Sheldor the Conqueror
#21
What I want to know is WHY did they feel the need to change Sheldon? They'd created a masterpiece and then decided to paint over it.
Didn't they think he was funny the way he was? Did the writers run out of material and/or get lazy? Did Jim Parsons get bored playing him that way and wanted to be more animated? Were tptb just looking for a way to get Mayim Bialik into the show so they attached her to Sheldon? They do seem to be infatuated with her.

I just don't get it. People on other sites say he would have gotten boring if he'd stayed the same and never "grew" but I totally disagree. I still laugh at Vintage Sheldon in the reruns as much as when I first watched them. There was so much they could have done with him and kept him true to the original character instead of turning him into the buffoon-like clown he is now.
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#22
(01-24-2014, 04:48 PM)WITCHDOCTOR FANTASTIC Wrote:
(01-23-2014, 06:03 PM)Tuesday Pajamas Wrote: So true!! these days it feels like he's just being malicious. Previously, you could tell he was more inept, than petty. It made him so damn charming, even though irl no one could tolerate him.

Yes, in the golden days of the show, if Sheldon cocked something up I'd still be on his side going: "Aww, leave him alone. He didn't mean it in that way." Now I'm just thinking "SHUT THE FUCK UP, SHELDON." The first time I noticed this shift in his character was in the episode featuring Leonard's school bully. Horrendous episode, horrendous revelation about Sheldon's weird personality shift. I suddenly thought: "Hang on. He's actually being a straight up annoying dick in this episode."

I agree with the both of you: he's annoying and malicious, the same deadly concoction that's poisoned the show as a whole. It's gotten to the point where I sit so stone-faced during the new episodes that I begin to wonder if I've lost my funny bone because I just don't *get* why such blatant cruelty among supposed friends is supposed to be funny. Since Sheldon is such a complex and delicate character he's like the canary in the mine.
Let's go exploring!
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#23
We were never supposed to like him. He was the weird one, too tall and too clever and too different. The whole point of him was someone to point at and snigger, because he was strange and Not Like Us.

Unfortunately, the 'Us' out there rather took to him, since we also tend to be a bit clever and a bit different. So the showrunners decided to SHOUT AT US, to make it clear that we weren't supposed to like this weirdo, we were supposed to like the myopic little troll...sorry, sympathetic underdog with his relatable concerns (ie gotta get me some booyatitties) And then they screwed us over by introducing the frog princess, a total two fingers. "You wanted him to have a girlfriend, here, he's got one, now shut up - no, he can't have the girl he has actual onscreen chemistry with, she's ring-fenced for the Designated Hero."

For a show ostensibly starring genius scientists, it has a strong anti-intellectual bent. Smart is different, dangerous, something that has to be broken down and reduced, so that nobody thinks they are 'better'. It is all about saying 'see, smart people are weirdo losers, so don't feel bad that you have to take your shoes off to count to twenty', with a sideorder of 'weirdo losers deserve to be poked with sticks until they stop being weirdo losers'.

Also, if Sheldon is made ridiculous and cartoon-like, people stop thinking of him as an actual human being, and more indignities can be heaped on him. It is the most outrageous case of character sabotage I've ever seen, really - the showrunners are destroying the character out of pique because their designated protagonist isn't getting the warm adulation they feel he should have received. (Mainly I think because he's the Expy for someone's midlife crisis/high school trauma, and we're getting to share the Issues.) I really do feel that the whole show is stamping it's feet and pouting - someone wrote about their feelings re the way a certain director treated movie characters in a franchise, that he had not only broken the toys but then pee'd on them so no-one else got to play, and that is how it feels that Sheldon has been treated. (And dear god but I hope the Abhorrence doesn't start marking her territory that way...)
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#24
(01-25-2014, 01:40 AM)SpaceAnJL Wrote: We were never supposed to like him. He was the weird one, too tall and too clever and too different. The whole point of him was someone to point at and snigger, because he was strange and Not Like Us.

Unfortunately, the 'Us' out there rather took to him, since we also tend to be a bit clever and a bit different. So the showrunners decided to SHOUT AT US, to make it clear that we weren't supposed to like this weirdo, we were supposed to like the myopic little troll...sorry, sympathetic underdog with his relatable concerns (ie gotta get me some booyatitties) And then they screwed us over by introducing the frog princess, a total two fingers. "You wanted him to have a girlfriend, here, he's got one, now shut up - no, he can't have the girl he has actual onscreen chemistry with, she's ring-fenced for the Designated Hero."

For a show ostensibly starring genius scientists, it has a strong anti-intellectual bent. Smart is different, dangerous, something that has to be broken down and reduced, so that nobody thinks they are 'better'. It is all about saying 'see, smart people are weirdo losers, so don't feel bad that you have to take your shoes off to count to twenty', with a sideorder of 'weirdo losers deserve to be poked with sticks until they stop being weirdo losers'.

Also, if Sheldon is made ridiculous and cartoon-like, people stop thinking of him as an actual human being, and more indignities can be heaped on him. It is the most outrageous case of character sabotage I've ever seen, really - the showrunners are destroying the character out of pique because their designated protagonist isn't getting the warm adulation they feel he should have received. (Mainly I think because he's the Expy for someone's midlife crisis/high school trauma, and we're getting to share the Issues.) I really do feel that the whole show is stamping it's feet and pouting - someone wrote about their feelings re the way a certain director treated movie characters in a franchise, that he had not only broken the toys but then pee'd on them so no-one else got to play, and that is how it feels that Sheldon has been treated. (And dear god but I hope the Abhorrence doesn't start marking her territory that way...)

This! This! This! To me it is punishing success. Cannot have the Sheldon character outshine Leonard. You put Sheldon and Penny together and that is big trouble for Leonard and others.
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#25
Yes, I do not understand how anyone can think this is funny. To watch the devolution of a character and laugh and applaud. Worst of all watch that devolution and have the narrative be this is character growth. Hell no. I saw character growth the first few seasons. It was gradual and believable, the way it should be. Curren Sheldon is rather uncomfortable to watch in many cases.
Oh wow, oh wow, what an adventure.
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#26
Well then TPTB screwed up royally by casting Jim Parsons. His talent, charm and effortless chemistry with Kaley have upended their original intentions. I'd wager a less talented actor could have kept Sheldon ensconced in the role of unlikeable second banana.
OH PLEASE...
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#27
(01-25-2014, 02:21 AM)thetoadoftruth Wrote: Well then TPTB screwed up royally by casting Jim Parsons. His talent, charm and effortless chemistry with Kaley have upended their original intentions. I'd wager a less talented actor could have kept Sheldon ensconced in the role of unlikeable second banana.

Hasn't the whole purpose of the show been to have Leonard get The Girl right from the first episode? My gosh here I am complaining about the turn to romance in the fifth season+ when in actuality it was the earlier seasons that were constantly being sidetracked by filler objects like science/geekiness/comradery. How dare I miss the point! ... You're right, I think Sheldon/Jim came about as a happy accident and they had fun with him (with all the characters actually since the writing in the first two seasons was particularly strong and playful). But now's the time to pull up the bootstraps and get back to the central romance. *Calvin face* And even better they're doubly signalling that recess is over by taking away Sheldon's 'toys' (science/geeky stuff) and giving him a girlfriend to boot.
Let's go exploring!
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#28
(01-25-2014, 03:09 AM)wellplayedpenny Wrote: Hasn't the whole purpose of the show been to have Leonard get The Girl right from the first episode? My gosh here I am complaining about the turn to romance in the fifth season+ when in actuality it was the earlier seasons that were constantly being sidetracked by filler objects like science/geekiness/comradery. How dare I miss the point! ... You're right, I think Sheldon/Jim came about as a happy accident and they had fun with him (with all the characters actually since the writing in the first two seasons was particularly strong and playful). But now's the time to pull up the bootstraps and get back to the central romance. *Calvin face* And even better they're doubly signalling that recess is over by taking away Sheldon's 'toys' (science/geeky stuff) and giving him a girlfriend to boot.

Yes, indeed. That's extremely poor wording on my part. What I meant is that I don't think TPTB ever envisioned that the otherwordly, Sheldony Sheldon would have so much rapport with Penny and could even challenge the notion of Leonard preordained as The Girl Getter. Credit goes to Jim for putting that mantis in the ointment.
OH PLEASE...
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#29
As a fan of Vintage Sheldon, this thread brings me much pain and joy at the same time.
Joy because many of you describe my feelings perfectly and have the ability of expressing yourself in a way I could never do (as English is not my first language).
And pain because it's so sad what TPTB did to Sheldon. I fear there's no coming back and Homo Novus is heading towards total destruction and degradation.
Man darf nicht das, was uns unwahrscheinlich und unnatürlich erscheint, mit dem verwechseln, was absolut unmöglich ist. - Carl Friedrich Gauß
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#30
While I am all for criticizing the writing, the show and even the characters, and while I understand that remaining positive about the show is hard these days (most of my own posts are rants after all!), I thought on this website we were supposed to celebrate our favorite characters and the reasons we came to love them too. But in the past few days/hours, Sheldon has been called malicious, a loud mouthed sob, an annoying dick and a freak. With fans like us, he doesn't need haters! lol!

So let's try and take this thread into a more positive direction. Let's discuss why and how we came to become a Sheldon fan. What aspects of him did you/do you like or admire most? What aspects of him did you/do you relate to on a personal level? I know some of us have already tackled these questions in other threads, but I still think it will be fun to have a more thorough discussion here in his Character Discussion thread. Smile So please join if you feel like it. Smile
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