S10.E10: The Property Division Collision

[theatremouse]

Yes. Sheldon used to be uncompromising and change-averse, but substantially less petty. Obnoxiously clinging to his own sense of what is proper, which yielded some of the same frustration among his friends (and if we consider that frustration comedic potential, great there it is), but previously did so without requiring him to also be so damn vindictive.

[wendyg]

I think an episode where Sheldon insisted on an exact 50-50 split of the jointly owned stuff and having to decide which beloved item he was going to give up would have been much funnier.

The continued nearly-complete separation of Raj-Howard-Bernadette from Sheldon-Leonard-Penny-Amy is making me wonder whether this is the showrunners' preparation for the possibility that Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, and Johnny Galecki aren't going to want to renew their contracts. I think I've read somewhere that Parsons in particular wants to move on to other things, and (as others have observed), Cuoco doesn't get much to do any more. In the show as originally constituted, AIUI the essential persons were deemed to be Parsons, Galecki, and Cuoco, but the show has changed far away from its original template, and it's possible that they figure if they could keep 2 1/2 Men running for several more years despite losing Charlie Sheen they can reconfigure this into something that will work.

[CherryAmes]

If that's what they figure then they are figuring wrong.  BBT might survive with the loss of one of their main characters but not with all three.  And that might is a mighty big might!  If either Cuoco or Galecki leave that blows the central romance of the show, no way they can write that funny.  If Parsons leaves there goes the central character of the show and there goes the reason for Amy to be around.  A show that centres around Howard, Bernadette and Raj?  Not gonna happen.  But then I thought Trump couldn't win the presidency so what the hell do I know!

[LoneHaranguer]

On 12/10/2016 at 8:40 AM, wendyg said:

The continued nearly-complete separation of Raj-Howard-Bernadette from Sheldon-Leonard-Penny-Amy is making me wonder whether this is the showrunners' preparation for the possibility that Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, and Johnny Galecki aren't going to want to renew their contracts.

I think it's just easier to write a "filler" story if it's independent of the main story of the week. Lately the main arc has been about the living arrangements of Sheldon, Amy, Leonard, and Penny, so they've been padding with something about Howard, Bernie, Raj and Stuart.

[wknt3]

On 12/10/2016 at 8:40 AM, wendyg said:

The continued nearly-complete separation of Raj-Howard-Bernadette from Sheldon-Leonard-Penny-Amy is making me wonder whether this is the showrunners' preparation for the possibility that Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, and Johnny Galecki aren't going to want to renew their contracts.

 

29 minutes ago, LoneHaranguer said:

I think it's just easier to write a "filler" story if it's independent of the main story of the week. Lately the main arc has been about the living arrangements of Sheldon, Amy, Leonard, and Penny, so they've been padding with something about Howard, Bernie, Raj and Stuart.

I think you are correct at least in the broad strokes that it's a creative choice rather than preparing for a departure of the leads. At the beginning of the season we were talking about the girls seemed to be being separate from the guys. I do think they know that next season or possibly Season 12 will be the last and that has been influencing writing. They seem to be going back to basics and letting things move on and not trying to keep the balls in the air indefinitely regardless of whether it makes sense logically or is a good story. With the young Sheldon spinoff as a bribe to Parsons who seemed most interested in moving on and a shift in everyone's tone it seems that they think this deal will get done. And if it doesn't they will probably go with a big finale and blame the cast in anonymous quotes rather than try a drastic revamp that will be both expensive and risky.

[Oldernowiser]

On 12/2/2016 at 1:11 PM, iMonrey said:

It seems like at some point, Sheldon just stopped being funny. Whenever I run across an older episode on TBS I'm caught off guard by how Sheldon used to be somewhat more mature and reasonable. He was always condescending but he didn't use to be purposely insulting like he is now. The whole property division thing was just awful. Similarly, making Raj and Stuart as pathetic as possible isn't funny either.

It was season six, and I say this as someone who has been down with a monster case of bronchitis for the last eight days and has done nothing but binge watch BBT seasons in order and cough. Somewhere during the end of season five Raj got weird, Amy started creepy crushing on Penny, Stuart become too sad to watch, and Leonard and Penny turned into The Bickersons. Then season six Sheldon went full-time redneck asshat and I remembered why I never bought another episode, even though there was an occasional gem in the mud (scavenger hunt).

Oh, show.. I loved you once...

[Cowgirl]

On 12/2/2016 at 4:40 PM, icemiser69 said:

Gosh this episode sucked.  A complete waste of Lloyd on a horribly written, dime a dozen, episode.  The writers have no where to go with any of these characters.  They are useless.  The characters are stale old and should have been put out to pasture long ago.

I agree that this episode fell flat and it was a waste of Christopher Lloyd.  The regular characters all seemed to regress terribly, which was not amusing. But I disagree that the show should be put out to pasture -- instead it should be these writers! I still love this show and hold out hope for improvement. There is plenty of character development still to be accomplished, and it's only lack of imagination that keeps the writers from making up new and funny scenarios for these characters. They need to resolve the stupid apartment switching and property division.  That plotline has been clumsily handled.  One of the interesting things about this show in the past year and, even a bit this season, was Sheldon's personal growth.  But in the past two episodes he's back to being childish and selfish.  Good writers should know that they could retain some of these elements of Sheldon's character and yet allow him to make strides in improving his faults. 

[TAG42481]

There's a difference between Sheldon being "socially awkward" and "an asshole."  The writers seem to have forgot the difference over the last few seasons.  While I never loved Sheldon, I now actively hate him.  Not sure I'll be sticking around for season 11.