Banged Out

The Big Bang Theory just ended its season with "The Commitment Determination." The show is a phenomenon--still the biggest comedy on television in its eighth season.  But I'm tired.  Even the best shows--a category I don't think it fits in--can only last so long before you've seen most of their tricks. (The superior Modern Family is also getting tired, and that's after six seasons.)

Of course, shows are aware of this problem.  Even sitcoms, with episodes that tend to be standalone, try to hold on to their audience with an emotional core.  We care about the characters and are intrigued to see how their relationships progress.  Big Bang has done this masterfully.

When it started it was about four nerdy guys who struck out with women (in a TV way, which meant they still got to succeed with the occasional hottie) and the cute girl who lived across the way. Through the years, we've seen the central couple, Leonard and Penny, get together and then get engaged.  We've seen the randiest character, Howard, settle down with a new character, Bernadette. We've seen Rajesh, who couldn't even speak to women in the beginning, get a steady girlfriend.  And Sheldon, who barely seemed capable of human emotion, got into a long-term relationship with another new character, Amy.

The season eight finale shook up things (expected) and left them hanging (expected and tiresome).  After realizing they were indefinitely putting off their nuptials, we now have a somewhat unsettled Leonard and Penny speeding toward Vegas for a quickie wedding.  (How many sitcoms have tried that?) We've got Rajesh trying to break up with his new girlfriend, but failing.  We've got Howard and Bernadette trying to kick the sad sack Stuart out of their household, but failing.  And biggest of all, we've got trouble on the Sheldon-Amy front--after a fight, he buys her a ring, but before he can tell her, she wants to step back from the relationship.

And I don't care.  The show is good for some laughs.  But whether or not the character go on to marriage, or break up, or get divorced, or have babies, or whatever else is on the horizon, means nothing to me.  The producers must figure jerking around the audience will keep them watching, and they may be right, but from now on, I don't think I'll go out of my way to keep up.