As we enter the week that will give us the 63rd annual Primetime Emmy nominations, I complete my round-up of TV season 2010-11, with two of my three favorite comedies on TV—THE BIG BANG THEORY and MODERN FAMILY
THE BIG BANG THEORY
If there was any problem that I had with THE BIG BANG THEORY (not a big problem though) was that it didn’t really evolve all that much, and an emotional connect seemed to be missing with the characters in the first two seasons. Over the last two seasons, I’ve been thrilled to see things evolving and I’m thrilled to have seen our favorite nerds and wannabe actress actually going somewhere. S4 had Sheldon in a (kind of) relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler, who turned out to be an absolute delight for me, as she brought out so much more from Sheldon and even her ‘bestie’ Penny! Throughout S4, I enjoyed watching Amy weave her way into the little group as she befriends Penny and Bernadette. I think the gradual extension of the friend-circle is a refreshing change, and I was happy to see Mayim Biyalik (Amy) and Melissa Rauch’s (Bernadette) names among the main cast, only to find out that they had been made series regulars in S4.
Of course now, with Howard and Bernadette engaged (how crazy was that!), we know that we’ll be seeing more of her. The show’s exec producer, Bill Prady has said, “All the wedding planning will be throughout the season [5], including the selection of the best man and maid of honor,” indicating that there will be a wedding, and that they won’t just break up. He adds, “The bachelor party will be miserable, but the hardest part for Howard will be trying to leave his mother’s house.” Whether they’ll have a Jewish or Catholic wedding is going to remain a question mark, as of now. I do hope they still have Howard's mother's voiceover every now and then, even though Howard might move out, because I find her absolutely hilarious! (Is anyone else reminded of Joey's agent Estelle from FRIENDS when Mrs Wolowitz talks/yells, or is it just me?) But who would’ve ever imagined that Howard would be the first to get married! Now this is some serious evolution!
That brings me to the main cliffhanger of the S4 finale. My jaw dropped when I saw Penny and Raj waking up, naked, together! I mean seeing how they were enjoying wine together, one could see where that was going, but to see that it actually happened was baffling. And it was absolutely priceless when Penny says to him, “You still can’t talk to me?!” We all want to know what repercussions this will have. Prady says, “Her career’s going nowhere, and the one thing she had going for her, her group of friends, she [has now jeopardized] by sleeping with Raj. For the first time, she had guy friends who treated her like a real person, and not the way she’s been treated in the past by men. And she just undermined that. That’s a fun journey for her. Sometimes it’s really fun to have your characters screw things up big-time and see how they get out of it.” Clearly, both Raj and Penny will have some serious damage control to do with Leonard. While it’ll be interesting to see that happening, we know that there’s no real future for Penny with Raj. Not just because he can’t speak to her unless he’s drunk or drugged, but because she still has feelings for Leonard. It has been revealed that even though Priya’s moving back to India, Leonard won’t break up with her. So the next season will have him in a long-distance relationship, with Penny still in love with him and Raj having betrayed him. And while that leaves me desperately longing for S5 to come soon, I’m also looking forward to seeing Sheldon’s relationship with Amy evolving some more. Do you think Sheldon will ever have sex? If he does and when he does, it’d certainly call for a major celebration!
MODERN FAMILY
I’ve enjoyed every bit of the first two seasons of MODERN FAMILY. S2 showed us more of all the family members we love so much. And while it’s been great to see them in the most hilarious situations and how they all bring themselves into those situations, I really would like to see the show evolve a little in S3. I understand that everyone’s settled down, and there can’t be any major change with the characters, but there are ways in which we can see the show evolving. We all know that Cameron and Mitchell want another baby, and that’s something that will make a major part of their story in S3. Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell) has said, “We never saw Cameron and Mitchell with the struggle of choosing to adopt Lily. I mean, there are a lot of loopholes to jump through to adopt a baby, especially if you are a gay man, even in California. So I think that it wasn't an easy process for them and I think that in season three, if we choose to adopt another child, there will be a lot of well, how are we going to do it? Are we going to take one of Claire's eggs and Cam's sperm and mix them together? Are we going to foster a child? I think there are a lot of different ways to expand your family, and I think it will be storyline that not only gay people will relate to, but straight families who need to look for alternative means to expand their family. I think that's a struggle that a lot of people have to go through.” That tells us that it might not be another adoption; it could even be surrogacy, which would be an interesting dimension.
Another change we saw towards the end was Alex’s middle-school graduation, which means that she’ll be going to high-school in S3. So much can happen with that, and with Haley also probably starting college soon, the writers have an amazing opportunity to let the Dunphys evolve. I enjoyed watching Haley bonding with Alex in S2 as well. Maybe there can be some interesting storylines there as well. As far as Gloria and Jay are concerned, there aren’t any major impending changes, and I don’t see what could really change for them at this point, but with the opportunities that the writers have with the other two families, maintaining the interest with Gloria and Jay could be a challenge. Maybe Manny could have a new girlfriend or something like that. Maybe at some point in the show, they could have Gloria getting pregnant. I think a lot could be done with that, but it should be done in a future season, perhaps. For now, I look forward to the changes we are expecting to see, and I would love it, by the end of S3, next year, they can give us some major cliffhanger.
What are you expecting from Howard and Bernadette’s wedding, and from Cam and Mitchell’s next attempt at parenthood? Share your views here.
COMING SOON | A comment on the 63rd annual Primetime Emmy nominations, after their announcement on Thursday, July 14 | Watch this space for more!
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