WARNING: PROBABLY A LOT OF SPOILERS, ESPECIALLY ABOUT SEASON 7 !!!
I only got into this show on account of my Mom, uncle and brother, who kept saying, "This is such a funny show! Watch it!" It took them from '07 to '10 to get me to pay a little attention to it.
At first it seemed like the producers/writers/crew were trying to say to me, "Look how UNcool these geeks and nerds are around this gorgeous blonde babe." And that made me mad. Why another show making fun of smart people who aren't so good-looking or smooth, and who aren't so skilled at going to boring bars/clubs to pick up women or dressing in haute couture?
As I watched over the next few years, I began to realize I was wrong...either that or the writers' plan backfired. Who was cool? It certainly wasn't Penny (whose last name has never been divulged). Don't get me wrong. I love the character and Kaley Cuoco has done a wonderful job with the evolutionary process. She began as a bright eyed ingenue with perfect, bobbed blond hair. An angel of sorts. It's been great fun to watch her grow more and more cynical and troubled as the years pass and her career stays stale and dormant. By and by, you notice she has a bit of an issue with turning to alcohol whenever things go wrong or a major snafu occurs. In spite of her big plan, and as the years pass, she is still waitressing or barkeeping at the Cheesecake Factory, and to date has only done a Prep H commercial, The Diary of Anne Frank over a noisy bowling alley, and worst of all, 2 cheezy sci-fi schlocks about genetically molested killer apes.
No wonder she depends on (more than she will admit) and loves (she'll never say it aloud) her faithful entourage of science loving dorks: Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), an experimental laser physicist who has been head over heels for Penny since day one; Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) the scarily genius, yet oddly childlike theoretical physicist whose quirks and neuroses force everyone around him to watch their every move carefully so as not to offend/traumatize him; the painfully lonely and shy Rajesh Koothrapalli (Kunal Nayyar), a celebrated astrophysicist whose inability to relate to women in a sober state has him almost as close to alcoholism as Penny; Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), the tiny, over-confident, color-coordinated aerospace engineer whose lack of a PhD makes him the butt of Sheldon's jokes; Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch) the fierce, petite microbiologist with the chipmunk voice; Neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik, brilliant!) the woman "chosen by science" to be Sheldon's mate, the frumpily dressed, limp- haired ultra-nerd who slowly becomes more and more delightful as she ingrains herself to the group; and Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman), the half-dead from depression owner of everyone's favorite comic book store.
Together, these "losers" daily navigate that big thing called life. Penny realizes she is most certainly not the "cool" one, and it is a great thing to hear a character who has had more sex than John Holmes say, "Sex is not what makes you grown up" to the virginal (not by choice) Amy. All of these people are extremely lovable. You may not understand all the physics jargon, but you understand they're human beings like you, and you root for them. For all their gifts, they are still confused and troubled and even broken. Leonard's mother (Christine Baranski) is a nightmare of a cold fish and has definitely left an imprint on her son; Howard's Dad disappeared when he was eleven and you'll get a look at the impact that made in an episode from season 7; Raj, again, is painfully lonely, the opposite of a person like myself who prefers solitude. He's had romance after romance fail on him. I was really hoping things would work with the weird little Lucy girl. Perhaps in the smart, somewhat kinky Emily, he will finally find happiness. Sheldon's Grandfather and father died when he was very young. In a very recent episode, a childhood idol of Sheldon's passes on, and it seems to trigger a sea change in him. As yet, he and Amy are still virgins. Leonard and Penny have finally decided to marry. So much change for a person who doesn't do well with even minor change. Sheldon finds himself at a crossroads by the finale of season 7.
Waiting for season 8.....
I only got into this show on account of my Mom, uncle and brother, who kept saying, "This is such a funny show! Watch it!" It took them from '07 to '10 to get me to pay a little attention to it.
At first it seemed like the producers/writers/crew were trying to say to me, "Look how UNcool these geeks and nerds are around this gorgeous blonde babe." And that made me mad. Why another show making fun of smart people who aren't so good-looking or smooth, and who aren't so skilled at going to boring bars/clubs to pick up women or dressing in haute couture?
As I watched over the next few years, I began to realize I was wrong...either that or the writers' plan backfired. Who was cool? It certainly wasn't Penny (whose last name has never been divulged). Don't get me wrong. I love the character and Kaley Cuoco has done a wonderful job with the evolutionary process. She began as a bright eyed ingenue with perfect, bobbed blond hair. An angel of sorts. It's been great fun to watch her grow more and more cynical and troubled as the years pass and her career stays stale and dormant. By and by, you notice she has a bit of an issue with turning to alcohol whenever things go wrong or a major snafu occurs. In spite of her big plan, and as the years pass, she is still waitressing or barkeeping at the Cheesecake Factory, and to date has only done a Prep H commercial, The Diary of Anne Frank over a noisy bowling alley, and worst of all, 2 cheezy sci-fi schlocks about genetically molested killer apes.
No wonder she depends on (more than she will admit) and loves (she'll never say it aloud) her faithful entourage of science loving dorks: Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), an experimental laser physicist who has been head over heels for Penny since day one; Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) the scarily genius, yet oddly childlike theoretical physicist whose quirks and neuroses force everyone around him to watch their every move carefully so as not to offend/traumatize him; the painfully lonely and shy Rajesh Koothrapalli (Kunal Nayyar), a celebrated astrophysicist whose inability to relate to women in a sober state has him almost as close to alcoholism as Penny; Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), the tiny, over-confident, color-coordinated aerospace engineer whose lack of a PhD makes him the butt of Sheldon's jokes; Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch) the fierce, petite microbiologist with the chipmunk voice; Neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik, brilliant!) the woman "chosen by science" to be Sheldon's mate, the frumpily dressed, limp- haired ultra-nerd who slowly becomes more and more delightful as she ingrains herself to the group; and Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman), the half-dead from depression owner of everyone's favorite comic book store.
Together, these "losers" daily navigate that big thing called life. Penny realizes she is most certainly not the "cool" one, and it is a great thing to hear a character who has had more sex than John Holmes say, "Sex is not what makes you grown up" to the virginal (not by choice) Amy. All of these people are extremely lovable. You may not understand all the physics jargon, but you understand they're human beings like you, and you root for them. For all their gifts, they are still confused and troubled and even broken. Leonard's mother (Christine Baranski) is a nightmare of a cold fish and has definitely left an imprint on her son; Howard's Dad disappeared when he was eleven and you'll get a look at the impact that made in an episode from season 7; Raj, again, is painfully lonely, the opposite of a person like myself who prefers solitude. He's had romance after romance fail on him. I was really hoping things would work with the weird little Lucy girl. Perhaps in the smart, somewhat kinky Emily, he will finally find happiness. Sheldon's Grandfather and father died when he was very young. In a very recent episode, a childhood idol of Sheldon's passes on, and it seems to trigger a sea change in him. As yet, he and Amy are still virgins. Leonard and Penny have finally decided to marry. So much change for a person who doesn't do well with even minor change. Sheldon finds himself at a crossroads by the finale of season 7.
Waiting for season 8.....