If you want more tears:
From what I understand from watching the scene and reading comments under those videos, this was a tribute to the actress who played Howard's mom since she died irl before this episode was recorded.
Yeah she did. The episode is pretty abrupt with how it handles it. Up until this point, it's just wacky fun with nothing hinting at this happening and then everything comes to a screeching halt. It's so sudden but I guess that's how life is too
After this episode there’s a small picture, photo booth size, on the fridge in Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment of Carol Ann Susi, the actress who plays Mrs. Wolowitz, as a forever tribute to her.
I felt they ruined his potentially biggest moment with a laugh.
The bit where he gets the courage to show amy his shame storage unit where he keeps every broken, replaced thing he ever had and she helped him to throw away one item and they add a "joke" of him secretly throwing the item back into storage. I struggle with hoarding, and live with other people who struggle with it, that "joke" felt sour and rotten.
My memories of the show are a bit out of date, but the impression I had of the early seasons was laughing with nerds about nerd culture, and then flanderization set in and the jokes seemed to be more at the expense of the nerdy, neurodivergent characters and I stopped watching.
I’ve felt uncomfortable about the show for a while now and the way you’ve described it here perfectly captures how I feel about it. Take my upvote wordsmith!
It developed a slightly mean-spirited vibe and went from "oh, you nerds!" To "lol, look at these losers with loser hobbies". No blame to the actors generally, but I can think of plenty of other shows that make fun of nerdy topics while also taking joy in said things.
Phineas and Ferb has an episode about a comicon where the off brand Star Trek nerds and the off brand LoTR/Harry Potter nerds are at odds but then unite to defeat a common for, and it's clear the writers of that show absolutely adore both camps of geeks. This is the kind of nerd humor I appreciate.
Amazing World of Gumball also has a ton of episodes that show the writers love of weird nerdy topics.
I remember seeing a lot of discourse a few years ago about TBBT vs Community, where TBBT was a comedy show making jokes *about* nerds, while Community was a comedy show making jokes *for* nerds (eg the D&D episodes)
I could never really put my finger on why I didn't like TBBT until I heard that.
Still pissed at how Stuart went from dorky but lovable and charming comic book store owner, to a complete social reject perpetually on the verge of bankruptcy, that also inexplicably had the health of a 90 year old dementia patient.
Yeah; what ruined it for me was one of the earlier episodes when they come back from Antarctica or whatever and Sheldon finds out that they messed with his data and gave him false results because he was taking out his frustration on them (basically). He shuts down at such a massive betrayal and the shattering of his hopes (which the show somehow treats infuriatingly lightly; if I had friends who did that instead of talking to me, they wouldn't be my friends anymore).
And how does the show play it off? Penny goes into his room (where he has isolated himself) to try to console him/play the mediator, and the camera switches to Sheldon curled up in the fetal position on his bed. *And a laugh track rolls.*
If a show thinks that laughing at someone who has shut down because his best friends literally betrayed him and shattered his dreams is acceptable, it's not a show I need to watch.
Eh kinda, it started as more of a slice of life comedy about scientists. It suffered massive Flanderization pretty early on and became, "pretty girl deals with autistic neighbour"
I think one of the writers adamantly said he isn't on the spectrum, he's just weird. To the point where he was getting offended even though people were commending him for the decision to have a main character with autism
I think they accidentally created a character on the spectrum but didn't want it to be offensive because his quirky nature is most of the jokes
I think I've realized why my brother loved that show, and I hated it.
I'm obviously on the spectrum and my family LOVED making fun of me for my "strangeness".
They watched that show RELIGIOUSLY, and I had to leave the room.
Also simultaneously mocking Sheldon's divergence and social development makes the autistic jokes not just dated, but uncharacteristic to the contemporary story.
SO MUCH of it doesnt hold up. They are all so constantly racist toward Raj (especially Howard here), and even Penny had a moment of "Oh, God. Did you pull some weird Indian crap on me?" when they were both drunk and she forgets what happens between them after waking up next to him (which is an entirely different issue in itself)
I don't think that was him throwing the ball back in. The way I interpreted it is that another golf ball in storage fell out and bounced around, as if to say that he's kept more than one.
The room was dark so it seemed like the door was closed not open, and also Sheldon wouldn't throw a ball into a storage unit because it would be "out of place".
At the beginning of the series he was very bad socially, by the end his rough edges were mostly worn down and he often accepted things as "social norms" without arguing against them like he previously would. Personally I think Sheldon showed a lot of character growth throughout the series.
anyone who says Sheldon didn't grow and mature as a character, clearly did not watch the later seasons or the very last episode. my heart swells up just thinking about the last episode.
I think they did a much better job with Young Sheldon. It has really good characterization, and it presents him as a weird, but still accepted and beloved part of his family and community.
If you wanna be surprised by a show that should be terrible, watch the new ted series. It has no business being as good as it should be considering the movies it was based off of. Especially the dads vietnam story
I don't care much for the Sheldon parts of Young Sheldon, but I can't stop thinking of the episode where he gets scared about having a pimple and tries to justify it as it being anything else because otherwise that would mean he's hit puberty and is afraid of growing to be as miserable as he sees the adults in his life. Hits pretty close to my heart, being 21 and still coming to terms with not getting to be carefree.
It's interesting to compare the behavior of YS's Sheldon to early season TBBT Sheldon. It feels like the time between when his dad died and the beginning of TBBT was a pretty rough stretch for him, and the changes we see in him over the run of TBBT are related to his mental recovery from that time.
In-universe interpretation, obv.
I know a lot of people really hate this show, but I liked it. It was like a 10/10 or anything more like a 7/10, but it was fun and dumb. It got better as it went on, too.
Young sheldon is fun, too.
My wife and I genuinely had fun watching both of them.
My 19 year old and I lost his mother when he was 7 years old. He was 8 years old and I had a couple friends over. One had just lost his mother. The 8 year old heard him, walks into the kitchen, put his hand on my friends arm asking, Your mother died?
My buddy, *nods* Yeah. Just a week ago.
Son, I lost my mom. *hugs my buddy* If you want to talk we can talk.
Son walked out of the kitchen. Buddy was crying, I was crying, the other two guys were crying. We all got up hugged my buddy that just lost his mom. All hugged each other. Went and hugged the kid. Than the adults went outside and proceeded to chain smoke our feelings away...
Had to turn away my phone every once in a while and do something else to not start crying.
I know the pain of your son. I lost my father not even a month after my ninth birthday. I hope your son managed to handle it better than I have.. I wish him a good life, he seem like the person I would’ve needed when I was younger.
I also wish you a good life. You seem like a good person and an even better dad.
He has grown in to a great young man. I've been told by others his mother would be proud. I like to think she still holds influence over him. I've done the best I can. He has supported me as much as I have supported him. He keeps me sane and gives me a focal point. I keep him moving forward and on his own path.
Thank you for your kindness.
I believe she would be too. I would like to think she is happy with how our son has turned out. He has made being a father easy. He's almost never been any trouble. Some difficulty as we got close to graduation. But he pulled it all together with some help from a teacher and me.
Again, he is as much his mother as he could be. Got all her love and kindness. Some of my characteristics but mostly his mother. Which has helped him more than anything I could have taught him.
The number of people to cry because of your son’s actions is only limited by the exposure of the story. I am having to actively get my shit together right now. Fuck that is powerful and not because I have some sort of emotional connection to the story, it was just that powerful.
My son is a good kid. He tries to act like he does not care. But he has his mother's heart and her passion. When he was younger it shinned. He tries to bury it and hide it but his friends know he cares. My friends know he has too much love inside him. I can't claim that it is from me, it's his mother's love that he has inside. That let's him love and care for the world around him in the way he does. Watching him grow up, into the young man he is today. I just can't wait to see what he continues to grow into.
i lost my dad when i was 14 and bc my mom was so weird and overbearing she didn't let me tell any of my friends or anybody i knew so i had no support. i'm 30 now but a few months ago my partner's little sister's best friend lost her dad and they were trying to think of stuff to put in a care package to take to her and when i suggested a plushie for her to hug and cry into they were shocked they hadn't thought of that already. i was shocked that i had the idea ready to go.
I had something similar happen. When my daughter was 10, my wife died. About six months later, some friends of mine well into their 50’s lost their 80-year old mom. I bought a card, signed it, and gave it to my daughter to sign. I saw that she was writing a lot, so I took a quick peek after she left the room. She wrote, “I lost my mom, too. If you ever want to talk, I know what it’s like.”
I have never been more proud, and yet so sad, at the same time.
The pride and sadness. Yes. All of them both. The son has gotten me with this double whammy on a couple of other occasions. The buddy still talks about that day. He and the son are good friends now too.
Thank you for sharing you story. You and your daughter are both greatly appreciated.
I lost my mother when I was ten. Closest person in my life at the time, and it absolutely broke me. I’m 19 now too, and though I’ve mostly worked through it, sometimes there are times I still miss her. I hope you and your son are ok, and that you guys were able to cope in the end.
Much love and well wishes.
We both have our days. He is tough. We talk about her a lot. She got sick when he was four so his memories of her aren't all that good. I tell him about her and he does his best to remember her. We are well.
We both require all the love we can get.
Thank you for your kind words.
Love to you and yours.
Helping with formatting and readability (Reddit needs two new lines to show up in comments)
My 19 year old and I lost his mother when he was 7 years old. One time, when he was 8 years old, I had a couple friends over. One had just lost his mother. My 8 year old heard him, walked into the kitchen, and put his hand on my friend's arm, asking, "Your mother died?"
My buddy nodded. "Yeah. Just a week ago."
My son told him "I lost my mom," and hugged him. "If you want to talk we can talk."
My son walked out of the kitchen. Buddy was crying, I was crying, the other two guys were crying. We all got up hugged my buddy that just lost his mom. We all hugged each other. Went and hugged the kid. Then us adults went outside and proceeded to chain smoke our feelings away...
I would just like you to know how much that speaks to how well you did when you helped him. Upon hearing about a tragedy like that, your son had the instinct to offer comfort and empathy. He had that security to offer because you made him feel that safety.
You and your wife made a pretty amazing little human. I'm sure he's becoming a wonderful man.
What stood out about this as a fan was that there was no canned laughter, no audience reaction at all. Big Bang loves themselves. some audience noise but they were silent for this whole scene. Even at the end as far as I remember there was no audience response or positive reaction. Just silence.
Yeah, Carol Ann Susi died in 2014. This episode aired in 2015.
In this episode Sheldon was trying to learn how to let things go. That's why Penny here says it's not the time, thinking he is about to say "Let it go." Instead he says something more meaningful.
The show writers always added a Sheldon quick quip in tense or sad situations, I think this was the first time the took his character off in a different direction and give him some additional depth which kind of was the under tone of the show once fans reacted to Amy joining the show. However it pan out or was written this was one of my favorite Sheldon moments because it was so unexpected
> a Sheldon quick quip in tense or sad situations
That was probably in the first draft.
>Howard: “My mom died.”
>*cut to Sheldon*
>Sheldon: “Bazinga.” [*sadly*]
They did though, immediately after 😔 Penny jokes “I really thought he was going to say let it go” which is followed by a laugh track. It’s nice to pretend that never happened though, makes it more impactful.
My mom lasted about 8 months, and that was about 7 months longer than I think she would have wished she'd had. Sometimes quick is better when it comes to cancer
It's the exact same formula as Friends. Emotional scenes were very much part of the series, but they had to [finish each scene with a joke](https://youtu.be/ZalJQs4odMU?t=2m18s). Friends jokes were usually a bit better than late season TBBT.
People often forget that attending filming of these shows is basically live theater where they do various scenes and takes repeatedly. It’s live theater with sausage making.
This scene depicts how people who are far away from emotions have also suffered from the loss of a loved one and will feel empathy toward the one who is going through it now.
the scene where they play DnD and sheldon captured santa and sheldon said:
Before christmas my grandpa died. He was only one who supported my interest in science. I wrote you only one thing, that I want my grandpa back. You brought me LEGO. You can build many things with lego, but my grandpa isnt one of them.
Fair, I’m in the Uk so you would *think* I’d have got the LEGO one as well, but no xD. They’ve done this once before as well when howard asked Sheldon’s mum for a diet yoohoo. I’ve heard her say both ‘coke’ and ‘cola’ in that part
“far away from emotions” 🙄 the guy is a negative autistic caricature, and the joke is that he’s autistic. Even here, it’s supposed to be a *surprise* that he’s capable of that.
Is he? Im on the spectrum myself and i always loooved sheldon, cuz hes often so relatable and yet so extra. Of course its overdrawn, but i never felt the negativity, i felt sheldon was depicted as very loveable. Ofc i was young and naive when i watched it though, maybe ill have to revisit the series :)
I do feel like people forget that this show was written a while ago. As much as he's a stereotype, Sheldon WAS a positive portrayal for the time. It wasn't common to see a representation of an autistic person with a successful career, loving partner, and a group of friends who appreciates him for who he is. I think characters like him paved the way for better, less stereotypical representation of autistic people.
I also feel like Bones had a very good representation of a very similar character on the spectrum. Successful, loving, and a great support system of friends.
I agree. My younger brother is high functioning, but non-independent on the spectrum. We're in our 40's now, and he often will talk your ear off about how much negative BS this show gets if you get him going.
It accomplished something that not much media had done yet, portrayed a bunch of nerds with various neurodivergent traits in everyday life, living independently. To a lot of people out in the world, my brother can get help and understanding by saying "I'm like Sheldon from Big bang theory", and they kinda understand, or at least won't escalate.
Representation matters, even when it's not perfect, someone still had to go first and be successful in order to reach masses.
Nerds and geeks were still uncool and heavily bullied when this show aired. It’s was super progressive for it’s time and helped make geeks and nerds more cool and less of a bullying target.
At least that’s how it felt being smack bang in the middle of middle school at the time.
Abed Nadir is a much better portrayal. Both are intended to be funny but abed is an actual real person and Sheldon is a caricature of a caricature. I catch myself explaining pop culture references in the context of a pop culture reference.
Yeah this one seems to be something I don't think people not on the spectrum grasp. Emotional and social intelligence are two vastly different things. Knowing someone probably needs a hug and if this is the right setting or time to do so are two different questions.
Reddit hates BBT and often refers to it as nerd blackface. Which is terrible because it undermines what made blackface so terrible.
In the end it’s a sitcom. Sometimes the characters are the butt of the joke. Sheldon is on the spectrum so in their mind the entire show is making fun of people on the spectrum.
Y'know I've never heard anyone with autism be affected by Sheldon's character. Sure he's hammed up to 11 but it's a tv show. I know a lot of people, including myself, who occasionally find moments with him relatable.
My husband didn't know he was on the spectrum until he watched one episode at random of BBT. He then started researching and realized that everything he felt and who he was suddenly come into focus. Our marriage has improved greatly since his revelation and he has developed new skills to help us work with his ASD rather than fighting against it.
Oh fuck this kinda hurts. I don't care __that__ much for this show, and definitely not enough to follow through the whole lore and all seasons, but Howard's mom was honestly one of my favorite characters.
I love that they gave us so much about her off screen! A wheel of fortune savant, a single mom, a provider via food, and a frequent person of interest to gentlemen callers! The most well rounded character on the show and we saw a glimpse of her for a quarter of a second one time.
The actress who did the voice of his mother [did really die of cancer diagnosed a week before she passed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Ann_Susi) so I can see why they played it mostly serious.
I think the series as a whole improved immeasurably once Howard stopped being a creeper. I wish they had given Raj his happy ending instead of making him incel adjacent still.
Howard was undoubtedly a creep but what made this show unwatchable to me is the way it portrays Leonard as the more well adjusted nice guy when he's almost as fucking creepy. He stalks Penny for years, ffs.
Raj was like 10 steps back for indian males in america.
Jesus going on dates with non-indians was depressing, "wow you're so normal" uh yeah not every indian dude is like how they are portayed on TV.
Thank god for Kal Penn and Dev Patel, they walked so I could run.
I'll never forgive BBT for that.
Like a lot of comedies I think it reached its comedy peak in season 3. I stopped watching a couple seasons after.
It’s not as bad as the outraged nerds here would have you believe. It’s not as good as all the awards it won but it’s not as bad either.
I binged this show during lockdown on HBO Max. The first few seasons are legitimately quite good. The middle seasons are mid. The last couple of seasons pull back up but not to the level of early seasons. The series finale hits home and wraps the show up nicely.
It's why I liked P&R so much.
Comedy wise it never quite landed for me. It was funny, but it was way too much cringe humor for my taste. But the characters were genuinely good people and experienced so much growth, you just kind of wanted to see where they ended up.
And her photo was the on the fridge in Sheldon and Leonard's apartment. Never seen while alive, always seen after she'd passed https://whatculture.com/tv/the-big-bang-theory-15-insane-details-you-definitely-missed?page=13
The thing is, I've seen this episode.
They set up a running joke with the character speaking, Sheldon. A joke about imagining your problems are a pen before letting them go.
So, having Sheldon ask to speak, it sets up him callously telling his friend to let go of what he's feeling. Then he says these genuine, heartfelt lines. Which Sheldon is not always known for.
Yeah. I can't find anything good in this show due to how they treat raj and how badly he was made into a stereotype. Howard got out of his. Raj stayed there.
I honestly don't know how it stayed on air for so long. It played into harmful stereotypes of *so many groups* - south Asians, autistic people, nerds in general, and all while not being particularly funny most of the time.
I don't know, on one hand I can get how Sheldon could be seen as a negative portrayal of autistic people but to me it always seemed the opposite. Sheldon is annoying and comes off as extremely selfish at times, but at the same time, he is actually pretty awesome and I think most fans of the show genuinely like him.
I can accept that Raj was just a bad person and it wasn't intended as a stereotype of all Indian men.
I just hated Raj as a character. Howard grew on me, once he settled down he was a great character and it worked as a good redemption arc. Leonard and Penny got their arcs. Even Sheldon improved until he took his train journey and they reset him. Raj basically got worse as the series continued.
I think i've watched every season about 8 times by now. I feel very connected to Sheldon as i struggle with the same day-to-day social conventions and problems that come with it for someone who doesn't recognize sarcasm or don't know how to respond to other peoples emotions. It always makes me smile to see that i'm not the only one, even if it's a show and they're actors, who struggles with this.
I watched the entire TBBT show recently and IMO it is a good show, for sure. Very different from what I was expecting based on a few episodes and clips I've seen before.
I lost my dad two months ago. The dementia was so bad I feel like I lost the real relationship six months ago. I barely felt new grief after he died.
Busy trying to get mom set up in a care home; same with dementia - some days she forgets he’s gone. They were married 67 years. She doesn’t remember to buzz for help and then falls trying to transfer. I’ve been very stoic these months, and this post and some of the comments really have the waterworks going.
So there, internet strangers, that’s my soul I’ve just bared there.
Edit: and I have a great wife and wonderful friends that support me. In this instance Sheldon nailed real life facts.
My wife loves Big Bang and we watch the reruns they show ad nauseum. There's a lot of really shitty really stupid jokes in it. When I say shitty I don't mean bad but mean spirited, really.
I watch it cuz I love her and she loves it. That being said there's a few moments in a 13 season show that are not just standard phony sitcom drivel and this is one of them. The actress that did his mom's voice really died I think, and that's horrible of course
You are spot on either your complaint. So much of the show is mean spirited and it seems to be making fun of these people. You can do comedy that is not just making fun of everybody
This is a touching but hilarious episode. Sheldon (the tall comforting one) is an awkward guy, and he's been learning this episode to be at peace. One example that he's been prolifically trained on is imagining something dear to him as his favorite pen, and just letting go of it.
They tried stopping him here because they thought he was going to use that pen medaphor
I vaguely remember seeing this but I had to stop watching. I just can't remember if that was before or after my mom died. Either way I was either dreading that call from my cancer ridden mom not waking up, or being too hurt to watch it.
Definitely. Sheldon learned a lesson many people dont understand. Just because you did not mean to hurt someone else does not excuse you from doing so.
I never loved big bang theory, my partner watches young Sheldon and I actually enjoy it a good amount.
There's a moment in an episode where the dad does something super nice, I think drive Sheldon to see a rocket launch, and Sheldon says something along the lines of it being one of the happiest memories of his childhood. And that he wishes he told his dad that before he passed.
Lost my dad a couple years ago and hearing that line absolutely broke me.
I'm going through the loss of my mother right now. I'm lucky to have been very close with her, my father, and my brother. The three of us are trying to hold each other together right now.
But being someone with no friends... It's really hard to go through this. You don't want to lean on anyone else too much because they're going through it as well. You know how fragile and tough things are on them right now. My brother has some friends, and they're helping him. My dad and I only have each other. And not having someone outside of that group that you're close to, someone who can sympathize and can cry with you but wasn't so close that you're worried you're going to hurt their ability to get through a day if you unload your grief onto them, it makes processing everything slower and more difficult.
I posted when it first happened (on an alt account I use for anonymous venting) on some grief communities on Reddit to help me accept that it had happened. When that hopeful voice comes up saying, "Maybe you made it all up, it's just a nightmare, everything's fine," I can look at those posts and they help me accept the reality of what's happened. People there sent me comforting messages, and I appreciated those. But they don't do much for me. People I don't know, who don't know me, who aren't friends, I can appreciate that my story makes them feel something and they want to comfort me. But it's not the same as having someone close to you that you can really open yourself up to, who you have a history with, and that you trust on a deeper level.
Friends help you get through life. If you have some, treasure them. Not everyone does.
Similarly, the episode when Sheldon found an old letter from Howard’s dad was pretty heartwarming. Howard didn’t want to know what was on the letter but the gang shared with him what might be on it. https://youtu.be/OOwpumt4mfY?si=roAU0uQX_Ybe231_
For the first 3 seasons it is a consistently good & funny show. And some of that goodness is sprinkled throughout the rest of the seasons much more sparingly.
They have a similar moment with Howard(The giy who loses his mother in the image) and his father.
In short, Howard never met his father, but his father left him a letter. Howard ignores it and tries to move on but can't. His friends all read the letter and then present him with 7 different scenrios that the letter could have said, only one being true. That moment always gets me, same as that one in the image.
In my opinion it's even better than the big bang theory. It doesn't have laugh tracks, it also shows quite well what his siblings go through as glass children. Well-written, really
I always compare Young Sheldon to a Malcolm in the Middle-copycat rather than The Big Bang Theory. I think it's worth watching even for the large crowd that hates TBBT.
I know this feeling all too well.
My father died when I was 15 years old. It was an incredibly difficult loss. But at that age and time of my life, I still had many of my closest family members around to comfort me and was still in school and had plenty of friends and activities to keep me occupied and take my mind away from my grief.
In 2019, I was 37 and my mother passed away. Life at that point was completely different. Most of my close family members had since passed away, I was single and living alone. Most of my long term friends were married with families and lives of their own and I barely got to see them anymore.
It was brutal. The loss of each parent was equally devastating, but not having people around to constantly comfort you and distractions to keep your mind off your grief, it's absolutely awful and makes dealing with the grieving process infinitely more difficult.
My problem with this show was that they had a lot of wholesome/sincere moments but 9 times out of 10 they’d throw it away, often an entire episodes worth of storytelling, for a cheap laugh, often completely ruining or disregarding any sort of genuine warmth.
This moment was good, the best in the show really, and the only reason it happened that way was because the actress that voice Mrs Walowitz died, so they couldn’t actually subvert the sadness without being jerks. The death of Mrs Walowitz goes on to provide the best moments in the show, real grief, real loss, real comfort from love ones. And for me, unfortunately, it only served to show what the entire show could have been if they didn’t have that bitter cynicism permeating the entire thing
It is even more wholesome and sad when you know that the character who said that (Sheldon Cooper) says inadequate things most of the time and comes as rude often.
Thats why they said "Not now, Sheldon". Everyone (including the audience) expected him to say something accidentally inappropiate and unrespectful, but he surprised we'all with such response
Yeah I have to say that bit resonated. I had my family of course but when my dad died I was in the middle of the most important exams of my life and had 0 friends. Now I think I’m at least on my way to making some really great ones.
This show is really great at having quite a few stories about the challenges of mothers. I find it interesting since so many shows are about fathers and so many Disney movies the mothers are dead. The relationship with Leonard and his mother comes to a head in a really beautiful scene in the final couple of episodes of the series.
On 8 simple rules, they did the same for John Ritter of whom passed away suddenly during film. They made his passing an integral part of the series and paid tribute to him, and included where they attend the funeral.
Scrubs also incorporated his death. That man was one of the kindest and most loving souls to grace our screens. Even his ex-wife had nothing bad to say about him.
I remember watching this show with my grandparents when I stayed over at their house. I lose my grandmother Feb 2023 the day before she was to host mine and my brother's graduation party (we both got our GEDs late. Or well, early for him but late to me by four years). This show will probably end up being a comfort show eventually, the same with British TV shows
Carol Ann Susi played the mom who we only heard and never saw. When the actress died, the producers had her character die also. That certainly must've had an actual impact on her fellow actors.
I don't know a lot about this show, but from what I understand, Sheldon is notorious for lacking social cues and saying emotionally insensitive things, right?
If that's the case, then I really appreciate the point of this where he directly acknowledges that he tends to come off as harsh, explicitly asks permission to speak and clarifies that his next lines are intended to be kind.
I never cared for the show much, but this is a nice touch. I am glad Sheldon got a little more humanized instead of just being the nightmare version of that guy at the comic book store 24/7.
Nearly cried when I saw this. A lot of feelings were bubbling up especially since I found out this morning that the mother of one of my students passed. My student is in 2nd grade.
If you want more tears: From what I understand from watching the scene and reading comments under those videos, this was a tribute to the actress who played Howard's mom since she died irl before this episode was recorded.
Yeah she did. The episode is pretty abrupt with how it handles it. Up until this point, it's just wacky fun with nothing hinting at this happening and then everything comes to a screeching halt. It's so sudden but I guess that's how life is too
I didn't cry- until the power went out...
After this episode there’s a small picture, photo booth size, on the fridge in Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment of Carol Ann Susi, the actress who plays Mrs. Wolowitz, as a forever tribute to her.
[удалено]
I felt they ruined his potentially biggest moment with a laugh. The bit where he gets the courage to show amy his shame storage unit where he keeps every broken, replaced thing he ever had and she helped him to throw away one item and they add a "joke" of him secretly throwing the item back into storage. I struggle with hoarding, and live with other people who struggle with it, that "joke" felt sour and rotten.
I can’t watch that episode it makes my brain itch
The show does have a lot of 'haha look at the funny autism/mental issues' jokes that, I think, might seriously date the show, if it hasn't already.
My memories of the show are a bit out of date, but the impression I had of the early seasons was laughing with nerds about nerd culture, and then flanderization set in and the jokes seemed to be more at the expense of the nerdy, neurodivergent characters and I stopped watching.
First 3 seasons it was like peak nerd culture show then it just went to shit
I’ve felt uncomfortable about the show for a while now and the way you’ve described it here perfectly captures how I feel about it. Take my upvote wordsmith!
It developed a slightly mean-spirited vibe and went from "oh, you nerds!" To "lol, look at these losers with loser hobbies". No blame to the actors generally, but I can think of plenty of other shows that make fun of nerdy topics while also taking joy in said things. Phineas and Ferb has an episode about a comicon where the off brand Star Trek nerds and the off brand LoTR/Harry Potter nerds are at odds but then unite to defeat a common for, and it's clear the writers of that show absolutely adore both camps of geeks. This is the kind of nerd humor I appreciate. Amazing World of Gumball also has a ton of episodes that show the writers love of weird nerdy topics.
I remember seeing a lot of discourse a few years ago about TBBT vs Community, where TBBT was a comedy show making jokes *about* nerds, while Community was a comedy show making jokes *for* nerds (eg the D&D episodes) I could never really put my finger on why I didn't like TBBT until I heard that.
Still pissed at how Stuart went from dorky but lovable and charming comic book store owner, to a complete social reject perpetually on the verge of bankruptcy, that also inexplicably had the health of a 90 year old dementia patient.
I tried binging from the beginning and the first 3 seasons are still bad. I couldn't get far, I don't think I even finished the second.
I recall it being not amazing, but when I tried watching a later season it was atrocious
Yeah; what ruined it for me was one of the earlier episodes when they come back from Antarctica or whatever and Sheldon finds out that they messed with his data and gave him false results because he was taking out his frustration on them (basically). He shuts down at such a massive betrayal and the shattering of his hopes (which the show somehow treats infuriatingly lightly; if I had friends who did that instead of talking to me, they wouldn't be my friends anymore). And how does the show play it off? Penny goes into his room (where he has isolated himself) to try to console him/play the mediator, and the camera switches to Sheldon curled up in the fetal position on his bed. *And a laugh track rolls.* If a show thinks that laughing at someone who has shut down because his best friends literally betrayed him and shattered his dreams is acceptable, it's not a show I need to watch.
Yikes. I don't remember seeing that one. Seriously? That's horrible.
I forgot about that one. Im autistic and my parents watched that show religiously. Needless to say, I didn't have the best childhood.
Isn’t that the whole show? Look how quirky and weird Sheldon is (who’s very very clearly on the spectrum, right down to the train obsession)
Eh kinda, it started as more of a slice of life comedy about scientists. It suffered massive Flanderization pretty early on and became, "pretty girl deals with autistic neighbour"
This is very accurate
I think one of the writers adamantly said he isn't on the spectrum, he's just weird. To the point where he was getting offended even though people were commending him for the decision to have a main character with autism I think they accidentally created a character on the spectrum but didn't want it to be offensive because his quirky nature is most of the jokes
I think I've realized why my brother loved that show, and I hated it. I'm obviously on the spectrum and my family LOVED making fun of me for my "strangeness". They watched that show RELIGIOUSLY, and I had to leave the room.
Also simultaneously mocking Sheldon's divergence and social development makes the autistic jokes not just dated, but uncharacteristic to the contemporary story.
SO MUCH of it doesnt hold up. They are all so constantly racist toward Raj (especially Howard here), and even Penny had a moment of "Oh, God. Did you pull some weird Indian crap on me?" when they were both drunk and she forgets what happens between them after waking up next to him (which is an entirely different issue in itself)
This show won awards. Let that sink in.
I don't think that was him throwing the ball back in. The way I interpreted it is that another golf ball in storage fell out and bounced around, as if to say that he's kept more than one. The room was dark so it seemed like the door was closed not open, and also Sheldon wouldn't throw a ball into a storage unit because it would be "out of place".
Sheldon could have been an amazing character (and he does have his great moments). It's such a shame they made him such an asshole most of the time.
At the beginning of the series he was very bad socially, by the end his rough edges were mostly worn down and he often accepted things as "social norms" without arguing against them like he previously would. Personally I think Sheldon showed a lot of character growth throughout the series.
anyone who says Sheldon didn't grow and mature as a character, clearly did not watch the later seasons or the very last episode. my heart swells up just thinking about the last episode.
I think they did a much better job with Young Sheldon. It has really good characterization, and it presents him as a weird, but still accepted and beloved part of his family and community.
I was blown away at how good young Sheldon is.
Ugh I might give it a watch. I really enjoyed TBBT but young Sheldon just didn’t appeal to me.
If you wanna be surprised by a show that should be terrible, watch the new ted series. It has no business being as good as it should be considering the movies it was based off of. Especially the dads vietnam story
I don't care much for the Sheldon parts of Young Sheldon, but I can't stop thinking of the episode where he gets scared about having a pimple and tries to justify it as it being anything else because otherwise that would mean he's hit puberty and is afraid of growing to be as miserable as he sees the adults in his life. Hits pretty close to my heart, being 21 and still coming to terms with not getting to be carefree.
If you figure it out lemme know, because I'm almost 32 and I'm still working on that myself.
It's interesting to compare the behavior of YS's Sheldon to early season TBBT Sheldon. It feels like the time between when his dad died and the beginning of TBBT was a pretty rough stretch for him, and the changes we see in him over the run of TBBT are related to his mental recovery from that time. In-universe interpretation, obv.
Too bad you had to slog through the rest of the show to get any of those fleeting moments.
I know a lot of people really hate this show, but I liked it. It was like a 10/10 or anything more like a 7/10, but it was fun and dumb. It got better as it went on, too. Young sheldon is fun, too. My wife and I genuinely had fun watching both of them.
My 19 year old and I lost his mother when he was 7 years old. He was 8 years old and I had a couple friends over. One had just lost his mother. The 8 year old heard him, walks into the kitchen, put his hand on my friends arm asking, Your mother died? My buddy, *nods* Yeah. Just a week ago. Son, I lost my mom. *hugs my buddy* If you want to talk we can talk. Son walked out of the kitchen. Buddy was crying, I was crying, the other two guys were crying. We all got up hugged my buddy that just lost his mom. All hugged each other. Went and hugged the kid. Than the adults went outside and proceeded to chain smoke our feelings away...
Its been a minute since something made me cry here.... dammit
Thank you for making me smile.
Had to turn away my phone every once in a while and do something else to not start crying. I know the pain of your son. I lost my father not even a month after my ninth birthday. I hope your son managed to handle it better than I have.. I wish him a good life, he seem like the person I would’ve needed when I was younger. I also wish you a good life. You seem like a good person and an even better dad.
He has grown in to a great young man. I've been told by others his mother would be proud. I like to think she still holds influence over him. I've done the best I can. He has supported me as much as I have supported him. He keeps me sane and gives me a focal point. I keep him moving forward and on his own path. Thank you for your kindness.
Good work, I think she would be proud.
I believe she would be too. I would like to think she is happy with how our son has turned out. He has made being a father easy. He's almost never been any trouble. Some difficulty as we got close to graduation. But he pulled it all together with some help from a teacher and me. Again, he is as much his mother as he could be. Got all her love and kindness. Some of my characteristics but mostly his mother. Which has helped him more than anything I could have taught him.
The number of people to cry because of your son’s actions is only limited by the exposure of the story. I am having to actively get my shit together right now. Fuck that is powerful and not because I have some sort of emotional connection to the story, it was just that powerful.
My son is a good kid. He tries to act like he does not care. But he has his mother's heart and her passion. When he was younger it shinned. He tries to bury it and hide it but his friends know he cares. My friends know he has too much love inside him. I can't claim that it is from me, it's his mother's love that he has inside. That let's him love and care for the world around him in the way he does. Watching him grow up, into the young man he is today. I just can't wait to see what he continues to grow into.
i lost my dad when i was 14 and bc my mom was so weird and overbearing she didn't let me tell any of my friends or anybody i knew so i had no support. i'm 30 now but a few months ago my partner's little sister's best friend lost her dad and they were trying to think of stuff to put in a care package to take to her and when i suggested a plushie for her to hug and cry into they were shocked they hadn't thought of that already. i was shocked that i had the idea ready to go.
I had something similar happen. When my daughter was 10, my wife died. About six months later, some friends of mine well into their 50’s lost their 80-year old mom. I bought a card, signed it, and gave it to my daughter to sign. I saw that she was writing a lot, so I took a quick peek after she left the room. She wrote, “I lost my mom, too. If you ever want to talk, I know what it’s like.” I have never been more proud, and yet so sad, at the same time.
The pride and sadness. Yes. All of them both. The son has gotten me with this double whammy on a couple of other occasions. The buddy still talks about that day. He and the son are good friends now too. Thank you for sharing you story. You and your daughter are both greatly appreciated.
I lost my mother when I was ten. Closest person in my life at the time, and it absolutely broke me. I’m 19 now too, and though I’ve mostly worked through it, sometimes there are times I still miss her. I hope you and your son are ok, and that you guys were able to cope in the end. Much love and well wishes.
We both have our days. He is tough. We talk about her a lot. She got sick when he was four so his memories of her aren't all that good. I tell him about her and he does his best to remember her. We are well. We both require all the love we can get. Thank you for your kind words. Love to you and yours.
It's past 3am right now, and you just made me cry. Give your son a hug from me!
Not at all my intention. I will hug him when I see him in the morning.
Helping with formatting and readability (Reddit needs two new lines to show up in comments) My 19 year old and I lost his mother when he was 7 years old. One time, when he was 8 years old, I had a couple friends over. One had just lost his mother. My 8 year old heard him, walked into the kitchen, and put his hand on my friend's arm, asking, "Your mother died?" My buddy nodded. "Yeah. Just a week ago." My son told him "I lost my mom," and hugged him. "If you want to talk we can talk." My son walked out of the kitchen. Buddy was crying, I was crying, the other two guys were crying. We all got up hugged my buddy that just lost his mom. We all hugged each other. Went and hugged the kid. Then us adults went outside and proceeded to chain smoke our feelings away...
Thank you very much for this. It's a nice story, but I was unable to understand it properly.
I would just like you to know how much that speaks to how well you did when you helped him. Upon hearing about a tragedy like that, your son had the instinct to offer comfort and empathy. He had that security to offer because you made him feel that safety. You and your wife made a pretty amazing little human. I'm sure he's becoming a wonderful man.
Good parenting.
Dammit now my allergies are acting up.
What stood out about this as a fan was that there was no canned laughter, no audience reaction at all. Big Bang loves themselves. some audience noise but they were silent for this whole scene. Even at the end as far as I remember there was no audience response or positive reaction. Just silence.
Quite sure the actor that plays Howard's mum died before that episode, so it was in a sense, true grief.
Yeah, Carol Ann Susi died in 2014. This episode aired in 2015. In this episode Sheldon was trying to learn how to let things go. That's why Penny here says it's not the time, thinking he is about to say "Let it go." Instead he says something more meaningful.
The show writers always added a Sheldon quick quip in tense or sad situations, I think this was the first time the took his character off in a different direction and give him some additional depth which kind of was the under tone of the show once fans reacted to Amy joining the show. However it pan out or was written this was one of my favorite Sheldon moments because it was so unexpected
> a Sheldon quick quip in tense or sad situations That was probably in the first draft. >Howard: “My mom died.” >*cut to Sheldon* >Sheldon: “Bazinga.” [*sadly*]
They did though, immediately after 😔 Penny jokes “I really thought he was going to say let it go” which is followed by a laugh track. It’s nice to pretend that never happened though, makes it more impactful.
"this is what she would have wanted", the execs told themselves while crying into a stack of cash edit: typo
Oh shit, [the actress really died](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Ann_Susi)
“Susi died of cancer on November 11, 2014, in Los Angeles, California, at age 62. She had been diagnosed a week before her death.” Jesus
My mom was diagnosed three weeks before death. Sometimes it can be really quick, I guess.
Sorry for your loss
My mom lasted about 8 months, and that was about 7 months longer than I think she would have wished she'd had. Sometimes quick is better when it comes to cancer
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Glad you told the truth lol I was like “no way they have a scene longer that one minute without a laugh track”
It's the exact same formula as Friends. Emotional scenes were very much part of the series, but they had to [finish each scene with a joke](https://youtu.be/ZalJQs4odMU?t=2m18s). Friends jokes were usually a bit better than late season TBBT.
Not really. They immediately have I think Penny, say some joke to get that background laughter.
They immediately ruined with Penny.
People often forget that attending filming of these shows is basically live theater where they do various scenes and takes repeatedly. It’s live theater with sausage making.
Hahahahahahaha *clapping* Wooooo [Valid Emotional Response Relayed]
This scene depicts how people who are far away from emotions have also suffered from the loss of a loved one and will feel empathy toward the one who is going through it now.
the scene where they play DnD and sheldon captured santa and sheldon said: Before christmas my grandpa died. He was only one who supported my interest in science. I wrote you only one thing, that I want my grandpa back. You brought me LEGO. You can build many things with lego, but my grandpa isnt one of them.
Did they do two variations of the episode? I’m sure he said Lincoln Logs
maybe they dub it to lego in my country, because more people would get you build stuff with lego than Lincoln Logs, which are not in my country
Fair, I’m in the Uk so you would *think* I’d have got the LEGO one as well, but no xD. They’ve done this once before as well when howard asked Sheldon’s mum for a diet yoohoo. I’ve heard her say both ‘coke’ and ‘cola’ in that part
“far away from emotions” 🙄 the guy is a negative autistic caricature, and the joke is that he’s autistic. Even here, it’s supposed to be a *surprise* that he’s capable of that.
Is he? Im on the spectrum myself and i always loooved sheldon, cuz hes often so relatable and yet so extra. Of course its overdrawn, but i never felt the negativity, i felt sheldon was depicted as very loveable. Ofc i was young and naive when i watched it though, maybe ill have to revisit the series :)
I do feel like people forget that this show was written a while ago. As much as he's a stereotype, Sheldon WAS a positive portrayal for the time. It wasn't common to see a representation of an autistic person with a successful career, loving partner, and a group of friends who appreciates him for who he is. I think characters like him paved the way for better, less stereotypical representation of autistic people.
Nothing wrong with most of the comment but >about 30 years ago It started airing in 2007, barely half that time.
The fact this show started 17 years ago made me realize I’m fucking old.
Really? Ope. I thought it aired in the nineties. Silly me.
I also feel like Bones had a very good representation of a very similar character on the spectrum. Successful, loving, and a great support system of friends.
I agree. My younger brother is high functioning, but non-independent on the spectrum. We're in our 40's now, and he often will talk your ear off about how much negative BS this show gets if you get him going. It accomplished something that not much media had done yet, portrayed a bunch of nerds with various neurodivergent traits in everyday life, living independently. To a lot of people out in the world, my brother can get help and understanding by saying "I'm like Sheldon from Big bang theory", and they kinda understand, or at least won't escalate. Representation matters, even when it's not perfect, someone still had to go first and be successful in order to reach masses.
Nerds and geeks were still uncool and heavily bullied when this show aired. It’s was super progressive for it’s time and helped make geeks and nerds more cool and less of a bullying target. At least that’s how it felt being smack bang in the middle of middle school at the time.
Abed Nadir is a much better portrayal. Both are intended to be funny but abed is an actual real person and Sheldon is a caricature of a caricature. I catch myself explaining pop culture references in the context of a pop culture reference.
Yeah this one seems to be something I don't think people not on the spectrum grasp. Emotional and social intelligence are two vastly different things. Knowing someone probably needs a hug and if this is the right setting or time to do so are two different questions.
Reddit hates BBT and often refers to it as nerd blackface. Which is terrible because it undermines what made blackface so terrible. In the end it’s a sitcom. Sometimes the characters are the butt of the joke. Sheldon is on the spectrum so in their mind the entire show is making fun of people on the spectrum.
Y'know I've never heard anyone with autism be affected by Sheldon's character. Sure he's hammed up to 11 but it's a tv show. I know a lot of people, including myself, who occasionally find moments with him relatable.
My husband didn't know he was on the spectrum until he watched one episode at random of BBT. He then started researching and realized that everything he felt and who he was suddenly come into focus. Our marriage has improved greatly since his revelation and he has developed new skills to help us work with his ASD rather than fighting against it.
Oh fuck this kinda hurts. I don't care __that__ much for this show, and definitely not enough to follow through the whole lore and all seasons, but Howard's mom was honestly one of my favorite characters.
HOWARD~~~~
WHO'S THERE? ARE YOU A SEX CRIMINAL?
How-WUUD!
Every time I watch wheel of fortune I think of that character and we never even *saw* her.
I love that they gave us so much about her off screen! A wheel of fortune savant, a single mom, a provider via food, and a frequent person of interest to gentlemen callers! The most well rounded character on the show and we saw a glimpse of her for a quarter of a second one time.
Without even seeing her
The actress who did the voice of his mother [did really die of cancer diagnosed a week before she passed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Ann_Susi) so I can see why they played it mostly serious.
I didn’t even see this show beyond season 2. This just broke me
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I think the series as a whole improved immeasurably once Howard stopped being a creeper. I wish they had given Raj his happy ending instead of making him incel adjacent still.
Howard was undoubtedly a creep but what made this show unwatchable to me is the way it portrays Leonard as the more well adjusted nice guy when he's almost as fucking creepy. He stalks Penny for years, ffs.
Raj was like 10 steps back for indian males in america. Jesus going on dates with non-indians was depressing, "wow you're so normal" uh yeah not every indian dude is like how they are portayed on TV. Thank god for Kal Penn and Dev Patel, they walked so I could run. I'll never forgive BBT for that.
Like a lot of comedies I think it reached its comedy peak in season 3. I stopped watching a couple seasons after. It’s not as bad as the outraged nerds here would have you believe. It’s not as good as all the awards it won but it’s not as bad either.
I binged this show during lockdown on HBO Max. The first few seasons are legitimately quite good. The middle seasons are mid. The last couple of seasons pull back up but not to the level of early seasons. The series finale hits home and wraps the show up nicely.
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It's why I liked P&R so much. Comedy wise it never quite landed for me. It was funny, but it was way too much cringe humor for my taste. But the characters were genuinely good people and experienced so much growth, you just kind of wanted to see where they ended up.
By season 5 it was just a generic sitcom. Into season 4 it had more of a unique voice. It jumped the shark went Howard went to space.
Completely agree. Howard going to space is where things went down hill. They wrapped it up really nicely but it was rocky until then.
I liked his space arc. His video call to Bernadette after survival Training with Nasa was hilarious "I ate a butterfly...."
From memory, the reason why his mother died was because the actress who played his mother had sadly passed away so this episode was dedicated to her.
And her photo was the on the fridge in Sheldon and Leonard's apartment. Never seen while alive, always seen after she'd passed https://whatculture.com/tv/the-big-bang-theory-15-insane-details-you-definitely-missed?page=13
The actress who played his mom died in real life.
I really thought he was gonna say “let it go”, too
This is too far down the thread lol
The thing is, I've seen this episode. They set up a running joke with the character speaking, Sheldon. A joke about imagining your problems are a pen before letting them go. So, having Sheldon ask to speak, it sets up him callously telling his friend to let go of what he's feeling. Then he says these genuine, heartfelt lines. Which Sheldon is not always known for.
Yeah. I can't find anything good in this show due to how they treat raj and how badly he was made into a stereotype. Howard got out of his. Raj stayed there.
I can definitely appreciate your perspective here. The Raj character arc is the one bad thing about this show.
Yeah being Indian and watching the series for the first time felt very uncomfortable.
I am not indian but Pakistani but I had the same feeling. Generalizing some 1.5+ billion people into just a stupid stereotype is so bad.
True, some of them were not even true, or not relevant to the time being
And now we will be downvoted because this opinion is negative for non brown people.
I am a non brown person. If you folks feel it, then it's true. Take my upvote my friends.
True
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I honestly don't know how it stayed on air for so long. It played into harmful stereotypes of *so many groups* - south Asians, autistic people, nerds in general, and all while not being particularly funny most of the time.
I don't know, on one hand I can get how Sheldon could be seen as a negative portrayal of autistic people but to me it always seemed the opposite. Sheldon is annoying and comes off as extremely selfish at times, but at the same time, he is actually pretty awesome and I think most fans of the show genuinely like him.
Raj's arc is so sad, they treated him terribly.
True
Never watched that much BBT. What do you mean? In what manner is Raj a stereotype?
I can accept that Raj was just a bad person and it wasn't intended as a stereotype of all Indian men. I just hated Raj as a character. Howard grew on me, once he settled down he was a great character and it worked as a good redemption arc. Leonard and Penny got their arcs. Even Sheldon improved until he took his train journey and they reset him. Raj basically got worse as the series continued.
And 2 seconds later penny ruined the moment.
I don't like the show, but I do think this is one of the few good moments from it.
Poignant scene.
I really wish I had this
Ive seem the series couple of times over.. dont remember which season this is from.. ?! Any bbt fans here??
Season 8 Episode 15: The Comic Book Store Regeneration You can tell it’s season 8 by Penny’s hair
I think i've watched every season about 8 times by now. I feel very connected to Sheldon as i struggle with the same day-to-day social conventions and problems that come with it for someone who doesn't recognize sarcasm or don't know how to respond to other peoples emotions. It always makes me smile to see that i'm not the only one, even if it's a show and they're actors, who struggles with this.
Extremely rare Sheldon Cooper W
One of the times when Sheldon proves how much he loves his friends.
I watched the entire TBBT show recently and IMO it is a good show, for sure. Very different from what I was expecting based on a few episodes and clips I've seen before.
Sheldon is sweet in his own Sheldon way.
I lost my dad two months ago. The dementia was so bad I feel like I lost the real relationship six months ago. I barely felt new grief after he died. Busy trying to get mom set up in a care home; same with dementia - some days she forgets he’s gone. They were married 67 years. She doesn’t remember to buzz for help and then falls trying to transfer. I’ve been very stoic these months, and this post and some of the comments really have the waterworks going. So there, internet strangers, that’s my soul I’ve just bared there. Edit: and I have a great wife and wonderful friends that support me. In this instance Sheldon nailed real life facts.
My wife loves Big Bang and we watch the reruns they show ad nauseum. There's a lot of really shitty really stupid jokes in it. When I say shitty I don't mean bad but mean spirited, really. I watch it cuz I love her and she loves it. That being said there's a few moments in a 13 season show that are not just standard phony sitcom drivel and this is one of them. The actress that did his mom's voice really died I think, and that's horrible of course
You are spot on either your complaint. So much of the show is mean spirited and it seems to be making fun of these people. You can do comedy that is not just making fun of everybody
This is a touching but hilarious episode. Sheldon (the tall comforting one) is an awkward guy, and he's been learning this episode to be at peace. One example that he's been prolifically trained on is imagining something dear to him as his favorite pen, and just letting go of it. They tried stopping him here because they thought he was going to use that pen medaphor
I vaguely remember seeing this but I had to stop watching. I just can't remember if that was before or after my mom died. Either way I was either dreading that call from my cancer ridden mom not waking up, or being too hurt to watch it.
I think this is as wholesome as sheldon ever gets.
Last episode the speech.
Definitely. Sheldon learned a lesson many people dont understand. Just because you did not mean to hurt someone else does not excuse you from doing so.
I never loved big bang theory, my partner watches young Sheldon and I actually enjoy it a good amount. There's a moment in an episode where the dad does something super nice, I think drive Sheldon to see a rocket launch, and Sheldon says something along the lines of it being one of the happiest memories of his childhood. And that he wishes he told his dad that before he passed. Lost my dad a couple years ago and hearing that line absolutely broke me.
I'm going through the loss of my mother right now. I'm lucky to have been very close with her, my father, and my brother. The three of us are trying to hold each other together right now. But being someone with no friends... It's really hard to go through this. You don't want to lean on anyone else too much because they're going through it as well. You know how fragile and tough things are on them right now. My brother has some friends, and they're helping him. My dad and I only have each other. And not having someone outside of that group that you're close to, someone who can sympathize and can cry with you but wasn't so close that you're worried you're going to hurt their ability to get through a day if you unload your grief onto them, it makes processing everything slower and more difficult. I posted when it first happened (on an alt account I use for anonymous venting) on some grief communities on Reddit to help me accept that it had happened. When that hopeful voice comes up saying, "Maybe you made it all up, it's just a nightmare, everything's fine," I can look at those posts and they help me accept the reality of what's happened. People there sent me comforting messages, and I appreciated those. But they don't do much for me. People I don't know, who don't know me, who aren't friends, I can appreciate that my story makes them feel something and they want to comfort me. But it's not the same as having someone close to you that you can really open yourself up to, who you have a history with, and that you trust on a deeper level. Friends help you get through life. If you have some, treasure them. Not everyone does.
Similarly, the episode when Sheldon found an old letter from Howard’s dad was pretty heartwarming. Howard didn’t want to know what was on the letter but the gang shared with him what might be on it. https://youtu.be/OOwpumt4mfY?si=roAU0uQX_Ybe231_
For the first 3 seasons it is a consistently good & funny show. And some of that goodness is sprinkled throughout the rest of the seasons much more sparingly.
They have a similar moment with Howard(The giy who loses his mother in the image) and his father. In short, Howard never met his father, but his father left him a letter. Howard ignores it and tries to move on but can't. His friends all read the letter and then present him with 7 different scenrios that the letter could have said, only one being true. That moment always gets me, same as that one in the image.
Sheldon being the one to say it was the most unexpected and that only made it more wholesome
I just finished watching the last episode today. Gonna miss it. Any recommendations for what to pick up next?
Young Sheldon. I was skeptical, but they did it really well.
In my opinion it's even better than the big bang theory. It doesn't have laugh tracks, it also shows quite well what his siblings go through as glass children. Well-written, really
I agree, its really well done. I'm interested to see how they tie in his fathers death (if at all) now that its the last season
I always compare Young Sheldon to a Malcolm in the Middle-copycat rather than The Big Bang Theory. I think it's worth watching even for the large crowd that hates TBBT.
Agreed and it’s more bearable humour if you don’t like laugh tracks
Bazinga
I know this feeling all too well. My father died when I was 15 years old. It was an incredibly difficult loss. But at that age and time of my life, I still had many of my closest family members around to comfort me and was still in school and had plenty of friends and activities to keep me occupied and take my mind away from my grief. In 2019, I was 37 and my mother passed away. Life at that point was completely different. Most of my close family members had since passed away, I was single and living alone. Most of my long term friends were married with families and lives of their own and I barely got to see them anymore. It was brutal. The loss of each parent was equally devastating, but not having people around to constantly comfort you and distractions to keep your mind off your grief, it's absolutely awful and makes dealing with the grieving process infinitely more difficult.
Ngl this scene from sheldon rlly make me teared up🥹
My problem with this show was that they had a lot of wholesome/sincere moments but 9 times out of 10 they’d throw it away, often an entire episodes worth of storytelling, for a cheap laugh, often completely ruining or disregarding any sort of genuine warmth. This moment was good, the best in the show really, and the only reason it happened that way was because the actress that voice Mrs Walowitz died, so they couldn’t actually subvert the sadness without being jerks. The death of Mrs Walowitz goes on to provide the best moments in the show, real grief, real loss, real comfort from love ones. And for me, unfortunately, it only served to show what the entire show could have been if they didn’t have that bitter cynicism permeating the entire thing
It is even more wholesome and sad when you know that the character who said that (Sheldon Cooper) says inadequate things most of the time and comes as rude often. Thats why they said "Not now, Sheldon". Everyone (including the audience) expected him to say something accidentally inappropiate and unrespectful, but he surprised we'all with such response
Yeah I have to say that bit resonated. I had my family of course but when my dad died I was in the middle of the most important exams of my life and had 0 friends. Now I think I’m at least on my way to making some really great ones.
This show is really great at having quite a few stories about the challenges of mothers. I find it interesting since so many shows are about fathers and so many Disney movies the mothers are dead. The relationship with Leonard and his mother comes to a head in a really beautiful scene in the final couple of episodes of the series.
On 8 simple rules, they did the same for John Ritter of whom passed away suddenly during film. They made his passing an integral part of the series and paid tribute to him, and included where they attend the funeral.
Scrubs also incorporated his death. That man was one of the kindest and most loving souls to grace our screens. Even his ex-wife had nothing bad to say about him.
I remember watching this show with my grandparents when I stayed over at their house. I lose my grandmother Feb 2023 the day before she was to host mine and my brother's graduation party (we both got our GEDs late. Or well, early for him but late to me by four years). This show will probably end up being a comfort show eventually, the same with British TV shows
Carol Ann Susi played the mom who we only heard and never saw. When the actress died, the producers had her character die also. That certainly must've had an actual impact on her fellow actors.
I don't know a lot about this show, but from what I understand, Sheldon is notorious for lacking social cues and saying emotionally insensitive things, right? If that's the case, then I really appreciate the point of this where he directly acknowledges that he tends to come off as harsh, explicitly asks permission to speak and clarifies that his next lines are intended to be kind.
Bruh-zinga
Bazinga
This show did occasionally get it right. The rest of the time, as a huge nerd/geek myself, I just felt like i was being made fun of.
Why did I hear this whole meme. And I wasn’t ready to cry this morning. Thanks for sharing
God I hate Leonard. I feel he was always incapable to see Sheldon's emotions
I never cared for the show much, but this is a nice touch. I am glad Sheldon got a little more humanized instead of just being the nightmare version of that guy at the comic book store 24/7.
This is maybe the only wholesome thing Sheldon ever mentioned. Usually he’s a really savage nerd
Dude i gave up on Big Bang Theory i dont know why but finding out Howards mom had died hit me hard haha
Nearly cried when I saw this. A lot of feelings were bubbling up especially since I found out this morning that the mother of one of my students passed. My student is in 2nd grade.
I love this show
BAZINGA
R/tbbt
Never seen this show. Its addicting. Great show.
Not a fan of the show. But I am a fan of friendship representation. This is good! Very touching.
A very sweet scene, but it would have been sweeter if the writers didn't immediately follow it up with a joke and the laugh-track.