TV - RIP TBBT
About this time of year, for the past twelve years, the US sit-com, The Big Bang Theory (TBBT), would be a couple of episodes into a new season - and I'd be looking forward to watching each episode (with a short break over Christmas and New Year) until about the end of May. Not, sadly, this year as Jim Parson decided to pull the plug on playing Sheldon Cooper throughout the programme's long run - and no-one involved, writers, producers or the other actors, wanted to even attempt to continue without Parson on board.
Much as I enjoyed the six years I'd been watching (I was a late convert), and much as I will miss it, it was the correct decision to bring the show to a close. It had started off as a sit-com but, especially over the past five seasons, it had gradually morphed into a soap-opera. It had started with a fairly even mix of science stuff, nerdy/geeky stuff and relationship stuff - but by the end, although the science and neerdy stuff was still there, most of each episode was more about how the various relationships were developing. I suppose that's not too surprising as delving too deeply into science would not, I imagine, be easy in a sit-com - and there are only so many games of Dungeons And Dragons that can be played and only so many kites that can be flown, so doing more on developing relationships was, I suppose, the easiest way forward - but only for a while.
What has surprised me, however, has been the huge number of Internet articles dissecting the characters and plots to the extreme - almost as if it had been as real as the drama surrounding Trump and Johnson. There were articles about the fan's best/favourite/funniest episodes, or about their worst/least favourite/least funny ones. There were articles about the fan's favourite, or least favourite, guest appearances. There were articles about each main character's best or worst moments as regards how they had behaved. There were articles about what the actors were going to do now (or were doing) after the show was over - including what they were doing in their private lives. There were articles about one plot hole after another being spotted by one fan or another. The list of articles just seemed to go on and on (and still does) - to the extent that I felt I had to put in my tuppence worth.
I think I started watching TBBT live (as each episode was first shown in the UK) during season 6. I had heard of it before, almost from it's start. I had come across it a few times while channel surfing, and my good pal JB had often mentioned it, but the scenes I always caught were very short and didn't seem all that funny. I later discovered that those short scenes were usually the dramatic ending to something that had happened earlier in the episode and were, therefore, not funny on their own, or were specific to the idiosyncrasies of one of the main characters (usually Sheldon but not always) - and those jokes were impossible to understand without knowing the characters. So, with my pal's recommendation, I decided to watch a few full episodes - and was pretty soon hooked to the extent that I had to seek out the many repeats that E4 screened throughout each day - and catch up with what had gone before. This, however, left me confused until I realised that those repeats were all from different seasons - so I decided to try and watch them in chronological order (this I did and I'm pretty sure I had done this by the start of season 7). I also discovered that the late evening repeats were best as the early evening ones were edited to quite an extent. This was probably to get more adverts in at busy viewing times but it was all the naughty, adult bits that were removed. This in turn rendered some scenes pointless as the it was the rude punch lines that were being removed. So, for anyone thinking of catching up, I'd recommend starting from the pilot in season 1 - and I'd also recommend watching (or recording for later viewing) the late night episodes (if still being aired).
What got me hooked? Well the situation of TBBT was/is very different from other American sit-coms I'd seen. Instead of the usual middle class Americans chasing the American dream here were a bunch of scientists, all lacking social skills (one way or another), chasing scientific discovery instead of money and social standing - plus the adorable Penny, a struggling actor, who moved in across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard (who shared an apparment) and became a member of the gang (mainly because of Leonard's crush on her and her ability to get free wi-fi and food from them). It was just different from the other sit-coms I'd seen and the humour covered irony, sarcasm, slapstick, word play and just about every other type of humour one could think of.
Finally, to respond to some of the negative criticism published, of which there wasn't much. To those who claim that Kaley Cuoco (who plays Penny) is a bad actor who will find it difficult to get future parts, I would say the following; Kaley, it has to be admitted, was poor in the fourth series of Charmed. She was OK in Eight Simple Rules - but in TBBT she brought Penny to life brilliantly. After twelve seasons that should have been the case but her doing so started way back early in the first season (as far as I'm concerned). If Kaley has a problem it will be because it will be difficult for her to escape the Penny character. I'm not a great movie buff but I did watch the beginning of The Wedding Ringer and her part in that just seemed to be Penny with the added ability to swear profoundly - but that's probably what those who cast her wanted.
To those complaining about the 'plot holes', or plot contradictions, this was a sit-com not Shakespeare. Yes, there are lots of contradictions (something said in an early episode which is contradicted in a later one) but the writers were looking for ways to make each episode funny not produce a dramatic masterpiece. There was also one critic who clearly hated everything about the programme. That's OK as we all have different tastes in comedy, but they kinda ruined, for me, their argument when they went on to say that, over the twelve seasons, none of the characters developed or changed. This is so off the mark that I wonder if it was TBBT they'd been watching and not some other sit-com. All the characters do change and develop, eventually overcoming their issues and problems. Some develop more than others, mostly for the better. Some developed traits I wasn't so happy with - but that's what happens in real life. The one that changed least was Sheldon, but even he started to learn that the universe was not Sheldon centred - although that took a long time. Much of the humour was centred around Sheldon's lack of empathy and consideration for others, so changing that slowly was, perhaps, best for the longevity of the programme.
The Big Bang Theory has ended. No more new episodes. That is probably for the best as the twelve seasons had more or less exhausted all the possibilities available to it's beginnings and this was probably the case by the time season 7 or 8 had ended - hence, for me, why it had started to become more of a soap opera rather than a sit-com. At the same time, I will miss it (already am).
Much as I enjoyed the six years I'd been watching (I was a late convert), and much as I will miss it, it was the correct decision to bring the show to a close. It had started off as a sit-com but, especially over the past five seasons, it had gradually morphed into a soap-opera. It had started with a fairly even mix of science stuff, nerdy/geeky stuff and relationship stuff - but by the end, although the science and neerdy stuff was still there, most of each episode was more about how the various relationships were developing. I suppose that's not too surprising as delving too deeply into science would not, I imagine, be easy in a sit-com - and there are only so many games of Dungeons And Dragons that can be played and only so many kites that can be flown, so doing more on developing relationships was, I suppose, the easiest way forward - but only for a while.
What has surprised me, however, has been the huge number of Internet articles dissecting the characters and plots to the extreme - almost as if it had been as real as the drama surrounding Trump and Johnson. There were articles about the fan's best/favourite/funniest episodes, or about their worst/least favourite/least funny ones. There were articles about the fan's favourite, or least favourite, guest appearances. There were articles about each main character's best or worst moments as regards how they had behaved. There were articles about what the actors were going to do now (or were doing) after the show was over - including what they were doing in their private lives. There were articles about one plot hole after another being spotted by one fan or another. The list of articles just seemed to go on and on (and still does) - to the extent that I felt I had to put in my tuppence worth.
I think I started watching TBBT live (as each episode was first shown in the UK) during season 6. I had heard of it before, almost from it's start. I had come across it a few times while channel surfing, and my good pal JB had often mentioned it, but the scenes I always caught were very short and didn't seem all that funny. I later discovered that those short scenes were usually the dramatic ending to something that had happened earlier in the episode and were, therefore, not funny on their own, or were specific to the idiosyncrasies of one of the main characters (usually Sheldon but not always) - and those jokes were impossible to understand without knowing the characters. So, with my pal's recommendation, I decided to watch a few full episodes - and was pretty soon hooked to the extent that I had to seek out the many repeats that E4 screened throughout each day - and catch up with what had gone before. This, however, left me confused until I realised that those repeats were all from different seasons - so I decided to try and watch them in chronological order (this I did and I'm pretty sure I had done this by the start of season 7). I also discovered that the late evening repeats were best as the early evening ones were edited to quite an extent. This was probably to get more adverts in at busy viewing times but it was all the naughty, adult bits that were removed. This in turn rendered some scenes pointless as the it was the rude punch lines that were being removed. So, for anyone thinking of catching up, I'd recommend starting from the pilot in season 1 - and I'd also recommend watching (or recording for later viewing) the late night episodes (if still being aired).
What got me hooked? Well the situation of TBBT was/is very different from other American sit-coms I'd seen. Instead of the usual middle class Americans chasing the American dream here were a bunch of scientists, all lacking social skills (one way or another), chasing scientific discovery instead of money and social standing - plus the adorable Penny, a struggling actor, who moved in across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard (who shared an apparment) and became a member of the gang (mainly because of Leonard's crush on her and her ability to get free wi-fi and food from them). It was just different from the other sit-coms I'd seen and the humour covered irony, sarcasm, slapstick, word play and just about every other type of humour one could think of.
Finally, to respond to some of the negative criticism published, of which there wasn't much. To those who claim that Kaley Cuoco (who plays Penny) is a bad actor who will find it difficult to get future parts, I would say the following; Kaley, it has to be admitted, was poor in the fourth series of Charmed. She was OK in Eight Simple Rules - but in TBBT she brought Penny to life brilliantly. After twelve seasons that should have been the case but her doing so started way back early in the first season (as far as I'm concerned). If Kaley has a problem it will be because it will be difficult for her to escape the Penny character. I'm not a great movie buff but I did watch the beginning of The Wedding Ringer and her part in that just seemed to be Penny with the added ability to swear profoundly - but that's probably what those who cast her wanted.
To those complaining about the 'plot holes', or plot contradictions, this was a sit-com not Shakespeare. Yes, there are lots of contradictions (something said in an early episode which is contradicted in a later one) but the writers were looking for ways to make each episode funny not produce a dramatic masterpiece. There was also one critic who clearly hated everything about the programme. That's OK as we all have different tastes in comedy, but they kinda ruined, for me, their argument when they went on to say that, over the twelve seasons, none of the characters developed or changed. This is so off the mark that I wonder if it was TBBT they'd been watching and not some other sit-com. All the characters do change and develop, eventually overcoming their issues and problems. Some develop more than others, mostly for the better. Some developed traits I wasn't so happy with - but that's what happens in real life. The one that changed least was Sheldon, but even he started to learn that the universe was not Sheldon centred - although that took a long time. Much of the humour was centred around Sheldon's lack of empathy and consideration for others, so changing that slowly was, perhaps, best for the longevity of the programme.
The Big Bang Theory has ended. No more new episodes. That is probably for the best as the twelve seasons had more or less exhausted all the possibilities available to it's beginnings and this was probably the case by the time season 7 or 8 had ended - hence, for me, why it had started to become more of a soap opera rather than a sit-com. At the same time, I will miss it (already am).
.JPG)
Comments
Post a Comment