Looking Ahead at 2018-2019

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Well, it's been a summer. There was a whole lot of nothing on television, aside from the Bates Family, the Duggar Family, the Roloff Family, and the newer addition to my reality followings - the Busby Family. Technically, there was also Trial & Error, but I'm behind in that because Spectrum is awful and we're on our third DVR box in two months. But, I spent some time last night going through the new shows for the broadcast networks and made some selections. because, you know, there's more to TV life than

ABC came in high, CW isn't even on the board, and FOX tanked. CBS and NBC are surprisingly equal, but we'll see how that pans out. I picked more shows this year than I did last year, but a few of them I really don't think will make it to Thanksgiving, so not much is lost in giving them a try.

What made the cut?
For ABC, I'm going with the soon-to-premiere Single Parents (a bit too much exposure, already, I think), A Million Little Things (it better be better than Friends with Better Lives), plus the farther out The Rookie (Nathan Fillion, anyone?), The Conners, Schooled, and The Kids are Alright (it seems that we're on an every-other-year-there's-a-Catholic-family-show module). As two of those are spin-offs, I'm not really feeling like my ABC selections are as high as they appear.

For FOX, the only thing I'm going to bother with is Rel, which starts tonight. It's about a guy who has to rebuild his life after a divorce, so it'll be a rough start, but Sinbad plays the protagonist's father, so that could be fun.

On NBC, the start dates are mostly soon. In September alone, I'll be checking out New Amsterdam (I'm a sucker for medical shows), I Feel Bad (I need more "mom shows"), and Manifest (it's going to be awful or amazing), plus later on there's Gilded Age (period show!), Abby's (this looks like a hot mess), and The Village (which, really, I'm only in to see Daren Kagasoff act again).

Rounding it out on CBS, there's the crazy (unscripted) Million Dollar Mile, the unlikely-to-work Happy Together, the reboot of Murphy Brown, the too-much-like-Living-Biblically-from-last-season God Friended Me, the is-this-Timeless-again? Blood & Treasure, and the Beth-Behrs-is-back The Neighborhood.

The bigger, scarier thing (if you can believe it) is that I have a TON of returning shows, which I don't think I realized back in Spring!
ABC: Fresh off the Boat, American Housewife, Speechless, The Goldbergs, Black-ish, The Good Doctor [only one new thing from last year remaining]
FOX: Bob's Burgers, The Resident, Last Man Standing (I don't think it'll be that good this time around, though...) [only one new thing from last year remaining]
NBC: This is Us, Superstore, A.P. Bio, Will & Grace, The Good Place (which I discovered online over the summer) [only one new thing from last year remaining]
CBS: Man with a Plan, How to Get Away with Murder, The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon [only one new thing from last year remaining]
CW: Jane the Virgin, Dynasty [one old, one from last year]
Other Networks: South Park (Comedy Central), Grown-ish (Freeform), Good Trouble (the Freeform spin-off of The Fosters), plus the aforementioned follow-an-atypical-family shows I enjoy. 

And, at some point, I still do plan to check out The Mick and Good Girls. So... yeah, there's a lot of television entertainment to be enjoyed this year. 

Comic-Con 2015: Inside the Big Bang Theory Writers' Room

Friday morning at San Diego Comic-Con 2015 began back in our old friend, Ballroom 20. The popularity of The Big Bang Theory's panel has waned in recent years, likely due to the fact that they stopped parading out the cast. However, leaving the actors in Los Angeles is the best thing to happen to this panel, as the actors are not a good match for this crowd... it was a hot mess when geeks asked them questions about the show!

The writers, on the other hand, fare better with this group, and they brought 13 folks to sit on the panel, alongside Kunal Nayyar as the guest moderator. Dr. David Saltzberg (science consultant), Jeremy Howe, Steve Molaro, Steve Holland, Maria Ferrari, Jim Reynolds, Tara Hernandez, Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady (engineer), Eric Kaplan, Dave Goetsch, Anthony Del Broccolo, Saladin Patterson (engineer).

Perhaps the most remarkable comment throughout the entire hour was about how every Tuesday night feels like Christmas, as that's when they get the next week's script (Nayyar). The whole thing wasn't that saccharin, however, as they opened with talking about how the time travel conversation began, complete with a discussion on the verb tense jokes, which Kaplan really handled. 

The back story on some of the other recent storylines include Chuck Lorre getting a drone for Christmas and not being able to get it to work (the instructions really did say to turn it on and off at least ten times), and reading TBBT fanfic online. Speaking of which, Mayim Bialik was brought out to join the panel and read some Raj-Amy fan fiction (Koothrappamy), which included such phrases as "I'm going to introduce you to Fifty Shades of Brown" and "semantic is the wrong word, you sexy beast from the third world." 

Another hot topic was working with guest stars like Billy Bob Thorton, Nathan Fillion, Stephen Hawking (Saltzberg was nervous when Hawking was going to get to read some lines about the Cooper-Hofstadter paper he designed), and Kevin Smith (Bialik freaked out and tweeted when Smith brought Jason Mewes to the set, resulting in being reprimanded by Warner Bros. for spoilers).

Other questions from the audience led to such fun facts as learning that the most difficult thing to write are the big moments (like Sheldon telling Amy that he loves her), and that the ending of the Skywalker Ranch episode had to be rewritten, as the original had Sheldon stealing a lightsaber, but Lorre didn't think the character would have committed a felony. Bialik also spoke a bit about how she and Jim prepare for scenes - they talk a lot about their characters' relationship so that they're in the mindset to have the conversations that they have.

The Big Bang Theory returns to CBS for a ninth season this fall - look for it on Monday nights at 8pm (ET/PT) beginning September 21st, before moving to Thursdays on November 5th. Make sure to tune into that first episode, as viewers will learn the background to when Sheldon bought the ring and when he was planning to give it to Amy. If you're not caught up on the series, the eighth season will be available on DVD/Blu-ray on September 15th.

Season Finale: The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory has had some great season finales as well as some that were rather unimpressive. The advertisements for tonight's episode ("The Commitment Determination") boasted crazy cliffhangers and big changes, but I don't know that audiences really received those. Take a look at the storylines that took place...

Bernadette finally convinces Howard that they need to kick Stuart out of their home, but even she can't follow through when they learn it's his birthday. My problem: they've known Stuart for YEARS and have hung out more than a handful of times... how do they have no idea when his birthday is??

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Raj wants to wander around Pottery Barn, not canoodle in a graveyard, but he doesn't want to give up the one girl who has paid significant attention to him, so he chickens out of dumping her... and instead says he loves her My problem: I can't handle people who don't confront issues for no good reason. Fear is not a good reason. Plus, love-lying is the worst lying.

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Leonard and Penny are being teased for not yet setting a wedding date, so they decide to head to Las Vegas immediately. However, Leonard wants to clear the air before they tie the knot, and admits that he kissed a girl a couple years earlier. My problem: I don't believe that Penny has always been faithful to Leonard, nor do I think some kissing is that big a deal.

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Sheldon and Amy celebrate their five-year anniversary, but he's not focused on her, and she gets upset. He decides to propose, but before he can do so, she asks him for some space to re-evaluate their situation. My problem: I don't think the two should marry. He doesn't pay attention to her in the way that she desires, and their mismatched sex drives will likely continue to be a problem in the long run. Also, a nitpick: the Golem thing was too obvious.

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It was just one problem after another. Sure, some of the previous season finales have suffered similar issues, but look at them...

Season 1: Leonard and Penny go on their first date.
Season 2: The guys head to the North Pole for three months, while Penny wishes she wouldn't be away from Leonard for that long.
Season 3: Penny and Leonard have casual sex while Sheldon meets Amy.
Season 4: Penny sleeps with Raj while Howard feels emasculated due to Bernadette's new job.
Season 5: Howard heads to space and uses a flashback to tell the story of his wedding.
Season 6: Leonard heads to the Black Sea for four months, while Raj gets dumped by Lucy and overcomes his selective mutism.
Season 7: Penny and Leonard get engaged, Raj and Emily have sex, Stuart's comic book store burns down and he becomes Howard's mother's nurse, and Sheldon hops a train to avoid dealing with all the changes around him.

Not as interesting in comparison. Plus, the previous season's finale was much more "cliffhanger" with Sheldon off to ride the rails!

Thoughts?

New Season, New Format

We're changing up our episode recaps and remarks for the new television season, mainly to shift our focus to covering new series and specials before they air rather than after. We believe this will help you make more fitting choices as to what to watch, and it will also help out our subscribers not to receive as many articles about shows they potentially have no interest in, as our current lineup is very broad.

But, we're not dropping recaps with remarks completely. We will still cover pilots we deem promising, and we'll be writing about holiday episodes of those and of our returning favorites. Plus, we are continuing to cover some series in their entirety, particularly cable shows that are tougher for you to catch up on elsewhere. What does this mean for your favorite show? For all of the series we were currently recapping, here are their fates:

                                                      16 & Pregnant: regular posting
                                                      19 Kids & Counting: regular posting
                                                      2 Broke Girls: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Bob's Burgers: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Buddy's Bakery Rescue: discontinued
                                                      Cake Boss: regular posting
                                                      Cake Boss: Next Great Baker: fate to be determined if series is renewed
                                                      Falling Skies: discontinued
                                                      Girl Meets World: regular posting
                                                      Hot in Cleveland: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Instant Mom: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Last Man Standing: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Little People, Big World: regular posting
                                                      Melissa & Joey: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Mistresses: fate to be determined if series is renewed
                                                      South Park: regular posting
                                                      Switched at Birth: regular posting
                                                      Teen Mom 2: regular posting
                                                      The Big Bang Theory: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      The Exes: regular posting
                                                      The Goldbergs: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      The Middle: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Under the Dome: fate to be determined if series is renewed
                                                      White Collar: holidays and special episodes only

what do you think of the posting schedule? sad to be losing regular updates? excited for more new program coverage? 

RETURNING: The Big Bang Theory: A Shift in Status Quo

A double dose of the dorks should have been a great way to kick off the season, but I didn’t really see it that way. The first episode had to play too much catch-up, and the second really existed just to prove that things are tough when you’re not in your wheelhouse. I took Calc I, but no physics or engineering or programming, so my understanding of what my husband does is limited at times. Similarly, he can’t read music and has only read four or five of Shakespeare’s works, so he doesn’t get what I’m doing when I read a new musical or compare storylines to the Bard’s. So, Leonard and Howard constantly being at one another’s throats got old several seasons ago for me. It wasn’t even very exciting to see Amy not know what to do with her friendships cultivating independently. But, neither of these facts really matter, as I doubt these situations have really been resolved in any way…

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The Big Bang Theory "The Locomotion Interruption" (S08E01): 45 days after he headed off on his train trip, Sheldon was robbed and calls Leonard to get him in Arizona. [and, without skipping a beat, Leonard goes. Friendship is important, guys!] When Penny can't go, he asks Amy to make the six-hour drive with him, which upsets Sheldon, as he didn't want her to think he couldn't make it on his own. [Sheldon's Sherlock Holmes references were odd, but I thought that his wanting Amy to think he’s perfect was adorable!] However, the trip wasn't that hard - he never left the train stations and rode in the first-class cars. [I believed his coitus line for a moment!]

The reason Penny couldn’t accompany Leonard is because she has a job interview to become a pharmaceutical sales representative at Bernadette’s company, and although she's horribly under-qualified, she gets the job because she and the boss share a fear of Bernadette. [I found it hilarious that the funding for a drug she's working on has been pulled, but the boss can’t bear to face the pint-sized spitfire!]

Also, Raj had his windows un-tinted so people can see his hott girlfriend, and Stuart has decided to continue living with Howard’s mom, despite the fact that she no longer needs medical assistance. [I thought the exchange at Howard's front door was hilarious!]

The Big Bang Theory "The Junior Professor Solution" (S08E02): Bernadette thinks Penny should prepare for her new job by studying ahead, but the others don't think Penny would do well as a teacher's pet. [ha!] Penny decides to hang out with Amy sans Bernadette, and then Bernadette hangs out with Amy sans Penny. Amy is delighted that she’s getting one-on-one girl time, but when she herself tries to schedule the same, it doesn’t work as the others study without her. [I loved that Amy was outside the door!]

Mrs. Davis calls Sheldon to her office to say that he can change his field of study as long as he becomes a junior professor, which actually works out decently for him because nobody wants to take his graduate physics course. Howard enrolls, so Sheldon does his best to stump his friend, so Howard, in turn, plays a terrible student, shooting spitballs at Sheldon. Sheldon reports Howard to HR, Howard drops the course, and eventually Howard is even able to stump Sheldon with an engineering question. [so… if Sheldon isn’t actually a junior professor, does he have to go back to string theory?]

Season Finale: Big Bang: Changes

I'm gonna go ahead and say it... I don't know how this series will play out for three more seasons. I don't feel like the situations the characters come into are as "everyman" as Friends or Seinfeld, but there's no big gimmick to be revealed like on How I Met Your Mother, either. The close dynamic of Frasier and Happy Days isn't there, and it's not "workplace" enough to work like Cheers or M*A*S*H. But, Two and a Half Men manages to keep finding things to write about, so I suppose there's still humor to be found. One thing is for sure, though... they better find a way to write-in a multiple-part episode with the guys ACTUALLY AT COMIC-CON!

The Big Bang Theory "The Status Quo Combustion" (S07E24): Leonard and Penny share their proposal news with their friends, then their parents, but Leonard's mother already knew, courtesy of Sheldon. [ugh.] Leonard talks to Sheldon about not living together anymore, so he rants to Amy, who suggests that they live together. [basing the wedding on Penny's brother's schedule, it will be 12-18 months from now... good to know.]

Sheldon finds out that he can't change his field of study at the University, as he was hired to do String Theory. He appeals to the faculty senate, but things just start turning sour in every area of his life... and after the comic book store burns down, he heads to the train station, with the intent to ride the rails. [seriously?]

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Amy is pissed that Leonard and Penny let Sheldon leave. [understandably.]

Howard's mom has gone through multiple nurses, and when Penny can't handle the job (at carte blanche), Howard and Bernadette worry that they may end up stuck caring for her... until they realize that Stuart is happy to be Debbie's caretaker, and they take to each other well. [did we previously know Howard's mom's name?]

In other news, Raj has sex with Emily.

Big Bang: Choices

Sometimes, I try pretty hard to avoid spoilers, what with being on the West Coast and seeing a lot of television a few hours after millions of people watch it air live. It's been less and less of a problem in recent years because of the number of households watching delayed television, but every once in a while I still get slammed with a spoiler that I wish I didn't know about... and this was one of those times. I knew that Penny and Leonard were going to get engaged, but at least I didn't know how, or what the climactic part would be. And, now that I know how it all went down (and laughed profusely at the idea that Leonard has been carrying around a diamond ring IN HIS WALLET FOR YEARS), I wonder if I actually would have been more surprised if I didn't know it was coming. I mean, it was only last episode that they discussed marriage for what must have been the tenth time. So, I'm curious... did you see it coming? Did you know (via spoilers) that it was coming? Were you any more/less surprised given your circumstances?

The Big Bang Theory "The Gorilla Dissolution" (S07E23): Leonard goes to the set of Penny and Wil's movie, and both actors wind up getting fired for no good reason. [I was hard-pressed to believe that Wil would stand up for Penny like that...]

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Wil heads off to audition for Sharknado 2, and Penny tells Leonard that she wants to marry him because he's a "smart choice." [I cringed.] He wants to be something more than that, but once she says that he is all she needs to be happy, he responds, "I guess I'm in," and then admits he feels their engagement was anti-climactic. Fortunately, he then pulls out a ring and makes it official. [yes, I'm one of "those people" who needs to see jewelry to believe it's serious. :-P]

When Howard was dragging a treadmill upstairs for his mother, it accidentally slips down the stairs and injures the woman, laying her up for 6-8 weeks. Howard wants to hire a nurse but Bernadette thinks they should care for her themselves, saying that it will be similar to what they might face as parents. Well, they get on one another's nerves and hire a nurse anyway. [is that effectively tabling babies for them?]

Sheldon and Raj go to a movie and see Emily there with another guy, upsetting Raj enough that they head home early. [I'm surprised that Sheldon was up for that!] Sheldon makes Raj some tea (English Breakfast, not Cardamom), then tells him that he can't think every woman he dates will be a perfect companion. [for the record, Raj has dated 11 women, apparently.] But, things may be looking up when Emily not only goes to see Raj, but it is implied that they became physical as well. [I liked that he asked for ten minutes, and then admitted he was going to use it to do crunches, LoL.]

Big Bang: Deeper Feelings

With Friends off the air for about ten years now, and How I Met Your Mother also kaput, the big question is whether The Big Bang Theory is going to fill the void. Some people think it's an obvious choice, with characters who live in close proximity to one another and spend seemingly every day together. But, the series is not as Everyman as the older comedies; University scientists are much more difficult to relate to than teachers, businessmen, and lawyers. And, Pasadena is certainly not New York... not that you'd know that's where TBBT takes place, as the program rarely leaves its standard sets. The humor and situations are also a far cry from those in the more "classic" sitcoms. But, at the same time, Big Bang utilizes more popular culture references and jokes, and focuses more on single situations than ongoing arcs, at least to a certain degree. Do you think that the characters illustrating how deep their feelings go for one another helps this point?

Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2014 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The Big Bang Theory "The Proton Transmogrification" (S07E22): Arthur Jefferies (Professor Proton, last seen earlier this season) dies, and the funeral coincides with Star Wars Day, so only Leonard and Penny attend the event, where they get pretty weepy. They start talking about not wanting to have regrets, and Penny winds up proposing to Leonard to tie-up the score. [WHAAAAT??!?] He doesn't turn her down right away, which annoys her. [The longer this couple lasts, the less likely I see an actual marriage in their future... which may be problematic, considering the series is going another three seasons at least!]
Sheldon gets upset when Raj and Howard suggest skipping Episode 1 in their Star Wars movie marathon, and he goes to his room while the others enjoy the "holiday." Sheldon falls asleep and Arthur appears to him, telling him to appreciate people who mean something to him, and Sheldon starts by hugging Leonard. [awww!] 

In a teeny-tiny subplot, Bernadette tells Amy that she went into science because she was the smallest kid in school and wanted to grow taller. Amy just looked up what "whoring" was and took it from there. [interesting shift to neurobiology after that!] 

Big Bang: Sheldon's Work-Life Crisis

Whatever happened with the video game console conundrum? I guess we'll eventually see the guys playing something and that's how we'll find out the outcome. But, Sheldon is apparently going to have an ongoing storyline for a while, which could prove pretty interesting. With String Theory starting to stress him out, he doesn't seem to know what to do with his life, and the integration of work and home may finally dawn on him. I look forward to something big happening soon, or at least a big cliffhanger at the end of the season... after all, there are now three future seasons, so there is PLENTY of time to develop all sorts of new and zany adventures!

The Big Bang Theory "The Relationship Diremption" (S07E20): The guys are excited about a scientific breakthrough, except Sheldon, who is upset that he has spent 20 years on String Theory, and he still isn't close to proving it. [people have been working on it for like 50 years, so it's probably going to be at least a lifetime before it's proven.] Kripke makes Sheldon wonder if he's wasting his life, which causes the physicist to suffer from insomnia, then decide to move on and find a new project. Of course, this is partly due to Penny's advice that it takes courage to walk away from something that's going nowhere. [I did like how Penny can get through to Sheldon when sometimes nobody else can.] Sheldon gets rid of all of his related books, tries a new hairstyle, and then begins the task of narrowing down his field of study options. Of course, after drinking some wine, he winds up in bed with a geology book, and then learns that he repeatedly drunk-dialed Stephen Hawking. [once wasn't the end of the world, but tons of times PLUS mocking was awful!] 

Raj is no longer seeing Emily and Lucy, as Lucy wasn't okay with a non-exclusive relationship. [can't really blame her, based on what we've learned about her.] Bernadette and Howard meet Emily and Raj for dinner, and it is soon revealed that Howard went on a blind date with Emily four years ago, but he had huge stomach distress because of gas station sushi, clogged the toilet, then climbed out the window and escaped. [sounded a lot like Dumb and Dumber to me.]

The Big Bang Theory "The Anything Can Happen Recurrence" (S07E21): Penny, Sheldon, and Leonard bring back Anything-Can-Happen-Thursdays, but don't know what to do. To avoid attending a LoTR LARP group, they go for a walk around the neighborhood and stumble upon Amy and Bernadette, who they thought were unavailable. [we know that both girls live driving distance from the trio, so why would they head to that side of town if they were even slightly worried about getting caught? I think the situation was a little contrived... unless we are supposed to think that parts of Bernadette and Amy wanted to be caught, which I'm not buying.] Sheldon and Penny wind up going to dinner alone because everyone else thinks they're getting annoying harping about their respective work problems. They then head to a tarot card reader, who suggests that Sheldon's relationship with Amy could make the rest of his life fall into place. [Penny bought Leonard a birthday watch with his money?? what the...?!?!]

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Raj and Howard hang out, and the former suggests they watch a horror film so he'll be more relaxed seeing it with Emily the next day. [haha, I could see myself doing something like that back in the day!] But, they can't handle how gruesome it is. Turns out, Emily only wanted to watch a slasher film because they turn her on. [not impressed.]

Major Round-up: Big Bang: Sheldon's Growth

Coming to this series late, I've often been amused by the fact that Sheldon succeeds as a main character. And he does it quite well, as evidenced by Jim Parsons' multiple award nominations. In the latest season, however, it's interesting how much Sheldon is changing. From kissing Amy Farrah Fowler to making amends with Howard, every aspect of his life is being thoroughly examined. That said, he still can't manage to focus on choosing a video gaming platform, even after hours of research and deliberation... bless that Amy for sticking by his side through all of that! With such evolution taking place, and a three-season renewal on the books, I'm really curious as to what Sheldon will look like at the end of this series!

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Also, did anyone else think Bernadette mis-signing a work card was going to result in a Frasier-esque rush to fix it?

The Big Bang Theory "The Table Polarization" (S07E16): When Leonard asks Sheldon about getting a dining room table, the genius claims that they can't put any of their items in storage to make room for it, despite the fact that there's a desk using a Windows 98 computer in the space. Penny and Leonard go to look at tables, and she influences his purchase. She then encourages Leonard to stand up for himself, but that just makes Sheldon see that Amy has affected his life... and he promptly breaks up with her. [awww!] But, she points out that he's only breaking up with her because Leonard is manipulating him... [good try, Amy Farrah Fowler, good try.]

NASA wants Howard to return to space, but Bernadette reminds him of the negatives from his previous trip. [Howard also gets a remote control shaped like a magic wand.] Howard, Bernadette, her father, and an astronaut (via Skype) all stage an intervention to remind Howard that he's misremembering space. So, though he doesn't want to go, he also doesn't want to chicken out, so he listens to his mother yell at him over the phone as he's getting his blood pressure taken to make it look off-the-charts. [ha!]

The Big Bang Theory "The Friendship Turbulence" (S07E17): Penny tells the gang that she turned down a role in the sequel to Serial Apist, but Leonard thinks she should take any and all paid work. Things get worse when Penny's car breaks down and is totaled, and she has no choice but to crawl back to the Cheesecake Factory. That is, until Leonard buys her a used car to keep her independence. [oh, Leonard. that girl doesn't deserve you.]

Bernadette asks Sheldon why he pokes fun at Howard, and Sheldon says that, ten years ago, Howard called Sheldon "C-3-Pee-Wee-Herman" and replaced the slides in a lecture. [immature!] That launched a prank war that's still happening in a way. Howard decides to try being the bigger man and invites Sheldon to accompany him to Houston for a space event, and during a lot of turbulence, the guys apologize to one another. [how will this change the friendship dynamics on the show?]

Raj asks Amy for online dating advice, as he tends to come on too strong. But, shyness isn't popular, either, and when Raj shows up uninvited to Amy's coffee date with a girl he met online, it's over. [so randomly awkward!]

The Big Bang Theory "The Mommy Observation" (S07E18): Raj stages a murder-mystery dinner with Stuart "dying," and the killer has come from 20 years in the future. When the game keeps going astray, Penny blurts out that she's the killer when Stuart compliments her relationship with Leonard. [poor future Stuart in the visions!]

Meanwhile, Sheldon and Howard are getting along in Houston, and when they go to visit the former's mother, they learn she's in an intimate relationship. [oooh la la!] Sheldon has a tough time processing it, but Howard helps him, and Sheldon agrees to condemn his mother silently. [ha!]

The Big Bang Theory "The Indecision Amalgamation" (S07E19): Sheldon tries to decide between the PS4 and the XBOX One, and he drags Amy all over as he tries to make a choice. [kisses now accompany date nights!] He is hung up on bad decisions he has made in the past - betamax, Zune, HD-DVD, and even though Amy offers to just buy whatever he wants (even if it's both), Sheldon can't figure it out and the store closes. [RIDICULOUS!]

Penny gets offered the same part in the horror movie sequel again, but the movie truly is awful. She gets advice from Wil Wheaton, who is also in the film! [Penny has an agent?]

Raj runs into Emily at a coffeeshop and apologizes, and she decides to give him another chance. Then, Raj gets an email from a lonely Lucy, and he confesses it to Emily. [meh. where is this thread going?] 

Big Bang: Being an Adult

I was part of the gifted program for a good portion of my school career, which meant that many people in my class were familiar with the people in the class ahead of us and the class under us, because those kids were always the same (as opposed to the rest of the school, where the kids rotated and had different classmates every year). When I was in seventh grade, I looked at the eighth graders and wondered how they seemed to be so much more mature than my class. I thought the same the following year, as many of those kids remained in the same classes as they began the pre-IB program. When they graduated, I was dumbfounded as to how my group would be that "grown-up" in a year. In truth, I don't think we were. But, I also don't feel like I'm in the same place as the Friends folks at 30, so maybe I'll forever look up to those my senior. I mention all of this because I totally related to the feelings that Amy, Penny, and Bernadette had - they wanted to do something "mature," and thought that a fancy tea would do the trick. Well, much like those girls, I've attempted to have an adult girls' night and failed... it just didn't feel appropriate... like we were trying to fool ourselves by pretending we were ready for such things. Maybe it's a personality thing, and I'm just much more similar to those girls than Carrie and Charlotte?

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The Big Bang Theory "The Convention Conundrum" (S07E14): The guys all try for Comic-Con badges, but after ten minutes of refreshing, Leonard is the only one in the queue, and there are 50,000 people in front of him. [refreshing is the worst thing you can do, guys. this is also hilariously timed for people who do attend Comic-Con, as registration is imminent.] They miss out on badges, and react in different ways. [there's a general Con-badge registration at a separate point, PLUS Stuart could get professional badges, but I guess the writers didn't think about those possibilities.]

Sheldon wants to start his own convention, and quickly begins to come up with possible celebrities to headlins, like Robert Downey Jr., Zachary Quinto, Patrick Stewart, Shatner, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Favreau, Ian McKellan, Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman, Wil Wheaton, and Adam West. [it would have been amusing to see him ask Wil Wheaton!] At the time we learn of this list, those folks have all turned him down, though his ideas also include George Lucas, Matt Smith, Simon Pegg, Anyone who played or shot Uncle Ben, Leonard Nimoy, Bill Nye, Carrie Fisher, Ahmed Best, and Stan Lee. [Sheldon can't call Leonard, Stan, or Bill due to restraining orders, though!] Sheldon tries to get James Earl Jones by stalking him to a sushi restaurant, and the guy actually enjoys Sheldon's company through dinner and then at an ice cream place... then the fair, then karaoke, then playing ding-dong-ditch at Carrie Fisher's house, a strip club, then a trip to the sauna. [that's a ridiculous night of events!] When Sheldon asks the actor about headlining Sheldon-Con, he just invites the group to be his guests at Comic-Con, which is awesome because the other guys decided to buy scalped tickets, only to chicken out at the last minute and wind up being trapped in Leonard's dark apartment when the guy comes to the door to sell. [I love dhow hard they hit the banned possibility. oh, and I loved "yes, he's late because he's on his way here from 1940."]

Meanwhile, the girls decide to do something "mature" because they think spending a ton of money on Comic-Con is pointless, so they head to an afternoon tea. [Amy wears her tiara! oh, and Comic-Con IS expensive. badges this year run you $200 for the entire Con. Hotels will be a minimum of $150/night post-tax, if not higher - and that's if you want to stay miles away from the event. add on food and transportation, and it's easy to wind up dropping $1000 for the weekend, without even considering costumes, custom artwork, and souvenirs!] There are tons of little girls there, so they decide to head to the bar instead, where they admit they don't feel like adults yet. [back to my opening remarks, LoL...]

The Big Bang Theory "The Locomotive Manipulation" (S07E15): It's time for Shamy's Annual State of the Relationship Summit, which highlights that Sheldon needs to come up with a petname for Amy. [remember when Niles tried to do this for Daphne?] For Valentine's Day, Amy has booked a trip to Napa, which Sheldon agrees to because of the dinner-on-a-train aspect. [I laughed at the clawfoot bathtub being like bathing inside of a monster! also, did they fly or drive to Napa?? it's a long way!] He makes a friend on the train, and soon ignores Amy to talk about his hobby. It isn't long before Bernadette lectures Sheldon, but Sheldon just brings the guy back to the table. [I only kinda saw that coming.] The duo soon head to the engine room, so Bernadette tries to console Amy by talking about the work it takes to make a man into a respectable person. Then, Amy confronts Sheldon, who responds by "being romantic" and kissing her, which they both enjoy. [I had forgotten they've been together for three years and have never done anything beyond holding hands! hello, eighth grade! though at least it is a step toward being an adult!] 

Raj asks Leonard and Penny to watch Cinnamon during Valentine's Day, as he'll be spending the night looking at the stars. [although asking if the pooch could watch the couple be intimate was creepy!] Penny gets Leonard flowers and chocolates, and he gets her Lakers tickets. While Leonard and Penny are being intimate, the dog eats the chocolates, so they must rush her to a vet, freaking out Raj. It doesn't wind up being serious, and Raj even walks away with the vet's phone number. [any thoughts on how many more episodes Yvette will be in?]  

Big Bang: Penny's Acting, Raj's Dating, Amy's Conflict

Here and there, I walk about how comedies use 1, 2, and 3 plotlines in episodes to best utilize all of the characters. This series is having issues with the three-arc idea... and it's not the first time this season. Of course, it's also worked well for them in the past, but the past two episodes look like they've been stuffed with some garbage to add a third story into the time allotted, and that's not good. Hopefully it's not part of a larger pattern, though it is nice not to have Sheldon the center of attention constantly. Maybe I'm nit-picking, but as much as I love the characters and the energy of this show, I'm going to need the format to get cleaner pretty quickly. Am I alone in this? Does everyone else just love this series so much they don't care?  

The Big Bang Theory "The Hesitation Ramification" (S07E12): Amy gets frustrated when all of the guys are reading their phones during dinner, but Penny rushes in, saying she landed a scene on NCIS with Mark Harmon. [so... she auditioned, was cast, and did the scene all in the same day? and then the episode is to air the following week? sorry, Charlie, people know that's just not how things work!] The group is excited for her, and everyone plans to watch the episode together... only to find out that the scene was cut. [awwwww! like Joey on that Friends episode! also, I really liked Sheldon being upset he missed the first 245 episodes of NCIS.] Penny is devastated, and Leonard fails at consoling her when he says that he doesn't think she'll make it big as an actor. [just like Chandler told Joey!] He later tries to take it all back and help her audition for a part in the new Star Wars movie. [haha, I love that he thought that was helpful!] He is working on apologizing further when a drunk Penny comes over and proposes... leaving Leonard speechless. His pause bothers her and she storms out. Later, Leonard is up late thinking when Sheldon attempts to console him, though Leonard isn't sure if he and Penny have any future together now. [awwwww.]

Raj is upset that using his dog isn't helping him meet women, so Howard tells him to practice talking to "regular" girls and build his way up to "pretty" girls. Raj and Stuart head to the mall to do so, but only wind up talking to a security guard. [ugh, Bernadette's fake laugh at the restaurant!]

Additionally, Sheldon wants to be funny, so he starts trying to figure out the science behind it. [How is "ointment" funny?]

The Big Bang Theory "The Occupation Recalibration" (S07E13): Sheldon is being forced to use his vacation days, so Amy has lunch with Howard and Raj. They meet Bert, a geologist who has a crush on Amy and brings her rocks. [that is so cute.] She decides to make it clear that she has a boyfriend, but she winds up agreeing to go to a rock and mineral show with him anyway. [...because Sheldon would be jealous?? haha.] She asks Howard and Raj how to let him down, and they do it for her by telling him that she's a lesbian... and then they go to the show with him instead.

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Penny is upset that her career is going nowhere, so she quits the Cheesecake Factory to focus all of her efforts on acting. Leonard says all the wrong things, and Penny asks Sheldon if she's making the wrong decision. [haha, forgetting Sheldon's order one last time!] Sheldon tells her that he became a physicist in the face of adversity, and then they do yoga together. [yep, RANDOM!]

Bernadette accidentally destroys one of Howard's comic books, so she goes to Stuart's shop to replace it, only it's a rare edition he doesn't carry. He tracks down an issue for her after she offers him prescription drugs to speed up the process. [I truly get how pathetic Stuart is supposed to be, but that was just sad.] The owner of the store that carries the book is mean to Stuart, so Bernadette storms out, only to return later when she is alone. [reminded me of the time Niles stood by Martin's side at the cheese shop, only to whisper his order at the end.]

RETURNING: The Exes: Phil and Eden's Relationship

I understand why characters within ensembles wind up becoming "involved" with one another, as it's been happening since my earliest television viewing - Who's the Boss and Saved by the Bell being examples. But, I still don't have to like it. Why not bring in new characters for this purpose, like Mike for Phoebe on Friends? Or Amy and Bernadette on The Big Bang Theory? Back to The Exes, Phil and Eden's relationship didn't last too terribly long, but because of each person's close relationship with Holly, their paths will inevitably have to cross, forcing awkward moments and sexual tension. I'm hoping for some hilarity out of this, but I also think that there will be complications that aren't so great. Still, let's look at the various issues that frustrated the couple while they were together...

The Exes "True Lies" (S03E11): Haskell simply congratulates Phil for being intimate with Eden, but Stuart wants to talk about it. [of course he does.] Holly is upset with Eden until she apologizes, but the girls start chatting it up, and Eden admits to faking orgasms to keep Phil feeling good about himself. Holly soon blabs this to Stuart and Haskell, the latter of whom has been faking food orgasms over the former's meals. [that was weird.] Stuart, in a huff, tells Phil, who immediately confronts Eden, who, in turn, lies, saying that she had to make up something to get things right with Holly. This placates Phil, but Holly de-friends Eden over it, thinking Eden is lying to her. Meanwhile, Haskell tries to apologize to Stuart, then breaks out a lie detector to get to the bottom of everything. But, Eden won't take it. [can't blame her. I wouldn't volunteer for one of those, either!] She admits to "faking it," meaning that she lies to Phil, not Holly. Eden dumps Phil because dating him is like dating the whole group, but they make up shortly thereafter. [seeing her tiny place was kinda interesting.]  

The Exes "How the Grinch Spent Xmas" (S03E12): It's Christmas Eve and Phil is worried about what to get Eden to send the "right" message, so he plans to find out what she got him, then match it. [like Sheldon with Penny! and haha at Stuart's Listerine under the mistletoe!] Phil puts Haskell in charge of figuring it out, and he learns it's a hot, sexy video, sop Phil decides to follow suit with a striptease.

Holly is traveling from London and meets a great guy on the plane and invites him to join the party. However, he can't get through Customs and Border Protection because his passport has been flagged, so she wants to spend Christmas in the airport, upsetting the gang. [uh, yeah!] This causes a chain reaction, as Eden and Phil wanted to spend the holiday in a cabin in Vermont, and Haskell wanted to go home to his mother. The trio decides to placate Stuart a bit before taking off, but rushing through his planned activities means they quickly learn that Holly gave awesome gifts this year. [awwww!] They decide to pack up the seven-course meal and head to the airport to support Holly in her search for love. [that's really sweet!] Meanwhile, at the airport, the guy finds out that he'll be allowed in the country of Costa Rica, so he asks Holly to accompany him. The gang shows up at the airport and can't find her, but continue giving gifts - Eden gave Phil workout clothes, not a sex tape, and that offends him. [haha!] Phil winds up sending everyone the sexy video he made, not just Eden. [haha, his Nana!]

The Exes "Nothing in Common" (S03E13): A woman named Donna hits on Phil at the bar, and it turns out that she wants a three-some with Phil and Eden. [how random!] Eden says that she'll consider it, but only after having a drink, getting to know the woman, etc. The night starts off on the right foot, but the woman soon starts bawling, and Phil makes things awkward. [I can't handle people who are that attached to pets. I just roll my eyes and walk away.] 

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Stuart's sister, Nicki, shows up, upset that her husband of 17 years has cheated on her, though she doesn't know the details. Haskell is interested in the woman, stuttering in her presence. Stuart heads to Staten Island to talk to his brother-in-law, Tommy, but discovers that the cop is cheating on Nicki with a man, which is why he won't try counseling. [ooooh...] When Stuart tells Nicki, she's overly surprised, but does decide to return home to talk to her husband.

The Exes "Bachelor Party" (S03E14): Phil has been named among the top ten most eligible bachelors in NYC, but Eden doesn't consider him "eligible," causing a rift. [why is he that "wanted" ? he JUST started his own business, so it can't be that successful yet!] The gang is excited to attend, and Holly gets her eyebrows done... only to have them completely removed! [omg!] Eden puts some on her, but they're not steady, causing Holly's flirting at the party to go just as awry. [too much for me, though.] Eden decides to go to the party after all, to be supportive (but really to spy on Phil). But, she has to act like she's not with Phil, so she decides to hang out with her friends for the night. Later, when the two talk about their relationship, they realize that Phil is committed, but Eden is not, so they decide to just be friends. [an anti-climactic ending to their relationship!]

Stuart thinks he sees Sabrina at the bar, but it turns out to be her twin sister, Julie. Haskell wonders if it's really Sabrina, playing a fast one on Stuart, so the dentist decides to check for a tattoo to make sure. However, he is caught using a dental mirror to look up her skirt during the tango, so that ends. [what are the odds she'd know how to tango? he does find out that she really was a twin, though!]

Also, Haskell tries "height helpers" at the party, but he falls over and quickly loses his chances with the woman he was wooing.

Big Bang: Sheldon, Sheldon, Sheldon

The show centering around Sheldon (and, thus, Jim Parsons' acting prowess) gets annoying. It's like when Saved by the Bell would be so Zach-centric that the other characters spent episodes with hardly a mention. Both are ensemble shows, and with a larger ensemble on this comedy as time goes on, it's better not to focus on the same character episode after episode. Granted, in the Christmas episode, Sheldon was used more as a plot device to offer the other characters and viewers alike a chance to look at what could have been, but I'd still prefer more focus on the others, and more interaction with Sheldon that the usual Leonard, Amy, and maybe Penny. Why couldn't Howard or Raj do something with Sheldon once in a while?

The Big Bang Theory "The Discovery Dissipation" (S07E10): Sheldon is interviewed on the radio about his element discovery, as he is now being considered for a Nobel Prize in chemistry. He's still upset about it all being an accident, so Amy brings Wil Wheaton over to talk to him... Wil never liked the attention for being on Star Trek as a child, because people didn't always like him. [you know, I reallllly need to track down an episode of Star Trek with him in it! I still have no idea what they reference when they talk about him on the show as a child!]

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However, Leonard re-ran the tests, and figured out that the element DOESN'T actually exist. Sheldon is upset, but soon retracts his paper. [loved that Sheldon sided with Penny to be against Leonard, even though he didn't understand her comparison!] Leonard and Sheldon are invited to the radio show, but Sheldon cuts off Leonard. [as one would expect!]

Raj's apartment is being tented, so he and his dog stay with Howard and Bernadette for a week. [I forgot about his dog!] Raj is nicer to Bernadette than Howard is, making things awkward. The married couple airs some grievances, like Howard wanting Bernadette to pack his lunches with cute notes, and Bernadette wanting Howard to compliment her and help out around the house. [haha that Raj headed to Leonard's!]

The Big Bang Theory "The Cooper Extraction Theory" (S07E11): Amy and Penny are playing a Wii game while Leonard nurses a sprained ankle. When Sheldon is invited to play, the group learns that he is headed to Texas for the birth of his sister's baby. With Sheldon gone, everyone is free to trim the tree without rules, though Sheldon does Face-Time (or Skype?) quite frequently throughout the gathering. Stuart comes over, and everyone talks about watching It's a Wonderful Life, then wonders about what life would be like if Sheldon was never born. In the alternate reality, nobody would know Amy, who is left to celebrate birthdays alone (omg, I could cry!), Leonard wouldn't have had the courage to ask out Penny at the Cheesecake Factory (therefore Howard - who killed his mother - wouldn't have met Bernadette), Penny would be hot for Sheldon, and Raj would have moved in with Leonard and made such delicious meals that they both got fat. [Stuart trying to add himself into stories was funny. Stuart being Penny's boyfriend in the Fat-Leonard scenario was weird.] The group realizes that Amy has made a deep impact on Sheldon, as he listens to her. [plus, SHE was the one he kept contacting!] Leonard shows Amy that she's on Sheldon's screensaver, which touches her. [why did Sheldon say that he had a lot of tv to catch up on?]

Big Bang: Thanksgiving for One and All

I was a bit curious how a Thanksgiving episode would go at this point in the characters' lives, and found several different areas surprising. The Penny-Zack thing caught me off-guard, but I think it's really setting up yet another serious play by Leonard to "put a ring on it." But Bernadette's mother being absent really confused me... it didn't seem to bother anyone, but there's no obvious reason as to why she traveled alone, either. Similarly, Sheldon's mean-spirited attitude for the bulk of the episode seemed uncalled for and harsh, even for him. I think the best grouping of characters was probably the gossip-loving Raj, Amy, and Bernadette (complete with a mouth full of marshmallows!) in the kitchen, and wish more could have transpired in there.

The Big Bang Theory "The Thanksgiving Decoupling" (S07E09): Howard invites the gang to his mother's house for Thanksgiving dinner, as Bernadette's father is going and Howard has nothing to say to him. [why did ONLY Bernadette's mother go and not the rest of the family?] Sheldon doesn't want to, but everyone else is game. Once they get over there, however, Sheldon bonds with Bernadette's dad over football, and even has a beer with the man, as Sheldon's own father passed away when he was only 14, so he was never able to do such a thing. [poor Howard, he really did have a similar situation!]

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Penny talks about a time she spent Thanksgiving in Vegas and got "fake-married" to Zack, unaware that those are real nuptials. [remember when Phoebe on Friends thought that was a fake marriage as well?] It bothers Leonard because she has turned down his multiple proposals. [true. ouch!] She agrees to get an annulment and calls Zack to come over and fill out the papers, and he winds up staying for dinner. [he's dumber than I remember! and drunk Sheldon is awkward.]

And, in the kitchen, Raj is in charge because Howard's mother has gout, and Amy and Bernadette assist. 

Big Bang: Lucy is Back

Because I feel like the A-plot of this episode is pretty self-explanatory, I want to pick on just the B-plot. The girls girls see Lucy at the Cheesecake Factory, so Penny decides to chew her out for hurting Raj. I can understand Penny's motive, but I don't see why she needed to intervene like that! What was she really hoping to accomplish?

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And, although Raj is desperately lonely, Lucy is seeing someone else, though she does ask her ex to meet for coffee. If your ex's friend just told you that he was crushed when you dumped him, why would you want to see him at all, ESPECIALLY if you are in a completely different place emotionally? Well, Raj isn't sure how to act around her again, so he's incredibly awkward... which he is again when Penny sets him up with a coworker. Although many wrote him off as a lost cause long ago, I think that the writers are just dragging their feet to avoid him being in a "real" relationship at this point!

The Big Bang Theory "The Itchy Brain Simulation" (S07E08): Sheldon decides to use some skeeball tickets from three years ago to get a water-squirting flower, but when Leonard pulls them out of a junk box, he discovers a rented movie from seven years ago. [oh, and by the way, the flower backfired.] Because it was rented on Sheldon's card, Sheldon makes Leonard wear an old itchy sweater until he makes amends with the video store, that went out of business years ago. [how did Leonard not know this? did they only rent a movie one time?] After some research, Leonard discovers that the owner of the store is dead, and there is no next-of-kin to reimburse. ["is that sweater made of bees?" haha!] Sheldon suggests Leonard look for long-lost relatives in Armenia or Lebanon, then admits that he paid for the movie years ago but thought this was a teachable moment. [and moments like this are what takes Sheldon from being quirky to being severely irritating!]