There’s something to be said for a show that mingles regularly with such heady subjects and nerdy concepts as quantum mechanics and comic book heroes, yet still manages to rope in a considerable mass audience each and every week.
It’s most certainly the blend of geeky social awkwardness with the are-they-or-aren’t-they love story of Leonard and Penny which bestows upon the show is infectious prominence… but after some five seasons of this, I’m beginning to wonder whether or not I’m still in love with the show myself.
You see, as great a novelty as it once was, underpinned by some of the subject matter which I appreciate so much, it’s finally begun to wear on me. It isn’t that the humor is any duller or that the production is any less emphatic, but simply that the formula has failed somewhat to endure my admittedly fickle appreciation for all things modern television. At some point it dawned on me that the audience isn’t real, the laughter isn’t authentic, and the situations are… well, for lack of a more astute description, purely comedic. The formula just seems so formulaic now that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the man behind the curtain pulling the lever.
Perhaps this sounds silly as—quite obviously—this is a situational comedy. In fact, from the start, I’ve long reviewed the show transparently as a “paint-by-numbers sitcom”, but up until now, the unique breed of humor has managed to rescue it from the bowels of mediocrity in my mind. The root of the show still lies in the humor, but it’s easy to argue that in spite of its intelligence, the execution is shallower than that of many other modern sitcoms of comparable longevity (see How I Met Your Mother). The characters are relatable and the jokes are often sharply delivered, but underneath that, it’s very much the same exact thing we’ve seen 100 times (literally) before. And perhaps that’s the biggest problem I have with it.
Well, that, plus the fact that it’s actually realigning itself with more mainstream concepts and focusing less on the science these days, too. The first couple of seasons were laden with references to obscure science phenomena which only the truly dedicated would understand. It was an appreciable nod to those of us (a lot of us!) who so often feel betrayed by the ignorance of the modern sitcom, so obviously out of touch with the world of geek and tech and yearning for a show in the field that “gets” them. But this latest season sees further descension into the realm of the mainstream, draped with the same predictable relationship troubles and romance overtones that dominate the rest of television—with, for perhaps the first time, the focus on science seemingly beginning to take a backseat to the templated drama.
Much of this feels a lot like modern music to me. What elements the listener (viewer) considers to be most important are indeed present in full form. In music, it’s a memorable, often singable chorus, while the sitcom equivalent is likeable characters with whom one can relate. Next, we’ll find familiar melodic motives that are exploited to just the perfect extent, much like the mass-appeal jokes that decorate nearly every successful sitcom, milked just until they wear out their welcome. And then there comes the manufactured emotion bolstered by homogeneous, contracted instrumentation—paralleling the well-planned situations augmented by the oohs, aahs, and explosive laughter of a canned audience.
Yes, The Big Bang Theory gets all of this right. It has all of these critical elements, and it commands them in such a methodical balance that one might wonder whether it’s the show’s formula which contains more science than the proposed subject matter itself. The Big Bang Theory just might be the latest Top 40 artist of the sitcom world.
Still, in spite of my newly-festering criticism, I still find myself chuckling at many of the gags and smiling at some of the relatable situations. There is definitely some appeal here, and I’m not yet ready to claim boredom of it. I just wish sometimes that it were a little less stupid for being so smart.
This season sees Bernadette and Amy Farah Fowler’s story arcs explored further, while Leonard shifts from his forbidden fling with Priya back to Penny—maybe?—in the show’s 100th episode. There are certainly some surprises to be found throughout, too. My personal favorite was the guest appearance by none other than Stephen Hawking himself, which is pretty funny stuff. If you’ve loved the seasons leading up to this one and you aren’t overly bothered by the gripes I levied at the start of this review, you’ll likely find this one worth a viewing regardless.
The Extras
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The Big Bang Theory @ 100 (10 minutes) – A fun little mishmash of reactions from the producers, writers, and cast about reaching the 100-episode milestone.
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Professors of Production (16 minutes) – A look at the sort of challenges associated with creating the show and the meticulous attention paid to capturing the idiosyncrasies of geek life. We get to hear from a number of different people in unique roles behind the scenes, from the Director of Photography to the Hair Stylist, as well as several others.
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The Big Bang Theory’s Laws of Reflection (12 minutes) – A brief retrospective covering season five, courtesy of the cast.
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Gag Reel (9 minutes) – Try not to think about the fact that they piped the laughter in ex post facto. There—I ruined it for you. In all seriousness, while this is perhaps a prime example of why the canned laughter is really starting to bother me, it’s still a funny set of bloopers overall.
