Well, I'm not saying that the third season of The Big Bang Theory hasn't had anything good in it.
I did like the tattoo sleeves. Wil Wheaton was a good addition. Bernadette was pretty funny too and I liked Leonard's mom. But other than that, I have been very disappointed.
Top-10 reasons for The Big Bang Theory not delivering this season:
1) The pairing of Leonard and Penny.
I don't think there's that much to debate about this. Of all the characters on the show, Leonard and Penny have the least amount of chemistry. The pairing hasn't added anything to the show. They aren't funny or interesting together. So why are they still supposed to be a couple after this season?
2) Too much one-dimensional Sheldon.
Sheldon was a pretty reliable source of comedy in both season one and two. His character seemed believable. In season three, after Jim Parsons got the Emmy nomination, the storylines started to get too much about him. Unfortunately Sheldon turned into a cartoon character.
3) Characters are less likable.
Sheldon, Raj, Howard and even Penny became less likable than they used to be. Just pick any given episode and see for yourself. What's worse is that Leonard is now a whining douchebag and yet he is supposed to be our 'hero'.
4) It's not an ensemble show anymore.
The Big Bang Theory is supposed to be written like Frasier and Everybody loves Raymond. We have an amazing cast and interesting characters. So why won't the writers utilize them together?
5) The premise changed.
The show is supposed to be about men vs. women and geeks vs. normal people. After Penny and Leonard became a couple, I have been asking myself, what is this show about?
6) 'The smart is the new sexy' is missing.
Is there anything on season three to prove that these guys are actually smart? Do they come up with solutions to anything? (Mars rover & space toilet in season two)
7) Badly structured episodes.
There are plenty of examples that could be mentioned, but the absolutely worst has to be in the Stan Lee episode where Sheldon goes to jail and gets released in less than a minute. (Episode 3x16)
8) Lazy writing with the jokes.
Not that I value 'jokes' in any way, but before the third season began, I thought that if they ever resort to using a helium joke on the show.. ..well, we already got the helium joke (3x09).
9) They changed Stuart to protect Leonard.
He was confident and cool in season two. After the producers saw how Leonard and Penny didn't work at all, they decided to 'fix' the problem by making Stuart pathetic, so that Leonard wouldn't look that bad.
10) Dropping Leslie Winkle from the show.
The writers said that they didn't know what to do with Sara Gilbert's character. I thought she was very good at making Sheldon more believable as a character. When she left, Sheldon kinda left too.
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Still four episodes to go. I won't quit watching, though.
I'm going to let Chuck Lorre disappoint me the way he intended.
I did like the tattoo sleeves. Wil Wheaton was a good addition. Bernadette was pretty funny too and I liked Leonard's mom. But other than that, I have been very disappointed.
Top-10 reasons for The Big Bang Theory not delivering this season:
1) The pairing of Leonard and Penny.
I don't think there's that much to debate about this. Of all the characters on the show, Leonard and Penny have the least amount of chemistry. The pairing hasn't added anything to the show. They aren't funny or interesting together. So why are they still supposed to be a couple after this season?
2) Too much one-dimensional Sheldon.
Sheldon was a pretty reliable source of comedy in both season one and two. His character seemed believable. In season three, after Jim Parsons got the Emmy nomination, the storylines started to get too much about him. Unfortunately Sheldon turned into a cartoon character.
3) Characters are less likable.
Sheldon, Raj, Howard and even Penny became less likable than they used to be. Just pick any given episode and see for yourself. What's worse is that Leonard is now a whining douchebag and yet he is supposed to be our 'hero'.
4) It's not an ensemble show anymore.
The Big Bang Theory is supposed to be written like Frasier and Everybody loves Raymond. We have an amazing cast and interesting characters. So why won't the writers utilize them together?
5) The premise changed.
The show is supposed to be about men vs. women and geeks vs. normal people. After Penny and Leonard became a couple, I have been asking myself, what is this show about?
6) 'The smart is the new sexy' is missing.
Is there anything on season three to prove that these guys are actually smart? Do they come up with solutions to anything? (Mars rover & space toilet in season two)
7) Badly structured episodes.
There are plenty of examples that could be mentioned, but the absolutely worst has to be in the Stan Lee episode where Sheldon goes to jail and gets released in less than a minute. (Episode 3x16)
8) Lazy writing with the jokes.
Not that I value 'jokes' in any way, but before the third season began, I thought that if they ever resort to using a helium joke on the show.. ..well, we already got the helium joke (3x09).
9) They changed Stuart to protect Leonard.
He was confident and cool in season two. After the producers saw how Leonard and Penny didn't work at all, they decided to 'fix' the problem by making Stuart pathetic, so that Leonard wouldn't look that bad.
10) Dropping Leslie Winkle from the show.
The writers said that they didn't know what to do with Sara Gilbert's character. I thought she was very good at making Sheldon more believable as a character. When she left, Sheldon kinda left too.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Still four episodes to go. I won't quit watching, though.
I'm going to let Chuck Lorre disappoint me the way he intended.
I agree with you about all of this. Great insight on Stuart having changed "to protect Leonard," too -- I read that and thought YES, THAT is what happened to him! Like you, I'm not to the point of not watching the show, but it's no longer appointment viewing. Here's hoping they pull it out of the dive.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you completely! This season was almost like a completely different show. The worst episode to me was The Plimpton situation. The jokes are becoming trashy and the show became dumbed down. Hopefully the writers have been reading the viewers comments online and will bring the show back to the original format.
ReplyDeleteI'd agree with this entirely. What's kinda sad is that I enjoyed the first two seasons so much that I've recommended the show to friends, and their "introduction" has been season 3.
ReplyDeleteSadly it's losing ground as a sitcom and becoming a soap opera. In what universe is a soap opera about geeks considered entertainment?
I must say i agree .. i loved the first and second season and laughed my ass off almost every episode ... but season 3 has been wierd and lacking ... still there were some cool episodes but overall Many of the points u got i agree .. specialy about penny and lenerd
ReplyDeleteNot only did they resort to helium jokes, but in the same episode they had a whoopie cushion!
ReplyDeleteI'm not in the business but writing a comedy script with whoopy cushions and helium jokes would seems equivalent to writing your resignation from the business of script writing. It means your out of everything.
Penny in the first season was so glowing and up beat in the first season. Now she's like a bit of a hag. She's just not aging well into the role. To be honest, I never quite thought she was up to the role - she pulled it off in the first season, but only just barely. It maybe that she is just too smart in real life, and her intellegence is bleeding through on the writers and on her acting, into her part.
Comedy shows usually benefit from having one or two clueless people sprinkled in.
Sheldon needs to have a nemesis. I'm not sure if it would work but two nemesis might not be bad either. Bring back Leslie Winkle, but keep Kripke. By having both, they can use them sparingly and not worry about over doing either. I also enjoy the problems Sheldon has with his boss, too.