The Big Bang Theory, like every other long running comedy, has had problems with turning its characters into stereotypes. I don’t know why it happens, maybe it’s laziness on the parts of the writers and/or actors, or maybe it’s something they think the audience wants “they laughed when X happens, so do it more and do it bigger!”. Either way, that’s where they start losing me. Too often it pushes the characters from being extreme but credible to being charicatures and unrealistic.

The Big Bang Theory has been heading in this direction for a while. Characters could reasonably be expected to mellow with age, with the extremes of their personalities rounded off a bit as they meet more people and experience more life, but instead they get odder and odder. It makes the characters seem alternately stupid and cruel. Sheldon, despite supposedly being in a relationship and being surrounded by ‘functional’ people like Penny and Leonard who have repeatedly told and shown him that his behaviour is inappropriate, continues to be selfish, rude and hurtful. It makes him seem mean, and it makes the other characters seem foolish for continually associating with him and trying to change him.

But then, as if an alarm goes off in a character’s head, they take a step forward – Sheldon inches his relationship with Amy closer, Penny realises what she wants in life, Raj learns how to be in a relationship. It feels like fireworks should go off. These moments are so sweet and lovely, so elegantly written and true to the soul of the characters that other missteps are forgiven. Until the next time and then with a sigh I find myself seeking out a clip of a highpoint and remind myself of the good.

The writers have made some improvements at least. Amy’s obsession with Penny has been toned down and Penny’s increasing familiarity with science and geekery are a refreshing acknowledgement of how long she’s been with the group. I wish they’d smooth Stuart’s character out a little and make more use of him, I like his addition to the group, I guess we’ll have to see how integral Raj’s girlfriend becomes but I hope it will last as that will be an interesting direction for the character.

I don’t really see myself giving up on the series, it’s pretty much the only sitcom I watch and it’s easy to slot in during the week. But they need to make sure that they keep hitting those highpoints regularly enough to keep me forgiving the low points, and if they could maybe avoid the low points a bit more often, that’d be great too.

I don’t seem to have reviewed The Big Bang Theory on this website, so this review is going to have to do a bit of catching up before really getting to the review of the latest season.

I only started watching the show in the last year or so and was able to plough through it pretty quickly thanks to the wonders of dvd box sets and E4’s endless repeats. I quickly became charmed by the series and its collection of geeks. I’ll be honest, the characters, scenarios and conversations are pretty familiar to me. I studied physics at university and have shared houses, gaming days and a multitude of geeky discussions with people more than a little similar to these characters. That’s not to say that you need that background to appreciate the show, the fact that it’s one of the highest rated shows (8th) on US TV at the moment attests to that. I know plenty of people that like it who don’t have a science background, and at least one person with the same background as I that can’t stand it actually. But for me it really helps that the show’s writers clearly have a knowledge and respect for science geeks, meaning for the most part it stays respectful rather than mocking.

I say for the most part, because the show isn’t without its over the top moments and characters. Sheldon of course is the most extreme, he’s not utterly unbelievable, but he isn’t far off. In the early seasons it doesn’t really matter though, because by surrounding him with credible characters he is automatically more believable – Leonard and Penny are normal (for sitcom characters) and they think that Sheldon is odd but not imaginary so somehow it convinces me too. That doesn’t make much sense now I come to write it, but you know what I mean. It also makes the moments when Sheldon does something normal that much more lovely, the simple act of Sheldon hugging Penny as a thank you for a Christmas present brought tears to my eyes.

Unfortunately that balance is one of the things that gradually shifts over the seasons. Raj becomes an increasingly unlikely character and is mostly used as the butt of jokes, somehow actually becoming less socially aware as the years go on. The biggest problem however is Amy, who as a female Sheldon only draws attention to his weirdness; one of them is just about believable, two is too much. Fortunately the other new character, Bernadette, actually has a grounding effect on Howard (even if it’s never really clear what she sees in him) and forms a nice friendship with Penny.

Season 5 isn’t the best season of the series, I’m afraid my hatred of Amy (the character, the actress is actually very good) and growing frustration with Raj is just too much for me to get over, I cringe whenever they’re on screen. When they’re not about, the show is still a great deal of fun and there’s some very sweet relationships which it’s lovely to see evolving over time (Leonard and Penny’s on/off relationship, Howard and Bernadette’s engagement, Sheldon and Leonard’s friendship).

The fact that I generally don’t like American 1/2 hour comedies, the fact that I’ve got to season 5 of this one tells you a lot! There’s certainly a lot that they do very well, the actors are all superb and even the mediocre episodes still make me laugh out loud and it has a theme song by The Barenaked Ladies! I think if the over the top edges of Amy and Raj were sanded off, the show could easily return to the strengths of the early seasons, going back to being a charming and light look inside of the world of geeks that I remember.