A Man. And His Blog.

It was an average episode, and somehow I get the feeling that the episodes are way too short. maybe it’s a sign of me wanting to see more of the show, or maybe it’s a sign of the writers using the wrong scene for the closer.

Even though Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) had a fake-date, and Penny didn’t even know about it, it was a good thing to exploit that story so early in the series. Besides not mentioning all the time that Leonard has a crush on Penny, even the “date” wasn’t really story-heavy and only got a couple of minutes in the second half of the episode. In addition, I liked the introduction of Leslie (Sara Gilbert) as Leonard’s potential girlfriend – or just the third friend in the apartment for Leonard and Sheldon, as well as the fifth person for Penny to interact with. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to have another woman in the cast. And I adore Sara Gilbert, so everything was perfectly done with Leslie…

Well, the episode barely had anything more. I wasn’t interested in Penny dating a random guy, just for Leonard to be jealous and finally asking her on a date (without asking her, and without telling her that it’s a date); I wasn’t interested in what the other guys were doing, and the scene in the restaurant could have been more… romantic. The thing with the olive was nice, and I had the feeling that Penny adored Leonard for that second, but the scene with Leonard under the table could have been funnier. It almost looked like the reversed “girl under the table”, and I was already thinking of possible gags to happen – which didn’t.

Still, the series needs to work on the humor. I can’t really laugh out loud at all of this. 6/10

Leonard after the kiss

Penny during the fake-date

And like HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, the second episode outgrew the pilot, was much funnier, much better, and less awkward. Congratulations.

It was already hilarious to hear the guys discuss about the flaws of the first SUPERMAN movie. I hope this brought the writers some great ideas to even mention more plot holes (which are actually reasonable) about fantastic Hollywood movies – I was just laughing, when Sheldon (Jim Parsons) mentioned that Lois Lane should have been cut in three slices by Superman’s arms while falling down a building. Really hilarious.

Not really hilarious, but at least funny on some occasions was the rest of the episode. I loved how it actually build on the story, and when the second half was about Penny (Kaley Cuoco) not just being angry at the boys, but creeped out as well (and seriously: I would have creeped out too, when somebody cleaned my room in the night). But again, it could have served as an even better story, where the three neighbors are growing closer as neighbors. At the moment, I don’t have the feeling that Penny is much involved in the lives of the nerdy friends, instead she is just the super hot woman, whom everybody dreams of. I hope it will change soon in the series.

Other than that, the episode didn’t have much else to offer. Okay, Howard (Simon Helberg) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) had a bit more screentime and shared a hug, but it’s not a funny running gag, when Raj isn’t talking to Penny, because he can’t. At least Howard is super funny. I laughed, when he talked Russian to Penny, I loved when he was intrigued about Penny’s perfume on Raj. But both definitely approve for some more screentime in the show.

Good episode, sometimes funny as hell, and please more discussions between the four nerds. I already love them. 7.5/10

Gravity is a bitch

This is a somewhat gay moment

Back then, I’ve read dozens of reviews that the pilot of this show is so terrible, it makes the whole show terrible. Then I watched it for the first time and I yawned, never to start the series. Now I watched it again, and it seems to be funnier than years ago. And I can’t explain it.

It works well as a pilot. Sheldon (Jim Parsons), Leonard (Johnny Galecki, he somehow looks like J.J. Abrams) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) get their proper introductions; the two friends not, but since they are just friends and I can’t remember their names yet, I can clearly forget them after this episode – after all, the first 23 minutes heavily focused on just the three characters whose name I can actually remember. But only the story wasn’t really mines here. First, some moments were rather awkward to watch, especially the first half of the episode. Second, I’ve had my difficulties in believing that Penny is a real TV character. I kinda don’t want to blame Kaley for her acting, but she definitely could not get her character straight, when she didn’t have dialog, and I had the feeling that she was rather portrayed as the hot, blonde, dumb neighbor, who is about to have a wild orgy with her new neighbors. Until she said some words. So, maybe it would have been different, when the writing could have gotten a little deeper into building characters, instead of scientific oneliners.

And I think that the episode could have done more with Penny’s ex-boyfriend Kurt (Brian Wade). Instead, Sheldon and Leonard only lose their pants in a non-hilarious way. Lame. Even more, I thought that the pilot wasn’t as funny as I wanted it to be. Sure, I laughed more than during the HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER pilot and more than I can remember, but most of the scientific talks were so damn unfunny, it was ridiculously awkward. And the pilot could have done so many running jokes with them – but at the end it was just a way of showing that the producers have a scientific consultant on the set, so that THE BIG BANG THEORY looks more nerdy.

But I have to say: Compared with HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, this series was the one, who made me hungry for the series more. And after the rather negative critics, it stunned me too. 6/10

Of course there couldn't be a scene without Penny wrapped in a towel

And of course there is no scene without awkwardness