Sheldon and Penny Bring the Laughs in Big Bang Theory's Second Season

One of the things I love about January is the tradition my family has established of having TV on DVD marathons while my brother is still home from college. We kicked things off this year with season two of The Big Bang Theory, which I got him for Christmas. No sooner was the wrapping paper picked up off the floor than the flu hit us, and watching the exploits of uber-geek Sheldon Cooper, his three slightly less geeky buddies and his perky next-door neighbor proved the perfect convalescing companion.

Season two of The Big Bang Theory, the CBS sit-com created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, begins with Sheldon’s roommate, Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), navigating the uncharted waters of the aftermath of his first date with crush Penny (Kaley Cuoco). Of the main quartet, Leonard is the most down-to-earth, but he still has his fair share of social awkwardness, and when he learns why Penny is hesitant to go out with him again, he botches things badly. Hence, he spends season two just as hung up on her as in season one, but now that they’ve actually dated, an additional element of weirdness comes into play.

Since Leonard had his shot with Penny and feels like he blew it for good, we also see more of Leonard trying to make it with other women. Shy Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar), who morphs into Mr. Suave whenever alcohol enters his system, and skeezy Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), who is always ready with an off-color pick-up line, also have their eyes on the ladies as before, though neither of them is too picky as to which one. While it seems to me that the second season is a bit less smutty than the first, four of the five main characters have amorous entanglements, and I usually found them pretty eye-rolling. Still, when romance comes into play in any given episode, it’s more likely than not that the would-be wooers will be thwarted, so even though I generally concur with Sheldon that their behavior is pretty silly, I can’t help feeling sorry for the guys getting rejected all the time and for Penny always managing to hook up with jerks.

While Penny and Leonard’s will-they, won’t-they romantic tension is a major thread throughout the second season, the much more compelling relationship is the entirely platonic friendship between her and Sheldon. Throughout this season, we see Sheldon take several more baby steps toward mastering the social conventions that have thus far eluded him, and Penny seems to be his most valuable teacher. Meanwhile, as she figures out how to deal with him, she finds herself unwittingly absorbing some of his interests. Penny is slowly becoming one of the guys, and whether we see her casually drop a Star Trek metaphor into a conversation or become hooked on Internet gaming, Sheldon is most often her doorway into that world.

All of my favorite episodes this season focus on that peculiar friendship. Penny isn’t the sharpest pencil in the box when it comes to intellectual pursuits, but she’s got a lot of common sense, and her blend of empathy and boldness means that she is both the only person in Sheldon’s life – aside from his mother, who lives several states away – who is willing to both coddle and stand up to him. The fact that Sheldon seems to be just about the only man Penny has ever met who is immune to her feminine charms allows a level of ease to exist between them that counteracts his obnoxious tendencies. I love seeing the two of them sing sea shanties together in an effort to mass-produce hair accessories and spend an evening in her apartment when Sheldon accidentally locks himself out of his. My favorite episode of the season, though, is the Christmas one, in which Sheldon is thrown into a panic when Penny informs him that she has a present for him. Seeing his consternation over the social obligation he has now been handed, his clever plot to give Penny something of equal value and, most of all, Jim Parsons’ Emmy-worthy reaction to her gift put this solidly in my list of favorite Christmas television episodes.

As before, Sheldon is the character who most captures my imagination. Yes, his rigidly regimented sense of order, whether it’s where he has to sit or what time he has to use the bathroom every morning, can be a bit much to take, and he never hesitates to lord his superior intellect over anyone nearby, including his brainy friends. Nonetheless, I can’t help finding Sheldon almost unfailingly endearing.  (I'm sure if he lived next door, my opinion might change...)  He may be a super-genius, but in many ways, he’s the most childlike character on the show. When he’s trying to master a new concept, he goes at it with the clumsy gusto of a kindergartener learning to read. He’s as uncomfortable with the idea of driving as I am. He wears his passions on his sleeves and never apologizes for them; his unfettered enthusiasm is infectious. Along with that, he seems physiologically incapable of telling a lie. While this means that he sometimes comes across as brusque, it also makes him refreshingly honest. Since he’s even more sexless than Spock, he has far more free time than his girl-chasing pals for more intriguing exploits like designing killer robots and concocting the rules to Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock. It’s also entertaining to see how oblivious he is to the world of hormones on those rare occasions when he manages to unwittingly arouse someone’s romantic interest.

As in season one, most of the interaction on the show occurs among the five main characters, but a few minor players do change things up. Abrasive colleague Leslie Winkle (Sara Gilbert) returns to infuriate Sheldon as she puts the moves on Leonard and, more surprisingly, Howard. The two also share a romantic interest in Stephanie Barnett (Sara Rue), a doctor whose attraction to Howard is limited to her fascination with the Mars Rover. Meanwhile, all the guys – except, of course, for Sheldon – lose their heads when Sheldon’s insistence upon taking a train to a conference leads to their sharing a compartment with Firefly star Summer Glau.

Penny goes through a series of insufferable suitors; the only rival for Leonard’s affections who is actually a decent guy is comic book store employee Stuart, played by always-awkward Kevin Sussman. This unlikely pairing really gets under Leonard’s skin, but Stuart isn’t much of a Romeo; all it takes is a hypothetical comic book argument from Sheldon to make him forget that he’s still on a date with Penny and might actually have a chance with her. We also finally get to meet Leonard’s mom, played with a severe detachment by Christine Baranski; while it makes us sympathize with Leonard for his affectionless childhood, it’s funny to see how instantly she and Sheldon take to each other as true kindred spirits.

While the first season of The Big Bang Theory is a lot of fun, the show really hits its stride in season two as Penny begins to get assimilated into the collective and Sheldon discovers that there can be more to life than logic. We’re already plotting getting our hands on season three…

Ugly Betty Introduces Us to a Truly Beautiful Heroine

Summer is winding down. As compensation for this potentially depressing reality, the major television networks stand at the ready to distract viewers with a colorful array of new shows. The last few years have been good to me. Four years ago: Joan of Arcadia. Three: LOST. Two: Ghost Whisperer. And last year... Ugly Betty. All the summer buzz for this show based on a popular telenovela especially intrigued my mom, so we made a point of watching the first episode when it aired. We were hooked.

Ugly Betty is a bright, splashy, silly but life-affirming show revolving around one of the most engaging heroines ever to grace the small screen. America Ferrera, who wowed me a couple years back in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, dazzles as the luminescent but gawky Betty Suarez, a plucky young Latina from Queens whose trademark look includes clunky red-framed glasses, a mouth full of metal and one fashion disaster after another. Her ensemble should pose a glaring problem, since she's just landed a position as the assistant to the editor-in-chief of Mode, a major fashion magazine. But Betty has a smart head on her shoulders and a soul brimming with goodness, so her common sense, cleverness and morality allow her to get further in this cut-throat business than anyone would expect.

It helps that her boss, Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius), is stepping into unexplored territory himself, having just been appointed by his father, magazine tycoon Bradford Meade (Alan Dale), to run the show. Mabius plays his role with a charming mixture of befuddlement and style. He's obviously used to the finer things in life, but as a rich playboy he's never had to go after them himself. Bradford - who in many ways is identical to Charles Widmore (the wealthy, dream-squashing father of Desmond's dream girl, Penny), the character he portrays on LOST - thinks having a frumpy assistant will help Daniel keep his mind on his job, but he never counted on the dramatic impact she would have on his work ethic and his overall development as a person. Daniel isn't a bad guy. In most respects, he's very decent, but he does have some unfortunate tendencies, and Betty soon takes it upon herself to go above and beyond her daily duties and act as his own personal Jiminy Cricket.

If Daniel soon begins to appreciate her, most of her other new associates come around much more slowly. She does find a fast friend in Christina McKinney (Ashley Jensen), an off-beat Scottish seamstress desperately trying to get her foot in the door as a fashion designer, but even after surviving her first nightmarish day on the job, she finds animosity around every corner. The most egregious offenders are Amanda Tanen (Becki Newton), a receptionist who's had her eye on Betty's job (and her boss) for ages, and Marc St. James (Michael Urie), effervescent assistant to icy fashionista Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams), who is determined to seize Daniel's power for herself.

Williams' presence is commanding, and she struts around the office like a slightly classier version of Cruella De Vil. Wilhelmina may not be ordering hits on spotted puppies, but she certainly isn't short on underhanded schemes, and Marc is incomparably capable of helping her carry them out. His favorite side hobby is teaming up with his best buddy Amanda and heaping the snark on Betty, who generally shrugs off their insults, which are usually veiled as compliments whose sarcasm she often misses. When I watched the pilot episode, I was powerfully reminded of 13 Going on 30, and Amanda particularly brought to mind the catty, back-stabbing Lucy, fellow employee at the fashion magazine where naive protagonist Jenna works. It's hard to say which of the office divas is more unlikable, but both manage to garner our sympathy before too long, rude remarks and conniving aside. Wilhelmina becomes downright cuddly during a mid-season arc involving laid-back millionaire Ted LeBeau (Brett Cullen, who I first knew as apparent goody-two-shoes Goodwin on LOST), while Amanda shows her vulnerable side as she pines after Daniel.

But among this troublesome trio, it's Urie who really steals the show, flouncing around the office with an impeccable wardrobe and sparkling smile, feigning friendliness to Betty even as he snaps unflattering photos of her and competes with Amanda to come up with the most scathing appraisals of their newest co-worker. Marc is cruel in a Simon Cowell-meets-Jack McFarland sort of way, but he's so darn adorable it's hard to get too perturbed about it, and no one can deny he's both a dedicated lackey to Wilhelmina and a faithful friend to Amanda. In a show marked by camp, he's probably the most over-the-top character of all, but underneath all that showmanship is a sensitive and sometimes even compassionate soul, which we see particularly strongly when Marc's mother makes a guest appearance late in the season.

Betty has more problems to deal with on the home front. She lives with her father Ignacio (Tony Plana), a tender, fun-loving widower who immigrated to America from Mexico 30 years ago. As health problems prevent him from working, Betty finds herself the main bread-winner of the family, though her saucy older sister Hilda (Ana Ortiz) brings in some cash selling herbal remedies. Ignacio is a refreshingly devoted father, but he has a few skeletons in his closet that cause a host of headaches when they come out to tap-dance across the kitchen floor. Speaking of dancing, Betty's pre-teen nephew Justin (Mark Indelicato) is like a miniature Marc with a little less 'tude. Ecstatic that his aunt has managed to land a position at the magazine of his dreams, the musical-obsessed, flawlessly garbed Justin takes every opportunity to sneak a peek at the inner workings of Mode, much to the chagrin of Santos (Kevin Alejandro), the macho absentee father who comes back into his life early in the season.

And then there's Walter (Kevin Sussman), Betty's high school sweetheart, who in the first episode cheats on her with the neighborhood floozy who's only using him for his discount at the electronics store. I recognized Sussman immediately as the mobster-threatened ninny from the Verizon Wireless commercial, and he's similarly the epitome of awkward here. He strives to win Betty back, and at first I rooted for their relationship; after all, four years together can't just be thrown out the window. But there is the matter of the infidelity, and the fact that Betty and Walter have zero chemistry with each other. Each of their scenes seems like an ungainly waltz, with Betty trying not to get her toes stubbed by the croaky young man who tries his best to be sweet but more often comes across as clingy, whiny and clueless.

Not so Henry Grubstick (Christopher Gorham), who, with his Clark Kent looks and C-3PO mannerisms, is every bit as geeky as his name suggests but is a Nerd in Shining Armor if ever I saw one. Time seems to stand still every time the glasses-clad accountant waddles over to Betty for some heart-fluttering small talk. Before long, her officemates notice right along with the audience that these two are perfectly poised to be the cutest couple in Manhattan, but Walter is only one of the roadblocks standing in the way of this storybook romance.

And storybook is a good way to describe this show, which veers ever so slightly away from reality. It's like a Kodachrome snapshot of New York City, packed with over-dramatic performances and unreasonably coincidental twists and turns, to say nothing of all the steamy secrets bubbling underneath the revered name of Meade. With its vibrant sets, snappy dialogue and winking scene transitions, it's candy for the eyes and ears. Ugly Betty doesn't try to take itself too seriously, as evidenced by the self-parody in the form of the Spanish soap opera Ignacio often watches, which usually features a gorgeous man and woman engaging in some sort of violent argument that turns into a passionate kiss. It is on this show that executive producer Salma Hayek makes her first appearance; she later returns for a mid-season arc as the editor of a new women's magazine with whom Daniel becomes smitten.

The show is steamy, with all sorts of torrid little affairs happening at once. Double entendres fly fast and furious and along with showing the sometimes seedy ins and outs of the fashion industry, it broaches such ticklish topics as transsexualism, teenage pregnancy and illegal immigration. While it aims for comedy and succeeds brilliantly, it also manages to be very touching, particularly in its treatment of family. While there is a clear contrast between the Meades' dysfunctional opulence and the Suarezes' wholesome near-poverty, the members of Daniel's family do find ways of caring for each other, and Betty becomes like a sister to him, providing both a stern guiding hand and a shoulder to cry on.

In the end, it all comes down to Betty, whose steps may be clumsy, whose clothes may clash, whose confidence may waver, but who never loses her kindness, her unswerving ethics, her absolute decency. Through the skill of America Ferrera, we see the American Dream in action, a regular girl without much cash or many connections making her mark on the world through a combination of ambition and integrity. I don't know if this year's fall season will yield a new show for me to get hooked on. But I know that season two of Ugly Betty is right around the corner, and that is a beautiful thing indeed.