Season 6 spoilers

[Guest I'm not dead Cheryl]

I wasn't specifically meaning you when I said about people hating Penny. Although I don't understand not caring about a major character on a show that obviously a favorite of yours. Without Penny there is no TBBT.(as well as Sheldon of course). Nobody knew who Jim Parsons was till his mid thirties. I'm guessing he failed at many auditions too.

 

Nobody knew who he was on TV. Jim has made dozens of theatre plays, off-broadway before even venturing into TV.

 

My point was that we haven't seen or heard about Penny in other roles after the hemmorhoid commercial. To go from that, to Blanche Dubois with no middle steps seems off to me. But then again, as I said, it is my opinion.

[Tensor]

Two things , one it makes sense for Penny to be in FWF as Sheldon was doing the Nebraska flag, and Penny is from Nebraska. Two, I'm quite sure Leonard was the first person Penny asked to attend the show, even if if took place off camera.

[koops]

Two things , one it makes sense for Penny to be in FWF as Sheldon was doing the Nebraska flag, and Penny is from Nebraska. Two, I'm quite sure Leonard was the first person Penny asked to attend the show, even if if took place off camera.

 

Yes, of course, I don't think anybody is saying Penny shouldn't be in FWF. I was actually superexcited about it when I thought it was a PSA scene, I love these three together. I just thought it was a very odd choice not to have Amy involved at all with it. 

[MJistheBOMB]

Great, great, great ! Sorry to impose but while you're here, do you remember which tiny bit of A Streetcar... Penny played ? What it was about ? 

 

Well, there wasn't much to it, it was just sort of the tag part of the episode. Hell,  I don't even remember her characters name. LOL. It was just something Sheldon whipped up because he wanted it to be about streetcars. LOL. So we get to see Sheldon's "bad acting" and Penny who humors him by helping him out in his little skit. LOL. 

[Chiara]

Well, there wasn't much to it, it was just sort of the tag part of the episode. Hell,  I don't even remember her characters name. LOL. It was just something Sheldon whipped up because he wanted it to be about streetcars. LOL. So we get to see Sheldon's "bad acting" and Penny who humors him by helping him out in his little skit. LOL. 

Oh no ! I am sorry I did not explain myself properly; I meant the real A Streetcar Named Desire, not Sheldon Lee Cooper's extraordinary (I am sure) take on the American classic. Did K. Cuoco actually play anything from T. Williams's real play ? 

[MJistheBOMB]

Two things , one it makes sense for Penny to be in FWF as Sheldon was doing the Nebraska flag, and Penny is from Nebraska. Two, I'm quite sure Leonard was the first person Penny asked to attend the show, even if if took place off camera.

 

 

Yes, Penny simply asked Sheldon if he wanted to her to put he and Amy on the guest list. That doesn't mean Leonard was never on it first.

[MJistheBOMB]

Oh no ! I am sorry I did not explain myself properly; I meant the real A Streetcar Named Desire, not Sheldon Lee Cooper's extraordinary (I am sure) take on the American classic. Did K. Cuoco actually play anything from T. Williams's real play ? 

 

 

You did explain yourself properly and honestly, I just don't remember. Sometimes my focus isn't completely there TBH. LOL. THIS is why I'll be needing to bring a note pad with me next week when I go to the taping if I'm going to deliver a decent report. LOL.

[Chiara]

No problem. It is a lot to take in and memorise

Thank you very much. 

[rubyanjel]

Wow. And I thought the canon peeps only hate the other camp. Look at y' all!

 

I wasn't specifically meaning you when I said about people hating Penny. Although I don't understand not caring about a major character on a show that obviously a favorite of yours. Without Penny there is no TBBT.(as well as Sheldon of course). Nobody knew who Jim Parsons was till his mid thirties. I'm guessing he failed at many auditions too.

What do you mean by "obviously a favorite of yours"? I don't remember her mentioning Penny was her favorite character. 

I don't believe that without Penny there is no TBBT. If Chuck and Bill did not create these characters, there won't be BBT IMO. And I think Leonard is the most underrated among the three of them. All these characters are important. If you took one of them out, then that's when there would be no TBBT.

 

 

 

Penny called herself a bad actress in one episode and she has been written in the past as not having great acting skills.   Now that being said, we can also assume, since she has mentioned that she is paying for acting lessons, that her lessons were starting to pay off.  I have no issue with Penny getting an acting job and being good at it.  I will agree her age is off for Blanche, but with makeup they can fix that problem.    I am glad they are showing Penny have a success in her career.  It is long overdue.

Yes. ^ That.

 

But I think this episode was suppose to tell us that Penny does have a talent in acting and maybe this would help more stories in the future.

 

And oh my god, everybody's putting words into other's mouths today.

 

As a shamy shipper, I feel offended by the accusation that we only care about Shamy. Hell no. NO. Nuh uh. I sat through the whole 43 Peculiarity and I found it an extremely good episode. I was sad Amy was not there or even Bernadette. Of course when you have a favorite character you'd get disappointed initally. If you love the show for what it is and not for the pairing or just a character then you'd still watch it because you like it.

You don't know how I wanted to slam people in the other forum on how they would always go "this was the worst episode ever because there's no shamy/amy" or "I only cared for Leonard and Penny". I don't care about your preferences, bitch. Just be thankful there are spoilers available so shut up and suck up all the gooey shippy goodness you're probably looking for while it's there.

 

 The thing with FWF is that it was considered to be a Shamy thing, rather than a Sheldon thing, that's the reason for the upset there. I'm not a fan of the choice of doing it without Amy. But it is a detail in the grand scheme of things, I guess.

That's the thing. THAT REALLY IS WHY I GOT SO FRUSTRATED. Then I got over it and yeah, it's not gonna be a big deal for other people anyway and I'd get to be blamed as a Penny hater.

And I don't think Sheldon was just going to show a flag of Nebraska. WAIT what am I saying I was not at the taping HOW SHOULD I KNOW?

 

 

 

Great, great, great ! Sorry to impose but while you're here, do you remember which tiny bit of A Streetcar... Penny played ? What it was about ? 

I think it was when she was recalling her first love or something?

[stardustmelody]

Who wrote episode 6.17?  Anyone know?

[Letícia Parsons Jackson]

Just got home now. Thanks for the info Monique :D

[rubyanjel]

No. Bill forgot to tweet the cover. Sly.

That's what I was wondering since reading the episode.

Oh, and thanks for the report, Kyzzx and for the additional infos Monique :D

Edited February 6, 2013 by jeanalice

[stardustmelody]

Monique or Kyzzx, did either of you get a sheet that said who wrote the script?

[MJistheBOMB]

I left my program in the car, I don't know if it would be on there, I'll see later on when I get it.

[stardustmelody]

Monique, Moyra answered my question.  Here is the list for those other inquiring minds:   The episode was written by Chuck, Dave goetsch and Maria Ferrari. Teleplay by Molaro, Holland and Kaplan.

[bigbangsheldon]

proper sly innit anjel?? 

 

 

She invites Amy too. I think Penny is hoping for a threesome. (insert Kripke's pervert voice).

 

I think it would have been hilarious if Leonard had walked in on PSA in costumes doing something random for FWF. And go "Penny, NOOOOOO!!!!" hahah. 

 

 

i need it all

 

 

 

i cannot wait to see sheldon strip his jacket offobmbg i like the episode!! im not half as mad about fwf as i would've bene in 6x7 if amy wasnt involved?? weirdooooooooooooo 

[phantagrae]

Wow, people have been all over the place--and I do think that there has been a lot of assumption and confusion flying around.

 

I don't think it was ever established that Penny is a bad actress.  She may have called herself that in frustration at not getting much forward movement in her career, and she's obviously not a super-star, but that doesn't mean she's bad.  We know that she takes classes and we know that she goes out for auditions and has to deal with the ups and downs of the business--being cut from an audition for looking "too Midwestern", going out to an audition that turned out to be a porno, getting good roles in questionable productions in odd venues.  The Anne Frank over the bowling alley reminds me of Jim's story about doing a play in a warehouse where they found dirty needles.

 

And I don't think it matters what role she played in this Streetcar production since, as someone said, it was a class production.  WIth a class production, you cast as you can from among your group.  Whoever seems to fit the role or be able to carry the role will play it.  I played a housewife in a production of David and Lisa when I was all of maybe 15.  It was a class production, not a school-wide production, so all the roles were played by kids in the class--so the guy that played David was 15, and the girl who played his mother was about the same age.

 

Although I did think of FWF as something that probably only Amy would care to participate in with Sheldon (from their circle of friends), it does make sense that he would ask Penny to participate if he was doing the Nebraska State Flag.  If you look at the story logic, maybe Amy was too busy with her monkeys to be able to participate in this particular FWF filming, since Sheldon has to Skype with her while she's dealing with the monkeys.  As for external reasons, maybe the writers just wanted to play it that way because of Sheldon and Penny talking about acting, opening up, etc.  I've always loved how stiff and awkward Sheldon was with his FWF segments, so it's great that Penny addresses that.  I think the scene might have felt too crowded with Amy there, or the focus might have been off because Amy would then have to have been given something to say about Penny and/or Sheldon's performance, etc.

It doesn't bother me in the long run, because Sheldon has become close to Penny over the years and it kind of makes sense that she'd be willing to help him with the Nebraska segment.

 

As for what constitutes filler...I think that an individual person may be disinterested in a particular episode if it doesn't focus on whatever that person is primarily interested in, but that doesn't make an episode "filler"--either for the rest of us, or for the overall progession of the show.  I think that a true filler episode would be one where nothing and no one gets advanced.  Maybe that's what's wrong with the Speckerman episode.  We learn a little bit about Penny possibly engaging in some bullying when she was in school, and we learn a little about the bullying experiences everyone else experienced, but otherwise the episode is kind of stagnant.

In this case, however, I think they're laying the groundwork for Raj's coming developments and that makes sense.  We're also coming down from some pretty heady things over the last few eps.  This is a nice little "nerd moment" kind of episode that also reminds us of who Penny really is--an actress trying to ply her craft.  She's not just the neighbor, not just Leonard's girlfriend.  She apparently does well in her performance, but she also knows how to apply her knowledge to Sheldon's pursuits.

 

And becaue it is an ensemble show, there's nothing wrong with rotating the focus a little.  Maybe Leonard's role was a little light this time, but he had some good stuff in the VD ep and in earlier eps this season.  Raj has been overdue for some focus and I think this is a good way to prepare for his future encounters with this new girl.  And I think that's also why the better part of it is saved for the end.  We've seen him whine and mope, but we haven't seen him really hit rock bottom.  I think it sounds pretty funny.

 

And it's so like Sheldon to offer an alternative to Streetcar.  Wasn't it another Williams play--Cat on a Hot TIn Roof--that Penny suggested for a scene study in The Thespian Catalyst?  In that case he chose instead to do his ST scene.

I'm dying to see his version of Streetcar. :D

 

ETA: I also want to see Sheldon unloading all of his toys. Hee!

 

Looking forward to seeing it--as always! :D

Edited February 6, 2013 by phantagrae

[Pomita]

Thanks so much for the reports, Kyzzx and Monique and Moyra - you're our heroes!

 

I really enjoyed the report, and I think the episode will be a lot of fun, except perhaps for the scenes with Raj being really depressed. I agree mostly with what Phanta says (as usual). Some development on the Raj front as well as the Penny/career front was long overdue, and both their storylines sound pretty satisfying to me. Having a girl who is 'broken' herself, for Raj, is just the right touch (and something we've discussed here). And although previous instances didn't indicate any acting talent in Penny, I think having her step up on that front is a good direction to take. Since I know nothing about the play or characters therein, I can't judge whether her being able to perform such a role well is realistic or not.

 

I'm also happy that FwF is back. I'm sure I'll miss Amy in that scene, but Sheldon and Penny can be comedic gold together as well. Both the Nebraska flag segment and the Streetcar adaptation at the end sound priceless. Watching Jim/Sheldon do bad acting is always a treat.

 

Overjoyed to have skype-Amy again, complete with her addicted monkeys!

 

Last, but not the least.. y'all who were there (especially Moyra), is there any way I can express my jealousy at your being lucky enough to see Jim do a little stripper twist in a sleeveless top? I read that and I was like 'if only I could at least have a .gif of that waaaaaaaaaa'. And you saw it IN PERSON.

[rachelshamyfan]

@ monique or kyzz was Mayim wearing her cast in between scenes? She mentioned that she was back wearing it due ti tendinitis

[I.H.S.F.C.]

he is her boyfriend and should have been thrilled for her getting the role, but who does she ask first to come to her play?  Sheldon and Amy.

 

You're making an assumption there.  She could have easily invited him off camera long before she invited Sheldon and Amy.

[eirwinrommel]

fainting in the office with a THUD!!!!!

I thought you might like that. (sadly, that's not me)

Edited February 6, 2013 by eirwinrommel

[Slicknickshady]

I'm just laughing at the delusional shenny fans on Tumblr right now. It's hilarious. I'm dying.

[bigbangsheldon]

yeah penny said she was gonna ADD them to the guest list, i assume leonard was already there

[Chiara]

I think it was when she was recalling her first love or something?

The "he was boy, just a boy" monologue ? Very tough to get right ! The writers really did not do K. Cuoco any favour !

[Kyzzx]

You guys make me and Monique feel so special. ;___;

 

 

The part in Streetcar is when Blanche is telling Mitch about her first love and that her shadowy world became illuminated with a 'blinding light.' Very short scene, maybe two minutes.