and BAM! Howard Wolowitz

[Louise]

The more I think about it, the more it bothers me: they make Howard irresponsible and helpless just so that he and B. will have something to argue about. There was always a hint of that, with him, but it's gotten more extreme.

The writers make it seem like he'd be laying on the floor in a pile of Cheetos if she wasn't there to nag him and manipulate him into doing things. Like I said, that's such an inversion of what he's supposed to be, which is energetic and arguably the most practical of the four guys. That is the furthest thing from the bright and dynamic character that he is/was. Yes, he's a mama's boy and he's been spoiled/sheltered, but he's not passive like that. I'm sure there'd be a learning curve if H. had to live on his own for the first time, but he could do it. He'd be okay. He's not Homer Simpson. That ep. about "B. hid H's gaming console in the dryer" is the most boring, inane sh*t imaginable. The idea that he can't manage money, also rings false. Having ditched the flirtatious and colorful parts of his personality, the writers have nothing left but his weaker qualities, so now they're over-emphasizing that.

These are just stock characters from Sitcom 101, now. We've gone from "Smart is the new sexy" to "Men are dumb, women are bitchy." These are the absolute oldest cliches in the book, literally as old as television itself. It's like they're pulling sitcom tropes out of a hat.

I wouldn't be surprised if this show's audience is now skewing older, as well as skewing more female. I can't picture teens or college-aged viewers being enraptured with mother-in-law jokes and all this *ancient*, Rodney Dangerfield, "take my wife, please.." type of stuff.

Then again, maybe the viewership is too young to know or remember how old these jokes and cliches are.

This brings me to a larger issue: turning the characters against each other instead of giving them something to *do*, is extremely lazy writing. There's always been arguing and mild conflict on this show, but most of the time it was comical enough to not be tiresome, like when Sheldon and Leonard clashed in "The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization."

Conflict for its own sake, though, is not entertaining. Conflict for its own sake is not a plot. "Character A and Character B are arguing" is not a plot. It's just storm and fury, signifying nothing. There's nothing very compelling about drama for the sake of drama.

I would rather see the characters confront some type of problem or challenge that is external to themselves, not fight amongst themselves. That's the problem with a show that is character-driven, not plot-driven: it starts cannibalizing itself.

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Here is a cute old-school pic to act as a refreshing palate-cleanser after my angry rant: