Discounted Group Therapy

[Nutz]

So just got done watching the latest episode of Mike & Molly and it was dealing with her going to therapy (funny episode btw). Anyway, it made me realize what a staple the therapy device is in a Chuck Lorre show. He's done it in Two and a Half Men, Mike & Molly, and his new show Mom, so why hasn't he used it in TBBT? I know they've said Raj has gone to therapy, but we've never seen it. Let's face it, this group of characters is desperately crying out for therapy, so why haven't we seen anyone go? Is it because he knows that these relationships are so broken, dysfunctional and down right creepy that even the hacks he calls writers could never make the audience buy that these relationships are great and healthy in a psychological setting?

[queenoftheDales]

If every there were a group of people that needed some professional intervention its the Big Bang group. My theory on your question is that Lorre probably believes there is some treasure trove of comedic in the gross dyfuntion of these people. Leonard is probably the worst off because he grew up the child of a sterile psychiatrist. I believe in TPA Leonard said he been to therapy, so we know he and Raj are no strangers.

Maybe Lorre and whoever else comes up with these plot lines figure the characters are more relatable since they are so "damaged."

Look at Penny. She is the pretty blond ditz with a rocky education and failed acting career. From what I saw on Mom, this is a common character for Lorre shows. I guess making her the brunt of the jokes from her accomplished friends is funny. He slowly morphed her for a sparkly confident 20 something with some aspiration to a morose drunk. Having her go to a therapist could make Penny have an epiphany about her shitty life and that her friends and boyfriend are not helping. As SpaceAnJl said, "time to detox and deprogram."
How funny can Penny be if she is happy and successful?

Amy's character was like the gal on Two and a Half men that stalked Charlie. She was nerdy and homely and obsessed with being in a relationship with him. At first I figured AFF to be pretty harmless interms of the group but she turned into some man hungry manipulator. She too has "daddy issues" (this is what i remember bout her not knowing who her dad is, correct me if I'm wrong ) She could do with talking to someone about the deception and manipulation and the need for approval from Penny....

I know the guys are a topic to be touched upon too, but my first instinct is to address the women first.

I have yet to see Mike and Molly, but I've seen a couple of episodes of Mom (was not a fan ) and 2 1/2 men fizzed out for me a while ago. BUT from what I seen Lorre is part of the "He-man woman haters club" and its not funny.
Just what i think, I'm not an expert

[Toad]

Well there's this...

[queenoftheDales]

Well there's this...

My favorite line from Sheldon: "If someone as damaged as you can find his way to crawl out of bed each morning, I think I can face a simple award ceremony."

[Toad]

I somehow suspect that we'll never get more than a little "in-house" therapy now and then. Apart from the above clip none of the characters seem to be particularly given to introspection, that we can see anyway.

I have to say though that I always loved Jane Lynch as the sassy therapist on TAAHM.

[Nutz]

I somehow suspect that we'll never get more than a little "in-house" therapy now and then. Apart from the above clip none of the characters seem to be particularly given to introspection, that we can see anyway.

I have to say though that I always loved Jane Lynch as the sassy therapist on TAAHM.

I'm not really a fan of adding more characters to the show (even just reoccurring) but if it was a character like Lynch's brilliant, sarcastic therapist I'd be the first one cheering her on.

---

If every there were a group of people that needed some professional intervention its the Big Bang group. My theory on your question is that Lorre probably believes there is some treasure trove of comedic in the gross dyfuntion of these people. Leonard is probably the worst off because he grew up the child of a sterile psychiatrist. I believe in TPA Leonard said he been to therapy, so we know he and Raj are no strangers.

Maybe Lorre and whoever else comes up with these plot lines figure the characters are more relatable since they are so "damaged."

Look at Penny. She is the pretty blond ditz with a rocky education and failed acting career. From what I saw on Mom, this is a common character for Lorre shows. I guess making her the brunt of the jokes from her accomplished friends is funny. He slowly morphed her for a sparkly confident 20 something with some aspiration to a morose drunk. Having her go to a therapist could make Penny have an epiphany about her shitty life and that her friends and boyfriend are not helping. As SpaceAnJl said, "time to detox and deprogram."
How funny can Penny be if she is happy and successful?

Amy's character was like the gal on Two and a Half men that stalked Charlie. She was nerdy and homely and obsessed with being in a relationship with him. At first I figured AFF to be pretty harmless interms of the group but she turned into some man hungry manipulator. She too has "daddy issues" (this is what i remember bout her not knowing who her dad is, correct me if I'm wrong ) She could do with talking to someone about the deception and manipulation and the need for approval from Penny....

I know the guys are a topic to be touched upon too, but my first instinct is to address the women first.

I have yet to see Mike and Molly, but I've seen a couple of episodes of Mom (was not a fan ) and 2 1/2 men fizzed out for me a while ago. BUT from what I seen Lorre is part of the "He-man woman haters club" and its not funny.
Just what i think, I'm not an expert

Well either he's lying to himself or to us. In the notes of the Emmy speech he showed on his vanity card didn't he call the characters extraordinary or something like that? I agree, TPTB do seem to hate women. It makes you wonder how three smart actresses have allowed themselves to be part of this hatred. What kind of message are they sending out to young girls and how will they explain to their daughters that the money they made was more important then what the role was saying.

[devilbk]

I'm not really a fan of adding more characters to the show (even just reoccurring) but if it was a character like Lynch's brilliant, sarcastic therapist I'd be the first one cheering her on.

---

Well either he's lying to himself or to us. In the notes of the Emmy speech he showed on his vanity card didn't he call the characters extraordinary or something like that? I agree, TPTB do seem to hate women. It makes you wonder how three smart actresses have allowed themselves to be part of this hatred. What kind of message are they sending out to young girls and how will they explain to their daughters that the money they made was more important then what the role was saying.

The message they're sending out is "Look what we'll do if you pay us money."

[SpaceAnJL]

The message they're sending out is "Look what we'll do if you pay us money."

Which really just circles back to the show's basic perception of women.

Comedy is often cruel, the laugh reflex more out of fear. But it is also insidious, if you can make somebody laugh at something, they won't take it seriously, it lessens the threat. Funny isn't scary. (Generally. We won't go near the subject of clowns. They are definitely a 'laugh out of fear' thing.) And when something is 'funny', it gets accepted.

This show is particularly cruel, because despite the laugh-track, the characters are all very damaged indeed. And, crucially, they all make each other worse. It wouldn't even take someone with professional credentials, just someone sane and emotionally healthy, to provide some level of intervention. But a 'normal' person would stick out so far in the show setting, now, it would jar. I initially thought that Penny was going to be the 'normal' one, who would bring the guys out into the real world and show them how to cope with it, as they introduced her to geeky things and showed her that it wasn't just for kids. But genuine growth and tolerance of difference are absolutely alien concepts to TBBT.

[devilbk]

Which really just circles back to the show's basic perception of women.

Comedy is often cruel, the laugh reflex more out of fear. But it is also insidious, if you can make somebody laugh at something, they won't take it seriously, it lessens the threat. Funny isn't scary. (Generally. We won't go near the subject of clowns. They are definitely a 'laugh out of fear' thing.) And when something is 'funny', it gets accepted.

This show is particularly cruel, because despite the laugh-track, the characters are all very damaged indeed. And, crucially, they all make each other worse. It wouldn't even take someone with professional credentials, just someone sane and emotionally healthy, to provide some level of intervention. But a 'normal' person would stick out so far in the show setting, now, it would jar. I initially thought that Penny was going to be the 'normal' one, who would bring the guys out into the real world and show them how to cope with it, as they introduced her to geeky things and showed her that it wasn't just for kids. But genuine growth and tolerance of difference are absolutely alien concepts to TBBT.

One of the problems with therapy is that you learn a little too much about what makes people tick. For Leonard, therapy has been useless because he hasn't applied what he's learned to himself. However, he has no problem applying it to others. We saw that this season when he used Penny reading Beverly's book as a way to make her pity fuck him to remedy his horrible childhood. I would assume that is not the only time he's done that and that Penny has been his experiment, especially since the Beta Test began.

[SpaceAnJL]

Also, what do you want to bet that he has a cologne just like her father wears? He certainly knows how to push buttons. I still remember that little smirk on his face after he manipulated Sheldon over Missy when she visited, there was something nasty about that. And he deliberately sabotaged Stuart's second date with Penny. He isn't a nice person, there's no way around that.

Most of the characters seem quite adept at that sort of thing. Bernadette knew how to snap Sheldon out of his funk - by pretty much acting like a scary drill-sergeant, which is the show default for 'mommy character'. She uses the same tactics on Howard. Amy - well, just Amy. Beverly literally wrote the book on the subject. Raj and Howard and that damn dirty sock have a lot to answer for.

Then you have Penny, who threatened to open one of Sheldon's mint comics and draw on it. She responded well to chocolate. I can't help wishing that Sheldon had kept that water-spray, and the courage of his convictions.

Really, you have a group of people that seem to think that the only way the world will give them what they think they 'deserve' is to either sneak it or shout it out of people. They can see the strings and levers, but they don't get the basic humanity behind it. Perhaps that's why we as the audience see them increasingly as puppets.