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Working the Engels promo w/gay propaganda

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    Posted: 02 Jul 2014 at 6:43am
Can't find the exact video, but there's something about Wizard of Oz and the Scarecrow being able to be as "gay as he wants to be".

Seriously? Does EVERY show have to have blatant in-your-face gay references now?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote MontanaTrav Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2014 at 8:23am
Yup.  And there is absolutely, positively nothing whatsoever you can do about it, or you're a scumbag racist homophobe.  Of course, the other side of that agenda can say what THEY want but God forbid if you say something back.  Coming out of the closet is the new "trendy" thing to do.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote aka ron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2014 at 9:18am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Snesgamer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2014 at 9:48am
Originally posted by MontanaTrav MontanaTrav wrote:

Yup.  And there is absolutely, positively nothing whatsoever you can do about it, or you're a scumbag racist homophobe.  Of course, the other side of that agenda can say what THEY want but God forbid if you say something back.  Coming out of the closet is the new "trendy" thing to do.


Yeah don't get me wrong, I have nothing against gay people, it's just I don't want to be subjected to the much-higher-than-reality proportion of obviously stereotypically gay people that you find in a modern sitcom. You're simply not going to find a "fabulous" fruitcake-fairy type person in EVERY single social circle you come across like they apparently want you to believe.

I think having gay-themed humor stopped being shocking and "progressive" by the time the 5th or so season of Glee came out. It's been cheapened almost to the point where if a show has a gay character, it feels more exploitive than it does inclusive.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ad nauseous Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2014 at 4:57pm
Great now they're f**king shoehorning it into conversations between characters.

One good thing about TV-you could always turn it off
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Blix Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2014 at 5:21pm
Looks like a terrible show regardless, so you can probably take solace in the fact that it will most likely not see a second season ;) 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jimbo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2014 at 6:13pm
Originally posted by Snesgamer Snesgamer wrote:

Can't find the exact video, but there's something about Wizard of Oz and the Scarecrow being able to be as "gay as he wants to be".

Seriously? Does EVERY show have to have blatant in-your-face gay references now?


Snes, I think you're missing the point of that comment.

I think she was kind of poking fun at the Scarecrow by saying he was gay.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote insanity213 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2014 at 6:29pm
Originally posted by Blix Blix wrote:

Looks like a terrible show regardless, so you can probably take solace in the fact that it will most likely not see a second season ;) 


Jesus I hope you're right.  Against my better judgment I watched the promo, and I couldn't bring myself to find any part of it even remotely close to being anything resembling funny.


"Think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jimbo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2014 at 6:47pm
I dunno.

Not trying to be contrary or anything, but I think it might have some possibilities.

That main gal, Andrea Martin, is one of the original SCTV cast who worked with John Candy & all the rest of those great comics.

I've always liked her.

The rest of her fellow cast members (aside from Candy), were Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis & Martin Short.

So I would think, given her pedigree, this show could possibly turn out to be another 30 Rock, The Office or Parks & Rec.

I'm gonna give it a look-see.





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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TV_Casualty Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Jul 2014 at 5:06pm
I guess it's OK to have "in your face" straight references, but not gay ones. lol God forbid they want to be treated as equals and not have people yelling at them all the time.

Some people are just full of hate.

But yeah, show looks stupid anyway.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jimbo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Jul 2014 at 5:52pm
I don't think anyone here is "full of hate", I think some just get tired of the way the media goes out of it's way to pander to political correctness.

But the way I see it, and this is my opinion, the comment in the video clip was not meant that way. I think she was actually poking fun at the political correctness that would cause somebody to say that.

I don't think that Andrea Martin, a veteran of SCTV, who worked with the kind of comedians that she did, & who created the kind of iconoclastic comedy they did, would engage in PC pandering.











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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote verminstew Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Jul 2014 at 7:17pm
Edith Prickley!!  When I was looking at the IMDB page for this show, I noticed Eugene Levy, Martin Short, and Scott Thompson are in some of the episodes.  I think this show has some potential.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jimbo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Jul 2014 at 7:44pm
Originally posted by verminstew verminstew wrote:

Edith Prickley!!  When I was looking at the IMDB page for this show, I noticed Eugene Levy, Martin Short, and Scott Thompson are in some of the episodes.  I think this show has some potential.


I agree.

Definite comedy pedigree there.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ad nauseous Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Jul 2014 at 7:45pm
^ It better have potential or else (if this show fails along with other new shows) NBC will known as NBSee Us Later!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BadAd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jul 2014 at 4:40am
That tiny part of the promo strikes me as obvious parody, making fun of therapists who go (in this case, comically) out of their way to promote tolerance. It's practically the opposite of "propaganda."

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jimbo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jul 2014 at 4:47am
Originally posted by BadAd BadAd wrote:

That tiny part of the promo strikes me as obvious parody, making fun of therapists who go (in this case, comically) out of their way to promote tolerance. It's practically the opposite of "propaganda."

Agreed.

Typical of her comedic style.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jimbo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jul 2014 at 5:02am
OK, I just "got" the name... "Working the Engels" = "Working the Angles"

Heh heh. Stern Smile Ermm

Lotta stuff on YouTube about it.


Looks like it could get better after about a season of it lasts that long.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Thor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jul 2014 at 2:47pm

According to Wikipedia, all 12 episodes of the first season have already been aired---from 3/12 through 5/29.  Maybe in some test market?



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jimbo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jul 2014 at 2:54pm
Possible.

From what I've seen of it on YT, it doesn't seem to be my cup of tea, but I think I'm going to watch a few episodes in hopes that it "finds it's groove" so to speak, the way "Parks & Rec" & a few other shows that started out weak but got better did.

I like the premise & would like to see it turn into something really good.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BadAd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jul 2014 at 7:06am
I don't hold out much hope for this series. Looks like it's done its half-season and was cancelled, but I don't know. Andrea Martin always overdoes everything. She wears thing fast.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jimbo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jul 2014 at 1:39pm
Yeah, it could easily be a big flop if the writing isn't good.

It's all about the writing.

If they try too hard to be "wacky" & "zany" without developing truly humorous characters with a little depth & dimension to them, it will suck.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Thor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jul 2014 at 3:54pm

^  The reason behind the success of Big Bang Theory probably has a lot to do with its strong and deep character development.  I dunno how much of that was preconceived, and how much just unfolded as the show progressed.  Probably more so, the latter.




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ChrisInMI Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jul 2014 at 10:13pm
I can't believe someone just used "strong character development" and "Big Bang Theory" in the same sentence.  The show where the female lead doesn't even have a last name and whose entire character can be summed up as "hot ditzy blonde."

Anyhow... as a gay man I myself am offended by the phrase "Be as gay as he wanted to be." It perpetuates the idea that being gay is a choice rather than an orientation, and that a person has a choice to turn it on and off like a faucet.  It also perpetuates the idea that LGBT people are all the same, when they come in all shapes, sizes and temperaments just like heterosexuals.  Not every gay man is Kurt Hummel from "Glee" or a RuPaul caricature.  I would love to see more non-stereotypical portrayals of LGBT people in the media.  That's also why I don't watch LOGO even though the programming is LGBT-oriented.  "Roseanne" is a perfect example of a show that presented LGBT people in a non-stereotypical way, and that's what I think we need more of.

Why, though, do we have to start up with the "Gay propaganda" and "Gay agenda" nonsense here?  The so-called "gay agenda" is nothing more than LGBT people wanting the same civil rights as heterosexual Americans.  If people harassed and degraded you because of who you were or who you loved and kept trying to hold you down and keep you a second-class citizen for the rest of your life - especially on the basis of their religious beliefs - would you stand for it? 

But that's for another forum.  Just wanted to put my two cents in.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Thor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jul 2014 at 10:50pm
Originally posted by ChrisInMI ChrisInMI wrote:

I can't believe someone just used "strong character development" and "Big Bang Theory" in the same sentence.  The show where the female lead doesn't even have a last name and whose entire character can be summed up as "hot ditzy blonde."



Well, start believing.
 

No, they haven't disclosed her last name, but her character is far from undeveloped.  In fact, I think it's as strongly-developed as Sheldon's.  For a long time now, I've contended that she and Sheldon are the true main characters of the show.  Someone who's just a "hot ditzy blonde" couldn't carry a show as long she has.  She'd have been relegated to a smaller part.

From Wikipedia:

Personality[edit]

Originally from a small town outside of Omaha, Nebraska, Penny has aspirations of becoming an actress. Until the seventh season, she worked as a waitress at the local Cheesecake Factory.[1][2] She is a Sagittarius, born on December 2.[3] She has full confidence in horoscopes and psychics, which has led to arguments with Sheldon and Leonard about their accuracy.[2][3]

In contrast to the rest of the group, Penny is not well-educated or savvy in a specific technical field, but she has great social skills and is more streetwise than her neighbors. She is very knowledgeable about popular culture.[4] She is messy and disorganized, but appears to like it that way.[5] Having dropped out of community college prior to the start of the series, she is the only regular character to have lesser educational qualifications than Howard Wolowitz, who has a Master's degree. Despite her lack of education, she is insightful. While Sheldon routinely disparages both Penny's and Howard's educations, he occasionally acknowledges her intelligence and potential, something he never does toward Howard. He has also asked for her advice more than once regarding various social situations.

While usually appearing kind and cheerful, Penny does have a temper which has erupted on occasions, such as when Sheldon cleaned her apartment as she slept,[5] when she confronted Howard over his "creepy" flirting,[6] or when Sheldon "banished" her from their social group.[7] Leonard has likened her to The Hulk when she gets angry, while Sheldon once said to his friend Stuart that she would "maul [him] like a rabid wolverine" if Stuart woke her up.

In addition to her temper, Penny's other main personality flaws are her selfishness, complacency and mild insensitivity. One major example of her flaws is when she had a fight with Leonard over the credibility of psychics, wherein he is prepared to concede to her and visit her psychic, but she is not, in turn, prepared to concede to him and read a book debunking psychics. On another occasion, she expects Leonard to play along with her story of "I whistled, you came running," when pretending that they got back together for her father's benefit, and is shocked when he does not. She laughed at the idea of Leonard ever breaking up with her in the fifth and sixth seasons until Sheldon's assistant Alex asked Leonard out, making Penny feel insecure. Her constant freeloading is another factor in this. Season 5 also revealed that Penny was a bully during her time at school. However, she seemed to be genuinely unaware of the hurt her actions had caused. Upon her realization, she attempted to make amends with those she tormented, with little success. Also, in season 6, she tricks Sheldon into telling her, Amy, and Bernadette the contents of a letter of Howard's that was sent to him by his father without any consideration of Howard's feelings. In the same season, while playing D&D, she leads the others on when she suggests Amy's and Sheldon's characters have sex in the game, not realizing she is mocking their relationship until after Amy leaves. An example of Penny's selfishness is prominent in the season 7 episode "The Mommy Observation," when, while playing a mystery game, she states her belief that Leonard would abandon his career if she became successful; she is surprised when he objects to this. She later confesses to Bernadette that her main regret is her lack of passion in life, which is why she struggles to take an interest in the geek culture that is such a big part of Leonard's daily life. On another occasion, she becomes insecure when Leonard makes a joke about her lack of romanticism.

A recurring theme is Penny's poor driving. She ignores speed bumps and stop signs, drives too fast, takes her eyes off the road, fails to service her vehicle regularly, ignores her check engine light, and has left her car's passenger side wing mirror "in a parking lot in Hollywood". She also hit a Mercedes in a parking lot and left without leaving a note. Leonard has, on several occasions, expressed terror at being in the car with her, although he is reluctant to tell her himself because of her defensiveness. Once her car dies, Leonard buys her a new one so she can go to auditions and pursue her dream of becoming an actress.[8]

Other random facts about Penny have been revealed throughout the series. For instance, she has a Chinese character tattooed on her right buttock, which, according to her, means "courage", but is revealed to mean "soup" by Sheldon;[9] however, Sheldon's fluency in Chinese is later demonstrated to be less than he thinks in "The Tangerine Factor". In season 5 she reveals that she has a tattoo of the Cookie Monster. She uses vanilla oil as perfume and snores loudly (especially when on her back). Early in the series, she claimed to be vegetarian, "... except for fish, and the occasional steak".[2]

Interaction with Sheldon[edit]

A staple of the show's humour is Penny's awkward interactions with Sheldon, which are fuelled by the fact that they are almost polar opposites in terms of intellect and social aptitude, although they have very similar personalities.

In one episode, Sheldon tries to "improve" Penny, rewarding her with chocolate for what he considers "correct behavior", as in operant conditioning of lab rats.[10] Although the two characters sometimes clash, and Penny is frequently irritated by Sheldon's obstinacy and lack of social awareness, she has developed a steady affection for him. She and Leonard occasionally behave as if Sheldon were their child, and Penny is very pleased whenever Sheldon acts tenderly towards her, such as hugging her or helping her when she is injured. Penny often calls Sheldon "sweetie", a term of endearment she rarely uses with other characters (a fact that Sheldon has himself pointed out), and Penny and Amy are the only principal characters who ever openly demonstrate their genuine fondness for Sheldon.

Evidence of Penny's affection for Sheldon is apparent in various episodes. Penny took care of Sheldon while he was ill[11] and let him stay at her apartment when he was locked out of his;[12] Sheldon lent her money when she needed it[13] and took care of her when she dislocated her shoulder.[9] Despite not being as well versed as the guys in geek culture, Penny has shown attention to what each of her friends likes. For instance, during a Christmas episode, Penny gave Sheldon a signed napkin used by Leonard Nimoy. In return, Sheldon gave Penny multiple baskets of bath products and then a long hug, to both her and Leonard's surprise. When Sheldon's World of Warcraft account was hackedand the four guys all backed down from the much larger hacker who also took Sheldon's Klingon Bat'leth, Penny kicked the hacker in the groin. In another episode, after Sheldon was forced to miss meeting Stan Lee as he had to appear in court on the same day, Penny took him to Stan's house so that he could meet him (which did not, however, go down well with Stan, especially when Sheldon mistook sarcasm for an invitation to come in and watch a Los Angeles Lakers game on television resulting in Lee taking out a restraining order against Sheldon). Following her breakup with Leonard, Penny took Sheldon along when she and some friends from work went to Disneyland, for which he was thankful. Penny enjoyed their time together, aside from him vomiting on her shoes. In the same episode, she noted that she takes Sheldon shopping for his linens. She has also helped Sheldon get over bumps in his relationship with Amy as in "The Shiny Trinket Maneuver". Penny is the only regular female character who has been on the show since its first season, although co-stars Mayim Bialik (Amy) and Melissa Rauch (Bernadette) have been promoted to main cast since their later appearance on the show.

Sheldon has also acknowledged that he likes Penny, although he claims this was only because he was forced to because Leonard "made him", and that Sheldon liking her was a "hard row to hoe". Despite Sheldon's overall friendly interaction with Penny, he does, on occasion, not always intentionally, insult her (usually on her intelligence). A running gag in The Big Bang Theory is Sheldon's frequent change of Wi-Fi password (as Penny uses Leonard and Sheldon's Wi-Fi as she does not have her own). Sheldon always changes the password to something instructing Penny to get Wi-Fi of her own, and is often insulting. So far, the passwords have been "Pennyisafreeloader", "PennygetyourownWi-Fi", and "Pennyalreadyeatsourfood.ShecanpayforWi-Fi".

Nerd traits[edit]

Although Penny's personality usually contrasts to that of her nerdy friends, in the later episodes, their geekiness shows signs of having rubbed off on her, and she occasionally reveals these traits, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Penny was surprisingly good the first time she played Halo 3camping at Sheldon's spawn location and killing him before he could move, which greatly aggravated him.[14] In one instance, Penny was critical of the guys' interests in toys and collectibles, but Sheldon retorted by noting her collection of stuffed bears and other such childish things (Hello Kitty,Beanie BabiesMy Little Pony, etc.).[15] After a brief introduction to the game Age of Conan by Sheldon, Penny created a character named Queen Penelope. Penny becameaddicted, to the point of ignoring her friends and calling Sheldon at all hours of the day for advice. She finally overcame her addiction when she realized she had agreed to go on a virtual date within the game with Howard.[16] After Alicia, a new tenant in the building, stole the boys' attention from her, Penny became jealous and tried to win over the boys again by making a physicist joke. To her own surprise, she even makes a casual reference to Star Trek while engaged in idle conversation,[17] an indication of her growing geek awareness. In "The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation", when attempting to console Sheldon, she mentions events that occurred in the new Star Trek movie. In "The Wheaton Recurrence," Penny quoted, "Do, or do not. There is no try" while in bed with Leonard, and even mentioned she knew it was from The Empire Strikes Back. Leonard was pleasantly shocked that he was "in bed with a beautiful woman who can quote Yoda," and for the first time told Penny that he loved her, which then led to their breakup. In "The Apology Insufficiency," Penny had a chat with Sheldon and displayed knowledge of the Kobayashi Maru test, a plot device in Star Trek, impressing him. In "The Love Car Displacement", Penny ends up sharing Leonard's bed but tells him that, as far as romantic activities go below her waist, her "shields are up", alluding to the Star Trek defensive system. In "The Werewolf Transformation", Penny beats Leonard at chess despite the fact that she does not even know the standard names for the pieces. Leonard later admitted that Penny played chess like "Bobby Fischer". This may be a joke on the fact that Leonard is a terrible chess player. In "The Codpiece Topology", Penny references Schrödinger's Cat to her less-than-erudite date, Eric, and finds herself having to explain it to him. She learned of the thought experiment from Sheldon in "The Tangerine Factor". In "The Gorilla Experiment" Penny tries to impress Leonard by getting Sheldon to "teach her a little physics" in which Sheldon goes overboard and goes through 2600 years of history in physics. In the "The Beta Test Initiation", Penny correctly identifies that Leonard is describing beta testing when he uses a software development analogy to illustrate a point about their relationship. In season six, due to her relationship with Leonard, Penny begins going back to college, though she at first only reveals this to Amy and Bernadette because Bernadette finds her US History book, she also reveals to them that the reason she has yet to tell Leonard is because she did not want his help with the course or for him to "make a big deal about it", and due to Amy and Bernadette making her feel guilty for keeping this a secret from Leonard, she tells him and he confirms her accusations by rewriting her history paper for her, though she secretly has Amy and Bernadette do it for her, in which they help her get B- on the paper to guilt Leonard for trying to be helpful. She then tells Amy and Bernadette she wants to get an A on her next paper and they admit the reason they got her a B- was because they believed it would be "believable".[18] In "The Bakersfield Expedition", Penny, Amy and Bernadette all get into an argument about how Thor's hammer Mjolnir works, and how someone could be worthy of it.[19] In season 7's "The Proton Transmogrification," she alarms herself when she starts laughing at corny Star Wars-related puns.

Legal issues[edit]

Penny has shown that she had several run-ins with the law. It is stated that she has several parking tickets that have yet to be paid. She had also said to Amy and Bernadette that she and other students had once bullied a student who had better grades by tying her up in a cornfield and leaving her overnight. Although Penny considered it only a prank, Amy voiced her opinion that the incident made Penny a bully, to which Bernadette added, "and maybe a felon."

Financial issues[edit]

A recurring theme on the show is Penny's financial problems. This is prominently seen in "The Financial Permeability," when she finds herself behind on her bills, forcing her to borrow money from Sheldon, and becoming paranoid when the topic of it came up subsequently (even though he didn't really care about when she repays the loan). More subtle references are seen in the fact that she attempts to pay for her electric bill using a Starbucks gift card, an apology note and pictures of her in underwear,[20] and for an expensive pair of shoes with a Texaco card. As a result of this, she often resorts to freeloading (a running joke is Sheldon's ever-changing Wi-Fi passwords as a result of her use of theirInternet access), taking food from the guys' apartment as well as getting most of her meals paid for by Leonard. A reason for her financial problems may be her careless attitude toward them – she is, on occasion, known to cut back her hours at the Cheesecake Factory, and squanders any money she earns on shoes.

Family[edit]

Not a lot is mentioned about Penny's family, other than her father Wyatt (also referred to in conversation with Leonard's mother as 'Bob') (Keith Carradine)[21] trying to raise her like a boy, but on her accounts they seem to be a dysfunctional family. Her father appreciates Leonard as being by far the best man she has ever dated, and secretly encourages him to not give up on her. In contrast to all other characters, Penny and her father have not been imbued with a surname, thus far. Co-creator Bill Prady stated that Penny's last name will be revealed eventually.[22] Despite this, executive producer Steve Molaro has since stated her surname will remain a secret.[23]

In an early episode, Penny talked to Raj about her sister having shot her brother-in-law.[5] In another episode, Penny accompanied the guys to the comic book store to shop for a gift for her 13-year-old nephew.[24] However, in "The Boyfriend Complexity" (4–9), Wyatt (Penny's father) tells Leonard he wants grandchildren one day.[21] In another episode, Penny has an unwanted guest, Christy, staying with her who had slept with her brother while being engaged to her cousin, saying, "she's kind of family." Christy knows Penny from back in Omaha and, according to Penny, she slept with nearly every man in the city, earning her the nickname "Whore of Omaha". While staying with Penny, Christy sleeps with Howard Wolowitz.[25]

When Leonard's mother, neuroscientist and psychiatrist Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, chatted with Penny, she tearfully revealed some of her childhood issues, such as being called "slugger" by her father, whom she referred to as being named Bob, because he really wanted a son to play baseball with. This conversation affected Penny in such a way that she got drunk and almost ended up having coitus with Leonard (only to be interrupted by an out-of-place comment made by Leonard).[26]

In the Season 5 episode "The Pulled Groin Extrapolation", after Penny quickly ate the last dumpling, Sheldon made a sarcastic comment to Penny saying, "I've seen pictures of your mother; keep eating," a comment that made Penny quite upset because this implied that Penny's mother might be overweight or obese. In episode 10 of season 5, Penny confessed to Bernadette that her mother smoked pot while she was pregnant with her.

Penny has mentioned having a brother on parole, who she says is "kind of a chemist." In "The Rhinitis Revelation" (5–6), she is more explicit in revealing that he is in the practice of cooking crystal meth.[27]

Work[edit]

Until the seventh season, Penny's main job was as a waitress in the local Cheesecake Factory, although in the first season episode "The Grasshopper Experiment" she trained as a bartender. It seemed that she occasionally picked up the bartending shift in the restaurant. In 2010, when actress Kaley Cuoco broke her leg, Penny was shown working as a bartender in several season 4 episodes to hide the cast on her leg.

Her work at the Cheesecake Factory, however, was actually meant to be a temporary job for her desired profession as an actress, although she has yet to find much success. Her expectations are somewhat high and naive at the beginning – she admits in season 2 that her plan was "waitressing for six months and then become a movie star", and her back-up plan was to become a TV star. She regularly goes to castings, but often ends up unsuccessful, or finding the role being auditioned to be quite different from what she expected, as was the case when she thought she was auditioning for a cat food commercial and it instead turned out to be a casting for a pornographic film. In the season one episode "The Loobenfeld Decay," she is cast in a production of Rent, and in "The Terminator Decoupling" she refers to another of her roles as "Anne Frank in a theater above a bowling alley". In the Season 5 premiere, frustrated over her lack of success as an actress (as well as damaging what was left of her relationship with Leonard), she briefly considers returning to Nebraska until landing a part in a commercial for hemorrhoid cream. In "The Monster Isolation", Penny is seen performing the role of Blanche DuBois in her acting class' production of A Streetcar Named Desire. In this episode Sheldon, who attended the show along with Leonard and Amy, is impressed with Penny's ability to memorize lines. In the seventh season premiere, she was revealed to have had a topless shower scene in a low budget horror film named "Serial Apeist" when she first moved to California, which she never thought made it to the Internet until Sheldon revealed that Howard looked it up right after they met her. Despite the hardships she encounters along the way and having to revisit her ideas about acting, Penny is tenacious in her pursuit of her dream profession. Despite expressing occasional irritation with her waitressing job, she usually kept up a cheerful front, held down the job and got on well with others working at the restaurant. She originally met Bernadette at the Cheesecake Factory.

In the season seven episode "The Hesitation Ramification," Penny believes she has finally found stardom when she lands a brief role in NCIS. She is devastated when her scene is cut, but later decides it is time to focus solely on acting; she quits her job at the Cheesecake Factory to devote herself to it full-time.

Despite usually going to her neighbors for technical assistance when she has problems with her computer, Penny does have some mechanical skills of her own. When she was a child, she rebuilt a tractor engine on the farm where she grew up[5] and competed in a junior rodeo.[7]

Relationships[edit]

Unlike the rest of the main characters, Penny is very outgoing and assertive, and has many romantic relationships over the course of the series. She often dates and in one way or another all the guys have gone to her for dating advice. In the fourth season opener, Sheldon uses probability and extrapolation calculations to estimate that Penny has dated "193 men... give or take 8" since she started dating at age 14, and slept with "30.96" of them (rounded up to 31). Penny strenuously denies it was ever that many, but her subsequent expression indicates shock and resignation to Sheldon's correct estimate. Amy asks Penny in the same conversation if, in light of her sex partners, she considers herself a slut, Penny responds unsure, "No. No. ... No?"[28]

In the first episode of the series, Penny moved in across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon because of her recent split from her boyfriend, Kurt, after living together for four years. She said she still loved him even though he cheated on her.[2] Kurt makes further appearances in the show trying to get back together with Penny just to use her, and is usually confronted by Leonard.[13][29]

From the beginning,[2] Leonard's infatuation with Penny becomes the major force that drives the series. Howard also shows interest in her (primarily sexual), but he is always rejected abruptly due to his unsettling approaches. Raj is secretly attracted to Penny as well, but does not interact with her a lot due to his inability to talk to women unless he is drunk. Although Penny occasionally teases Raj for his inability to speak to her, she is sympathetic and kind towards him, and as with Sheldon, she almost always overlooks his idiosyncrasies and appreciates that his intentions are good.

In an early episode, Penny described her approach after a failed relationship: she picks up an attractive man to have rebound sex with over the course of a 36-hour weekend, then leaves him.[30]

In the first season finale, Penny broke up with her boyfriend after he posted intimate details about their private life on his blog. This gave Leonard the opportunity to ask her out on a first official date.[31] Although the date was successful, Penny became worried after she lied to Leonard about graduating from community college (it is mentioned in a later episode, "The Cohabitation Formulation", that she was enrolled in one, but dropped out). When Sheldon asked her why she lied, she said she did not want Leonard to see her as a "stupid loser". Leonard eventually learned the truth from a drugged Sheldon but made matters worse when he tried to encourage Penny to enroll in Pasadena City College. Penny interpreted his suggestion as an insult to her intelligence and did not want to see him again.[32]

Some time after, Penny's introduction to Leonard's mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, caused Penny and Leonard to seek comfort in each other. They nearly have sex, but when Leonard comments in bed that she was attracted to him because of a psychological need to be closer to her father, her revulsion at this causes her to rebuff him.[26]

Afterwards, Penny dated Stuart, from the comic book store, but their dates did not lead to a relationship. The first time, Penny and Stuart were interrupted by Sheldon who argued at length with Stuart over whether Dick Grayson or Jason Todd should be Batman's successor, successfully putting Penny to sleep.[24] On another occasion, when Penny and Stuart were kissing, Penny mistakenly called him "Leonard".[33]

It was in the second season finale that Penny finally showed strong romantic feelings for Leonard. When she discovered that Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj would be spending three months at the North Pole for a scientific experiment, she became sad and gave Leonard a Snuggie and an unusually long hug, which Leonard described as lasting for "five Mississippis". Leonard asked her what all this attention meant and she lightly dismissed it. After Leonard left, she sighed and said to herself that it meant that she didn't want him to leave.[34]

In the third season premiere, after the guys returned from the expedition, Penny kissed Leonard right away when he arrived at her door, ending the episode with both Leonard and Penny in Penny's bed.[35]

Initially, Leonard and Penny felt uncomfortable with their new relationship, and they agreed to remain only friends, but were unable to maintain this resolution and remained a couple.[36] Their relationship soured, however, when Leonard told Penny he loved her for the first time, and an unsure Penny simply replied, "Thank you." This tension was heightened due to comments made by Wil Wheaton to Penny about regretting having been in a similar situation. Though Wheaton's comments were likely fabricated, since he was trying to distract Penny during a bowling match against her and the guys, she took them seriously and this eventually caused her to break up with Leonard.[37] However, they remain friends and even sleep together once after breaking up after Penny gets drunk following a bad date with Zack Johnson. She realizes Leonard ruined her ability to tolerate and date unintelligent men. However, this only caused more confusion about the status of the relationship for Leonard.[38]

In the fourth season, Penny reveals to her friends Bernadette Rostenkowski and Amy Farrah Fowler during a "Truth or Dare?" game that she has still not moved on from Leonard, though this is not the only time that she hints about her feelings. This was further implied in "The Justice League Recombination" when she told Leonard that he was one of the reasons New Year's Eve became unpleasant, and the two exchange awkward looks as Penny kisses Zack (with whom she had reunited after their breakup in order to have a date on New Year's Eve). In "The Love Car Displacement", Penny accompanies the guys, Bernadette, and Amy to an academic conference in Big Sur. She and Leonard share the same hotel room for a time and they almost have sex until Raj walks in on them. The next day, bored with the conference, Penny accepted a ride back to Los Angeles fromProfessor Glenn, Bernadette's tall and attractive ex-boyfriend. When Raj's sister, Priya, returns in the episode "The Cohabitation Formulation", Priya and Leonard resume their old relationship – they had dated in the past whenever she was around. Penny appears to be initially accepting of their relationship, but is later discovered by Amy to be heartbroken over it. In the following weeks, she began to realize that she still has strong feelings for Leonard.

In the Season 4 finale, Penny reveals to Raj that she regretted breaking up with Leonard. However, even though she and Raj both agree to be friends, they get drunk and wake up in bed together, apparently both naked, the next morning. Leonard, Sheldon, and Howard discover Penny and Raj walking hurriedly out of the bedroom, an apparently naked Raj wrapped up in a blanket next to Penny with her messed-up hair, clutching her heels – implying that they just had sex. In the Season 5 premiere, it appears that Raj and Penny had intercourse, but Raj confides to her that they had not consummated their encounter, prompting Penny to refer to Raj as "Quickdraw" because of that. She spends the rest of the episode with Amy, avoiding the guys in an attempt to apologize for her encounter with Raj.

In "The Ornithophobia Diffusion" Leonard and Penny go on a platonic date as friends, but after Leonard expresses the opinion that he does not have to pay for everything or defer to her because they are not a couple, they end up bickering and sabotaging each other's attempts to socialize with members of the opposite sex. Penny realizes that she finds Leonard's more assertive demeanor attractive, but when he regresses to groveling in order to have sex with her, she rebuffs him.

On the spur of the moment in "The Recombination Hypothesis", Leonard asks Penny out on a date after he imagined what getting back with her might be like. Their real date ends successfully and they agree to take their relationship slow in "The Beta Test Initiation". They hit a few rough spots at the beginning of the episode, but then learn to accept what they each want and make up afterwards. When Leonard asks how the beta test (referring to their relationship status) was looking, she replies, "it's looking pretty good" and they share a kiss. In "The Werewolf Transformation" Leonard teaches Penny to play chess and Penny beats him even without learning the standard names of the playing pieces.

During her renewed relationship with Leonard, she has dismissed comments about him ever leaving or dumping her or about worrying about his unfaithfulness around other women and strippers as in the episode "The Stag Convergence". After Penny suggested having sex in "The Launch Acceleration", Leonard breaks the mood by proposing to her. They later meet and Penny does have the courage to tell him "no" and not break up with him as she did two years previously when he told her that he loved her. They finish season 5 watching Howard being launched into space while holding hands to comfort each other. With the start of season 6, Leonard wants a reluctant Penny to define their relationship in "The Date Night Variable". With her girlfriends, she wonders if she is really in love, but cannot quite discuss it with Leonard, in "The Decoupling Fluctuation." Also, in "The Holographic Excitation," she reveals that she has a selfish perception of how a relationship works – saying that Leonard's job is "to make her happy", and her job is "to let him make her happy."

In the first episode of Season 6, "The Date Night Variable," Penny and Leonard are having a 'stay-at-home date' at Leonard's apartment when Raj shows up (having been ejected from the date between Amy and Sheldon where he was a third wheel). He inserts himself into Penny and Leonard's discussion of where their relationship is headed. When Leonard complains that Penny has yet to say "I love you" to Leonard, Raj attempts to get her to say it, causing Penny to eject him from the apartment.

In "The 43 Peculiarity," Leonard becomes jealous of Penny's classmate, an attractive Englishman and attempts to scare him off. When Penny learns of this, she is angry with Leonard, who fears that he has again damaged their relationship. Leonard casually seeks advice from Alex, Sheldon's attractive graduate student assistant, while having coffee in the University cafeteria. Alex flirts with Leonard, though he is seemingly unaware of her attraction to him, laughing it off. At the end of the episode, Penny and Leonard encounter each other in the hall outside their apartments, where Penny expresses her frustration with Leonard's jealousy saying, "You're the one I'm with, and you know that I love you." Both then realize that this is the first time she has declared her love for him openly, and Leonard asks if they should act "like it's no big deal." Penny tells him that they must do so, or she will start crying and so will he. They part awkwardly as Penny has to go to work. Inside his apartment, Leonard smiles and says to himself, "She loves me," but then gets a text from Alex telling him that she would like to get together again, though Leonard still does not realize her intent is to be more than just friends. In "The Egg Salad Equivalency" Penny learns that Sheldon's assistant Alex asked Leonard out to dinner and she did admit to Leonard her insecurity about their relationship. In "The Bakersfield Expedition" Leonard says that he loves Penny, but he cannot share his Comic Con make-up with her which he is using to dress as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek: The Next Generation. After another blow-up with Sheldon, Leonard tries to move in with Penny in "The Spoiler Alert Segmentation" however she is not ready yet for them to live together. In "The Tangible Affection Proof", Leonard again tries to propose to Penny on Valentine's Day and she ends it quickly. She admits to being very happy with Leonard, but she has commitment issues. The thought of being married "forever" really "freaks" her out. Leonard then tells her that when she is ready to get married, she can propose to him. In "The Bon Voyage Reaction", Penny sends Leonard off to Europe for the summer, missing him, but secure in their relationship.

In the Season 7 episode, The Thanksgiving Decoupling, Penny reveals that she got drunk with Zack in Las Vegas and they had one of those 'little fake weddings', which the gang points out to be real. Under pressure from Leonard, Penny quickly has the marriage annulled. In "The Hesitation Ramification"; Penny is frustrated about her acting career and while inebriated proposes to Leonard who does not know how to answer a tipsy girlfriend. She gets even more frustrated and leaves though next week in "The Occupation Recalibration", she admits that Leonard did the right thing.

By season 5, Penny had formed strong friendships with Doctors Amy Farrah Fowler and Bernadette Rostenkowski, and the three have formed their own group, spending time in Penny's apartment, going out together and supporting each other emotionally.

No reason has ever been given why Penny tends to be withdrawn about her inability to commit to a relationship though she does admit it in "The Tangible Affection Proof". She does however, overcome her inability to commit in the penultimate episode of season 7 "The Gorilla Dissolution" where she and Leonard are engaged.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Thor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jul 2014 at 11:14pm
Originally posted by ChrisInMI ChrisInMI wrote:

 

Anyhow... as a gay man I myself am offended by the phrase "Be as gay as he wanted to be." It perpetuates the idea that being gay is a choice rather than an orientation, and that a person has a choice to turn it on and off like a faucet.  It also perpetuates the idea that LGBT people are all the same, when they come in all shapes, sizes and temperaments just like heterosexuals.  Not every gay man is Kurt Hummel from "Glee" or a RuPaul caricature.  I would love to see more non-stereotypical portrayals of LGBT people in the media.  That's also why I don't watch LOGO even though the programming is LGBT-oriented.  "Roseanne" is a perfect example of a show that presented LGBT people in a non-stereotypical way, and that's what I think we need more of.

Why, though, do we have to start up with the "Gay propaganda" and "Gay agenda" nonsense here?  The so-called "gay agenda" is nothing more than LGBT people wanting the same civil rights as heterosexual Americans.  If people harassed and degraded you because of who you were or who you loved and kept trying to hold you down and keep you a second-class citizen for the rest of your life - especially on the basis of their religious beliefs - would you stand for it? 

But that's for another forum.  Just wanted to put my two cents in.

I agree with most of what you said.  But when people start seeing gay characters in a medium that rarely had them before, it tends to look forced, and to seem like there's some PC or political agenda at work.  It's like when some show throws in a blind or deaf person indiscriminately.  It just kinda sticks out.  Hell, even Roseanne emphasized the gayness of her gay characters, and made it seem political.

Also, it'd help if gays themselves stopped playing into the stereotype.  I'm not saying all do, but the ones who get all the attention certainly seem to know how to work the caricature.  Hell, I lived in SF for 22 years, and even there, the ones who got all the show-bizzy attention, especially from other gays, were the ones who played it up.  It seemed like there was a never-ending contest to claim the title of "most fabulous".  You can't really put the blame for that on straights.


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