, Leonard had to beg for laser time, etc. As one string theorist said, "realistically they'd be working all the time, they'd also be poor (apartments that size in LA, I don't think so) and a lot more depressed, but you know that makes for boring tv."

Best Quote: The BBT/HIMYM sitcom block on CBS has some of best character-based comedy on TV. I love 30 Rock dearly, for example, but it's hard to have "character-based" humor when you're willing to change your characters wildly for the sake of a joke. For example, if Tracy Jordan does a funny thing, it's funny because it's funny, not because of how you know a character perceives it, because you never know how a given character feels about Tracy until they express it that week. These shows (and BBT with Sheldon in particular) are filled with moments where the humor doesn't come from the occurrence (Penny sitting in the chair closest to the door) but from you knowing how Sheldon will react (upset because it's his chair) it might, and probably will, become a broad "you're in my chair" moment, but the 30 seconds of silent fidgeting from Sheldon are the best of the joke, and being able to anticipate and enjoy that reaction literally defines "character-based" comedy. (Andyl)

---

Entertainment Weekly Aug 18, 2007

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20054627,00.html

Memorable Line:

Lorre: ''Talking about geeks and nerds — that's shooting fish in a barrel. We want to write about brilliant people, and how difficult it is for them to move through the world we take for granted. That's interesting.''

Mood of the Masses: No Comments

---

Variety, Review: Big Bang Theory Sept 19, 2007; Brian Lowry

http://variety.com/2007/film/reviews/the...200556192/

Memorable Line:
...there are some qualms surrounding how long the producers can mine the Leonard-Penny aspect of the show, a shallow vein if there ever was one. More promising is the interaction among the key duo [Sheldon and Leonard] and their Mensa-worthy friends.

Mood of the Masses: No comments.

Just reading this article you get a sense the actors have way too much trust with these writers. TPTB really found a great bunch of company people with this crew.

[wellplayedpenny]

Deseret News, "[Lorre's] a Genius!, October 8, 2007

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/69521...enius.html

Memorable Line:
"In fact, we're working on giving Sheldon an actual problem that he's going to be working on throughout the season so there's actual progress to the boards," said executive producer/co-creator Bill Prady. "We worked hard to get all the science right."

Mood of the Masses: No Comments

[Trust No One]

Deseret News, "[Lorre's] a Genius!, October 8, 2007

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/69521...enius.html

Memorable Line:
"In fact, we're working on giving Sheldon an actual problem that he's going to be working on throughout the season so there's actual progress to the boards," said executive producer/co-creator Bill Prady. "We worked hard to get all the science right."

Mood of the Masses: No Comments

Seems to me Lorre learned nothing from Norman Lear.