Addendum to Philosophical Shenny

[Toad]

As we watch now, the potential Muse has become a housewife of abandoned personal ambition, and the noble Outsider has been regressed into infantilism, and broken down into an alternately pitiable or villainous pantomime, sometimes akin to an Idiot Child, under the guardianship of a character that began as an identikit copy of himself, and is now inexplicably, wiser and “better” than he is, and seems to function as his Keeper. This hideous destruction of character may be justified commercially, but artistically it’s indefensible.
If the characters of Sheldon Cooper and Penny are remembered past the death of syndicated re-runs, in any pocket of iconic eternity at all, it will be for their original depiction, not for the dispirited mockeries they’ve become. They have in Jim Parsons an actor of vast capabilities and extraordinary comedic instincts, and in Cuoco a comedic naturalism and enormous charm that is severely underused and underrated. It’s like watching Buster Keaton and Lucille Ball reduced to doing children’s parties.

That is all I currently wish to say on this matter. I would lay a fairly certain bet that I’ll have more to add interfrastically. In the mean…Thoughts?

Very nicely put! It's inexplicable to me that so many in the fandom see this character devolution as "growth" and that such growth is absolutely necessary to prevent the show from stagnating.

In Penny's case I have a hard time accepting her manacling herself to an insecure little man who preys on her sympathies for sex and is so disgustingly pleased with himself for having secured a trophy girlfriend that he more than encourages her to display her "assets" so that he'll have a better chance at tenure as quote unquote growth. (Someone please explain to me how boobies = tenure.)

And, Sheldon. Whenever he and Amy have a scene together now, the poor man seems to be so weighted down with the grim realization that at some point he's going to have to service m'lady that it's genuinely painful to watch. That might just be my own projection there though.

Your children's party analogy is soooo spot on too. Jim and Kaley are criminally being wasted these days. They're given practically nothing to work with, and, consequently, the episodes are largely forgettable. This is especially difficult for me - always before the two of them could elevate their scenes with a canny bit of body language or a unique vocal inflection. It was comic brilliance. I see virtually nothing exceptional in their performances now though.

Let's face it - the writing has gotten incredibly lazy. TPTB have found a formula that works for them so THEY don't have to work so hard. It's just a matter now of churning out lacklustre scripts, making sure that Sheldon the Clown, Penny the Bimbo, and Amy the Horny don't deviate from their designated roles, and sitting back and counting the ratings. It's mystifying to me that it works as well as it does.