Ever since television attained dominance as the primary source of home
entertainment, several core genres have withstood the constantly changing
preferences of the audience. For decades every television season has brought
about new shows based on a few simple themes: the police/detectives, the
judicial system and the medical profession. Traditionally these are hour long
dramas targeting the adults in the family. While many members in the audience
enjoy escaping their daily grinds in enthralling stories most seek a means of
escapism rooted in light hearted comedy. That lead to the most persistent format
in television history, the situational comedy, the sitcom. While dramas usually
focus on exciting setting, circumstances and professions, the sitcom is crafted
upon a foundation of relatability. The most common format involves a group of
people either at home or on the job. In 2007 CBS premiered a variation of such a
proven formula which combined friendly neighbors and people sharing an apartment
as well as professional similarities, ‘The Big Bang Theory’. This consideration
focuses on the eleventh, and as it turns out, penultimate season. The
fundamental premise was brilliantly simple and exceptionally relatable. A pair
of young men, physicists with PhDs, share an apartment in a variation of ‘The
Odd Couple’. Both are socially inept geniuses but Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny
Galecki), notably better able to fit in than his OCD roommate, Sheldon Cooper
(Jim Parsons). Their equilibrium is upended when a beautiful, friendly young
woman, Penny (Kaley Cuoco). Under most circumstances this setup would wear thin
within a few seasons but thanks to creative writing and incredible chemistry
between an ensemble cast, directly resulted in its longevity. The dilemma that
faces every showrunner is simple to describe yet quite difficult to achieve. The
goal is to retain the elements responsible for the success of the show yet
introduce enough changes to keep the series interesting. The traditional
paradigm for sitcoms is consistency. Season after season they keep the same cast
and circumstances with each episode independent of the others. That format
became outdated when the audience began to expect fully developed story arcs,
even with comedies. ‘The Big Bang Theory’ has proven to be among the most robust
examples of the genre.
The key to the versatility of the show is the willingness to expand the cast.
First close friends of Seldon and Leonard were brought in, astrophysicist Raj
Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) and MIT trained mechanical engineer, Howard Wolowitz
(Simon Helberg). Initially each had problems relating to women, but that
situation was rectified during the interning decade. By this season a fully
formed ensemble cast had been established, each with completely developed
personalities. For several seasons Penny was the only female character,
primarily as Leonard’s on again-off again love interest. Sheldon was painted as
so completely incompatible on a psychological level to be involved in anything
remotely resembling a normal relationship. The changes were infused gradually
with great care for developing a cohesive narrative. Howard, the faux lady’s
man, marries a biologist, Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch). At this
point they are happily married with two children. Customarily, marriage was a
‘jump the shark’ plot development but this show went beyond making it work, it
became an expanding central theme. After years of relationship flux, Penny and
Leonard get married. Defying another common pitfall, they live in the guy’s
apartment while Sheldon takes over Penny’s place across the hall. Against all
odds he moves in with his girlfriend, Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik), a
Neuroscientist. In a case of art imitating life Dr. Bialik earned her doctorate
in that field. Raj overcame his inability to talk to women while sober and had
several serious relationships with amazingly brilliant and beautiful young
women. He has attached himself to Howard and Bernadette serving as godfather and
caretaker for their children. In keeping with the modus operandi of the series,
peripheral character, Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman), became a regular after years
as the owner of the comic book store frequented by the guys. He is the sad sack
friend who is not on par intellectually but well versed in comic and movie lore.
He also gravitated to staying with Howard and Bernadette as a ‘mannie’.
Throughout all these changes the showrunner never lost sight of the whimsical
humor that propelled the series to pervade the zeitgeist of a generation. The
firmly crafted foundation remained the culture shock when highly intelligent
young me are forced by circumstances to socially interact with a beautiful,
vivacious young woman from a normal midwestern community. The course alterations
in the narrative was carefully infused into the series at a steady, metered
pace. Many shows would hold back on major plot twists until the fiscally crucial
sweeps period of season finales. Certainly, several key story developments are
reserved until the last episode, for example the cliff-hanger of Sheldon
proposing to Amy. The significance of that highly emotionally charged scene
would have been greatly diminished. That relationship had been building for
seasons as the inherently self-absorbed Sheldon and the socially naive Amy
reached out to each other to find a somewhat normalized common ground. Initially
it was acting upon a long-repressed need to be close to another person in a
potentially intimate fashion. Both experience an expansion of a previously
myopic world view that slowly blossomed into love. This season offers a unique
variation of a period of life that is common, preparing for a wedding.
considering Sheldon is so controlling that Leonard sign a roommate agreement and
Amy a similar document defining the parameters of their relation, the plethora
of deskins necessary for any nuptial, this planning stage made the moon landing
appear to be spontaneous.
The wonderful nature of this series resides in its ability to change; its
willingness to encourage realistic growth in each of the characters. This
devotion to the quality of the stories is intrinsically infused down to the core
of the narrative. This is evident with the way a relatively minor character such
as Stuart was handled. Beginning as little more than a background character
present during the scenes when the guys were perusing the latest characters. He
was carefully expanded until in this latest season he occupies a central
position in a significant plot thread, Raj and Howard from establishing the
rarified world of scientific research to two of the most iconic characters on
television. Indubitably many fans readily identify with young men knowable in
science fiction mythos, graphic novels and the backstory of every entity to
wield the green power ring of Oa. Still, there is such an accessible core of
humanity present in every character. The romance between Penny and Sheldon
defied expectations by balancing happiness with the usual tribulations we all
have endure for the sake of love. The traditional sitcom tends to maintain
characters in their respective niche. Bernadette underwent the transformation
from Penny’s coworker at the Cheesecake factory to earning her doctorate. Now
she is the mother of two balancing work in the private sector, mother of two
small children while remaining close to her best girlfriends, Penny and Amy.
Across the board, change was accomplished through carefully crafted character
development and dedication to quality. It is lamentable that the upcoming season
will be the swan sing for the series. In entertainment such success and
popularity affording the talented cast, writers and directors the opportunity to
pursue the projects that will allow them the greatest degree of artistic growth.
This penultimate season is among the most relatable and human yet. It properly
set the groundwork for the regrettable yet inevitable conclusion of a memorable
series.