Wishful Thinking...

[BoxyP]

It's possible that the original characters and their neuroses would've become tiresome after 8 seasons...but IMO that's why a sitcom shouldn't last for 8 seasons in the first place. Three or four is just about perfect. This entire concept of "jumping the shark" would go away if people knew to quit while they're ahead.

You've hit the nail on the head with that one. Sitcoms are in most danger of getting repetitive over time, and around four seasons for a sitcom seems to me an appropriate length as well. While I'm the type who wants to prolong the experience, mostly because I get attached to characters of books, tv shows and so on, I've found that at one point the writers themselves just don't seem to have any good ideas left. Dexter, True Blood, X Files, House, Supernatural, Two and a Half Men, Charmed, even The Big Bang Theory falls straight into this category - dozens of shows that were good while their writers had a clear idea what they wanted to portray and had a definite stopping point. After that, money and ratings began dictating the courses of shows and the creators didn't have the guts to say: "This story is told and done; adding anything more to it would just be milking a barren cow." That's how viewers end up disappointed in the end. My opinion is, if you can produce consistently high quality product that doesn't get stagnant and bogged down by recycling old ideas, then the longer the better, but have the guts to say 'this has gone on long enough, let's put it out of its misery, or, better yet, let's stop while we're ahead'.

I don't believe the canon ships could be salvaged at this point. I'm pretty hardcore; I'm against the addition of Amy and Bernadette, period, and I don't think they've ever been real characters, just plot devices and Mary Sues. I didn't/wouldn't want any weddings or permanent pairings on this show, even if it was well-done instead of poorly done. For me, this show ends with S2-ish.

I think I have a soft spot for Bernadette of the very beginning, hence me giving her some leeway when it comes to canon ships, although perhaps that's because I have no great love for Howard (Leonard will forever be my most hated of the guys, I can't stand his whiny voice (Aaaaaaah, Shel-dooon) - it's sort of permanently stuck in my brain now, so that I keep expecting it when I'm watching JG interviews, which I'm a little sad about, since the man seems like a decent actor and person - but Howard never left much of an impression on me, so he's sort of neutral in my mind). I thought Amy was creepy as f*ck right from the very first episode, even before this whole 'relationship' horror began. The flat voice and the inappropriate obsession with Penny, the smoking monkey experimentation and the insatiable need to fulfill her high school fantasies, to speak nothing of her relationship with Sheldon - why is it so hard for people to comprehend that there are some out there who simply see no use or enjoyment in sex, but rather believe that these individuals are only repressing their latent primitive urges? I never could understand why anyone liked her as anything more than an occasional acquaintance a la Leslie Winkle or Dr. Stephanie or Kirpke. I'm all for removing both of the girls, or at least reducing them to recurring guest stars, because the show used to be 'four science guys and a girl next door' and now it's become 'the new friends', which I hate, especially because, as you've said, they are Mary Sues (Bernadette's voice - my ears are weeping every. damn. episode). And, as you've said, this just isn't the type of show that needs any permanent romantic entanglements, because they only detract from the whole point, which was, for me, the complex science, guys being proud of their hobbies, Sheldon's quirks and Sheldon-Penny interactions.

One thing's certain, TPTB have bitten off way, way more than they can chew, and squeezing a rather grim soap opera into the 22-minute sitcom format has produced some really weird and leaden results...

You've said it. The first time I noticed this was the whole Arctic incident; I wanted to beat the hell out of those three. Maybe it's because I'm a molecular biologist who knows the value of the integrity of scientific research, maybe it's because I make an enormous difference between casual acquaintances (or treasured, as Sheldon would say) and true friends, but I was quite pissed at both their actions and the casual disregard the show displayed for what they did, as scientists and as supposed friends of the man whose reputation got destroyed (Leonard found it more important to get into Penny's pants than to find a way of fixing his supposed best friend's ruined reputation and shaken self-esteem???), and Sheldon's ease of getting over it. I know it's a sitcom, but that can't be an excuse for something this big. I would never, ever have spoken again to a colleague who tampered with my research, let alone be friends with them or let them off the hook with the authorities. After that, the show sort of lost its shine, because I couldn't quite take them all seriously, but I still hold that S3 and S4 are fun. S5 onwards was so bad I stopped watching by the beginning of S6, and now just watch one of the later episodes when I find that its content sounds interesting. Weird and leaden is right.

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I think we give TPTB to much credit. Their main objective has always been, and always will be, to make as much money as possible and that means "pandering to the masses". Creativity and originality will always lose out in the end. They may want the show to be a classic but they'll gladly settle for a routine romcom if that attracts more viewers. If they wanted it to be a classic in the creative sense they would have ended it after season 3. But there was lots of money to be made. It loses more and more of it's classic status as the seasons drag on.

As a writer, it boggles the mind that people are willing to sacrifice their creations for money. I don't know, maybe I'm an idealist, but I've always said to my friends and family, if I manage to get published widely enough to make some serious money off of it (which isn't happening any time soon, since I come from Bosnia and am too busy doing my Master's degree in Germany right now, but some day, some day...), the first time I realize I'm dumbing down and gutting my characters just to make more money, I'm giving up the profession. The thought of making my characters what they weren't in the beginning because people don't like them just hurts me to my bones. But, I guess when you create so many different characters for so many different show, and you share these characters with so many different writers (since I can't ever see one person penning a 22-ep show year after year), they stop being sacrosanct and become just another sacrifice to the altar of profit and ratings. Sigh... it's sad, really, so sad