Hey everyone. It’s been a while since we’ve done this, but (as stated on the “No Thrones” podcast), we’re taking a look around at some TV shows that are wrapping up for the season & in some cases, the series. Time to hand out some grades, cause it’s TV Report Card time!
The Big Bang Theory: After 12 seasons, 18 million viewers tuned in to see the final (for now) story of Dr. Sheldon Cooper & company as the “Big Bang Theory” took it’s final bow last Thursday. The episode itself wasn’t a huge nostalgia fest (brief montage in the beginning) , but rather a simple episode where Sheldon (Jim Parsons) & Amy (Mayim Bialik) win Nobel Peace Prizes. The gang flies to Sweden to see them accept their awards & typical TV drama ensues. There was Penny (Kaley Cuoco) being pregnant, Howard & Bernadette (Simon Helberg & Melissa Rauch) having anxiety issues leaving their kids, & Sheldon dealing with change……which we’ve seen before.
The episode (Grade: C) wraps up with the gang staying (after all nearly leaving) to see Sheldon give his speech, where he thanks them for being better friends than he deserves. The final shot is the gang eating Chinese food to the sounds of an acoustic version of the Barenaked Ladies’s “History of Everything.”
Overall, it wasn’t a hugely memorable episode. Longtime fans will appreciate the little knods to the show’s history (they FINALLY fixed the elevator)! At this stage, it was a good place to end the series. In the beginning in 2007, the show had a unique charm to it. It showed pop culture a version on Geek Culture. Did it represent it authentically? That’s a highly debated question. In the first seasons, The show hammed up the “super geekly” aspect of the characters. Obviously, this was done to win over viewers & they succeeded. Ratings don’t lie. Overall, it felt, at times, as the geek culture was being more made fun of than embraced for it’s perceived social awkwardness.
Where the show succeeded in was: it opened a lot of eyes & doors to show pop culture that there is an audience for geek culture. If Big Bang didn’t take off, would the current influx of comic Movies & TV shows have taken off to their current heights? Maybe it’s ironic timing, maybe not.
The “Big Bang Theory” legacy is that of showing the mainstream that geek culture can work & there is an audience for it. From where it started, what once was on the outside has now become the mainstream. It’s now influencing new shows & opening eyes to more people (esp. in syndication). “Bazinga” indeed.