The Big Bang Theory is one of the most popular TV shows of all time, and its next spin-off could be another hit... but we've gotta ask: Could it also do just a little bit better by its women?
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00:00The Big Bang Theory is one of the most popular TV shows of all time, and its next spinoff
00:05could be another hit, but we've got to ask, could it also do just a little bit better
00:09by its women?
00:10You're engaged to my friend.
00:12Hey, Bernadette doesn't mind where I get my motor running as long as I park in the right
00:16garage.
00:17Amy, Bernadette, and Penny are fascinating characters in their own right, but they're
00:20frequently made to look powerless or even goofy in their relationships.
00:24Although, to be fair, it must be noted that their respective husbands — Sheldon, Howard,
00:28and Leonard — aren't the most socially adept individuals to begin with.
00:32Someday, scientists will discover that a second X chromosome contains nothing but nonsense
00:36and twaddle.
00:37Let's start with Penny, who doesn't even get a last name until she marries Leonard.
00:41Penny is nothing more than eye candy when she's first introduced.
00:44It was the cute girl next door to the nerds, right?
00:46It was all about booty shorts and Juicy Couture zip-ups.
00:49After she moves in across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon, all the guys — including Raj,
00:54who can't even talk to women without first getting extremely drunk — drool over her,
00:59treating her like an object.
01:00But, ultimately, thanks in no small part to Kaley Cuoco's winning performance, Penny
01:04proves that she's so much more than a pretty face.
01:06"'Penny grows up, Kaley grows up, all of a sudden it's like, can I have like a long-sleeved
01:10shirt?
01:11How about a slack?'
01:12Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Raj might be book smart, but Penny knows how to navigate
01:16day-to-day life better than most of them, and thank goodness.
01:19In its better moments, the show tries to give Penny her due and show that there are human
01:23beings in the world with priorities that exist outside of a scientific formula.
01:27Even so, Big Bang spends a significant amount of time creating both laughs and drama at
01:31Penny's expense.
01:33For example, Penny gives up her dream of being an actor to become a pharmaceutical rep.
01:37Yes, it's a far more lucrative and dependable job, but the other Big Bang characters continue
01:41to pursue their ambitions while Penny, who loved acting as much as the boys love science,
01:46is left to quietly abandon the work she's pursued so doggedly without so much as an
01:50acknowledgement by the other characters — or the show's writers.
01:53"'You're an actress, correct?'
01:55Then there's the fact that Leonard cheats on her while he's away on an expedition,
01:59and when he is around, he frequently insults her intelligence.
02:02And finally, during the series finale, Penny — who's always been definitive about not
02:06wanting kids — is pregnant.
02:08Penny's deeply held dreams are never going to come true, while everyone else goes on
02:12to get their happy ending.
02:14"'It's weird.'
02:15"'Totally.'"
02:16After Bernadette and Amy join the Big Bang Theory, it seemed like the show was trying
02:19to balance out its male energy.
02:20"'We had some pretty hot corpses in my anatomy class, but none of them moved like that!'
02:25Bernadette and Amy are interesting characters.
02:27Bernadette starts out working alongside Penny at the Cheesecake Factory, but after earning
02:31a Ph.D. in microbiology, she ends up becoming one of the most financially successful characters
02:36on the show.
02:37Amy, meanwhile, is an accomplished neuroscientist right from the start.
02:41But even so, Sheldon and Howard treat these two smart, accomplished women not so well.
02:46The more tone-deaf treatment comes from Sheldon — he's dismissive of Amy's accomplishments
02:50compared to his own, and derides her for only being a neuroscientist.
02:54At least he doesn't get away with it.
02:55"'Compared to the real-world applications of neurobiology, theoretical physics is what's
02:59the word I'm looking for.
03:01Hmm, cute.'"
03:02And as for Howard, despite starting a family with Bernadette and settling down, he can
03:06still be incredibly selfish where his wife is concerned, going so far as to insist she
03:10handle all the household chores because that's how it's done.
03:14These moments can be hard to watch, and in a spinoff could be — to put it bluntly — infuriating,
03:19not to mention boring.
03:21So, Chuck Lorre, when it comes to your upcoming spinoff, maybe flip the script and give the
03:25Big Bang Ladies their due.
03:26You created three compelling, accomplished female characters.
03:30It would be a shame not to use them.