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timepiececlockCaught up on my Monday tv at lunch today since last night was all about the dancing in my house. I'd rather record the DwtS and watch HIMYM, but it's not my decision.
The Big Bang Theory was okay. Funny bits, but not very funny as a whole. I've found the last half-dozen episodes to be less amusing than earlier this season. Sheldon's constant irritation at Penny's questions was just bad writing...it felt like we were watching Sheldon and Penny of early season 1 instead of late season 2. He should already be used to her by now, the kind of questions she will ask.
I thought the entire plot was too predictable, from Raj's getting drunk and hitting on Summer Glau (who didn't see that coming?) to the alcohol "twist" that was so painfully obvious. That's the problem I often have with BBT as a sitcom... I like the characters and I like the premise, but often the version in my head (and in other fan's fanfic) is smarter and funnier than the version actually on tv. I don't mean with shipping when I say that, I mean many of the jokes. BBT reuses the same concept several times over--we often see beautiful women of the week whom Raj drunkenly flirts with and whom Howard fails to flirt with, and whom Leonard can't get over himself long enough to flirt with. To watch this after I just finished a brilliantly slick episode of How I Met Your Mother... I can't help but see all of BBT's flaws glaring in the noonday light. I like the show, but come on. You can do better.
Also, USB joke: I'd like to think that Penny was messing with Sheldon about not recognizing the USB drive (she has a laptop and is 23 and she doesn't know what a USB drive is? Yeah right), but I'm too cynical for that. I think it was just another cheap shot joke & lazy writing. Cheap joke because it wasn't that funny, and lazy writing because this is the girl who is addicted to an MMO, has a pink laptop, and sent Sheldon a LOLcats email. Even my mom knows what a USB drive is, and my mom would never know what LOLcats or MMO games are.
How I Met Your Mother, on the other hand, was hilarious. I giggled so much, and I chuckled, and I actually laughed. The whole thing was wonderfully executed. NPH was doing his over the top eccentric Barney giggle thing that only he can legitimately pull off. Everyone had funny lines, and I like how they carried the continuity of the "funny" story through the entire episode. That's what I love about HIMYM as a show--clever ways of delivering sitcom jokes so that they feel funny and meta even if they're a cliche when any other show does them. They've been really picking up in laughs for the last half-season and I love it.
The Big Bang Theory was okay. Funny bits, but not very funny as a whole. I've found the last half-dozen episodes to be less amusing than earlier this season. Sheldon's constant irritation at Penny's questions was just bad writing...it felt like we were watching Sheldon and Penny of early season 1 instead of late season 2. He should already be used to her by now, the kind of questions she will ask.
I thought the entire plot was too predictable, from Raj's getting drunk and hitting on Summer Glau (who didn't see that coming?) to the alcohol "twist" that was so painfully obvious. That's the problem I often have with BBT as a sitcom... I like the characters and I like the premise, but often the version in my head (and in other fan's fanfic) is smarter and funnier than the version actually on tv. I don't mean with shipping when I say that, I mean many of the jokes. BBT reuses the same concept several times over--we often see beautiful women of the week whom Raj drunkenly flirts with and whom Howard fails to flirt with, and whom Leonard can't get over himself long enough to flirt with. To watch this after I just finished a brilliantly slick episode of How I Met Your Mother... I can't help but see all of BBT's flaws glaring in the noonday light. I like the show, but come on. You can do better.
Also, USB joke: I'd like to think that Penny was messing with Sheldon about not recognizing the USB drive (she has a laptop and is 23 and she doesn't know what a USB drive is? Yeah right), but I'm too cynical for that. I think it was just another cheap shot joke & lazy writing. Cheap joke because it wasn't that funny, and lazy writing because this is the girl who is addicted to an MMO, has a pink laptop, and sent Sheldon a LOLcats email. Even my mom knows what a USB drive is, and my mom would never know what LOLcats or MMO games are.
How I Met Your Mother, on the other hand, was hilarious. I giggled so much, and I chuckled, and I actually laughed. The whole thing was wonderfully executed. NPH was doing his over the top eccentric Barney giggle thing that only he can legitimately pull off. Everyone had funny lines, and I like how they carried the continuity of the "funny" story through the entire episode. That's what I love about HIMYM as a show--clever ways of delivering sitcom jokes so that they feel funny and meta even if they're a cliche when any other show does them. They've been really picking up in laughs for the last half-season and I love it.
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Date: 2009-03-10 10:05 pm (UTC)On the other hand, Leonard was great. Yeah, he should have approached Glau sooner or done something to get rid of Wolowitz, but his character is maturing. I also really like how Penny is a person to him now. That's something that has only come out in past couple eps and wasn't true before. His attitude toward Sheldon rang a little less true. To be honest, he sounds like he is on the verge of moving out. Howard, of all people, is sleeping with his ex. Penny is quickly slipping into Friends-Only territory. Raj makes Summer Glau laugh and he has spent at least an hour listening to Penny pull personal details out of Sheldon. Him changing his mind and approaching Glau felt like a little move. Maybe a larger one is on the horizon. (Though I don't see how they could do that, given the show's premise). Oh well.
Maybe the next ep will be better.
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Date: 2009-03-10 10:46 pm (UTC)Do you ever read the cards at the end? Because I've been reading them occasionally this season, and I feel like it's giving me uncanny insight into the person writing the show. It's like reading someone's personal livejournal entries after you just finished their fanfic. Little things in the personal stuff gives away hints that correspond to the behavior of characters they write about.
Lorre seems to use the white info cards to snipe about, complain, or point out all the things that annoy him, left him with a grudge, or make him feel smugly superior in the showbiz industry. It's like being half in Sheldon's head and have in Goerge Lucas's head. One thing he's convinced of is his own comedic writing talent. I'm not convinced of it, since so many of the jokes on this show only get a smile from me and hardly ever get an actual laugh (like HIMYM or the Office or Arrested Development), and most of the smiles that I do get are for the actor's delivery and cast chemistry that seems to work almost in spite of the writing rather than because of it.
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Date: 2009-03-10 10:55 pm (UTC)re: Cards-- I have no idea what these are. I'm overseas and have to download. Maybe they're getting cut?
re: Not as good as he thinks he is-- You know, after this ep, I was wondering the same thing about Sheldon. Maybe he is isn't some amazing physicist, but rather a wunderkind whose recent work is barely accepted by the wider community of scientists. It'd help explain a little how Gablehauser was able to fire him that once. If he were truly world-renowned, you'd think Gablehauser would swallow his pride or enact revenge by some other method. It also explains the Smoot reaction a little this episode.
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Date: 2009-03-11 02:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 03:06 am (UTC)I love Barney's mad giggle, and how his sense of humor is sometimes so wildly skewed, and he gets as excited as a child about the weirdest things.