Tuesday, November 27, 2012

More Bang For Your Buck

They must be doing something right at The Big Bang Theory, since it's in its sixth season and has higher ratings than ever.  I rarely watch it when it airs, however, since it's on Thursdays at 8, when I watch NBC (for Community or, lately, 30 Rock). So I was pleased to discover last night CBS put on an old episode of TBBT that I missed first time around.

It featured two highly farcical plots.  In the A-plot (I guess), Sheldon fights with Kripke over who will take over a vacated office.  The gags are mostly physical, with the two confronting the university's president while he's at a urinal, a former prof appearing a naked a couple times, the two playing a hapless game of basketball to win the room, and Sheldon getting it but being driven nuts by its many flaws including a hole in the wall where he eventually gets his head stuck.

The other plot has Amy giving best friend Penny a larger-than-life-size painting of the two, and Penny has to figure out how to get rid of it without offending Amy.  Almost all the gags revolve around how hideous the painting is.

In general, a weak episode. But what intrigued me was how the show, for The Big Bang Theory anyway, was fairly experimental.  This is, as far as I can tell, the only episode they've ever had that was entirely sex-segregated  The main plot featured all the guys and none of the gals, and the secondary plot had all three gals (two of whom didn't exist when the show started--it's come a long way) and none of the guys.

I like they were trying something different.  But funny is better.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I assume they run out of ideas and have to try to shake the rafters. What is your opinion of the gimmick episodes of some other classic shows. I.e. the fantasies of life with Mary on the Mary Tyler Moore show (I didn't like it, I kept waiting for the show to get back to he earlier, funny stuff).

This episode of Big Bang though now you point it out is different but I watched and didn't notice that at all and that it was average/OK though I don't get the lisping jokes but y'know not everything is for everybody

NEG

8:38 AM, November 27, 2012  
Blogger LAGuy said...

Generally, when a show is working, it means its formula is working. So episodes that are a bit off-series may be a nice change of pace but usually don't work as well as a normal episode. But there are exceptions, such as the Emmy-nominated episode of Community, "Remedial Chaos Theory." (Of course, Community tries so many experiments it's hard to say it's got a regular formula.)

4:10 PM, November 27, 2012  

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