The geek squad groweth. Sara Gilbert, who guested a few times during The Big Bang Theory's inaugural season, has been bumped up to full-fledged series regular status for Season 2. At last month's Comic-Con, series cocreator Chuck Lorre revealed that Gilbert would be back for "a bunch more episodes," but he must have since decided that nerdesse Leslie Winkle is truly needed in the mix — especially since it sounds like Leonard might still be on the market. (See this week's Mega Minute vodcast for more on that.)Of course, Gilbert and Johnny Galecki (aka Leonard) previously played love interests on Roseanne.The Big Bang Theory returns Sept. 22. — Matt Mitovich
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Coming in fall 2008: a new ABC sitcom starring Eddie Cibrian and Josh Randall as wacky roommates! That's my prediction based on the omnipresence of those two TV journeymen as guest stars for the Alphabet network. Within the span of a week, Ed alum Randall reprised his Men in Trees role of Annie's loutish brother (in an episode taped last season, I grant you) and also surfaced on Private Practice as Addison's would-be (if not for his propensity for probing his posterior...) beau. Cibrian, meanwhile, recently played Karen's ex-husband on Dirty Sexy Money, and this week can be seen pitching woo at Samantha Who? In a similar vein, ABC tapped Sara Gilbert to play a convenience-store robbing mom-to-be on Private Practice mere weeks after the Roseanne vet visited CBS' Big Bang Theory. (That was the PP episode which went for the sweeps month hat trick: Name Guest Star, Emergency Baby Delivery and Hostage Situation.)Setting aside my opinions of any of the aforementioned actors (Randall's app...
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If there's one thing I can say about this show, it's that they get some fantastic guest stars. Christopher from Gilmore Girls and, my personal fave, Darlene Connor. With a gun. In the convenience store.But I'll get to that. My first priority is to cover the sex that went on and the sex that didn't. Cooper and Violet — did anyone think that was really going to happen? I'll be honest and say I thought it was going to be Violet who chickened out, but I like how it worked out. I thought Cooper was going to confess his love for her right there in his Skivvies! The dynamic between these two is more intriguing to me than Pete and Addison. There is a lot going on there and I hope it continues to unfold in these awkward ways.Pete and Addison — I was glad that didn't happen. It was way too soon for them to take it to that level. Early in the show, I wondered where their relationship would go if they did the deed at this point. I couldn't figure it out, but I knew it didn't make me h...
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Question: Like you, I'm enjoying The Big Bang Theory and think Sheldon and the gang of nerds are a hoot. Penny, though, seems to be an unwelcome distraction. I haven't laughed at her even once — her scenes simply aren't funny. Sara Gilbert, on the other hand, is a riot. Do you think the show should (or would) get rid of Penny and focus on its strengths, the geeks? Last week's episode, which had Penny in nearly every scene, didn't make me laugh once. (Or am I just prejudiced against dumb blondes?)
Answer: Ouch. I appreciate where you're coming from, but I think you're selling Penny (and Kaley Cuoco) short. This show, which has developed in a short time into one of TV's best new comedies, has been likened to a reverse Three's Company in its two-geeks-and-a-girl setup, but Penny's not such a dim bulb as Chrissie. She is, in a sense, the show's "straight man," it's true, but I get a kick out of her withering responses to Sheldon's anal-retentive rudeness and Wolowitz's bumbling lechery. ...
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Question: I was totally prepared to hate The Big Bang Theory, so I was surprised at how much I like it. It is one of the few new sitcoms that I find really funny, and sometimes it actually makes me laugh out loud. What do you think of it? How is it doing?
Answer: I'm enjoying it more and more as the season goes on, and the good news is that it already has a full-season pickup, so there's no reason to worry about its immediate future. It's awfully endearing; Jim Parsons is a deadpan hoot as Sheldon, and when the entire geek squad is assembled (including scene-stealer Simon Helberg as Wolowitz), it's a riot. My favorite episode to date: when Sara Gilbert's fellow-scientist character used Leonard (Johnny Galecki, her former Roseanne costar) for sex, while Sheldon fretted outside the bedroom door with the tie on the doorknob. The scenes in that episode at the Cheesecake Factory, where Sheldon found a new home for his obsessive-compulsive behavior (to the chagrin of Penny th ...
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