The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Premiere Review: Back to Normal (Mostly)

The Big Bang Theory is undoubtedly still a humorous show after seven seasons. It's not laugh-out-loud, hurt-your-sides funny, but you'll laugh if you watch it. But it's also one of the most frustrating shows on TV because any semblance of overarching plot crawls ahead at a snail's pace most of the time.

It's a common sitcom trope to not have the characters change all that much. Seinfeld is the easiest and best example of this. Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine were all more or less the same people in the pilot and in the finale. But in 2014, the viewing public craves, and has even become accustomed to, character development and growth.

The Season 7 finale of The Big Bang Theory worked so well because it finally shook up a show that had started to become stale. Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting) got engaged and finally stabilized. Stuart's comic book store burned to the ground. And, most significantly of all, Sheldon (Jim Parsons) panicked thanks to all the changes in his life and fled California on a train.

That act alone was a monumental step for a character who is obsessed with order and routine. But in the hour-long Season 8 premiere on Monday, Sheldon more or less snapped back to his usual habits after he returned home.

In the two-part premiere, Sheldon got robbed in Arizona, so Leonard and Amy (Mayim Bialik) went to retrieve him. Amy, of course, was miffed that Sheldon left without telling her and also called Leonard before calling her. Sheldon admitted he did not want Amy to think less of him because he failed on his trip, which was actually a sweet and vulnerable moment for the lanky physicist.

But in the second part of the premiere, we got more of the same from Sheldon when the university allowed him to become a junior professor (something he did not want to do) in order to change his field of study. But because Sheldon is apparently famous for his obnoxiousness, no one signed up for the class except Howard (Simon Helberg), whom we learned is pursuing his doctorate. Hooray progress!

But of course, Sheldon took the opportunity to prove that he's smarter than Howard, even though the engineer kept up with him every step of the way. It's a tired routine from Sheldon nowadays that comes off more mean-spirited than funny because there was no reason for him to behave the way he did.

Meanwhile, Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) got Penny and her brand new pixie cut an interview for a job as a pharmaceutical sales rep. Predictably, Penny bumbled her way through the interview, but she landed the job after she and her interviewer (played by Office Space's Milton aka Stephen Root) bonded over how terrifying Bernadette can be.

Penny is no longer a waitress and it seems her acting dream is on hold for now, so it would be great if she turns out to have a knack for this job just to subvert expectations.

Amy took advantage of the tiff between Penny and Bernadette to play both sides against the middle and act like a catty high school girl. It's sometimes funny when Amy gets to act like something other than a nerdy scientist at the butt of everyone's jokes, but this sort of mean-spiritedness was beneath the character and a bit insulting.

Finally, the subplot with Stuart and Howard's mother was...disturbing. It makes sense that Stuart would want to live with Mrs. Wolowitz based on his current life situation, but the "dad" conversation he had with Howard was all kinds of uncomfortable. Maybe that was the point, but that doesn't mean I had to enjoy it.

What did you think of the Season 8 premiere? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.