# Big Bang 1/18 - well that sucked **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563 "2010-01-19T15:38:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/1 "2010-01-19T15:38:26Z")
I’m trying to remember one good laugh from last night’s show. Not good. Still one of my fave shows on line - probably the only sitcom I watch regularly. But it’s sophomore season seems to be having its share of slumpiness. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/2 "2010-01-19T15:40:06Z")
This is the third season. I laughed. It wasn’t the best episode but not the worst either. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/3 "2010-01-19T16:06:30Z")
I liked the bit about Sheldon NOT liking user-friendliness in his operating systems. Soooo Sheldon. I realized last night that Leonard is really the weak link in this show. I know he’s supposed to be a fulcrum character, supporting the two oppositional balance pans of Sheldon and Penny (who are absolutely perfect foils for each other), but he’s kind of…boring. Really, really boring. Even the two tertiary tier characters of Raj and Howard are more interesting than Leonard. Hell, Raj and Howard could probably pilot their own series. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/4 "2010-01-19T17:25:05Z")
If I not only freeze-framed the TiVo and refused to forward it until I solved Sheldon’s rebus but _also_ came up with the right answer, I assume that I not only get to keep my geek card, I’m required to have it emblazoned on my ass at the earliest opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/5 "2010-01-19T18:02:45Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I liked the bit about Sheldon NOT liking user-friendliness in his operating systems. Soooo Sheldon. > > I realized last night that Leonard is really the weak link in this show. Yes, that was my fave line. And I think I agree with you about Leonard. ---
**Author:** ![Brandus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Brandus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/6 "2010-01-19T18:50:01Z")
I agree, Raj, Howard, and Sheldon are all “nerds”, but unique nerds. Leonard is just a plain nerd stereotype and really not much of a character. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/7 "2010-01-19T18:52:59Z")
A weak show, but I laughed at Sheldon lying in bed, “I am the master of my own bladder”. I was also surprised at the resolution of the 3 friends and 1 treasured acquaintance. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/8 "2010-01-19T18:57:42Z")
Yeah, it wasn’t their best effort, kind of like the Christmas episode. Not terrible, but not as funny as I have come to expect. Maybe Leonard’s character is suffering from the sitcom black plague of a healthy relationship. Penny’s character hasn’t been very interesting lately, either (but I did like, “I’d go Nebraska on their asses!”). Heh, that reminded me of Sheldon crossing out all of Nebraska because Penny’s from there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/9 "2010-01-19T19:09:38Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > A weak show, but I laughed at Sheldon lying in bed, “I am the master of my own bladder”. I was also surprised at the resolution of the 3 friends and 1 treasured acquaintance. But of course. After all, he has no doctorate. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/10 "2010-01-19T19:12:34Z")
Yes, but neither does Penny. I actually figured that she would be be the “treasured acquaintance”. That aside, I liked the episode well enough, aside from the implausibility of someone as inflexible as Sheldon moving to Montana. On the other hand, I’ll bet he was shaken up by the burglary. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/11 "2010-01-19T19:14:25Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I realized last night that Leonard is really the weak link in this show. I know he’s supposed to be a fulcrum character, supporting the two oppositional balance pans of Sheldon and Penny (who are absolutely perfect foils for each other), but he’s kind of…boring. Really, really boring. > > Even the two tertiary tier characters of Raj and Howard are more interesting than Leonard. Hell, Raj and Howard could probably pilot their own series. That used to work for Bob Newhart. In his sitcoms, he was the calm, rational center surrounded by eccentrics. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/12 "2010-01-19T19:23:19Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > If I not only freeze-framed the TiVo and refused to forward it until I solved Sheldon’s rebus but _also_ came up with the right answer, I assume that I not only get to keep my geek card, I’m required to have it emblazoned on my ass at the earliest opportunity. 🙂 I paused it as well, and we hammered on it for a while before giving up. To be fair, the pause on our DVR is kinda fuzzy, so some of the drawings were hard to make out. I got it the moment he said “pigs minus P”, though. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/13 "2010-01-19T19:32:14Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > That used to work for Bob Newhart. In his sitcoms, he was the calm, rational center surrounded by eccentrics. That’s true, but Johnny Galecki is no Bob Newhart. Leonard has a tendency to whine, and I don’t know if that’s Galecki’s character concept or one from higher up. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/14 "2010-01-19T19:35:27Z")
I liked it, except at the end because I knew that Sheldon would get robbed or mugged in Montana Leonard is boring for two reasons, first of all he’s the center or should be. Like Mary Richards or Rob Petrie, he is the center and you the viewer, see things through his eyes, or rather you should be seeing it like that. Second Leonard is hooked up. Nothing kills a character like giving them a steady. Look at Rhoda, Sam and Diane, etc etc… Conflict is funny, weird is funny, happy and stable isn’t funny Lastly the writers are too dependent on Sheldon. They’re slowly turning it into the Sheldon show. It’s all too easy for writers to use a popular character to get laughs and not work hard enough on the other character. All five principals are funny and capable. The writers should write the episode, without having Sheldon in it, and make it funny. Then they should go back and insert Sheldon in places and give him lines. This way he’d be in it and wouldn’t dominate every episode. I saw no reason why Sheldon should move to Montana. He’s from a small Texas town and Montana is home to small(ish) cities and towns ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/15 "2010-01-19T19:38:16Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > That’s true, but Johnny Galecki is no Bob Newhart. There is only one Bob Newhart. I think the concept is still valid, though. Who says the central character has to get all the laughs? ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/16 "2010-01-19T21:04:57Z")
I thought this was one of the weaker ep.s this season, but I still enjoyed it. And I don’t think people would be mulling over what works and what doesn’t if we didn’t like the show so much. I don’t mind Leonard & Penny being in a relationship - it’s a challenge to keep it funny, but I would like to see it. However, Leonard’s character does have to be a bit more likable or interesting or less whiny. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/17 "2010-01-19T21:08:11Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I saw no reason why Sheldon should move to Montana. He wanted to raise him up a crop of dental floss. Isn’t **Chronos** a physics nerd from Bozeman (aka a Bozite)? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/18 "2010-01-19T21:11:26Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > He wanted to raise him up a crop of dental floss. > > Isn’t **Chronos** a physics nerd from Bozeman (aka a Bozite)? I know that it would have been repetitive after the rebus, but in keeping with the “theme” of Sheldon, he should really have called himself a “Bozon”. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/19 "2010-01-19T23:17:41Z")
My only complaint was that that didn’t look anything like the Galatin Airport. heheh ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563/20 "2010-01-20T00:07:41Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > If I not only freeze-framed the TiVo and refused to forward it until I solved Sheldon’s rebus but _also_ came up with the right answer, I assume that I not only get to keep my geek card, I’m required to have it emblazoned on my ass at the earliest opportunity. Perhaps you could put it on a t-shirt. > [@jayjay](#): > > I know that it would have been repetitive after the rebus, but in keeping with the “theme” of Sheldon, he should really have called himself a “Bozon”. But that sounds way too much like a person from the land of Bozo. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-1-18-well-that-sucked/525563.md?page=2)