Themightytom wrote: ↑2019-05-18 05:45amIt definitely had it's moments, but I think it lived long enough to be noticed and then villified. I'd give it similiar credit as Galaxy Quest for introducing subculture, but I'd also deduct that credit for introducing subculture in a way that re-enforces it as sub culture.
That's fair, yes.
The Fish out of water schtick is basically every sit com, and ultimately the dynamic between Sheldon and Leonard carried the premise long enough for Penny to find a role that was anything more than eye candy. I'd give her credit for doing so, because her own social awkwardness and insecurities emerged several times. While she was initially just hot girl next door, she had a shitty job, compared to Leonard and Sheldon, and a lot of family drama too, which levelled the social playing field.
Yup. Though I do feel that Penny and Leonard both became less likable as the show went on, at times. Leonard became bitter over his relationship problems with Penny and increasingly sexist, Penny became bitter over her career failures and unable to commit to a relationship, and it became increasingly hard to see them as two people who really loved each other or had much chemistry.
Sheldon is one of those lovable characters who exists to deliver clever one-liners and point out when the rest of the cast are being dip shits. Like Spike on Buffy.
Leonard always struck me as a self absorded whiner, and it took me a while to realize that was the whole point of him. Sheldon was the indifferent one-lining, awesome T shirt wearing social observer for a while until he was around long enough to stop being funny for those reasons, and start to actually make personal changes. Howard and Raj are... Like extremely uncomfortable racial stereotypes for me. I also didn't really like the cultural tokenism they represented, I mean, was the show diverse because they added an Indian and a Jew?
Howard actually had a decent arc as the show went on, from being "the pervert" to actually developing a more mature relationship and family. Also going into space. It doesn't hurt that Simon Helberg is a pretty good comic actor.
Raj... it seemed like they didn't know what to do with him. His character was pretty much "Indian, nerd, can't socialize successfully with women", and he never really grew beyond that, at least not to the point that I stopped paying much attention. His biggest growth was... being able to talk to women without being drunk. Yeah.
I didn't actually like Amy OR Bernadette's character either, and the show has never really captured me, even if I put my time in. It was better than a lot of crap out there, when I had cable, but like many others I made the jump to streaming shows and at that point, never watched an episode unless it was suggested to me as a particularly funny one.
It had its cameos, I have to say the real MVP of the show was just Sheldon's T shirt collection.
Amy and Bernadette added a bit more gender balance, so it wasn't just about Penny and a group of guys panting after her. It shook up the show when it was starting to become stale, and gave Penny her own circle of friends who were more than bit parts. Amy's relationship with Sheldon also lead to some big character development for both of them, even if you can argue that it ultimately made them more conventional characters.