Steven Helmer Publications

One of the reasons I have a habit of watching The Big Bang Theory  reruns whenever I can't find anything else is, in addition to still getting laughs despite seeing the jokes dozens of times, it is one of the few shows that I legitimately cared about the characters. However, I am also one of the first to admit the six main characters also weren't always the best people, both to themselves and others. Here are what I feel were the worst moments for each of them: Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) betrays his friends/business partners. Sheldon had a "condition" that gave him plenty of awful moments, but I think this was the biggest one.   The guidance system Sheldon built with Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Howard (Simon Helberg) wouldn't have happened without all three of them working as equal partners. So, when Sheldon went behind their backs to redesign the system for the military by himself, it was a pretty big betrayal that frankly probably should have ended their frie...

Synopsis: After briefly spending time as centaurs, Stuart ( Kevin Sussman ) and company travel to another war-torn universe to retrieve the device that has the missing piece. He instead loses their device after they are put on the front lines and the four soon face a firing squad after they refuse to fight. My Thoughts -  Am I the only one who was disappointed we didn't see more of the centaur universe? I think that one had so much potential, but they don't even bother exploring it or learning about the implications that don't involve comic book superheroes being half-horse/half-man. The episode wasn't subtle about the writers' feelings about war. I don't know which I liked more, the suicidal battle plan that mostly consisted of Gary ( Tommy Walker ) and others charging into bullets with no other apparent strategy or the fact nobody really seemed to know why they were fighting the war other than the enemy having "the wrong family, wrong country and wrong g...

Synopsis: In a dystopian Pasadena ruled by Barry Kripke ( John Ross Bowie ), comic bookstore owner Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) is visited by an alternate version of himself and learns an accident with a device invented by his friends has caused an alternate reality. He, along with geologist Bert Kibbler (Brian Posehn) search for the device and with help from his former girlfriend, Denise ( Lauren Lapkus ), try to bring the world back to its normal state. My Thoughts: This should have been a movie. Not necessarily a feature-length Hollywood-budgeted film but maybe a 60-to-90-minute pilot that deep dives into the main plot and sets up the story for the rest of the series. There was an awful lot being crammed into the 30-minute episode, making it seem rushed and making it difficult to become invested. I have so many questions about dystopian Pasadena. For one, when did society collapse? The episode suggested it happened during Stewart's lifetime but at the same time, everyone seemed...

One thing I've always found interesting is how easily it is to become emotionally invested in characters on a television series. You know they aren't real, but when that show goes off the air, you still feel as though you've lost friends. I think this is a big part of the reason spin-offs are so popular. I feel that way about The Big Bang Theory which, with the debut of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe tonight, will have its third spin-off series (though one is technically a spin-off of a prequel) and will emphasize some of the secondary characters that helped make that show great.  As I think about the original series while debating if I'll watch the new spin-off tonight or tomorrow morning, I find myself contemplating each of the seven main characters and how they all changed at some point during the show, some more than others. While those changes were over the course of the full series, I was able to pinpoint the moments I think had the biggest impact for each of...

I needed a moment to regroup following the Green Bay Packers' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last night, ending their season and, as is often the case in situations like that, I found some familiarity by watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory .  As I was doing that, I realized I have now seen every episode at least a half dozen times, despite not even watching the series until a couple years ago, when it was already off the air.  That reflection resulted in me being reminded of some storylines throughout the series that were one-offs without any real resolution. Even to this day, with the added benefit of the Young Sheldon spinoff clearing up a few questions (while creating a few more), these three storylines, which were major plot points for one episode each, remain unresolved. Who Received Tenure? The season 6 episode, "The Tenure Turbulence", put Leonard ( Johnny Galecki ), Sheldon ( Jim Parsons ), Raj (Kunal Nayyar) and Howard (Simon Helberg) in direct competition ...