The Big Bang Theory set for 3 more years

[MichaelDornFan]

I know how I'd like it to end:

Penny lands a part in a big budget SF series. Kind of Firefly/Enterprise cross, with a brainy, kick-ass female First Officer.

She questions some of the science stuff on the show, says it isn't right, when they ask, she says, "I know these guys..."

The guys are asked to be 'science advisors' on the kind of show they've always loved. How could they resist?

They DON'T mess it up. Or nearly do, but recover.

The staff writers are so fascinated by Sheldon, they come up with a new race for the show, the Eldonites.

Sheldon likes the Eldonites, and wishes they were in every episode. He also wonders how the writers came up with them. He finds them "believable"

The guys become recognised figures, in an Asimov kinda way.

Howard gets to meet Kaylee Sackhoff IRL. And George Takei.

Leonard and Penny DON'T marry, but are very glad to be in each others' lives, and through the show meet partners who aren't douches.

Now THERE'S a final season for you!

Hmm, doesn't CBS own the television rights to Star Trek?

 

[Australis]

^ I like the way you think!

 

[Marten]

Kuthrapali(sp?) will fall in love with a deaf girl.

It's already happened. Earlier this season, there was an episode where Leonard complained that the other 3 all had girlfriends, but he didn't. He engaged the "girlfriend clause" or something like that, and Howard's gf set him up with a body builder type woman.

In that episode, Raj confirmed he has a girlfriend. When prodded by the others, he admits she is deaf, so his inability to speak isn't an issue with her.

What? How did I miss that?!?

I'm guessing it's because it didn't happen.

 

[OmahaStar]

It's already happened. Earlier this season, there was an episode where Leonard complained that the other 3 all had girlfriends, but he didn't. He engaged the "girlfriend clause" or something like that, and Howard's gf set him up with a body builder type woman.

In that episode, Raj confirmed he has a girlfriend. When prodded by the others, he admits she is deaf, so his inability to speak isn't an issue with her.

What? How did I miss that?!?

I'm guessing it's because it didn't happen.

Season 4, episode 5, "The Desperation Emanation" is where you can find it. Oops. Guess that means it did happen. And you can probably find a clip of it on youtube.

From the wiki ...

http://bigbangtheory.wikia.com/wiki/The_Desperation_Emanation

While Sheldon has his problems, Leonard has his. Frustrated by the fact that Howard has Bernadette, Sheldon has Amy, and Raj has a girlfriend who is deaf (thus allowing him to talk freely with her), invokes the "Girlfriend Pact" with Wolowitz, last mentioned in The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary from Season 3. Wolowitz gets Bernadette to set Leonard up on a date with one of her friends. This date ends up being one of the worst of his life, however, he does agree to another date because he may get to have sex with this woman.

 

[Starbreaker]

I'm still shocked this show has become so popular... it's nerdy and geeky and occasionally dweeby.

I guess this is why they promoted Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Hey, in 3 years they might run out of "hilarious" ideas for The Sheldon Show and be forced to make the other characters more than one joke caricatures! So I guess this is good news!

Aw, I like The Sheldon Show as it is.

The Big Bang Theory will never become as lame as Two and a half Men. That show should be cancelled...or should have been in 2007.

 

[DeafPoet]

I'm still shocked this show has become so popular... it's nerdy and geeky and occasionally dweeby.

Well yeah, sort of. It speaks the geek language but the heart of most of the jokes is the observation that it's all so weird and ridiculous and deserving of mockery.

It's no mystery to me why the show is so popular with the public at large, but I'll never understand why it's held in such high regard by geeks when it has such a large amount of disdain for them.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Never seemed to be any more disdain for geeks than there is for "normal" people. A lot of jokes are at Penny or her (ex) boyfriends expense as well as the jokes that are at the geeks expense.

 

[Australis]

It's no mystery to me why the show is so popular with the public at large, but I'll never understand why it's held in such high regard by geeks when it has such a large amount of disdain for them.

Geeks don't mind a little self mockery. I think it's pretty safe to say Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady weren't on the football team, they're just referencing their earlier lives. I do feel it's done with affection rather than disdain.

A little mockery is a good thing. Too little or too much, and we'd all become supervillains.

 

[DeafPoet]

^

Certainly valid viewpoints but I stand by my post.

In any case my biggest gripe with the show is that I just find most of the jokes lazy. Sure they're rattling off monologues about physics and sci-fi, but the bulk of the show is uninspired dick and relationship jokes. Don't get me wrong, nobody loves a good dick joke as much as I do; HIMYM at its best has honed dick and relationship humour to a razor's edge as sitcoms go. But BBT always goes for the snoozer.

I caught one earlier this year that exemplifies both of my points perfectly. Howard got his wang stuck in a robot arm. It was played as "haha the desperate nerd tried to fuck his robot and got what was coming to his pathetic ass." Which would be forgivable if it went anywhere. But the joke just sits there as though the situation alone is supposed to be hysterical. Sure, he gets paraded around a hospital a little but that's it.

As a nerd I find the show mildly condescending. But I find it really offensive as someone who likes stuff that's funny.

 

[Australis]

It's funny in relation to Wolowitz's character, his excessive horniness and constant need to hit on women (badly), and how he even messed up a mechanical relationship.

 

[DeafPoet]

Sound like any fictional nerd you know? Other than like, most of them? It plays on lazy stereotypes and I just don't think it's a particularly funny joke.

The show's not a complete train wreck or anything, but the line between it and Two and a Half Men is a lot thinner than most would like to admit.

 

[Danny99]

Sound like any fictional nerd you know? Other than like, most of them? It plays on lazy stereotypes and I just don't think it's a particularly funny joke.

The show's not a complete train wreck or anything, but the line between it and Two and a Half Men is a lot thinner than most would like to admit.

I have to disagree.

Big Bang Theory is alot funnier to me than Two and a Half Men, which also survived on a lazy stereotype of the womanizing bachelor.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

True. What I like about the show are the constant references to Star Trek, BSG and other shows I love...stuff that most people don't know. It might be condescending to geeks, but I don't mind. I think it's funny when Penny tries to make Sheldon feel better by referencing the new Star Trek film. SciFi in-jokes appeal to me, what can I do.

Little things that make me so happy....

 

[DeafPoet]

Sound like any fictional nerd you know? Other than like, most of them? It plays on lazy stereotypes and I just don't think it's a particularly funny joke.

The show's not a complete train wreck or anything, but the line between it and Two and a Half Men is a lot thinner than most would like to admit.

I have to disagree.

Big Bang Theory is alot funnier to me than Two and a Half Men, which also survived on a lazy stereotype of the womanizing bachelor.

Well I did say it's better than that show. Two and a Half is fucking abysmal. BBT isn't that bad. But the same uninspired process creates its jokes.

To offer a comparison, I think HIMYM is the best sitcom on TV. It fucks with time, character and decorum in the name of a joke.

BBT by comparison notes that Sheldon's a sociopath or Penny's a whore and that's it. There's nothing deeper to any of them.

Believe me, a show about nerds is popular. So I wish like hell it was better than a mediocre joke machine.

 

[Starbreaker]

I'm still shocked this show has become so popular... it's nerdy and geeky and occasionally dweeby.

Well yeah, sort of. It speaks the geek language but the heart of most of the jokes is the observation that it's all so weird and ridiculous and deserving of mockery.

It's no mystery to me why the show is so popular with the public at large, but I'll never understand why it's held in such high regard by geeks when it has such a large amount of disdain for them.

The geeky jokes are funny. There's somebody play Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock instead of just saying "Star Trek is gay hahhaha"

 

[DeafPoet]

I'm still shocked this show has become so popular... it's nerdy and geeky and occasionally dweeby.

Well yeah, sort of. It speaks the geek language but the heart of most of the jokes is the observation that it's all so weird and ridiculous and deserving of mockery.

It's no mystery to me why the show is so popular with the public at large, but I'll never understand why it's held in such high regard by geeks when it has such a large amount of disdain for them.

The geeky jokes are funny. There's somebody play Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock instead of just saying "Star Trek is gay hahhaha"

Eh, I saw that. Not a complete dud, but a pretty good example of Mad Libs-ing in some geeky stuff into a lame joke.

Look, I don't think I'm gonna change any minds here. I just thought I'd use the opportunity to express why I dislike this show so much.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Perhaps it hits too close to home. I know there are times when a situation on BBT is similar to something that happened to me and my friends in our younger days. ( only writ large for comedy hijinks.)

 

[nightwind1]

I'm still shocked this show has become so popular... it's nerdy and geeky and occasionally dweeby.

Well yeah, sort of. It speaks the geek language but the heart of most of the jokes is the observation that it's all so weird and ridiculous and deserving of mockery.

It's no mystery to me why the show is so popular with the public at large, but I'll never understand why it's held in such high regard by geeks when it has such a large amount of disdain for them.

I don't know... I've met very similar people at nearly every SF or Gaming convention I've ever attended. Has anyone here ever attended a Con?

 

[Small White Car]

BBT by comparison notes that Sheldon's a sociopath or Penny's a whore and that's it. There's nothing deeper to any of them.

I think you have some subconscious bias against this show that you don't even know about yourself.

The proof is in your quote. Penny has never been portrayed as a whore by the show as far as I can recall. The fact that you think so shows that your viewpoint on this show is somewhat skewed.

Now, her sexuality has been portrayed as alien and frightening to the main characters. So there have been jokes about how many boyfriends she's had. But the punchline always has to do with the geek's confusion over this more than any kind of statement from the show on Penny herself. I can't recall any time the show judged Penny as being too sexual.

So I dunno what the deal is...maybe you're empathizing with the characters too much, or something, but you seem to be viewing things through some of their eyes and coming away with the conclusion that their viewpoint is the show's viewpoint.

I don't think it is.