The extremely popular sitcom has been running for years now and is widely considered as one of the most popular shows worldwide. From a show that revolves around the socially anxious bunch of scientists to a show that revolves around the relationships of these characters, BBT has come a long way. And it has gradually become tedious and unfunny solely because of the decay in the brilliance of Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

And considering how Dr. Sheldon Cooper is the lead star of Big Bang Theory without whom the show would completely implode, we are forced to ask ourselves whether Sheldon was a great character who turned bland as the seasons progressed or has he always been a terrible character?

One of the biggest assets of the show is Jim Parsons. The quirky actor has been doing his thing for years now and that has made Sheldon Cooper a household name. The problem is, those quirks that made his character an endearing one have gotten as stale and bland as khichdi served to those suffering from diarrhea. Maybe the audience just wants something new. 

In the beginning, his jokes were really funny. The problem was, it got repetitive.

Dr. Sheldon Cooper is obsessed with which education institute every character went to. That brings out the funny banter that tends to keep the other characters funny. However, that joke got old very soon. The problem is, the writers don’t seem to have gotten the memo.

The characters on Big Bang Theory seem to have a neurotic obsession with where characters went to college and who does or doesn’t have a PhD. That’s a running joke. One would imagine that it’s a one time thing but apparently the show-runners rely on this for every time the show needs a punch – every episode.

Sheldon was always an asshole, but it took us 10 whole seasons figure out that this genius was actually quite a bully.

For many, Sheldon’s habit are considered charming, but for some, his ‘quirks’ can quite easily be off-putting. There’s a massive difference between a character being unable to process their own emotions and thereby struggling to acknowledge anyone else’s, and a character deliberately ignoring other people’s feelings. Dr. Sheldon Cooper is being represented as someone who has ‘charming’ quirks but he’s actually a total douchebag who brings nothing but misery to his friends’ lives. This is not how a nerd behaves, this is how assholes do.

Obviously, we can keep talking about the character flaws in Dr. Sheldon Cooper but let’s not forget the fact that despite these very basic flaws, fans adored him at start. He wasn’t a run-of-the-mill protagonist for a sitcom. He provided a different take on the quintessential nerd. When the writers ran out of steam, they essentially ruined Sheldon by trying to make him do things that were uncharacteristic of him.

Penny got so involved in Sheldon’s life in her attempts at making Sheldon more sociable, that the whole essence of Sheldon’s character was lost.

Penny also managed to be the worst thing that happened to Sheldon. There was nothing wrong with the character of Penny, but the writers obviously wanted to develop a friendship between Sheldon and Penny and they did so with some very shoddy writing. They completely changed the character of Sheldon while they thought that they were indulging in character development. To develop a character means to add layers to the personality, not change everything that makes the character different in the first place.

With Sheldon Cooper, the writers had an opportunity to really craft a character not quite like any one currently on TV and it looks like they cracked it in the beginning, but somehow, somewhere, lost their way.

So who’s your favourite character from Big Bang Theory and why is it not Howard or Raj?