Character development in The Big Bang Theory

My sisters and I continue going through various television shows in order. We recently started Modern Family after finishing The Big Bang Theory.

It is not as unfailingly kind as WKRP in Cincinnati; characters do come through for each other, but they can be pretty mean to each other too. It is not as focused on empathy as Barney Miller, though they sometimes focus on empathy, especially with Sheldon trying to understand it.

One thing I have really appreciated is the character development.

There were things that I had noticed in general before. For example, it makes sense that Raj was the last one unmarried at the end. He had progressed a lot from being someone who could not even talk to women (and was a spoiled rich boy) to someone who had been able to have multiple relationships and survive breakups. 

It was emotionally a huge moment when he was first able to speak to Penny without having any alcohol, and meaningful that he had a recurrence of it with Anu but was able to discuss it with her. 

I liked his relationship with Anu, and with Emily before that, but if all of the original cast had ended the series married, that might have felt a little too neat. One could reasonably believe that as the character goes on, he would be able to find a good match and move forward.   

I am sure some people did not like Penny being pregnant and happy about it at the end, but there had been multiple times when she had indicated that having children was in her plan before. Fear of commitment was also a well-established part of her long-term character arc. So that she could develop cold feet about it, then be happy about it once it happened, makes a lot of sense.

Those were things that I had noticed from starting in season five and seeing a lot of reruns, where I had pretty much seen everything, but not in order.

Going through in order, I see that that Howard asked Leonard to set him up with one of Penny's friends after Raj and Sheldon started working together and Howard tried hanging out with Penny and Leonard and felt like a third wheel. 

Watching in order, it was clear to me that when Penny told Sheldon a story about regretting not telling someone how she felt, it was about Leonard. She could easily have had other past experiences, but that was not what she was describing.

In season 7, Sheldon wants to quit string theory, isn't allowed to, and runs away to rides the rails. The immediate catalyst seems to be someone else making a big discovery, but earlier that season there was a lot of drama over Sheldon thinking he had found a way to synthesize a new element but making a big mathematical goof. There were several episodes in between, but the way it eroded his confidence is completely logical.

It feels like the writers knew the characters really well, and were keeping track of their journeys, not leaving them static.

Of course, that means that when they did sacrifice continuity for a cheap joke, it bugged me more. Sometimes they totally did.

Also, I really hate some of their cameos. 

That being said, I do not blame them for retconning Mrs. Wolowitz into someone more beloved after the actress who portrayed her died. They were paying their tribute to Carol Ann Susi, and I think that's a good enough reason. 

I know it wasn't a perfect show, but we mostly enjoyed it. That dipped a little in the last two to three seasons, but even then there were some pretty good laughs.

It's one we can (and do) quote a lot, which always helps. 

We have not watched any of the prequel spinoffs, but have not ruled out the next one yet. Premise is important, but then it comes down to execution.