Big Bang Theory, Kermit the Frog and Lenny the Sweater

just me babbling, nothing special.

Oct 01, 2024

“Sweetie, he wins every night when you don’t kill him in his sleep.” - penny

Well, i for one am glad that Sheldon wasn’t killed in his sleep.

I started watching “The Big Bang Theory” a few months before my O levels. It’s been 2 years and I am still watching it (I’ve finished watching it the first time in like 2 weeks, pfft)

I am someone who is great at doing things other people find troubling to do like binge watch an entire 12 seasons series right before their O levels. I did it. Funny enough, i continued doing it during my exams as well. Today’s newsletter is all about the big bang theory and how it’s been a home of sorts, at least to me.

I watched quite a lot of movies and TV shows in the past 2 years, most of them were eh, some them were great but only one of them has stuck with me for so long. Nowadays, i watch tbbt because it feels like i am right where i am supposed to be, with friends that makes life seem a lot less intimidating than life is and frankly the show feels like home for an introvert like me.

This show is like how Harry Potter influenced my personal growth when i was 13 and then how john green influenced my beliefs on forgiveness and death at the age of 16 and to be honest, tbbt continues to influence how i look at world, how i experience things and how i grow as a person.

I guess the only reason i have ever connected with this show is because all of the characters - sheldon, leonard, raj, howard, penny, amy, stuart and bernadette has gone through sub branches of challenges, experiences and dilemmas i’ve faced.

Not only that, my academic career has been heavily influenced by this show. I fell in love with science through this show just like Leonard and Sheldon falls in love with science because of professor Proton. Since this newsletter was made for me to write and gain clarity I am going to list out all the reasons i am grateful for this show. I can only thank you for taking time out of your day to read all this jumbled up thought of mine. (i am gonna cry, i was seeing tbbt today and i wanted to hug each and every one of them)

I never quite realised how any piece of art could connect with someone until i felt that connection to this show. The characters, their story is a complete work of fiction and yet i feel like i see myself in them. I guess, all forms of storytelling appeals to me.

I think success and failure is an inevitable part of living, it doesn’t truly go away but it is not always what makes life worthy of living, i think its the people that come along with it, i think it’s like how sheldon went from being a child prodigy with no real human connection to a genius with a full life, filled with love, intellect and reflection.

We see how sheldon grew from being a pain in the A, 2000s version of spock and a genius to being a person open to change, someone who is trying to better themselves for the people around them, someone who has looked within himself and found meaning to life without being a snob. I love how meeting Amy made him a softer person like he says quoting the song “Darlin'” from beach boys - “i was living like half a man/ i love the way you soften my life”. I adore the relationship he has with penny and leonard and i love how he grows to be someone worthy of their care and friendship. I love it more because i understand how difficult it is for sheldon to fit in but also how much patience you need to deal with him.

Throughout the show, we see how each and every character comes to be a real version of themselves, with characteristics such as perseverance, relentless love and patience towards people who are more than just a friendship, people who feel like home. I’ve learnt to remind myself to be patient with my sister by thinking and reminding myself how leonard is patient with sheldon, how penny will still sing him “Soft kitty”. i’ve learnt to try and try harder again when i fail and even more so after i watched the episode where sheldon and Amy’s paper on supersymmetry gets disproved and yet they continue to work harder despite the setbacks.

In this entire show, sheldon is not the only primitive character. We see how Howard merged to be a responsible person from his revolting personality. His magic remained an item of mockery but his character developed to someone truly worthy of admiration. His relationship with Bernadette was nothing short of teamwork and trust and patience.

One of the themes of this show that i think is heavily overlooked is how patient, dynamic and inspiring each of the characters are and in what a beautiful way they complete each other, they embrace their flaws and strive to do better.

A close friend of mine once said, “big bang theory started off as funny but towards this end it became less funny and more wholesome.”

I laughed and laughed and i can proudly say i understood all of the science jokes, am i a nerd or what? Regardless of that, i found the show funny with its spot on sarcasm, Jim Parson’s exceptional acting and most importantly the chemistry that the entire cast has among themselves. i felt like an outsider at the beginning but then slowly they embraced me, it was like by the end i was one of them, having chinese food around that legendary couch.

last scene of the show that ends with "Our universe was in a hot, dense state..."

I want to write a whole character reference and how each and one of the characters played a pivotal role in my life but that’s for another day. It has become a tradition of mine to watch tbbt in the morning while having breakfast, at the end of the day before going to bed to unwind and relax. i truly feel i am at home with these people both the ones who plays the characters and the irl versions of them too.

i hope you find a show you love as much as i love this show.