SPOILER WARNING: What fresh hell is this? - S9
#1
Season 9 is looming and I know you are all just dying to see just how much worse this show can get. Sarcasm

Those of you whose hearts and stomachs are strong, or have morbid curiosity, might like to visit this thread.

I will post information and spoilers here. At the moment there's little out there but fan speculation and promotional articles to keep them in the news but anything that looks more probable with be here.
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#2
I think we all pretty much know what's going to happen.Puke
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#3
Once info starts trickling in about S9, I'm wholly done. I hope HQers will e-mail me, PM me, or come visit me at Livejournal or Dreamwidth, but I'm not going through this emotional rollercoaster again.

I still have a lot of fanfic in the works that I intend to finish and post, but it's so AU that it could almost be original fic, and I'm not sure it would be of any interest to Shennies & Sheldon-centric people.

I'm the same screenname, most places.


[Image: 33v26a1.jpg]
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#4
It was rather freeing to me when I realized that what we're seeing now, with BBT, are stock characters. It's a generic sitcom, and generic sitcoms have traditional stock characters. The constant, maddening question of "Why did they transform these characters?" might be *slightly* less maddening if you frame it in terms of "They didn't transform these characters, they simply replaced them with something else."

As we've all repeatedly said, there is no way those people from S1 could've "grown" into what we see now, barring some type of mental breakdown or major catastrophe. IMO we are now looking at the same actors playing different characters. The "growth, change, development" thing is a smokescreen. They wanted a more mainstream product which is more easily digested by a less discerning audience, so they made one.

It might be comforting to look at things this way: they have simply slotted these characters into new boxes, like a repertory theater where the various roles are always played by the same, limited group of people. The behavior, the choices, the mentality, the values that these characters have displayed in the last few seasons have NOTHING to do with the way these characters were originally created and conceived-of. I really believe that. TPTB can talk about growth for the next fifty years, but I don't think they believe it, either. The reason it's so jarring, so disturbing, so confusing and so frustrating to see the characters behave this way is that these current storylines have NOTHING to do with their original personalities. Nothing.

I can't think of anyone *less* suited to the Lazy Blue-Collar Husband stereotype than Simon Helberg. I really can't. That's like casting John Candy as Ichabod Crane. As I said before, it's like some type of intentionally absurdist trope-subversion. This is the guy so overflowing with nervous energy that he's fidgeting incessantly*, and you want us to believe he lays on the couch in a stupor until his wife yells at him to get up and do something? Yeah. Whatever his actual faults may be, Howard is *dynamic* and *creative.* That, not the sex-jokes, is the essence of his character. He's full of plans and ideas, and because this is a comedy, many of the plans and ideas don't work out, but he's always at the ready with a new one. That's what I feel. He's about self-renewal and self-reinvention; he literally keeps trying-on different personas, different costumes, different approaches. That's very much in line with him being a scientist, really. It's not a separate thing. He's an inventor, builder, and tinkerer, with *himself* as his main project. I don't think you can separate Howard the Engineer from Howard the wild and eccentric schemer; that's all part and parcel of the very same thing; the never-ending effort to attack a problem or question from a new angle. Stagnation, defeat, or complacency are the antithesis of what he's about.

You can apply this to the other characters, too, I'm sure. *We* know that "Sheldon wouldn't do that", or "Penny wouldn't do that", or "Howard wouldn't do that." They wouldn't, but Lazy Husband, Dumb Blonde, and Wacky Neighbor would, and that's the point, here. And with each character, there might be a combination of several different stereotypes being used, but they are stereotypes nonetheless, and they do not proceed in any natural way from the original presentation of these characters. Were there some clichés present in the early seasons? Yes. Were there some moments of wobbly or inconsistent characterization? Yes. The early seasons are not perfect. But these characters had VERY specific and distinctive personalities, which did not correspond to what had been seen in previous sitcoms, and that's a big part of why it captured people's imagination and became a pop-cultural phenomenon. I think PJ has alluded to this.

I think this is the point where somebody else can chime in about Vintage Sheldon and his inherent dignity, and how the inherent dignity makes it all the more painful to watch JP act the fool.

I'd argue that what we're seeing is not a degraded or diluted version of those Vintage characters, it's simply different characters, period. Characters for whom these particular actors are very poorly suited and poorly cast, and that's one reason why the show sucks. And if we still see glimmers of the original characters from time to time, that's because they are indeed being played by the same actors. IDK, maybe I am wrong, but IMO this is a comforting way to think, and it's a good response to the "growth" argument, and it's a good response to anyone who thinks the guys (or Penny) are jerks because of their behavior in recent eps. As I've said before, I don't hold the Vintage characters responsible for the actions of the new ones, and that's why I'm still able to love them. IDK, this thought was rather reassuring and helpful for me, in trying to mentally disconnect from how awful S8 was and what lies ahead.

*He does this IRL, too, in interviews.

OMG, I am waxing so poetic about Vintage!Howard lately, somebody help me, lol...
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#5
Nothing to report.

As with most of hiatus periods all the news items are based on the one interview by the showrunner when the finale aired. There's also some talk about the same by Bialik. NOTHING from any other source.

Jim is at home in NY enjoying a bit of theatre as God in 'An act of God.' which finishes up early August. Tickets here:

http://www.broadway.com/shows/act-god/

Kaley is doing a voiceover for an animated movie called Animal Crackers. Playing Zoe Huntington. Not sure of the date. She's also been seen on holiday in London for a few days, to attend to Glamour awards.

http://www.reveal.co.uk/showbiz-celeb-go...wards.html

[Image: kaley-cuoco-london.jpg]

Johnny Galecki will be appearing in the new Ring movie but not sure when filming starts.

http://www.avclub.com/article/big-bang-t...ing-217398

Kunal Nuyyar is also on broadway this hiatus playing Kalyan in 'The Spoils'

http://www.indiawest.com/entertainment/g...58480.html

And Simon Helberg is doing a movie with Hugh Grant called 'Florence Foster Jenkins'.

http://deadline.com/2015/03/simon-helber...201399243/

Chuck's been involved with Obama's gun summit, hosting the Democratic Party fundraiser at his house.

http://theinterrobang.com/chuck-lorre-ty...for-obama/

Bill Prady has been co-writing for the Muppets.

http://www.refinery29.com/2015/04/85018/...ow-returns

Rauch and Bialik have salary negotiations which could be why we are seeing much of the later. Rauch did a movie called 'The Bronze' I saw a news item about it being a bit racy.

So in conclusion, everyone is busy. They don't and won't look at the script until the week before they meet up again. And as is the usual Big Bang style, any 'drama' is usually resolved within the first episode. We normally get a raft of fans complaining about missed opportunities after a premier.

My prediction is either everything goes back to normal (engaged Sheldumb and aMe) after some OOC platitudes by Sheldon in the premier, OR they do a 'Lenny' on them and have a season with Sheldon 'suffering' (heaven help us).

Penny and Leonard won't get married yet, they milk that baby for all its worth. They alway have. And the show only throws in surprises to create cliff hangers (where the hell did that ring come from? and why? and who is this person who replaced Sheldon?)
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#6
The Season 9 premier will air:

Monday 21st September 2015

The show will continue to air on Monday until Thursday 5th November.
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#7
Still just rumors. Speculation by Mayim how the ring might not be an engagement ring. Oddly she told the fans NOT to speculate a couple of weeks ago Big Grin Nothing from the main cast or writers as yet.
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#8
There's been a rumour going around that seems to be gaining speed, that Penny is related to one of the other characters. Personally I don't believe this because if her surname was something any of the other characters recognised, this would have been known already. It's a pretty stupid idea and it sounds as though someone trying to get their own plot idea in there. It really is too late to give Penny a surname anyway.

http://www.inquisitr.com/2226534/big-ban...-revealed/
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#9
That article appears to be a monstrous amount of purely speculative faff.

If it has any speed it's only because certain fans with a vested interest in keeping Sheldon & Penny apart by any means under the sun, as apparently a friendship threatens a relationship (for the love of...), are running with it.

One would assume Lorre could tell what a dreadful and contrived plot device that would be if Penny were related to ANY of them, and thus won’t go near such piffle.

The whole point of the show (well ORIGINALLY) was the meeting of worlds. Between geekery and pop culture, pure intellect and street wisdom. That despite the volatile differences between the gang and Penny, they learned about each other’s universes, and became FRIENDS. Sheldon and Penny exemplified this polarity in particular, as head and heart, order and chaos, logic and instinct.

To make them related destroys the worth of this friendship, by rendering it merely a by-product of some deeper familial instinct.

Friends can become lovers without destroying the worth of the original friendship, because in such a case the friendship itself engendered the romance. Friends cannot become literal family after eight years on account of a bizarre and artificial plot twist, without retconning all their prior interactions. Explained away as mere instinct.

And to destroy the worth of the Sheldon/Penny interactions destroys the show utterly and finally, because it was built upon their relationship.

If they were to theoretically go ahead with such an inane scheme, the message of the show changes from a celebration of differences to;
A man and woman cannot be friends, nor can two very different individuals be friends. You have only your family, your spouse and gender-specific friends, and THAT’S YOUR LOT. (your dreams can fuck off too, but that’s another post)

It would be an outrageous farce if they went in that sorry direction.

Not to mention it would be casting shame upon Mary Cooper, if they made them significantly related, and not just like Howard and his second cousin…sass

Mercifully, as said, it’s all a bunch of hooey.

I have nothing to say about Season 9 at the moment. The whole thing depresses me beyond belief.

Where is Sheldon? Who is this sitcom boyfriend in his place? Where is his BRAIN? Where are the Sheldon & Penny scenes of yesteryear that are so beloved by the public? What is this soap opera hell we have fallen into? Questions without answers.

Undecided
"WHERE THE HELL'S MY PARACHUTE?"
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#10
I might actually rouse myself to victoriously HAH!! if this "piffle" ever came to pass. Because it would have the stink of desperation all over it and would prove that TPTB have little to no faith in their One True Pairs.

A laughably improbable contrivance like that, pulled out of some collective asses just to essentially re-write the Sheldon and Penny dynamic and "lock in" the legitimacy of the current ickiness, would be rich indeed.
OH PLEASE...
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