[Spoilers] Discussion: Season 10

[Guest]

I wouldn't read too much into this living arrangement thing. He has talked about it way too many times without actually doing something about it.

[wonder63]

I really don't see why the living arrangements changes anything. The stories with the boys and girls still occur in 4A and 4B. The gang still meets for dinner's in 4A. Nothing truly changes with the groups scenes. Just the couples are moving forward - which they should. 

Like the change does not HAVE to see Amy included. Just let Lenny move into 4B. Sheldon is just next door - they still can freaking see eachother every day and talk. What difference does it make - it's not like Lenny are moving away from the building. 

I truly don't see anything changing at all. It is the right step to move forward. 

[No Regrets]

I'll believe change when I see it. I just can't imagine them actually taking that step (re: living arrangements). I hope I'm wrong.

[kerrycec03]

12 minutes ago, FileXxX said:

I wouldn't read too much into this living arrangement thing. He has talked about it way too many times without actually doing something about it.

actually usually he dances around the living arrangement convo OR says they don't want to mess with the "organic natural" of the big 3 in a way...so THIS being said is growth from our Santa in a way lol.

[luminous]

10 minutes ago, No Regrets said:

I'll believe change when I see it. I just can't imagine them actually taking that step (re: living arrangements). I hope I'm wrong.

Exactly, I want to see it. Or at least read it in a taping report. Otherwise it's nothing more than Molaro babble.

[serena_1995]

8 hours ago, mirs1 said:

In that scene I was not bothered by the "husband, wife, weird husband" line, but by the symbolism of the whole stuff, the three of them together at the altar, as you said, in a way made the whole situation official. Anyway, according to @heres2U (correct me if I'm wrong) that scene was the biggest laugh of the whole taping. Of course we as hard core fans can't laugh at that, because our ideal premiere should have ended with Sheldon and Lenny parting ways after the wedding, and not straightening their relationship by getting married together. I found very telling, anyway, that "casual fans", but still enough invested in the show to go to a taping, were so amused by it; as long as people laugh, the writers are not stimulated to big changes. Not sure how they  will handle the situation in the future, in some interviews Molaro spoke about possible "experimentations" about the LA during the season, I still hope we will see something going on on that respect, but obviously it won't be something as quick as we wish.

LOL. Yes, from the taping report , it seems that the 'Sheldon marrying /hugging Lenny' scene got the biggest laugh . If so, i can't really fault them.  But i hope they do experiment with the living arrangements though. The biggest 'meta' joke/non-joke of tbbt is that the creators embody Sheldon's philosophy when it comes to LA:

Edited September 6, 2016 by serena_nyc1995

[wowbagger]

To me, what is interesting about the interview (thanks for linking, April!) is that Molaro seems to be almost.....disgruntled?...about the lack of planning of arcs. He named Lorre as part of the reason that the writers don't plan. Which suggests at least subconsciously that he is disavowing responsibility. Curious.

As to the rest, I agree with all who say that this is classic TBBT 'change is the enemy'. Molaro won't rule out a change in living arrangements, but he also won't rule out walking them back. Sounds about par for the course. Bless. But I am mellower towards Molaro now that I have decided that Chuck Lorre is this dead-eyed Caligula type lounging on cushions, approached by a trembling writers' team with their scripts. 'Lenny move out? Penny get career satisfaction? Boy, I say boy, have you forgotten who has your children captive in a windowless chamber?' 'No, Mr Lorre, sir!' 'Excellent.' 'But Mr Lorre, sir, it's season 2000.' 'And?' 'Well, Mr Lorre, sir, isn't it time Bernadette gave birth, sir?' 'Hmmmmm. Very well, then. End the episode on a water-breaking cliffhanger. We can decide next episode whether she's in labour or not.' 'But Mr Lorre, sir -' 'Children. Windowless room.' 'Yes, Mr Lorre sir.'

Also, good for the interviewer for calling the show on its racist humour. Who else winced at the classic Challenged Privilege Defensiveness from Molaro? 'Kunal Nayyar, our employee, doesn't object to the exactly borderline humour that we subject him to, therefore it MUST be okay.'

Edited September 6, 2016 by wowbagger

[Kev0821]

This is a little off topic, but when I took the WB Studio Tour this summer, my guide wholeheartedly told the group that TBBT would be coming back for season 11. She didn't go into logistics, but basically said that the cast had already signed-on... That was on August 15th, a day before the taping... Since we all follow this news quite closely, I wanted to call her out and say that nothing had been officially confirmed or released. Was it wishful thinking on her part? What would compel her to say something so definitively, prior to an official statement from Warner Bros.?

[camelliayao]

56 minutes ago, wowbagger said:

To me, what is interesting about the interview (thanks for linking, April!) is that Molaro seems to be almost.....disgruntled?...about the lack of planning of arcs. He named Lorre as part of the reason that the writers don't plan. Which suggests at least subconsciously that he is disavowing responsibility. Curious.

As to the rest, I agree with all who say that this is classic TBBT 'change is the enemy'. Molaro won't rule out a change in living arrangements, but he also won't rule out walking them back. Sounds about par for the course. Bless. But I am mellower towards Molaro now that I have decided that Chuck Lorre is this dead-eyed Caligula type lounging on cushions, approached by a trembling writers' team with their scripts. 'Lenny move out? Penny get career satisfaction? Boy, I say boy, have you forgotten who has your children captive in a windowless chamber?' 'No, Mr Lorre, sir!' 'Excellent.' 'But Mr Lorre, sir, it's season 2000.' 'And?' 'Well, Mr Lorre, sir, isn't it time Bernadette gave birth, sir?' 'Hmmmmm. Very well, then. End the episode on a water-breaking cliffhanger. We can decide next episode whether she's in labour or not.' 'But Mr Lorre, sir -' 'Children. Windowless room.' 'Yes, Mr Lorre sir.'

Also, good for the interviewer for calling the show on its racist humour. Who else winced at the classic Challenged Privilege Defensiveness from Molaro? 'Kunal Nayyar, our employee, doesn't object to the exactly borderline humour that we subject him to, therefore it MUST be okay.'

To some degree I believe Molaro because I've always had this feeling that CL wants the show to be more like the first three seasons (I could be wrong). However, if CL really likes the old dynamic, how could he agree to the whole Shamy break up drama and Shamy coitus in season 9? IMO that's bigger changes to the show's dynamic. 

[Tensor]

When the current contracts were signed back in August of 2014, there were widespread reports of there being an option year on the contracts.  If so, then CBS and Warner Brothers would probably exercise that option.  Whether or not there was an actual option year (or all parties have to agree) is unknown. 

With the actors saying their contracts are over at the end of the year, you have to choose between reports, with no actual evidence for the extra year, or the actors comments, again with no actual evidence for no contract after this year.  Truth is, no one outside of th actors, their teams, CBS, and Warner Brothers really knows.  

[vonmar]

34 minutes ago, Tensor said:

When the current contracts were signed back in August of 2014, there were widespread reports of there being an option year on the contracts.  If so, then CBS and Warner Brothers would probably exercise that option.  Whether or not there was an actual option year (or all parties have to agree) is unknown. 

With the actors saying their contracts are over at the end of the year, you have to choose between reports, with no actual evidence for the extra year, or the actors comments, again with no actual evidence for no contract after this year.  Truth is, no one outside of th actors, their teams, CBS, and Warner Brothers really knows.  

Question, what would an "option year" entail?  Season 11 under the current contracts or something else?

[Tensor]

11 minutes ago, vonmar said:

Question, what would an "option year" entail?  Season 11 under the current contracts or something else?

An option year would be an additional year on their contracts.   The three years of the contract would have been guaranteed to the actors (and to Warner Brothers.  What CBS would have done with any produced episodes, if the ratings tanked, is a question.  And there could have been buyout clauses).  

But if, as has happened, the show was still going strong, it would give CBS an option to get an extra year  without having to go through negotiations again, simply by saying they wanted the extra year.  Any increases in  pay, back end, etc would have been specified in the contract at the time they were signed in 2014.

As I said, it was reported at the time the first five signed their new contracts, there was a option clause.  Interestingly, the previous year, when it had come to the time Melissa and Mayim were allowed to renegotiate their original contracts, it was reported then that they had an option year in their contracts, which would have taken them through the 11th season.   

As I said, whether or not there is such a option, we won't know until something is announced.  

 

 

[Carlos]

23 hours ago, djsurrey said:

Yea, I expected that to happen a long time ago.  Penny went from "kill him while he sleeps" to being sympathetic. I just thought should standing up to Leonard and Penny might impress Amy.

Sheldon doesn't have to stand up to Leonard or Penny. They are living with him because he wants to . You do remember when he didn't even want Leonard to sleep over at Penny's more than once or twice a week, don't you? And that later he went and stayed in Penny's sofa, right?

[Nogravitasatall]

11 minutes ago, Carlos said:

Sheldon doesn't have to stand up to Leonard or Penny. They are living with him because he wants to . You do remember when he didn't even want Leonard to sleep over at Penny's more than once or twice a week, don't you? And that later he went and stayed in Penny's sofa, right?

Yes, to my mind the greatest threat to Amy's love of Sheldon is Sheldon's love of Sheldon. I could be wrong. I genuinely look forward to a cogent defence of Sheldon. It could be fun, but I think the premise is stronger than anyone's love of another.

[mirs1]

7 hours ago, wowbagger said:

To me, what is interesting about the interview (thanks for linking, April!) is that Molaro seems to be almost.....disgruntled?...about the lack of planning of arcs. He named Lorre as part of the reason that the writers don't plan. Which suggests at least subconsciously that he is disavowing responsibility. Curious.

As to the rest, I agree with all who say that this is classic TBBT 'change is the enemy'. Molaro won't rule out a change in living arrangements, but he also won't rule out walking them back. Sounds about par for the course. Bless. But I am mellower towards Molaro now that I have decided that Chuck Lorre is this dead-eyed Caligula type lounging on cushions, approached by a trembling writers' team with their scripts. 'Lenny move out? Penny get career satisfaction? Boy, I say boy, have you forgotten who has your children captive in a windowless chamber?' 'No, Mr Lorre, sir!' 'Excellent.' 'But Mr Lorre, sir, it's season 2000.' 'And?' 'Well, Mr Lorre, sir, isn't it time Bernadette gave birth, sir?' 'Hmmmmm. Very well, then. End the episode on a water-breaking cliffhanger. We can decide next episode whether she's in labour or not.' 'But Mr Lorre, sir -' 'Children. Windowless room.' 'Yes, Mr Lorre sir.'

Also, good for the interviewer for calling the show on its racist humour. Who else winced at the classic Challenged Privilege Defensiveness from Molaro? 'Kunal Nayyar, our employee, doesn't object to the exactly borderline humour that we subject him to, therefore it MUST be okay.'

For me this "Oh we don't plan anything in advance" attitude it's more a pose the writers like to show off with the press,  than something that really happens in the writers room, at this point of the show. For example, the experimentation in the LA was already mentioned by Molaro in some  post finale interviews last season, using more or less  the same words about "doing" and "un-doing" stuff. Also the possibility of mentioning Serial Apeist in one of the following episodes was already mentioned at SDCC, together with some other plots, like a follow up of the Spockumentary, which I'm curious to see if and how will be implemented in the show. 9.11 was planned  years in advance, the idea that Prof. Proton would have been a sort of father\Jedi figure for Sheldon in that moment let the writers kill the character two years before the event. I think during the first seasons, where there was almost no horizontal plot, the writers could be a bit more free in their work, and possibly not have any plan for the show. Now, with 7 characters they need necessarily to have a general idea of what will happen to each of them during the season before writing the episodes. They can take some liberties from time to time and change plans, like with Raj that, from having some soul searching about his relationship with Emily (as it was advertised at the beginning of S. 9) passed to be a ladies man, but the main plots of the seasons for me are very clear in their minds. During this interview Molaro was even more vague than usual about planning because of the contracts, if the actors are still negotiating, making long-term predictions about the show is clearly difficult.

BTW, very curious about what pay raises the actors are asking for and what they can actually achieve; it might even be a new record for Broadcast TV for the main three....

Edited September 7, 2016 by mirs1

[Lina78]

I am not sure they will achieve big raises. The production is already expensive and as a result each episode is max 20min

I also wonder if the studio and network will keep Raj. The writers have diminished his part a lot and they don't give him a properly plot. 3 episodes already taped and from taping reports we haven't heard any mention for the 2 girls in his life. I know he is supporting role but sometimes I feel he is "second supporting" role, if that makes any sense.

I really really hope to be wrong because for me it won't be the same. 

 

[mirs1]

25 minutes ago, Lina78 said:

I am not sure they will achieve big raises. The production is already expensive and as a result each episode is max 20min

I also wonder if the studio and network will keep Raj. The writers have diminished his part a lot and they don't give him a properly plot. 3 episodes already taped and from taping reports we haven't heard any mention for the 2 girls in his life. I know he is supporting role but sometimes I feel he is "second supporting" role, if that makes any sense.

I really really hope to be wrong because for me it won't be the same. 

 

Oh, I agree with you, last year Raj had very few plots on his own, and frankly I could have done without all of them...Kunal, anyway, will earn 1 million per episode this season, really expensive for a "second supporting" role, LOL! I'm not sure anyway the networks are going into negotiations with the idea of getting rid of some characters; the show is successful as it is, and we are talking about a contract for its last couples of seasons, it doesn't make sense to me to cut a character with the risk people don't like the show anymore. Of course, negotiations are always delicate and anything can happen with them...

Anyway, I think in the next episode taped there will be a plot about Raj and his girlfriends, not that I'm looking forward to it, unless it's finally the plot about him being held accountable for his behavior.

Edited September 7, 2016 by mirs1

[Tensor]

 

52 minutes ago, mirs1 said:

BTW, very curious about what pay raises the actors are asking for and what they can actually achieve; it might even be a new record for Broadcast TV for the main three....

I seriously doubt the are going to make it to a new record for comedies.  Charlie Sheen was making around 1.8 million per episode.   Kelsey Grammar and Ray Romano were around 1.6 million.   There is no way they can pay them 1.8 million each as a group.   They may make it to Tim Allen's level of 1.25 million, with a higher cut of the back end.   Or they could go with a fewer number of episodes.  

[JE7]

17 minutes ago, Lina78 said:

 

I also wonder if the studio and network will keep Raj. The writers have diminished his part a lot and they don't give him a properly plot. 3 episodes already taped and from taping reports we haven't heard any mention for the 2 girls in his life. I know he is supporting role but sometimes I feel he is "second supporting" role, if that makes any sense.

We can only hope 

#runtoindia

[djsurrey]

1 hour ago, mirs1 said:

For me this "Oh we don't plan anything in advance" attitude it's more a pose the writers like to show off with the press,  than something that really happens in the writers room, at this point of the show. For example, the experimentation in the LA was already mentioned by Molaro in some  post finale interviews last season, using more or less  the same words about "doing" and "un-doing" stuff. Also the possibility of mentioning Serial Apeist in one of the following episodes was already mentioned at SDCC, together with some other plots, like a follow up of the Spockumentary, which I'm curious to see if and how will be implemented in the show. 9.11 was planned with years in advance, the idea that Prof. Proton would have been a sort of father\Jedi figure for Sheldon in that moment let the writers kill the character two years before the event.

Sounds like vague ideas to me. I kinda think the writers are fairly honest about the lack of overall planning for the most part. There really is no plan. They are more like Penny than they are like JK Rowling. This show is more about the journey than any destination.

Edited September 7, 2016 by djsurrey

[April]

9 hours ago, wowbagger said:

To me, what is interesting about the interview (thanks for linking, April!) is that Molaro seems to be almost.....disgruntled?...about the lack of planning of arcs. He named Lorre as part of the reason that the writers don't plan. Which suggests at least subconsciously that he is disavowing responsibility. Curious.

As to the rest, I agree with all who say that this is classic TBBT 'change is the enemy'. Molaro won't rule out a change in living arrangements, but he also won't rule out walking them back. Sounds about par for the course. Bless. But I am mellower towards Molaro now that I have decided that Chuck Lorre is this dead-eyed Caligula type lounging on cushions, approached by a trembling writers' team with their scripts.

Yep. It's been the feeling I've had for a long while and it fits together rather nicely. Both Lorre and Prady have repeatedly credited Molaro with being the one who's pushing the show and the characters towards change and admitted that without him we probably wouldn't have many of the big milestones. And while Molaro is the de-facto show runner he still answers to Lorre who's -judging by the story/writing credits- very hands on with the stories. Not to mention that Molaro didn't just pop in with S6 - he was there from the beginning and probably knows all too well how Lorre wants the writers room to be run and what he has to do to sell his ideas to him in that kind of environment.

I think what's happening here is that Molaro is happily plotting away in his head where he wants the characters to go, maybe even make detailed plans as much in advance as circumstances allow, and then when the time comes he drops these things into the writers room and sells them as spontaneous ideas. Like, take Bernie's pregnancy reveal for example. As the story goes the episode was already written and Molaro just threw it in last minute like "wouldn't that be fun!?", nervously showed it to Lorre who then gave his OK, much to Molaro's relief. The thing is though the story was full of little things related to pregnancy/fertility/nursing a baby stuff that it's hard to believe that a baby for Howardette wasn't on his mind at all while tinkering with this story. Even less so when earlier in the season the topic came up in another Howardette story which ended with Bernie coming around to the idea.

So my personal theory is that a lot of Molaro's "we don't plan ahead in the writers room" talk is a bit of a white lie. On one hand because obviously we hear most of it when he talks to the press so there's always the aspect of selling it to the audience involved that makes them wanna follow the news/show closely to find out what happens next. But on the other hand it's probably also the story he keeps up for Lorre to maintain a certain appearance of spontaneity or whatever. "No sir, Mr. Lorre, sir, I didn't plan any of that. The fact that it looks like a story arc is just a happy coincidence!" lol

Edited September 7, 2016 by April

[Jonny]

Well we are overdue a reminder that Raj sleeps with two women, takes food one of them made to the others house so he can eat it later and sometimes forget who he's staying with on that particular day as his love life is that hectic. Ugh. 

[Swedish Chef]

If I¨m not totally wrong,there are a table reading today. 

[bbtfan07]

47 minutes ago, Lagernisse said:

If I¨m not totally wrong,there are a table reading today. 

And a taping day on the 13th!

[vonmar]

From TVLine: http://tvline.com/2016/09/07/fall-season-premieres-2016-tv-spoilers-preview/

Fall TV Spectacular: Exclusive Scoop and Photos on 41 Returning Favorites!

THE BIG BANG THEORY

If the hookup between Leonard’s dad (Judd Hirsch) and Sheldon’s mom (Laurie Metcalf) doesn’t derail Leonard and Penny’s imminent nuptials, the arrival of the bride’s anxiety-plagued mom (Sons of Anarchy‘s Katey Sagal) and drug-dealing brother (30 Rock‘s Jack McBrayer) should do the trick. “She’s quite neurotic,” exec producer Steve Molaro says of Penny’s never-before-seen mama. “This is her first time meeting Leonard’s parents and friends and she wants to make a really good first impression. How she and her family come off to these people is extremely important to her.”

Beyond the premiere, Molaro hints that Amy and Sheldon will flirt with cohabitation, though “it will be viewed very clearly as an experiment, because the easiest way to get Sheldon on board with the idea is to disguise it as a [situation] where he’s collecting data, and something he can ultimately reconsider in the name of science.”

Bernadette, meanwhile, will find herself struggling to adjust to her new life as a mom-to-be. “She is on record for not really liking kids and not really wanting to have them. And now she’s pregnant. We’re having fun digging into those emotions.”

BONUS SPOILER!: Molaro confirms that Pretty Little Liars‘ Brandon Jones will guest star in an early episode as The Flash. Well, a version of him anyway. “He appears in one of Sheldon’s dreams,” reveals the EP. “He does insane things. It’s a Flash we may not be used to.”