Are Penny the second most popular character ?

[TeamPenny]

Are Penny the the second most popular character after Sheldon?

[HeWolf]

23 hours ago, TeamPenny said:

Are Penny the the second most popular character after Sheldon?

I'm not sure there are any popularity rankings for the character. Sheldon, (in his multiple iterations), has been popular with a lot of fans. He's also widely disliked by more than a few fans. The same can be said for most of the main cast; Penny included. Thanks to the show's writing there were many times Penny got put into a bad light and that certainly affected her popularity with certain fans. The unreasonable break-up with Leonard and the failed hookup with Raj are just a few of the examples of Penny being put into unlikeable situations. However, unlike Sheldon who was forever polarizing, I would imagine Penny was mainly popular with most fans.

I think you would find when it comes to character popularity many fans hooked their allegiances to the pairings: Leonard/Penny = Lenny. Sheldon/Amy = Shamy, etc. 

[chucky]

1 hour ago, HeWolf said:

I'm not sure there are any popularity rankings for the character. Sheldon, (in his multiple iterations), has been popular with a lot of fans. He's also widely disliked by more than a few fans. The same can be said for most of the main cast; Penny included. Thanks to the show's writing there were many times Penny got put into a bad light and that certainly affected her popularity with certain fans. The unreasonable break-up with Leonard and the failed hookup with Raj are just a few of the examples of Penny being put into unlikeable situations. However, unlike Sheldon who was forever polarizing, I would imagine Penny was mainly popular with most fans.

I think you would find when it comes to character popularity many fans hooked their allegiances to the pairings: Leonard/Penny = Lenny. Sheldon/Amy = Shamy, etc. 

Completely agree.

[Mario D.]

16 minutes ago, HeWolf said:

I'm not sure there are any popularity rankings for the character. Sheldon, (in his multiple iterations), has been popular with a lot of fans. He's also widely disliked by more than a few fans. The same can be said for most of the main cast; Penny included. Thanks to the show's writing there were many times Penny got put into a bad light and that certainly affected her popularity with certain fans. The unreasonable break-up with Leonard and the failed hookup with Raj are just a few of the examples of Penny being put into unlikeable situations. However, unlike Sheldon who was forever polarizing, I would imagine Penny was mainly popular with most fans.

I think you would find when it comes to character popularity many fans hooked their allegiances to the pairings: Leonard/Penny = Lenny. Sheldon/Amy = Shamy, etc. 

I have to agree with you in this regard. Penny was put in a bad light several times besides the ones you mentioned: dating Stuart, using Leonard for sex and then saying it was a mistake, and when Raj lived with them the total indifference to Leonard's feelings. Despite all this I think Penny was a popular character especially with male viewers which I believe were the producers intentions in the early episodes. And as you state Penny was more human and endearing to fans in marrying Leonard unlike Sheldon who had his realization in the finale of the show.

[chucky]

1 hour ago, Mario D. said:

I have to agree with you in this regard. Penny was put in a bad light several times besides the ones you mentioned: dating Stuart, using Leonard for sex and then saying it was a mistake, and when Raj lived with them the total indifference to Leonard's feelings. Despite all this I think Penny was a popular character especially with male viewers which I believe were the producers intentions in the early episodes. And as you state Penny was more human and endearing to fans in marrying Leonard unlike Sheldon who had his realization in the finale of the show.

As with @HeWolf's post, I completely agree. I couldn't have stated it any better!

[NeckShotLime]

From what I read in the various Facebook groups I joined ( not sure if it's really representative though) , Penny is the most liked character right after  Sheldon who seems to be the favourite. I believe his Nobel speech redeemed the character ( not in my eyes but that's besides the point) . The main criticism I see regualarly regardind Penny is " she was nice at the start and ended up being a mean b*tch" 

[chucky]

9 hours ago, NeckShotLime said:

From what I read in the various Facebook groups I joined ( not sure if it's really representative though) , Penny is the most liked character right after  Sheldon who seems to be the favourite. I believe his Nobel speech redeemed the character ( not in my eyes but that's besides the point) . The main criticism I see regualarly regardind Penny is " she was nice at the start and ended up being a mean b*tch" 

The writers didn't seem to know how to write for her character. They couldn't decide if she should be snarky towards her husband or supportive. As for Sheldon, he definitely wasn't my favorite character.

[NeckShotLime]

10 minutes ago, chucky said:

The writers didn't seem to know how to write for her character. They couldn't decide if she should be snarky towards her husband or supportive. As for Sheldon, he definitely wasn't my favorite character.

Yeah , there were times they really took the snark too far. And I'm with you regarding Sheldon. Unpopular opinion but his Nobel speech didn't do much for me, as nice as it was. 

[chucky]

1 hour ago, NeckShotLime said:

his Nobel speech didn't do much for me, as nice as it was

For me, it was too little, too late.

[NeckShotLime]

1 minute ago, chucky said:

For me, it was too little, too late.

Yep , for me too. And they spent seasons developing his character growth ( and he has shown some growth ) but he had his epiphany because yet again someone had to point it out to him that he had messed up and had been a jerk. To me , the real growth would have been him , on his own , realising he had hurt his friends. 

[chucky]

1 hour ago, NeckShotLime said:

To me , the real growth would have been him , on his own , realizing he had hurt his friends

Agreed!

[HeWolf]

I see the wild card regarding Penny as being Chuck Lorre. Penny as seen during the 12 year run of TBBT was much different than originally envisioned by Mr. Lorre. If Chuck had his way, the Penny character would probably have been more akin to a female Charlie Harper. This was evidenced in the original, (rejected), pilot. Fortunately, the character was reworked and recast.

My personal perspective is that any time Penny did something that made her a questionable character it was due to some Chuck Lorre influence.

[chucky]

1 hour ago, HeWolf said:

My personal perspective is that any time Penny did something that made her a questionable character it was due to some Chuck Lorre influence.

When you're right, you're definitely right!

[snowflake79]

11 hours ago, NeckShotLime said:

From what I read in the various Facebook groups I joined ( not sure if it's really representative though) , Penny is the most liked character right after  Sheldon who seems to be the favourite.

That's my observation too, based on what I see on social media and the internet in general.

[Mario D.]

2 hours ago, NeckShotLime said:

Yeah , there were times they really took the snark too far. And I'm with you regarding Sheldon. Unpopular opinion but his Nobel speech didn't do much for me, as nice as it was. 

True it may have been heartfelt at the time but we really do not know for sure if he meant it sincerely and kept his word or was it just lip service for the Nobel community.

3 hours ago, chucky said:

The writers didn't seem to know how to write for her character. They couldn't decide if she should be snarky towards her husband or supportive. As for Sheldon, he definitely wasn't my favorite character.

Think this is very true. The writers just did not find the right status of her character. First it was her committment phobias. then it was her job status, then it was her portrayal of the good wife, bad wife. Even at the end the writers could not give her the proper mix toward Leonard. Yes, she loved him but was still unsure about her pregnancy. Guess we just have to surmise that they lived  happily ever after.

[chucky]

1 hour ago, Mario D. said:

Guess we just have to surmise that they lived  happily ever after.

I would rather surmise it myself than trust those writers for anything good for Lenny.

[Mario D.]

1 hour ago, HeWolf said:

I see the wild card regarding Penny as being Chuck Lorre. Penny as seen during the 12 year run of TBBT was much different than originally envisioned by Mr. Lorre. If Chuck had his way, the Penny character would probably have been more akin to a female Charlie Harper. This was evidenced in the original, (rejected), pilot. Fortunately, the character was reworked and recast.

My personal perspective is that any time Penny did something that made her a questionable character it was due to some Chuck Lorre influence.

Think this may be true. As I have mentioned previously, I have seen some stories about that finale episode of season 4 where Raj and Penny end up in bed. It was said that Chuck Lorre insisted on this scene be put in over the objections of some writers and cast. It was a very unpopular episode and many fans were upset to see this scene. I don't know how true this is but in between the fourth and fifth season the writers had to write that season five premiere because of all the backlash of the episode.

[NeckShotLime]

4 minutes ago, chucky said:

I would rather surmise it myself than trust those writers for anything good for Lenny.

oh I'm sure Lenny will grow old and gross together 😍😍

[chucky]

1 hour ago, NeckShotLime said:

oh I'm sure Lenny will grow old and gross together 😍😍

Not if those writers had anything to say about it.

[snowflake79]

21 minutes ago, NeckShotLime said:

oh I'm sure Lenny will grow old and gross together 😍😍

Of course they will.

[chucky]

1 hour ago, snowflake79 said:

Of course they will.

Of course we think that they'll grow old together an be happy for the rest of their lives. At least we don't have those writers trying to tell us differently. 

[snowflake79]

Something related to the topic of this thread. 😉

https://the-big-bang-theory.com/polls/viewpoll/43/Who-is-your-favorite-character/

[chucky]

1 hour ago, NeckShotLime said:

oh I'm sure Lenny will grow old and gross together 😍😍

I agree, just leave them writers out  of it.

[HeWolf]

It might be worth noting the difference between 'favorite' character as opposed to most liked.

In the above poll Sheldon pulls in almost 50% of the 'favorite' character vote. Penny ranks second and this could be seen as confirming the premise of this thread.

I remember the original poll and I am sure I voted for Sheldon as my favorite. Sheldon 1.0 was far and away my favorite TBBT character. By 2012 we had begun the transformation to Sheldon 2.0 which, while quirky, was frequently more adolescent in his behaviors and often simply annoying. Also, the 'Sheldon is evolving' meme made the group continuing to accept and tolerate his behaviors all the more unbelievable. 

That said, and poll voting aside, Sheldon was never my most liked character. That honor (?) usually fell to Leonard as he was generally the character I most closely identified with. Penny, or Howard, could have run close to Sheldon for favorite but never most liked. I always had in my mind that in a different social setting Penny would likely have been aligned with the crowd that delighted in tormenting the nerdy guys. Her own history speaks of bullying girls like Amy and Bernadette. Her environment, not her character, determined her behaviors. Howard was just creepy. Enjoyable for comedic value but too creepy to like. 

From my profile. This was apparently pre-Amy:

• Favorite Characters
  Sheldon
  Leonard
  Penny
  Howard
  Bernadette

  Raj

Edited April 7, 2021 by HeWolf

[chucky]

1 hour ago, HeWolf said:

It might be worth noting the difference between 'favorite' character as opposed to most liked.

In the above poll Sheldon pulls in almost 50% of the 'favorite' character vote. Penny ranks second and this could be seen as confirming the premise of this thread.

I remember the original poll and I am sure I voted for Sheldon as my favorite. Sheldon 1.0 was far and away my favorite TBBT character. By 2012 we had begun the transformation to Sheldon 2.0 which, while quirky, was frequently more adolescent in his behaviors and often simply annoying. Also, the 'Sheldon is evolving' meme made the group continuing to accept and tolerate his behaviors all the more unbelievable. 

That said, and poll voting aside, Sheldon was never my most liked character. That honor (?) usually fell to Leonard as he was generally the character I most closely identified with. Penny, or Howard, could have run close to Sheldon for favorite but never most liked. I always had in my mind that in a different social setting Penny would likely have been aligned with the crowd that delighted in tormenting the nerdy guys. Her own history speaks of bullying girls like Amy and Bernadette. Her environment, not her character, determined her behaviors. Howard was just creepy. Enjoyable for comedic value but too creepy to like. 

From my profile. This was apparently pre-Amy:

• Favorite Characters
  Sheldon
  Leonard
  Penny
  Howard
  Bernadette

  Raj

I only have one disagreement. Sheldon from first to last. I had enough of condescending, know-it-all jerk Sheldon after the first season.