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Quick Review: The Big Bang Theory, Californication

By fred | October 31, 2007

A couple more shows I got to watch. I know they aired on Monday, but I don’t get to see the that soon, and only managed to do so today. There is a good one, and a bad one. We’ll start with the good one.

The Big Bang Theory

So, maybe you know this one, maybe you don’t. I would totally get it if you never bother to watch it : this show is about two geeks theoretical physicists meeting their new neighbor, who happens to be a girl. We actually follow those two and a bunch of their friends, all geeks, in their daily life trying to behave like, you know, regular people.

Which isn’t that easy for them, because, well , they’re geeks. But the real kind, they look and sound like geeks, they argue over Superman’s plot and for Halloween they dress up as the Doppler effect. And really, it’s funny. It really is.

Sometimes they try too hard and fall down to usual sitcom-esque move, and it sucks. Yes, I’m thinking about Luminous fish. But really, most of the times they got it just right, and while Leonard might appear as the “leader” of the group, he’s the one trying to socialize and date Penny, the girl next door, but as soon as you’ll know and hear Sheldon you will see why he owns the show.

Always makes the greatest, most funniest geeky remarks. He’s the one dressing up as the Doppler effect, not a Zebra, and when yet another one makes that confusion he simple goes “Yet another child left behind“, because “Given the reaction to [his] costume this party is a scathing indictment of the American education system“. If you haven’t watched it yet, do it, it really is worth a look!

Californication

What happens to the promising new series that we all thought we would get to see every week, after watching that funny, tonic and well made pilot ?

I have no idea what they think they were doing this season, but clearly they were wrong. Oh so wrong. The show stopped being funny quite early on, it became extremely pretentious, self-involved and so sure of its qualities it forget to simply be good. Just because you have naked girls, people smoking pot or talking about sex, even from behind, does not make your show provocative, or worth watching.

Hank did not really changed or evolved throughout the season, neither did his daughter who’s an absolute robot. Whether she’s happy, sad, angry, anything, she stays still, no movements, and she speaks slowly in a very monotone way. And she does things because she has to, not because she wants to. I know she’s supposed to be a very smart kid, but she’s also supposed to be a kid, a 13yo girl, I guess they forgot about that.

And no, having her to play guitar and sing in a rock band made of guys at least twice her age doesn’t help.

Those two haven’t really grown, but other characters did. They’ve gotten worst. Like her ex, Karen, who used to be so over Hank and willing to marry Bill, to kissing him, to sleeping with him, to doubting herself as soon as she heard some story about a ring Hank never mentioned or showed her - ever.

Posted in Reviews
Shows: Californication, The Big Bang Theory