adam-watsons

At one point, the Big Bang Theory was one of my favourite sitcoms of the past 10 years. The first season I thought was great, with jokes enjoyable without understanding the subject matter, but even better if you did. Though the very caricature like characters (mainly Sheldon) did take a way from the realism, it didn't detract from the show as all I still found enjoyable. The only real problem I had was with Penny. Penny is a character that had little to no personality beyond being the "hot chick" and was either obnoxious or boring. She was used mainly to explain things to the audience, which it being a wide appeal sitcom is excusable.

Season 2 felt like much of the same, which was good so no real complaints here. Leslie does appear a lot more in this season, and I found her to be a weak character, but some like her so I wouldn't say this season's enjoyment is affected by her.

Season 3 is where I feel the show went downhill. With the introduction of Bernadette and Amy, and a shift of character from most of the main cast from nerds to nerd stereotypes, it's pretty clear that they tried make the show appeal to a larger audience, and by doing so alienating those who liked the clever and nerdy jokes with multiple layers to appreciate.

All of the characters become creepy and unpleasant the further the shows go on with the butt of most of the jokes becoming the nerd stereotypes, becoming just another shallow sitcom. A friend describes the show as "Nerd Black Face", which though it sounds extreme, when you really think about it is quite accurate. I haven't seen every episode after the 5th season, but what I have seen is nothing new, besides the character's relationships with each other changing over time.

Overall, I would say the show is still alright, but not the clever comedy gold it's praised to be.