12-10-2014, 01:08 PM
Quote:JEEEEZ! You two can write!
Sorry! I'm long-winded, don't mind me
Quote:So, am I saying that the characters were designed for the sitcom format? They might have been written for it but as I can attest to with the more dramatic pieces I've read on ffnet they are as adaptable, credible and poignant in more dramatic pieces as characters written solely for literary purposes.
Yes. These characters are complex. I’m not totally opposed to having “serious” moments on this show. The actors have it in them. Like someone here said recently, these are vulnerable people. One of my least-favorite Canon statements is “the characters used to be one-dimensional, now they’ve been fleshed-out.” Um, no. If you peel back the funny part, you’ll see their sufferings and their struggles. The pathos is there.
IMO, the pathos in a sitcom comes from reading between the lines. It comes from the actors, not from the script. It’s less about *what* the characters do than how they do it, and it’s less about *what* they say, than how they say it. It’s the look in their eyes, and their facial expressions.
But some viewers are very literal-minded, and they seemingly lack the discernment to see that. They take everything at face value, they need everything spelled-out for them. These are the people who think Sheldon is just an obstinate weirdo and Howard is a sex offender.
A TV show can’t be all things to all people. I doubt it’s possible for a traditional 20-minute sitcom to successfully evolve into a (good) dramedy. That’s simply not a good idea. Do the characters have the psychological complexity for deeper and more elaborate stories? Yes. But IMO that’s what fanfiction is for; exploring the road not taken.
It seems extremely clear that the Canon viewers don’t watch this show in order to laugh, or in order to be captivated by this whimsical world of eccentric people. They watch it for their own emotional gratification. There’s a difference in expectations, here. These Canons expect things from BBT which I would never expect from a sitcom. I do not look to a sitcom for some kind of vicarious emotional climax.
Serious moments in a comedy have to be handled very, very carefully, with a subtle touch. And things have *not* been handled carefully, with a subtle touch. We’ve had these contrived, artificial, Very Special Episodes™ where there’s nearly a flashing sign saying “Cry now!!” It’s manipulative, it’s calculated, it’s fakey. The emotions should flow naturally from the actors. There’s plenty of depth and pathos to be found in the characters’ everyday lives, without fabricating these deliberately provocative “money shots” where the laugh-track goes “awwww!” (ILY, hand-holding at the shuttle launch, the Letter, etc.)
The Office (US) is an excellent example of a show that combined wacky comedy with sad and poignant moments, but that show is very different from BBT. I think BBT was always kind of surreal and whimsical and candy-colored. The Office was a faux-documentary, it had no laugh track, and it also had a number of longer episodes that were 30 or 40 minutes instead of 20. BBT almost has some fantasy elements, IMO.
I’m not saying that everything should be one hundred percent cotton-candy fluff. There’s a world of middle-ground between “the characters are totally static” and the histrionics we’re seeing now.
Most importantly, those serious moments have to be *in-character.* TPTB’s emotional moments are usually in service of some agenda. They can’t let the moment simply *be.*
It’s not the seriousness that makes me cringe. It’s that it’s OOC and feels disingenuous, like TPTB are going “gotcha!”