Leonard was the show’s “straight man.” His character made Sheldon bearable for me.
I avoided this show for many years based on a a few glimpses here and there. Then started watching it maybe 5 years ago and have watched most episodes since, including all of this season. Occasionally I watch an earlier re-run or two. I think it shifts between good episodes and so so episodes with occasional brilliant ones. I liked how it ended. I like how the cast seem to genuinely get along with each other and be enthusiastic for the show. I liked the ending. I thought it ended as it should. Loved when the elevator opened. I often laugh as they walk up and up or down and down those stairs and think of the actors filming that.
I’m also glad to read on here that other people watch Young Sheldon. I really like that show especially Sheldon and MeMaw but I’m growing to like Missy too. The brother and father almost made me stop watching after the pilot, although they’ve definitely toned the father down. I told my son the other night I was surprised it had been renewed because I felt like I was the only one who watched it. Like the other show I’ve really enjoyed The Kids Are All Right which wasn’t renewed. I tend to gravitate toward good family sitcoms, including work place families.
Far from the only one. It has had generally very good ratings from the start and back in February was renewed for two more seasons.
Does anyone remember a short-lived sitcom in the 80s called “Buffalo Bill”? I read at the time that it flopped because the central character was unlikable. Sitcoms were formulaic back then (more than now), and the formula was a likeable even-keel central character surrounded by idiosyncratic supporting roles. The supporters could be more rude, egotistical, nutty, abrasive, but Buffalo Bill’s sin was that the title character was a jerk. It would be as if Kripke were spun off to his own show (which I wouldn’t necessarily mind; he’s one of my favorite minor characters).
So with Leonard: nice guy, relatable personality, by far the least crazy of the original 5. In some sense he’s the perspective through which we see the others, our vehicle for continual exasperation but also pressure toward behavioral norms. Even the characters see him this way; Amy once said that the group was “Leonard-centric.”
I have enjoyed how Young Sheldon and BBT complemented each other. Earlier this year a BBT episode featured Sheldon discovering a video he had kept for one reason had been taped over with a half time talk by his dad and it was a sweet moment in how it spoke to him about moving on in the face of adversity. I was another who loved the ending on Young Sheldon last week.
I really like Young Sheldon and I really liked the Nobel tie in and the young version of all his Pasadena friends. What I didn’t like was what they did with storyline of MeMa’s boyfriend, the professor. I don’t know where they are going to go with that.
Well, he was never mentioned in BBT, so we’ve got to figure that, somehow, he stopped being such a daily influence in Sheldon’s life. Maybe they’re leading up to that somehow.
Aside from the fact that Chuck Lorre may opt to retcon some facts, I would prefer they not rush YS into TBBT continuity. As it is, we only have 4 more years of George before he dies.
I really like Young Sheldon. How long do you think it can last?
Leonard was supposed to be the fairly normal, likable every guy, but for me he was too passive aggressive and whiny.
A large segment of the populace has a skewed view of what scientists are like.
When I was teaching we occasionally participated in an outreach program whereby MIT sent its chemistry and chemical engineering PhD candidates on the road to high schools to do flashy science demonstrations and talk to kids about careers in science.
The most common comment from our students was that “they seemed pretty normal”–they were somehow expecting some sort of weirdo poindexter types or something? Similarly, students would ask me if I had a chem lab in my basement–my reply was “NO, I have a basement full of tools and junk just like your dad!”
There are certainly “cool kid” STEM profs at top ranked engineering schools but most skew way closer to the BBB gang. My daughter was a “ cool kid” double engineering major only because as she puts it ‘for engineering majors the bar is really, really low for that.” She did dress like Penny did at the start of the show (now that she’s out of college she dresses more like Penny does for her pharma job lol )and her interests were more about fun parties than anything super intellectual. But she knew many many fellow students who were BBB types and she had at least 3 Sheldon like profs, 2 of whom announced at the beginning of the semester that they were on the Aurtism spectrum and if the student felt like their interactions were “ off” the student should tell them that directly.
One said “ if your parent just died and you tell me that don’t worry I won’t next say ‘Well I have a major symposium to get ready for so can you just hurry up and tell me what it is you want’. My wife has informed me that this is inappropriate and lesson learned.’ He ended up being one of her favorite profs but she said the lack of eye contact when he had office hours could be unsettling.
Of course some of her other professors were not like that at all. But I think you are more likely to find the BBB stereotypes in the hard sciences than in other areas.
There seemed to be 2 stereotypes at play in the series…one was science geeks & the other was “gamers” or whatever the right word is for people obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons-type games & video games. You could tack on obsessions with Star Wars/Star Trek/Sci-Fi as well.
In general, the BBT audience admired the guys’ scientific knowledge, but definitely laughed AT the contrast between their super-advanced scientific minds & their childish obsession with board games, video games, action figures, fantasy movies, etc.
A few yrs ago I was a temporary holiday-hire at a large bookstore. The workers were mostly in their 20’s and the males leaned heavily towards the gamer/sci-fi/fantasy stereotype. Once I tried to relate a funny scene from BBT that involved Will Wheaton & some Star Wars/Star Trek confusion, & I had barely set the scene for them when my co-workers angrily shut me down. It was clear that they thought the show mocked adults who fixated on the gamer/sci-fi/fantasy stuff.
I think as the series got older there was more laughing with them than at them. And of course their lives went from people who were single and kind of alone to three of the four finding love and them all having this wonderful group of friends to hang with. Even Stewart the one that was “ laughed at”the most got to find love the last season.
I’ll admit that I sometimes laughed at them.
One of my favorite episodes was the episode where Kripke gets an iPhone and thinks Siri sucks, because Siri can’t recognize “can you wecommend a westaurant.”
Of course, I know I’m going to anger the folks here who either have speech impediments or have family who have a speech impediment and/or work with kids who have speech impediments. So I pre-apologize to everyone, but I laughed hard during that episode.
My daughter has a Sheldon-esque friend. And their dialogue exchange when he was helping her with her physics homework was way more hysterical than the dialogue when Sheldon tried to tutor Penny. It ended with him throwing up his hands in frustration and saying “I give up. Why are you even taking this class? You’re just wasting time.” It sounded just like something Sheldon would say.
Actually, I never understood the Kripke speech impediment. Can a speech pathologist chime in here?? Wouldn’t his impediment be a fixable thing with the right therapy??
@thumper1: See Post #96, above.
It’s a plot device.The actor who portrays him, John Ross Bowie, answered the question this way:
I’d assume so. But what fun is that? All of the characters would have benefited from some sort of therapy, but that would have made the show less enjoyable.
It bothers me because he’s obviously educated, and I assume his parents would have intervened when he was a child. It wasn’t realistic for me.