Episodes Bbt Is Hovering And Needs A Boost

[CitizenCritic]

BBT is Hovering and Needs a Boost

6.0

By CitizenCritic, Yesterday

 

What I enjoyed about the past seasons of 'The Big Bang Theory' was the diversity of set locations such as: a Las Vegas bar, a hotel seminar, the desert, the Antarctic expedition, Howard ('Rocket Man") in space, etc. These 'away from home' adventures made the show more interesting and different and the comedy seemed to flow better too. In the 7th season premiere, Leonard's sea expedition was too short although Sheldon's dream sequence was funny

However what I'm sensing now is the characters are starting to get dull and the sets are being relegated to: the boys (Sheldon, Leonard) apartment, Penny's apartment, Raj's apartment, Howard and Bernadette's apartment, the university (cafeteria, labs, offices) and the comic bookstore.

This show needs to amp up because I definitely believe it has 'The Simpsons' staying power. The actors/actresses perform their lines wonderfully but the comedic potential that science and technology offers the audience is not being exploited enough. What makes this show different than any of the other situation comedies is the way science and technology is woven into the episodes in an informative but also witty and occassional slapstick manner. What I'm suggesting to Mr. Lorre is, "more funny science, please." Take the viewers on a laughable adventure with leading edge (or weird) science and the technological underpinnings that make it possible.

 

For example:

1. Bernadette starts to grow (or shrink) after being exposed to one of the biological organisms she is studying in her lab.

2. Amy programs a hat used in her monkey lab experiments that forces the wearer to act uncontrollably romantic and tricks Sheldon into wearing it.

3. Howard goes back to MIT and finds out he was cloned in a perverse experiment.

4. Sheldon grows a goatee because stroking it makes him solve quantum mechanic math better.

5. Kripke designs a plasma propulsion engine, attaches it to a small observation balloon and uses it to spy on his beautiful neighbor.

 

6. Penny explores method acting as a way to make herself more marketable. She pretends she is a character who suffers from spectrophobia (fear of ghosts).

7. The apartment elevator mysteriously starts to work again but it takes its riders down to Hell.

The possibilities are limitless and the laughter, well; I'm chuckling already!

[Guest]

Season 7 just started and there are only 2 episodes yet. Leonard's north-sea trip wasn't all of season 7. I don't know why so many people say, that the show has to go back to the roots (just look at the ratings of 7.01 and 7.02. They say, the most people are fine with that.). The characters are growing up. It would be boring (for me), if they would not progress in their life.

 

For me, it was just perfect how season 7 started. There is no reason to complain about anything. btw, i laughed very hard in these 2 episodes.

Edited September 28, 2013 by FileXxX

[phantagrae]

Yeah, I hate to rain on your parade, because, you know, you're free to fantasize about story ideas all you want, but you do realize that the show is never going to go as far afield into non-reality as your suggestions require, right?

The show is grounded in a more or less realistic setting, at CalTech and at the characters' homes, and those are the main standing sets they use. Yeah, once in a while they go off somewhere else, but that's not what makes the show funnier or more interesting.

What makes it interesting and funny is the interplay of the characters in whatever situation in which they find themselves. Nobody's going to be shrinking or growing or wearing magical hats or being cloned or riding a broken elevator into hell.

If that's what you're hoping for, then maybe you should be watching some other show, or writing your ideas in AU fanfic.

The show certainly doesn't need a boost. It's had phenomenal ratings for the premiere and will likely only go up from here. TPTB seem to have already hit on a winning formula.

[Tensor]

BBT is Hovering and Needs a Boost

However what I'm sensing now is the characters are starting to get dull and the sets are being relegated to: the boys (Sheldon, Leonard) apartment, Penny's apartment, Raj's apartment, Howard and Bernadette's apartment, the university (cafeteria, labs, offices) and the comic bookstore.

Amy and Bernadette were in a bar and hotel room, in the first episode? The other problem becomes where do they store all these sets, there's only so much room in Stage 25 on the Warner Brothers lot.

 

This show needs to amp up because I definitely believe it has 'The Simpsons' staying power. The actors/actresses perform their lines wonderfully but the comedic potential that science and technology offers the audience is not being exploited enough. What makes this show different than any of the other situation comedies is the way science and technology is woven into the episodes in an informative but also witty and occassional slapstick manner. What I'm suggesting to Mr. Lorre is, "more funny science, please." Take the viewers on a laughable adventure with leading edge (or weird) science and the technological underpinnings that make it possible.

The problems with what you suggest below are that the show strives to maintain scientific accuracy and all of them are outside of known science, except for Penny's fear of something that doesn't exist scientifically. So your suggestions wouldn't be suitable for the show for the following reasons:

 

For example:

1. Bernadette starts to grow (or shrink) after being exposed to one of the biological organisms she is studying in her lab.

She doesn't study biological organisms, she works for a pharmaceutical company and studies the effect of pharmaceuticals on some types of mammal. Not to mention there isn't anything known to cause humans to shrink or grow.

 

2. Amy programs a hat used in her monkey lab experiments that forces the wearer to act uncontrollably romantic and tricks Sheldon into wearing it.

There is no scientifically known way to cause this by simply wearing a hat.

 

3. Howard goes back to MIT and finds out he was cloned in a perverse experiment.

Cloning of humans has yet to be demonstrated, much less being possible 25+ years ago.

 

4. Sheldon grows a goatee because stroking it makes him solve quantum mechanic math better.

Several things wrong with this, Again, no known scientific reason for this. Plus, Sheldon is working on M-theory, not quantum field theory and if having a goatee made him solve math better, why didn't he keep the goatee he grew while at the magnetic North pole?

 

5. Kripke designs a plasma propulsion engine, attaches it to a small observation balloon and uses it to spy on his beautiful neighbor.

A plasma engine on a ballon offers several problems. Fuel storage for one, the ability to hover for another. You'd do better with a drone.

 

6. Penny explores method acting as a way to make herself more marketable. She pretends she is a character who suffers from spectrophobia (fear of ghosts).

How does playing a character who is afraid of ghosts make her more marketable?

 

7. The apartment elevator mysteriously starts to work again but it takes its riders down to Hell.

Hell isn't scientifically tenable.

It's alright to make suggestions, but with the scientific accuracy on the show, those suggestions should fit within known science.

Edited September 28, 2013 by Tensor

[JonRS92]

It doesn't really matter to me what suggestions people make since different people like different things.  As far as the sets go, I would point out that 90 percent of Cheers was set in one location, the bar, and that seemed to work out okay.  If the stories and characters are good enough the sets almost don't matter as long as they are appropriate.

[Oldnavy]

I do not see the show as hovering.  It seems to be growing IMO.  Going back to season one the majority of the show has revolved around L/S/P apartment.  I do not see how the show has not progressed.  The characters are maturing as one would expect people to do over 7 years.  Howard is still creepy sometimes but he has grown out of that to some degree.  He is married and we get to see the interaction between he and Bernedette.  Also, we have seen the issue of Howard's Father worked in some and I would not be surprised to see that brought up again at some point.

 

Raj can now talk to women without drinking.  Leonard and Penny are much closer as a couple and it is hard not to see the change in both of them since season 1.  As for Sheldon there has been some maturity and change in him but at the same time the writers have done a pretty good job keeping him crazy Sheldon.  Season 6 is this best evidence that the show is not hovering,  Season 6 was its best season ever.  IMO the show is getting better.   

[3ku11]

For the record TBBT is not getting stale at all, I thought it felt as fresh as ever. As far as your ideas go I don't any of them is remotely plausible, they just don't have sets to execute any of those ideas. Besides tell the 20 million who watched the premeire that it is getting stale.

[The Lash]

Also - it's not possible to shrink / grow actors.....but they did have Howard becoming more feminine due to oestrogen absorption, which is scientifically possible!

[PaleLeper]

This is not a Sci-Fi show, it is a show about opposites that come to understand and love each other although they are much different.  It is about how two different groups in society can teach each other, and how people can grow from this interaction.  Think of Leonard in season 1, 2 , and 3, a sweet guy but with not enough confidence to realize that he has a right to say "no",.  Think of Penny in season 1, 2, and 3, forward, she is learning what true affection is all about, and more importantly because of her, the guys have made great strides in their social interaction, do you really think Penny had nothing to do with Raj overcoming his fears?  You can[t go back to how it was before, hell most of the fans don't want it that way, I would not watch the show after 7 seasons if Leonard was still mooning over Penny like a teenage boy, and they all still just sat around and joked about meeting woman.  I am excited that we may be past the "maybe they get together phase" and now move on to the "OK now lets look at these people and couples under a more extensive and humorous light!

[fixitmr]

CitizenCritic ... I fear I just yanking our chain .....          

[3ku11]

I actually think it is to the shows advantage the show has progressed beyond it's initial premise. Each season has developed alot, TBBT has something a lot of shows don't have Plot and Character Progression. The central premise just coulden't be sustained over time. All show's need to have new fresh storylines to prevent stagnitism, the characters need to mature the and evolve to keep it fresh, and if the producers of the show want the money rolling in well after the series end, they know the fans want too see a more assertive Leonard not submissive, a matured Penny not superficial as she could be at times, a more humanized Sheldon not deadpan, Howard is a big example of this. I have said this so many times these are not characters of nerd culture, but people who happen to be nerds.

[djsurrey]

I agree strongly with many of the responses above. Also the increasing ratings for the show would be impossible if the show were just hovering.

[phantagrae]

CitizenCritic ... I fear I just yanking our chain .....          

Yeah, one post and run...

[koops]

I read the title as "TBBT is hoovering." And I was all "Where is Nograv when you need him?"

[Nogravitasatall]

I read the title as "TBBT is hoovering." And I was all "Where is Nograv when you need him?"

I love you.

(ETA. Hastily adds, in a totally appropriate and non-stalky from thousands of kilometres away way)

Edited September 29, 2013 by Nogravitasatall

[koops]

I love you.

 

[Lionne]

First I lose Tripper to Misophonia, now my roommate and best friend is off flirting with my forum boyfriend. Probably because I have neglected him.

 

I suspect all my love affairs have been sacrificed to my chocolate pride, creating broken chocolate hearts and cocoa wounds that nothing can ever possibly heal. Oh chocolate, why have we been forsaken?

 

Sad lion.

 

In any case, I agree with all the above to argue against the opening post. The show has always been about the 4th floor of 2311 Los Robles, a Cheesecake Factory, a comic book store, and CalTech. It moves off the main campus every so often each and every season, but not by all that much. Which I think is as it should be - the charm of the whole show is the fact that these are people we kinda recognize from our lives - either we're nerds ourselves (or normals like Penny), or married to them or friends with them or related to them in some way. TBBT cast reminds me of friends of mine and my family all the time. You enter the show to live in the world in some way, or at least to relate to it, to almost live in that living room and have take out with those people. It's that intimacy, where the TV connects their living room to ours in some way, that connects people to the show and creates love in such a passionate and sweet way.

[3ku11]

Tell this person called 20 million that the show is hovering lol

[koops]

It's all platonic Wio. You know how I feel about romantic entanglements. But the love for vacuuming has to be shared.

[Nogravitasatall]

Platonic? But I've booked the plane ticket.

To be honest, I was so surprised and taken by your recollection of my little rant that, like Penny in the stairwell, I spontaneously um... exclaimed.

I do enjoy the misreads. Lol

(Don't worry Lionne, its just all about keeping the dust at bay)

And apropos the topic heading, there was a similar discussion last year i think, where it was proposed that the show had peaked. I do wonder how gracefully the show will age, but so far "things are looking good". And the digital media keeps bringing people in to follow the characters and their stories. Maybe there is not a lot of viewer churn and people who are in stay tend to stay in, to see what is going to happen. I can think of three members who have recently marathoned the whole thing and been hooked. It's possibly a common phenomenon and helping the show grow.

[3ku11]

To me what's in the TBBT favour is the characters, almost like Friend's after years of innovative and ground breaking storylines, it was the characters when Friend's was at it's peak that kept it #1 on Tv through it's last years. The same I think it is with TBBT, everyone it doesen't matter if your a "nerd", or anti-geek and/or "normal" like Penny, everyone can relate to these characters. And what I love about sitcoms especially TBBT is it's reliability, their's a reason why sitcoms are some of the most popular shows of any genre, if your preferance in a show is massive changes and moments, and cliffhangers you may not be appealed by TBBT, hence what has been circulating that TBBT need's a hover board or is getting too safe. This show is not Lost it is not set in Hawaii, unfortunately beyond the legendary stairs of Pasadena, the format that the show is in is a tradational multi-camera shoot sitcom, so locational shoots are not a huge part of the show. Same with Friend's how the characters related to each other made the show universal and unique. I don't care what show you like or your preferance, maybe it's Game of Thrones, or Breaking Bad, or maybe you like HIMYM or Modern Family, name me one show that has killer robot killing a toaster, then nearly killing the hot girl next door? None what make's TBBT so unique is it's balance of Science and Romance, it's evolvement over the year's is the reason why in it's seventh season it is peaking in 20 million viewers.

 

It used to be a cute show about eggheads and how this hot girl next door responds to their nerdiness, and over time these "nerds" are turning into people, and that "hot girl" is now starting to turn into a women. It has now matured into this addictive ensemble piece that critics when it first aired, were labeling it as too niche and safe, Sheldon as a nile's from Frasier copy cat, has gone on to become this generations Friend's IMO.  Because of the format it is in however when it come's to storyline's it can get stale, but it depend's on why your watching the show, I think the introduction of Amy and Bernadette is one of the big reason's for the ratings, it has turned TBBT into a more serialized format.

 

What is also in the show's favor is the back stories, I don't think the writer's have even touched the surface when it come's to that, their is also a range of story possibilites these characters can tell, it's slow pace in terms of changes in the characters life IMO is realistic and to the show's favor. Leonard and Penny getting engaged then married, Who get's tenure, Online World's of Warcraft world tournament , More paintballing, Sheldon and Amy getting more physical, Penny progressing her education and possibly her acting career, the living arangement's changing which well only happen btw when Sheldon decides it well happen haha.

 

Whether or not Leonard moves in with Penny, or Penny with Leonard and Sheldon, or Leonard and Penny want some privacy and move away from Sheldon. I felt though the writers are running a tight ship now, and any development and progress well be done a glacier pace, I think that the cast have said they are still so enthusastic about the show but also don't want to overstay their welcome gives me confidence, I think the show has 3-4 seasons left in it, TBBT if any thing is definately not giving any reason to stop the show in the near future.

Edited September 30, 2013 by 3ku11

[rachelshamyfan]

Of course the topic starter is taking the p

[Martin Pollard]

Of course the topic starter is taking the p

Of course he is. Like every other bomb-throwing troll, he lobs his grenade and then runs, never to return to the scene of the crime.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk

[Guest I'm not dead Cheryl]

so... basically changing the whole show and turning it into a crazy sci.fi / fantasy show.

 

hm

 

 

no thanks, I already have Doctor WHo for that.

[Carlos]

Yeah, the topic , or more accurately speaking the premise the topic title suggests is preposterous. The show is not getting stale, and the ideas proposed are far fetched and uninteresting within the context of TBBT. To those who say the show's not fresh, I'll say it's as fresh as it can be. No show can be as fresh in season 7 as in season 1, and by this I mean that there are things that we have obviously seen more than once, as we should because they are they either are intrinsic traits of the characters or their quirks.