The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Gets Off to a Good Start

The highly popular CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory began season eight on Monday, September 22, 2014 with two new episodes.  The show is temporarily airing on Monday nights because of football being on CBS on Thursday nights.  The rest of the Thursday night shows won’t be starting up until after Thursday night football is done. 

The Big Bang Theory has been one of my favorite shows since it first began to air.  While I haven’t liked everything that has happened over the years, I have continued to watch the show.

I may mention a few things that would be spoilers for people who haven’t seen season seven of the show, especially the last few episodes.

When season seven ended, Sheldon had a bit of a fit or breakdown tied to the fact that he was not dealing with various changes going on in and around his life.  He basically runs away from home, deciding he is going to travel around the country while trying to figure out how to deal with everything.  Newly engaged Leonard and Penny are supportive, while Amy is ticked off that Leonard let Sheldon leave. Stuart moves in to take care of Howard's mother after the comic book store burns down.

Based on something a character says during the first episode, it seems like around a month has passed when Season eight begins.  Something has gone wrong with Sheldon’s trip and he calls Leonard to come get him.  Amy goes along, again ticked off, this time because Sheldon called Leonard instead of her.  Penny goes on an interview to be a drug rep at Bernadette’s company.  Amy’s anger is sort of addressed, and while she seems fine again, Sheldon ends up being annoyed.  Howard has issues about Stuart still living with his mother, with the two getting into an argument about not being each others father.  In the second episode, Penny and Bernadette clash a bit over how Penny is preparing for her new job while Sheldon deals with work issues as well since he still doesn’t want to return to the same type of research he was doing previously. 

Both episodes are funny and entertaining.  They do touch on things that happened at the end of season seven while also moving forward.  Certain things really aren’t brought up, like if Leonard and Penny have started to make any sort of wedding plans, but that didn’t bother me.  I won’t have a problem with them having a longer engagement.  I just do not want to see the show go down the road of breaking them up for some stupid reason again or even adding in some sort of drama and tension between them because of her new job.  Not to much seems to have changed overall with Sheldon and Amy’s relationship either which may disappoint some people.  Overall I was satisfied with both the episodes and will probably rewatch them later in the week since they are on my DVR.

There have been different stories online over the summer about how Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting cut her hair really short.  I didn’t see the new short hair cut until just over a week ago when I learned that she cut it for a movie.  In the interview I read, she said that the writers loved the short hair and it got written into the show.  Her hair is mentioned once or twice in the first episode and that is it.  Nothing is said about why Penny would have decided to chop off all her hair.  Personally, I don’t care for the short hair cut.  I think it is too short and isn’t flattering to her.  I’m not saying that she is suddenly hideous or ugly or that I will stop watching the show because of it.  I just don’t like the hairstyle.  If her hair was a little longer, I might like it more.  I just don’t think that many women can really pull off a hairstyle that short.  I didn’t like it on Anne Hathaway, Emma Watson, or Jennifer Lawrence either.  They are all still pretty, but I don’t think hair that short is as flattering. 

Bernadette first showed up in season three when she and Howard started dating.  Since they got engaged, she has been around more.  I have liked both her and Amy being around more, partly because of it giving Penny friends that the audience actually sees.  Bernadette starts out seeming very nice and sweet, but a sort of darker side has been shown at times with how she reacts to certain things, like losing at a game or not getting her way in something.  At first, it just seemed like she was a poor loser, but it goes beyond that in my opinion.  She is basically a bully in certain situations, and Penny was on the receiving side of that in the two new episodes because of her new job.  The more that sort of thing happens, the less I like it.  Again, it isn’t something that will make me stop watching.  It is just something that I am less fond of.

So far, I am happy with what has happened in the new season of The Big Bang Theory.  Hopefully that will continue for the rest of the season.  There really have only been a few developments here and there over the course of the show that I haven’t liked.