20 Things Wrong About The Big Bang Theory We All Choose To Ignore
This year, The Big Bang Theory will come to an end. Although some viewers are heartbroken that they will have to go on without their beloved nerd culture sitcom, others are thrilled that it has finally reached its stopping point. We're not going to lie, we are still scratching our heads over the decision to end the sitcom that started airing in 2007 and won over hearts worldwide as it still pulls in millions of viewers.
The Big Bang Theory is a cult classic that will forever live on in fans' hearts. With a mix of comedy, romance, science, video games, puns, shy guys, weird moments and a bunch of other stuff in between, it's always going to be memorable.
However, we could only imagine the struggle the writers have gone through to keep the material intriguing, while still incorporating all the elements fanatical fans of the show fell in love with. With that, like everything else, comes flaws that some fans may notice, while some could not care less about and choose to completely ignore.
Since it's the final season of the geeky show, here are 20 things we deliberately ignored about The Big Bang Theory that actually should make us pause for thought.
20 Howard's Odd Behaviour Towards Women
Though all the men of the show are supposed to portray geeks, all have their own unique and memorable personalities, but Howard stood out from the rest from the start. If we can make one loud statement: Howard is a complete creep! If you think about all the odd and strange things Howard has done, in the real world that would not get by without trouble for him.
What was his shtick from the start? Being predatory around women (in a humorous way, of course, but still). Remember that time he tried to use a camera to look up Penny's skirt? Or the time he and Raj used satellites to spy on the topless models? And that time Penny found a webcam hidden in a bear that Howard had given her that was for the sole purpose of watching her sleep? Hilarious? Wrong ― totally wrong.
19 The Genius Does Make Errors
Everyone knows that Sheldon is a man who lacks social skills, has an IQ that goes through the roof and is a complete genius, among his many other special pet peeves. In the entirety of the show, Sheldon has always reminded us how brilliant he is. However, any groupie of the show will agree that the genius we all laugh at is not as smart as he is said to be.
How could someone with such brilliance not know how to make a machine work? Or use Internet Explorer as a browser? We see that Sheldon is not able to cooperate or deal with his friends because they're not as smart as him, yet he spelled the word "fusion" wrong on his infamous whiteboard!
18 The Issues With The Portrayal Of Penny
The more we think about it, the more the cast of the beloved nerdy show reminds us of the cast of Friends. On Friends, the problem with Rachel aka Jen Aniston, was the way she was portrayed as a woman. Now, years later, we have the same problem with the beautiful Penny.
Besides the gushingly cute romance between Penny and Leonard, the character of Penny is not as dreamy as it seems. She's not the woman that young girls would look up to be.
Beginning as Sheldon and Leonard's neighbour, from the start Penny has been depicted as the ditzy blonde who works as a waitress, who is the object of affection for many men and who is constantly patronized by her nerdy friends. We know this, but we've ignored it time and time again.
17 Things Wrong With “The Spot”
Don't go sitting in Sheldon's spot, he just might bite ― actually he won't, we all know how much he abhors germs. No matter how much of a stickler Sheldon is about his spot on the good ol' apartment couch, there is something evidently wrong we cannot let pass us.
You'll remember vividly when Sheldon spoke of his spot and precisely mentioned, "If my life were expressed as a function on a four-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, that spot, at the moment I first sat on it, would be (0,0,0,0)." That would make total sense in Sheldon's world, but, if you recall, in the earlier seasons his friends constantly occupied his spot. That totally goes against his claim that it has been his spot since the dawn of time since it only came true in later seasons.
16 They're Apparently Not Good With Celebrities
Growing up in the '90s, we lived by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but what about the geeks in The Big Bang Theory that only know about any piece of work that is Stan Lee's?
The Big Bang Theory has had their fair share of celebrities make appearances on the show. We don't know how Sheldon allowed Charlie Sheen on the show, but it was epic. What we want to point out, is that the characters on the show were written to recognize celebrities who guest-appeared, like Stan Lee and Stephen Hawking, but what about Eliza Dushku who is a former slayer?
No, the gang clearly had no clue who she was although they definitely grew up in the 90s. The four besties are pop culture nerd fiends, who were mentioned as fans of the franchise, yet they do not recognize her as the FBI agent ― clearly, that makes no sense.
15 Raj And Howard's Terrible Jokes
The characters of The Big Bang Theory are not always too confident in their voices. Since Raj, Howard and the rest of the gang seem to be in another universe, they may have not gotten the memo about certain things that should not be said.
Because Raj and Howard have been uber close since the beginning of the show, with Raj who was unable to utter a word to women and Howard who has been quite the creep, homophobic jokes were often thrown at them. We know the show is a comedy, but more often than not, when it comes up that the two may just be "in love" with one another, the guys resort to superfluous humour.
14 The Shambled Elevator Story
The broken elevator will forever be a Big Bang Theory staple in our hearts, as it has been the running trope of the series. It has been so implemented that writers got tangled up in the story of the elevator and forgot that fans would clearly remember the explanation of the broken lift.
Let us start with Season One. In The Nerdvana Annihilation episode, Leonard explains that the elevator has not been in use for two years. Jump ahead two seasons to Season Three, and while Leonard is reminiscing on when he and Sheldon first met, he explains his failed experiment caused the elevator's failure, but that that was when he and Sheldon first met seven years ago ― see how it does not add up?
13 How Did Howard Make It To Space?
What would you do if you were given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to space? Well, they allowed Howard in the space station, so hey, don't give up on your dreams folks.
It does not take an Einstein to know that Howard would in no way meet the criteria to be allowed into space. Firstly, NASA would not permit the likes of someone unfit like Howard to shuttle to space. Let us point one thing out, Howard, as we know from the show, is asthmatic and allergic to nuts. He is also certainly not the man who is a gym buff or exercising every day ― to conclude, realistically, they would not let him in. Ground control!
12 Sheldon And A Chaotic Schedule Do Not Mesh Well
For someone who is a perfectionist like Sheldon, and always needs to follow a routine on a day-to-day basis, his schedule fails to comply.
Clearly, as we've seen, his group of friends do not feel they need to go with their good pal's schedule. A fanatical fan of the show knows that they adhere to a schedule that consists of Halo on Wednesday nights while Friday nights are reserved for Chinese takeout. So why is it that sometimes these events get all tangled up? Sheldon's weekly schedule becomes untidy, and we know in the big bang world, this creature of habit would not abide by the sticky situation.
11 How Did Penny Pay For Her Apartment?
On the first ever episode of The Big Bang Theory, we were introduced to a gorgeous blonde who moved in across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon. Little did we know what was to come.
We later discover that Leonard and Sheldon were physicists while Penny was a waitress who aspired to be an actress. Pause. How on earth could Penny afford the same apartment that the physicists were occupying? Keep in mind, the two physicist friends were splitting the rent to live in their cozy place.
We totally ignored from the get-go that the restaurant waitress was living a lavish style completely stress-free.
10 What Happened To Penny's Last Name?
Before Penny got hitched, we only knew her as Penny. After 12 seasons of the show, we have learned significant details about our beloved and geeky characters' lives, but when it comes to Penny, we haven't got all the secrets yet.
With only half a season left, we are still pondering on what Penny's maiden name is, and we have a feeling we're going to have to ditch the idea of finding it out.
Even when we were introduced to her father, Wyatt, we were not given a surname. So perhaps it will remain a mystery forever.
9 The Roommate Agreement Was Never Taken Seriously
Leave it to The Big Bang Theory to make a Roommate Agreement a "thing" ― how could Sheldon possibly go on in his life without strict policies? Well, Sheldon and we, on various occasions, have ignored the fact that it has often been trespassed. And since Sheldon did not go on a tangent, neither did we.
In case you forgot, the Roommate Agreement was set in place for Leonard in order for him to be eligible to become Sheldon's roommate. However, it is the mastermind behind it all, Sheldon, who breaks his own rules. Let us talk about our all-time favourite clause, the girlfriend cause, in which Sheldon made clear that he had to know of a female presence 12 hours prior visitation. Did we ever see that happen? Think about it.
8 Neither Was Sheldon's Mysophobia Followed Through
Is there any single word to describe Sheldon Cooper? A man with so many odd obsessions, it becomes quite hard to keep track. One quirk that was made apparent from the start is his germ phobia. It becomes the butt of many jokes throughout the sitcom, yet, there are certain instances where the writers must have forgotten about his mysophobia ― we didn't though.
There was that odd time we were certain Sheldon was sick because he ate chicken out of a trash can, and that episode where Sheldon explains he had to give a "kiss" to a nun (aka CPR) to bring her back to life ― would a germaphobe like Sheldon do such a thing? Then, we see Sheldon in a hospital, and he is panicking because of the germs. See how this does not add up?
7 That Time Sheldon Found Delight In Cats
Over 12 seasons of the show, we learned a lot about the characters, their personalities, their likes and dislikes and their quirks. We also learned that although Sheldon demands to be put to sleep with "Soft Kitty" at times, he is indeed allergic to felines.
Now that we reminded you of his potent allergy, do you remember the episode when an abundance of cats joined Sheldon in his apartment?
It is quite rare that something could put a grin on Sheldon's face but in The Zazzy Substitution, he becomes immediately smitten by the clowder surrounding him (this after the break-up with Amy) and takes them home.
6 Sheldon Just Doesn't Put On Pounds
If we think about our bods, we all secretly wish we were the peculiar Sheldon. Why? Because he seems to be constantly fluctuating in size, but it does not show at all ― not even one tiny bit.
Because Sheldon is straight-forward about everything in life, he has blatantly discussed his weight a couple of times on the show. There's the episode where he tells Penny he lost weight, and then, in an episode called The Porkchop Indeterminacy, he stated to Missy a weight much higher than the precedent. And yet, even though he has clearly stated his weight change, his body has remained the same, which we all know is impossible.
5 There Is No Valid Reason Why Howard Dislikes His Mother
How did The Big Bang Theory start? With a not-so-great idea of Howard's loud mother. Howard had his fair share of bad things to say about his biological mother from the start, and from then on, she became the target of many jokes.
We learned from the start that his mother was on the heavy side and not so pretty (all this information coming from the son that loathes his mother). Howard would even constantly joke that his mother has a difficult time taking a walk, yet we caught glimpses of framed photos of Mrs. Wolowitz and she looked nothing like what Howard described her. You may think you have never seen her, but she was there during Howard's marriage. So, if she is nothing like Howard says, why the strong dislike of her?
4 How Cruel Penny Could Be To Her Friends
Over the years, fanatical fans of the comical sitcom have become utterly obsessed with all characters on the show. Penny was introduced to us as the gorgeous neighbour, but as the seasons have passed, even those who adore Penny could credit her with being quite cruel to her closest friends.
It was made clear from the beginning that Penny was not a geek like her neighbours and the gang, but why the unkind comments towards them? If you watch previous episodes and pay attention carefully, most of Penny's lines are straight up condescending and quite critical.
3 The Treatment Of Relationships, Like Leonard's And Penny's
Of the three principle women on the show, two are nerdy and one is the epitome of every man's desire. Who thought that the geeky Leonard could snatch the girl next door (which is totally how Penny was presented)? The treatment of women in general on the show is quite questionable, but since it lasted 12 seasons, those issues were certainly overlooked or simply ignored.
Concerning Leonard and Penny's relationship, at first thought we thought there was no way those two would be an item. And then, once they get together, everything starts moving so quickly that we are barely explained the shifts in their relationship. Suddenly, they're married!
2 How Sheldon Does Not Remember Everything
Sheldon's ego is way beyond what many can imagine. He prides himself on his smarts and ability to remember everything.
Well, the geek we all love has let down his eidetic memory on more than one occasion. He goes on and on about his ability to have everything he has ever read cemented in his mind, but it turns out, he does not.
We felt totally uneasy for Sheldon when he didn't recall an original card trick. There was the episode where Howard and Raj fooled Sheldon with a card trick that was just performed before, and also the time when he did not remember his very own list. Odd for a man like Sheldon, right?
1 Sheldon Managed To Keep Friends
When you take the time to think about it, is there anyone who would truly want to stick with Sheldon? We watch him on television weekly, so we could deal with it, but IRL we know not many could deal with the idiosyncratic and sometimes selfish Sheldon. How annoying can one get? Yet, we have arrived at the finish line, and he has kept all his friends and we have not even thought about how unrealistic that is.
Everyone has their flaws, but we clearly see that Sheldon drives his friends bananas, so how did Sheldon manage to keep them around? Maybe he bribed them with something we don't know about, but it remains a mystery.
References: Scoop Whoop