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.

Castle - One of My Favorite Shows

There are a few different tv shows that I watch every week.  With some of them, I don’t really mind if I miss an episode, or two, or three.  There are a few shows that I never miss - thanks to my DVR.  Castle is one of those shows.

I started watching Castle with the very first episode in the spring of 2009 and I haven’t missed an episode.  There are a few that I don’t like as much, but I have seen them all.  I decided to start watching Castle because one of the main characters was being played by Nathan Fillion.  I came to really like him from Firefly, a show that was cancelled much too soon.  I’m still annoyed about that.

** There could be a few spoilers included for people who haven’t seen all the episodes of the show.  You have been warned.  Read at your own risk. **

Castle is a comedy, drama, mystery show that airs on ABC on Monday nights at 10:00 PM.  The show is in syndication now, and a few episodes a day are on TNT during the week.  The first five seasons are available on DVD.  The last few years, during the summer, ABC has aired the show at different times.  The show is about Richard Castle, a successful mystery author, and Katherine Beckett, a homicide detective on the New York city police force.  The first episode has Kate and her team investigating a murder that is a recreation of a murder from one of Rick’s books.  That leads to Kate going to talk to Rick, who is immediately intrigued.  He uses his connections with the mayor to get to shadow Kate as research for a new series of books about a character based on her.  The two have clashed over various things from episode to episode, but they ultimately work well together.

The series is currently in the sixth season and I still love it.  Certain aspects of the show have gotten better over the years.  It isn’t a typical police show because there is a good amount of humor added in to most of the episodes.  The humor is usually provided by Rick and some of his wild theories - time traveling killer, mummy’s curse, ninja assassin, or aliens.  I really like that the show is a bit different and the inclusion of the humor and even silliness at times helps to make the show even more entertaining.  Most episodes can stand alone fairly well while also adding to character development and the ongoing relationship between Rick and Kate.  There are a few longer ongoing stories that pop up every so often and that have had a fairly large impact on the characters.  Most of the time, the episodes that deal with those ongoing stories tend to be more serious in nature, and sometimes, they are even a bit dark. 

While the show features a lot of murder investigations, as well as a few other types of crimes, at its core, Castle is the love story of Rick and Kate.  They met for the first time during the first episode, and their relationship has evolved.  Rick was interested in Kate right from the start, but Kate wasn’t.  She tried to keep her distance, but it didn’t take long for the two of them to get a bit closer and develop a friendship.  That friendship has been tested at times by other relationships or possible breaches of trust, but they have managed to work through all of that. 

In the last episode of season four, Kate finally realized she was ready to try a relationship with Rick and the two of them have been involved since then.  There were a few issues that they worked through and for all of season six, they have been happily engaged.  They have been so happy overall during the current season and their relationship has gotten even stronger.  A few little things have come up, which is to be expected, but now they talk to each other about those things instead of holding them in.  Now we are just days away from the season finale which looks to include the wedding.  If that gets messed up, I will be ever so pissed.  I have dealt with other things in previous seasons that I didn’t like too much, but messing up the wedding will really tick me off.  I love that Rick and Kate are together and that the writers and creator didn’t go the route of having them break up then make up who knows how many times.  I hate when that happens on a show.  I’ve stopped watching other shows when that nonsense started.  I like Rick and Kate together and think the show has only gotten stronger with the change to their relationship.