BBT thoughts, no spoiler

That's Big Bang Theory, if you haven't been keeping up. We had been given seasons 1 to 4 on disc as a gift before leaving for New Zealand. Somehow I had never heard of it. When it came out I was deep in Ironman training, then busy with work contracts at Talisman and Penn West. (Neither of which exist anymore, Talisman was bought by Repsol, and Penn West rebranded and renamed themselves to escape the shame of nearly going under.)

I've never watched much network television. I didn't even see a TV till I was in grade 2 or so. A colour TV didn't come along till high school. I'll tell you it just killed me to be watching Star Trek in black and white. Then out of high school, and working, and moved to Alberta and working, and never bought a TV. Then built a house and got married and was too poor to buy a TV. For a while we had a basement full of stuff from a buddy that needed it stored for a while, and we used the TV and videotape player as rent. That explains knowing about Northern Exposure.

Then there's the story of my paternal grandmother dying and me ending up with her TV. Linda saw me coming and nearly drove off without me. We bought cheapest video player available, to the despair of the salesperson. Then getting a plasma tv on sale, and a dvd player, and an HD TV and blue ray. Gradually collecting a few vcr tapes, and lots more DVD's. We like getting discs out of the library and gradually chewing through them.

We periodically visited Casablanca Video, first on Elbow, then Marda Loop. Sometimes a video store in our neighbourhood. Those are all gone. Imagine that, an economic ecosystem being born in the late 70's with thousand dollar players and tapes going for $40 apiece, and 'lifetime' video clubs. For a while renting movies was all the rage, people getting together with friends for a movie night. Strolling through the store discussing what to rent, finding surprises. Teasing the teen-aged store clerk in 2002 or so with the real version of Oceans 11. The 1960 version with the rat pack, if you're wondering. And then shortly after that they went away. Poof.

There's been some surprises along the way. I remember the first Battlestar Galactica as being dreadful, and when I heard about a remake I couldn't imagine how it could be good. Except is was, and we loved it. We found several other shows that I liked. Once we found one we liked we just bought the discs season by season. Stargate SG-1. Leverage. Miss Marple (with Joan Hickson only, anyone else in that role is an abomination.) Coupling, the BBC version.

Of course, there were some clunkers along the way. Sherlock, for example, but it led us to Elementary. Somehow, I fell in love with the show and almost everything about it. We loved sitting with the cats to watch it, drinking wine and nibbling snacks. Curtis really seemed to like it and paid attention. It's probably one of my favourite shows.

He did not seem to be as fond of BBT, and would often wander off. I wasn't quite sure what to think at first, not being much of a fan of comic books or superhero fiction. But I was impressed that someone would take the risk of casting two nerdy guys as the lead roles in an odd couple thing. If anyone had told me that a guy who was short, asthmatic, glasses wearing, shy and awkward with women would be the star of a long running comedy series, I wouldn't have believed you.

And yet the show has charm. We chewed through the discs, being in post-travel isolation. Then found them on-line and kept on going. It's been our routine in the evenings lately. Clean up dinner and settle in. The shows are like candy, you can't have just one.

A few times I winced at some of the story lines, and for a while it seemed that the characters were being unnecessarily and stupidly cruel to each other, and there were a lot of apologies. Still, most of the characters grew emotionally and were mostly fun to be around. There was real chemistry between the people and it was fun to watch. That chemistry made me sad to see it end. It turned into more of an ensemble cast by the end, and the many guest stars were a delight.

But the show demonstrates one of my thoughts about conspiracy theories, that 3 people can keep a secret if 2 of them are dead. For a group of really smart people they never seemed to learn that none of them could keep a secret. Mind you, it's an accepted TV trope that a secret will be revealed at exactly the wrong moment. It happened a lot.

We liked watching the extras. The main stars made a point of thanking the studio audience, even mentioning the wider network audience. They also mentioned many of the people in the invisible roles behind the show. It took many people to put a weekly show on the air. They all have to do their jobs at the right time or the whole thing stops. I love seeing all the action around the set, but I'm amazed that anything gets produced at all. Often at an event I'm watching all the supporting action, as opposed to what the main show is.

Which made me think about other creative ventures. A writer typically works by themselves, dreaming up a world and telling a story. They might work with a collaborator, and had better have an editor. But it's usually a lonely profession.

Photographers are much the same. Only one person can hold a camera at once. They might work with a model and some support people like makeup artists and costume designers, and the invaluable assistant to move lights, tape things, arrange model clothing, hold things, and much more. They might work with a printer or do it themselves, and then there's the people making frames. Galleries and other display spaces. Media editors. It can be a lonely profession if you're into night shooting, or a very social one.

The main cast of BBT got paid extraordinarily well, for the latter part of run on the order of AN EVERLOVING MILLION DOLLARS PER EPISODE!! Episodes were done on a weekly cycle. I gather that while shooting it's a full time, or more than full time job, and then they have the rest of the year to chase their next project. And even though some of them need never work again, all of them appear to be chasing other projects. That's life in a creative profession.

It's interesting to see the relationships develop between the people involved. (IMBD is your friend.) I mean the actual friendships between the people, not the scripted relationships between the characters. So many opportunities in life come along because someone you know offers it to you, or puts you in touch with someone. Some of the cast and crew have worked together in the past, and seem to be working together on other projects now. They wouldn't do that if they weren't friends AND respected each other professionally. It wouldn't matter how much you liked someone, you wouldn't involve them in an expensive project if they couldn't pull their weight under the stress of an impending deadline.

I've seen it go around here. When the industry is busy nearly anyone can get in. I've seen project managers (a title particularly vulnerable to being staffed by incompetents) that could barely use xl, and had little or no expertise in the actual project field. But when it's quiet you see who is good and who is connected. You need to be both. In my early years I scrabbled for work. Later on I got more picky, knowing what I was good at and what I wanted to do. Or not. Then I stopped looking and yet I was still offered projects.

There really is an element of truth to the saying, it's not what you know it's who you know. And you never know when a contact will turn out to be important, or that a task you did for someone turns out to be the key to having them offer something else.

And spring is here, barring a snowfall or two.

Curtis

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