The Big Bang Theory delivers smartest humor on TV

     Last night, CBS's The Big Bang Theory returned to begin it's fourth season.  There are plenty of great sitcoms on television.  I've watched a great number of them them week, both new series, and old favorites.  However, Big Bang emerges as the most enjoyable.  It has such a polished cast of characters at this point, and feels fresh because of the inclusion of Mayim Bialik (Blossom), who was introduced in the season finale last spring.

     Jim Parsons recently won the Emmy for playing Sheldon Cooper, an incredibly smart scientists with little to no social skills.  What works best on Big Bang is the chemistry between Parsons and Kaley Cuoco, who portrays ditzy, slightly slutty neighbor Penny.  Sheldon and Penny are from two totally different worlds, but somewhere along the way, Penny was sweet enough to begin to feel a fondness for Sheldon.  Sure, he gets on her nerves frequently, but the two have formed an odd friendship.

     Last night, Penny finally learned of Amy (Bialik), pretty much the female version of Sheldon, and encouraged Sheldon to go on his first ever date with her.  He agreed, but only because he thought that text messaging would not 'provide the required intimacy' that he and Amy would need to share if they made a genetically superior test tube baby from their shared DNA.  He has no romantic or sexual interest in Amy, or anyone else for that matter.  He also does not have a driver's license, and so Penny ended up being the third wheel.  The dinner conversation, where Sheldon and Amy talked of mathematically calculating all of Penny's sexual partners, was one of the finest moments of the series.

     Amy is an interesting women who certainly brings a new dynamic.  Is she interested in Sheldon sexually?  It's hard to tell.  She certainly does not object to his company.  We are told that they have been texting and tweeting constantly for four months.  But it's unclear whether they have just found kindred spritis in one another, or if there is something more.  There is certainly is not from Sheldon's perspective, because he has no time to think of such pedestrian pursuits.  Which suggests that perhaps Amy is the same way.  Therefore, should things progress between them, there must be an outside catalyst acting to cause the merge, most likely Penny.

     The other characters had an amusing plot as well, though not nearly as side-splittingly funny as the above occurence.  Howard (Simon Helberg) brought his work home with him.  Namely, a robotic arm he had created to do outside repairs to the space station.  He quickly discovered it could do more remedial tasks, as well as help him out sexually.  This led to an uncomfortable situation when Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) had to take him to the hospital to separate man from machine.  It was a bit raunchy, but provided a few good one-liners.

     With such a promising start, it's easy to believe that this season may top the previous three, which is a pretty tall order, considering how great the show has been in the past.  Tune into The Big Bang Theory on CBS on it's new night and time, Thursdays at 8pm.

Melissa and Joey delivers classic sitcom

    ABC Family has made it's first decent sitcom with Melissa & Joey, a new show starring Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) and Joey Lawrence (Blossom) in the title roles.  Premiering just two weeks ago, the show has earned a season pass from me after four episodes.  The show centers around slightly slutty, slight air-headed Melissa, who has recently inherited a nephew (Nick Robinson) and niece (Taylor Spreitler, Days of Our Lives), and is trying to balance raising them with her busy city worker job.  She also has a funny best friend slash assistant in Rhonda.  Rhonda is played by Elizabeth Ho, her performance mirroring so many other female Asian comedic relief characters of late, and while not standing out, she does it just as well as the others.

     In the pilot, Joey is desperate for a job, and forces his way into her home as a live in nanny / housekeeper.  Turns out that although he has no children, he makes a much better parent that Melissa.  It was a little cheesy and cliche, but it was nice.  He quickly becomes the moral center of the household.  What's more, he seems to be channeling Tony Danza from Who's The Boss?  As the show has gone on, you can easily forget how the situation came to be, and just enjoy the antics.  Which mostly consists of Melissa doing stupid things, and Joey getting her out of trouble.  The kids don't matter much to the story, at least so far.  This show in the brief title sequence, which just features Joey and Melissa.

     Like another cable summer sitcom, Hot in Cleveland, this one feels like it was written and filmed in a different era.  Namely, the golden sitcom era of the 1980's and early 1990's.  The humor is clean, almost bland.  Nothing dangerous or too bad ever happens.  The 'problems' the characters must overcome in each episode are pretty base, and never risky.  I guess that's the charm, though.  Recalling those sitcoms everyone watched when sitcoms ruled the airwaves.  And being prepped by HiC, which grew on me over time, left me open to watch this replacement after the former ended it's summer run.

     Melissa & Joey is far from great television.  A little more quirk and some depth to the characters would do wonders.  But it's just four episodes in, and it has the right ingredients to put on something decent, including two leads who have done it before.  I won't stop watching it anytime soon.

     Melissa & Joey airs Tuesday nights at 8pm, usually with a rerun at 8:30, on ABC Family.

Big Bang makes a big bang

     CBS ended the latest season of The Big Bang Theory last night with the episode, "The Lunar Excitation".  It was exactly as funny as you'd expect from the show, which, while starting out strong, has only gotten more entertaining with age.

     One of last night's major plots concerned Leonard (Johnny Galecki) learning that there is a definite double standard for drunken sex with your ex.  It appears that her time with Leonard has changed Penny (Kaley Cuoco) for the better, in that she can no longer put with stupid boyfriends.  This is good, it shows her growth.  Unfortunately, a little alcohol sent her right back into her former geek's arms.  But it was a one night mistake, and she hurt Leonard a little bit bit all over again.  The two of them make a great couple, and the show did not suffer one bit from their relationship, as other series have.  I think the breakup is delivering good plot, too, but enough already!  Get them back together!  Don't make this a Ross / Rachel thing!

     Of even bigger implications, though, was when Raj (Kunal Nayyar) and Howard (Simon Helberg) secretly signed up Sheldon (Jim Parsons) for an online dating service.  The result was the discovery of a female version (Mayim Bialik, who was sadly only in one memorable scene) of their neurotic friend.  One Sheldon even seemed to warm up to within second of meeting her.  What this will mean for the afore-assumed asexual scientist is anyone's guess, but it seems certain that Bialik will be returning to reprise the role next season.  Perhaps her eminent arrival was why the writer's split up Leonard and Penny.  I don't think Sheldon's roommate would handle being the single one in their apartment very well.

     The next season of The Big Bang Theory promises to be a good one.  Make sure you watch for it on CBS next fall.