The buzz surrounding Jim Parsons

When the primetime Emmy nominations were announced on July 16th, I remember feeling a mixture of disbelief, smugness, and anticipation.  These feelings had nothing to do with Family Guy securing an Outstanding Comedy Series nod.  Let’s face it, this nomination is coming at a time when Family Guy’s jokes feel somewhat stale.  Instead, all of these feelings centered around the Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series category.  Jim Parsons, the delightful and talented actor who portrays the delightful and talented Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, was given an Emmy nod.  He would now be in competition with, what his mother referred to as, household names–Alec Baldwin and Steve Carell.  The disbelief came from a history of Emmy nominations and wins that seemed predictable and undeserved.  Honestly, how many times can Tony Shaloub win for Monk?  How many people have seen Monk?  More importantly, how many people enjoy Monk?   However, my real issue isn’t with Tony Shaloub.  Jeremy Piven being the winner in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category for the past 3 years is the real reason I was just about ready to write off the Emmys entirely.  Then, a funny thing happened this year–Chandra Wilson read Jim Parsons name as one of this year’s nominees for Oustanding Actor in a Comedy Series.  This led to an intolerable air of superiority on my part.  “Well of course, Jim Parsons was nominated!” I would say, “He’s fantastic, and Sheldon is the best character in the history of television.  I’ve been saying it since Day 1.”  Nevermind the fact that I had not been watching The Big Bang Theory from the beginning (regrettably, I did not start until several episodes in to Season 2).  This brings us to anticipation.  I haven’t been this excited to see an awards show since Keri Russell received her Golden Globe nomination in 1999 for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV series Drama (which, by the way, she won).

Why I Love The Big Bang Theory

Despite The Big Bang Theory’s semi-slow start, it’s become one of my favorite shows this season (and any other season for that matter). At the beginning, the show was too formulaic. Sheldon and Leonard were too stereotypically nerdy. Penny was too hot. Everything was exaggerated to the point where I wanted to scream, “OK, we get it!” However, a friend brought up that sometimes it is a necessity to  overstate the premise of the show at its start. That idea coupled with the fact that it has become brilliant is enough for me to overlook the first few episodes of Season 1 (which to clarify were not horrible, just average).

Since those first few episodes, Big Bang has exemplified the true meaning of “must-see television” (a phrase coined by NBC in the 90’s to describe their Thursday night line-up which included Friends, Seinfeld, ER, and various other shows over the years). Throw How I Met Your Mother into the mix, and it’ll blow NBC’s version of “must-see” out of the water any day.

So what is it about The Big Bang Theory that makes it so wonderfully addictive? In a word, Sheldon. Sheldon (portrayed with excellent comedic timing by the talented and relatively unknown Jim Parsons) is the reason we all can’t wait for the next episode, the reason we find ourselves laughing over and over again at our favorite scenes, and the main reason for the show’s success. I wish I could say that this is a true ensemble cast (ex: How I Met Your Mother), but it really isn’t. This is the Sheldon Show, and I can’t get enough of it. This is not to say that the rest of the cast is terrible, not even close. Leonard is likeable and amusing enough (see Episode 1.6 The Middle Earth Paradigm in which Leonard puts Penny’s meathead ex-boyfriend in his place). Wolowitz is creepy without being too creepy (most of the time), and he has one of the best[1] mother/son relationships on television. Koothrappali is also an engaging character, and surprisingly his “can’t talk to women unless he’s drunk” schtick has not worn out its welcome yet. I also enjoy that he finds things slightly racist at times, but doesn’t go so far as to take real offense to anything. In fairness to the show, I should at least mention Penny. Penny doesn’t need to be “hot.” She could be average, and the guys (minus Sheldon) would probably still fall all over her. She’s “hot” in order to emphasize the fact that she is on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of looks and intellect. (I also think she’s “hot” as a ratings ploy, but it’s really not necessary due to Jim Parson’s comic abilities). I really have no feelings for Kaley Cuoco one way or another, but I will say that not everyone could have believable chemistry with this cast. That is one reason why she’s good for the show. It’s believable that she genuinely likes these nerdy guys, and I’m not sure another “hot” actress could pull that off.

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[1] “Best” does not equal healthy.