S05.E05: Stuffed Animals and a Sweet Southern Syzygy

[anna0852]

30 minutes ago, jewel21 said:

Mary is a devoted Christian but she isn't Catholic. Catholics have priests, not pastors. I think they're Baptist. 

They are Baptists. 

[possibilities]

Every parent on the planet ought to try. Sometimes teenagers are not super appreciative, but it's not like that makes George's situation unusual. I don't get why he's supposedly such a sad case. He had one bad day, but so what? Every parent has them.

[Chit Chat]

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

Sometimes teenagers are not super appreciative, but it's not like that makes George's situation unusual. I don't get why he's supposedly such a sad case. He had one bad day, but so what? Every parent has them.

It's not just about one day though.  This has been building up for awhile.  When you get to that point that you're done, well, you're done!  

[SusanM]

9 hours ago, possibilities said:

Every parent on the planet ought to try. Sometimes teenagers are not super appreciative, but it's not like that makes George's situation unusual. I don't get why he's supposedly such a sad case. He had one bad day, but so what? Every parent has them.

Yep.  It was only as an adult with kids of my own that I really appreciated what my parents went through.  And we were good kids, which, frankly, so are these kids.   I get that the show wants us to sympathize with George and see that he is unhappy - ok, fine, be unhappy - but quit making that unhappiness the fault of kids who are being kids and a wife who may not be perfect but who he never tries to connect with in any meaningful way.  That's on him, not her.

Edited November 7, 2021 by SusannahM

[shapeshifter]

9 hours ago, possibilities said:

Sometimes teenagers are not super appreciative, but it's not like that makes George's situation unusual. I don't get why he's supposedly such a sad case. He had one bad day, but so what? Every parent has them.

58 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

It's not just about one day though.  This has been building up for awhile.  When you get to that point that you're done, well, you're done!  

And for every parent, this is their first time doing it, specifically, George's first time having a tween daughter. 
George had ego-boosting experiences with Georgie doing sports in high school, Missy doing baseball, and helping Sheldon get to college. Now everything seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, so to speak, and George is not living in a time or place where therapy is a consideration for men like himself.

7 minutes ago, SusannahM said:

the show wants us to sympathize with George and see that he is unhappy - ok, fine, be unhappy - but quit making that unhappiness the fault of kids who are being kids and a wife who may not be perfect but who he never tries to connect with in any meaningful way. 

I don't see it as the kids' or wife's "fault" so much as that George has always been the rock for them to lean on (and probably derived some feelings of self-worth for being that rock) and now the wife and kids do not realize the rock that was George is crumbling.

But. Yeah. Kind of depressing. I hope the writers step up the jokes to offset the drama.

Edited November 7, 2021 by shapeshifter

[SusanM]

Just now, shapeshifter said:

I don't see it as the kids' or wife's "fault" so much as that George has always been the rock for them to lean on (and probably derived some feelings of self-worth for being that rock) and now the wife and kids do not realize the rock that was George is crumbling.

Sometimes they have written George that way but a lot of the time they haven't.  I never watched this show when it first came on so seeing the first few seasons now at the same time I am watching the current shows and honestly George is written differently, or at least a little differently, in almost every episode!

[wknt3]

3 hours ago, SusannahM said:

Sometimes they have written George that way but a lot of the time they haven't.  I never watched this show when it first came on so seeing the first few seasons now at the same time I am watching the current shows and honestly George is written differently, or at least a little differently, in almost every episode!

I'm not sure I agree with that, but I would say that if he inconsistent that males it more realistic. As a former teenager myself and the child and SO of high school teachers being a selfish jackass, a thoughtful caring sweetheart, a naive dumbass, and a surprisingly insightful and resourceful individual from day to day or hour to hour is very true to life!

[Chit Chat]

George has always seemed a bit melancholy to me.  He's very mellow.  There have been some very sweet moments between him and all 3 of the kids.  He can be a little harsh on Georgie, which I don't always agree is the best approach, but he knows that Georgie will play him if he doesn't question him on certain things.  Georgie can be a bit sneaky about things!  

One of my favorite episodes was when Georgie drove Sheldon & Missy to the hospital to see their Dad after his first heart attack.  He could barely see over the steering wheel!  I miss those kinds of episodes.  

[Spartan Girl]

On 11/6/2021 at 10:44 PM, jewel21 said:

Mary is a devoted Christian but she isn't Catholic. Catholics have priests, not pastors. I think they're Baptist. 

Oops, my mistake. But my point is they never divorced. Unless this show will retcon that.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 11/5/2021 at 4:57 PM, MollyMelrose said:

The water cooler has been mentioned several times. Wondering if it's the great-grand-cooler of this one that scared the bejeebers out of Rob Petrie in the Dick Van Dyke Show episode Uhny Uftz: (Starts around 13:19)

 

One of my favorite episodes.

[Zanzibar]

When my husband (who is a Caltech engineering grad and science geek) and I were first dating, we played Hangman. By first dating, I mean probably the second date.  He noticed that when it was my turn to guess a word, I had a habit of calling all the vowels right at the start, so he decided to pick a word that did not have a-e-i-o-u in it.  He was greatly amused by my mystified look after I chose the last of the vowels.  The word he was using? Syzygy.

Edited November 10, 2021 by Zanzibar

[I Want My MBTV]

On 11/4/2021 at 8:42 PM, BitterApple said:

I was surprised at how nasty MeeMaw was to Georgie when he gave her a solution to her problem.

MeeMaw can be pretty nasty especially when it comes to people named George or Georgie.   I've felt all along she treats George like garbage and like he ruined Mary's life and that Mary is too good for him (I've felt that Mary sometimes think she's too good for him as well).  I know they say Mary was a wild child when she and George first got together but from what we've seen of them they don't even really seem to like each other so it's hard to imagine there was ever a romance.    

Also, I keep meaning to ask, we know Mary's father passed away and we obviously know where her mom is and we've heard a little about her siblings but what about George's parents and does he have any siblings?  

[Mrs. Landingham]

On 11/5/2021 at 12:32 PM, SusannahM said:

I don't see that myself.  He's got a good job a wife who keeps a nice home and brings in a little extra money, decent kids who may challenge him now and then but aren't into drugs or knocking over a corner store.  If he's feeling beaten down it's because he's not happy with a life that most people would envy.  I am profoundly not sympathetic.

Me either. I’m not fond of the recent trend of making the kids extra bratty and making George and Mary’s marriage more and more tense in order to drum up pre-sympathy for George’s future affair. 

[chediavolo]

On 11/4/2021 at 11:42 PM, BitterApple said:

I felt so badly for George Sr. this episode. It feels like the writers are trying to underscore his unhappy home life (troubled marriage, ungrateful kids) to soften the blow of the upcoming affair. Missy was a brat about the Billy thing, but George probably should've given her a heads up in case Billy didn't heed his advice. It's not like the boy is the sharpest tool in the shed. 

I was surprised at how nasty MeeMaw was to Georgie when he gave her a solution to her problem.

It was fun to see Dr. Sturgis back in the classroom, but overall this episode felt weird. When I saw the previews last week, I thought it was going to be hilarious and when I watched it tonight it was kind of depressing. 

I never would have gotten away with that attitude if it had been my father. Missy would have gotten the belt! 
George is treated like crap a lot. Not surprised he would have an affair. 
I was not surprised Meemaw was nasty to George. Meemaw is a nasty old bitch. She seems like the kind of woman who is loathsome to most people. A big mouth that needs to have someone put her in her place. I’ve been around her kind. 

[SusanM]

On 11/27/2021 at 6:46 PM, Mrs. Landingham said:

Me either. I’m not fond of the recent trend of making the kids extra bratty and making George and Mary’s marriage more and more tense in order to drum up pre-sympathy for George’s future affair. 

Sadly, given this is a Chuck Lorre show, I was expecting it but it's actually a little more blatant than I thought it would be.  George seems to be cast as the sad sack underdog that is pushed into the arms of a another woman. Blah blah blah - because in Lorre land no man can resist any woman coming on to him for longer than 5 minutes and every married woman is a shrewish bitch.  I've reached the point with this show where if it wasn't on my PVR I'd probably never get around to watching it.

[John Potts]

I so wanted Dr Sturgis to say in response to Dr Linklater calling him a gremlin "I'm not a Gremlin, I'm a Ferengi!" (I wonder if Sheldon has noticed the uncanny similarity in the voices of the Grand Nagus and Dr Sturgis), though I don't recall any mentions of Deep Space 9 yet (it started in 1991, so it's aired in Universe).

Kinda sad that George didn't get a thank you from Sheldon (Missy I can understand, even if she was a bratty teen about it), though at least he did get one from Billy. Unfortunately, that only seems to be pushing him closer to Brenda.

I guess Connie has never heard of Pachinko parlours, because that's exactly how they work (or worked) - you win prizes that you can redeem for cash. No gambling involved.

ETA: D'Oh! Yes, DS9 started in 1993, not 1991. Though the first episode Zek (Wallace Shawn) was in wouldn't be until March.

Edited May 24, 2022 by John Potts

[vibeology]

1 hour ago, John Potts said:

I so wanted Dr Sturgis to say in response to Dr Linklater calling him a gremlin "I'm not a Gremlin, I'm a Ferengi!" (I wonder if Sheldon has noticed the uncanny similarity in the voices of the Grand Nagus and Dr Sturgis), though I don't recall any mentions of Deep Space 9 yet (it started in 1991, so it's aired in Universe).

It premiered in January 1993.