生活大爆炸 Article: Why Leonard/Penny do not work and Sheldon/Penny does

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Why Leonard/Penny do not work and Sheldon/Penny does

posted by hey287

For point number 1- kaley/jim grade-A-chemistry

Listen people, I am posting this because I want to. And hopefully if some of 你 L/P shippers read it, 你 will at least try to understand and see the brilliant light that is Sheldon/Penny.

Also I would actually enjoy your opinion on the matter.

Right... So this is a 报道 on the third episode of Season three; when Sheldon trains Penny with 浓情巧克力 blah blah blah can't be bothered 写作 description, 你 all know what ep I'm talking about.

P.S. No copyright infringements intended, because this is not my report, it was written 由 a person named Arabian on Livejournal. I'm a big 粉丝 of her/him?

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What is quite, quite telling I believe is that their first 'we're a couple' episode had very little interaction between the two. In fact, it was only the first and last scene that featured such, and in the first, it was based off of Sheldon's commentary, and the last was a set-up merely for Sheldon's final punchline (oh, yes, 更多 on that later). In between, all of the interaction was between Sheldon and Penny, 或者 Sheldon and Leonard. Why? Because Leonard and Penny don't have any story worth telling when the interaction is just between the two. There is simply nothing there; Leonard and Penny just have alcohol and manufactured angst that comes from nowhere and makes no sense and it's as if the writers are acknowledging that 由 not acknowledging it. The first two episodes set them up (I suppose that's what we were supposed to take from last week's final scene, uhm, okay), dealt with their main issues (again, uhm, okay) and now it's all, kthanxbai, we'll ignore 你 now and get to the good stuff which is namely, how Sheldon will deal with this new relationship paradigm with Penny. Because that *is* what the storyline was about. His relationship with Leonard hasn't changed; he's dealt with Leonard having a girlfriend, even one around a lot, before. No, the new change is that Penny is no longer just his friend, she is now his "best friend"/roommate's girlfriend.

So the story we're focusing on here is the change in Sheldon and Penny's relationship. And frankly? How he dealt with it was not that awful. Penny actually *was* doing things that would annoy most people. Other than the breakfast of the 日 -- which was just Sheldon being a neurotic nutball -- everything else she did (playing loud 音乐 in someone else's home, talking during a show, talking on the phone during a show, loudly talking on the phone just outside the room of those still trying to watch a show) are things that would annoy any Tom, Dick, Harry, Tina, Diane 或者 Helen. So what did he do? He used a pleasant behavioral tool to adjust her behavior in the situation. He was absolutely right in what he 说 to Leonard; it was a harmless, scientifically-valid protocol designed to make their lives better. Should he have told her about it? Yes, but Sheldon's mind doesn't work that way; besides he's just the roommate who has to put up with the other guy's girlfriend's annoying traits (and, boy!, were Penny's traits portrayed as annoying ... even to Leonard).

Did Leonard say anything? Uh, no. So, to lay condemnation upon Sheldon's head makes no sense when his reasons were quite valid, and Leonard knew about it and deliberately chose to say squat. Would Penny be angry with Sheldon for doing so? Yes, to a degree, but she'd get over it quickly -- because she knows, accepts and (unlike Leonard of late) likes Sheldon for who he is -- and then she'd want 更多 chocolate. That's Penny.

Now, as for Sheldon and Penny specifically, there were quite a few nuggets -- which I will detail in a bit -- but first, I wanted to 评论 on the difference in how they treated one another. Their interaction was much 更多 similar to mid-to-late season-one-ish, ie, before they actually *did* become 老友记 and grow to respect one another. The only possible reasons I can come up with to explain this decision are (a) an unimaginative job of the 写作 staff in fleshing out the idea of Sheldon conditioning Penny. Again, most of her actions were quite annoying, and were actually a tad out of character. Penny's not that dim, Penny's not that clueless and Penny's not that rude, but the writers either chose the easy fix of pulling annoying habits closer to her not-quite-settled-in behavior of early season one (likely correctly believing that enough viewers will just accept that since Sheldon finds them wanting, therefore, he's being unreasonable because, well, he's Sheldon!) 或者 ... my other theory, which I like better. (Although, sadly, I can not and will not discount points lent to my 前一个 conjecture because, well, Penny's not that dim, Penny's not that clueless and Penny's not that rude.)

The other possible reason as to why the scenes were set up as they were -- 展示 a different, older dynamic to the relationship between Sheldon and Penny -- is that the writers have likely realized that 由 Sheldon and Penny interacting as they actually *HAVE* been lately, Leonard and Penny make even less sense for the simple matter of chemistry. There's that damn infamous Parsons/Cuoco chemistry ™ and then there's the lack of any believable romantic and/or sexual chemistry between Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco. It would have been neon-blindingly obvious just how much 更多 believable Sheldon and Penny are as a potential romantic pairing had their relationship been portrayed as it is today -- all crackling tension paired with sweet solidarity -- compared to the dry and boring nothingness of Leonard and Penny. So, they amped up the negativity circa early season and took away most of the crackle and sweet. And yet ... Sheldon and Penny STILL outshone Leonard and Penny 由 a country mile. Essentially, they diluted the Sheldon/Penny dynamic to not have it overpower the Leonard/Penny interaction -- but Sheldon and Penny continued to overpower them. It's not just that Leonard and Penny are *that* lackluster (although, they are, oh, Lordy, they are), but that Sheldon and Penny are *that* good. The Big Bang Theory found a goldmine in Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco ... they just need to start mining for the big haul. In the meantime, here are some nuggets:

1.) First off ... this:(See 最佳, 返回页首 image)

Yes, yes, Leonard is on the other side of Penny. Yes, Sheldon is conditioning her. Blah, blah, blah, whatever. LOOK AT HOW THEY ARE LOOKING AT ONE ANOTHER! Even in a still picture, 你 can see it, feel it. Kaley Cuoco just seems to come alive and sparkle, Jim Parsons is suddenly softer and sweeter (as Sheldon) when they make eye contact, when they smile, when they are *connecting* in a scene. That, my friends, is called grade-A-chemistry. 你 can't manufacture it, 你 can't force it, 你 can't pretend it's there. You've got it 或者你 don't. These two, oh my God!, have it. Just look at them!

2.) That first scene (pre-Leonard's arrival). I was wrong. Last night, I was complaining about the majority of their interaction beyond her asking him to dance with her (which was, GUH! Seriously, utter, guh! It was the friendly, flirty kind of tone and mannerism she used to use with Leonard before they became "serious" towards the end of season two). Again, I was wrong. Until Sheldon kept insisting about the oatmeal, Penny was actually a doll. Yes, she really shouldn't have been playing the 音乐 in his apartment in the morning like that but because I 爱情 Penny, I'm choosing to believe that she did so not because she's insensitive, but because she's feel as comfortable with Sheldon -- not quite to the same obvious degree -- as she does Leonard, a guy she is calling her boyfriend (for the time being). That's pretty awesome in and of itself, that Penny feels that comfort level with Sheldon when outside of his family, only three other people likely have ever chosen to do so. Nugget within a nugget! So she's comfortable with him, she's asking him to dance with her in a friendly, flirty way, and even when he starts being cranky, she's still trying to make him smile. She asks why he won't dance, he gives a typically Sheldon-esque response, comes down a bit asking if any Sheldon would ever have fun (see? she wants to have fun with him!), and then perks right back up, offering him some french 烤面包, 吐司 with a smile. Obviously, one could give Leonard the credit for her good mood, but, eh, the show's 给 me no reason to do so in actual canon, so I'm choosing not to. The bottom-line is that Penny is trying to have fun with Sheldon; she's friendly, flirty and fabulous with him ... until he brings her way down too down. But just watch the fun part of the clip!! (Oh, and while you're doing so, note the size and length of the button-down she's wearing. If the 显示 expected us to believe that was Leonard's shirt? Oh, think again. Penny's actually taller than Leonard, about the same size, minus the chest area, which would make the 衬衫 even shorter on her. So yeah, that's not Leonard's shirt. Nuh uh. If it belongs to anyone in that apartment, it's Sheldon's. Uh huh.)

3.) Once again, Sheldon makes a crack about how Leonard and Penny are not gonna last.

Penny: I want a boyfriend whose roommate isn't a giant pain in the ass.
Sheldon: I'm sure that will happen soon enough.

That's three for three this season, folks. Yeah, okay, this did involve an insult on Penny's part about Sheldon, but (a) Sheldon *was* kinda being a pain in the ass, and (b) his 评论 was acknowledging her statement without a complaint, so I won't complain either.

4.) Watch this clip. Really no words are needed to describe the awesome ... but I will anyway. Sheldon hand-fed Penny chocolate. Let's just take this out of context for a moment -- dangerous ground, I know, the delusion runs deep, but 熊 with me. Were this any other show, any other character who was reasonably good-looking hand-feeding 浓情巧克力 to a reasonably good-looking character with whom a large and vocal part of the show's fanbase wanted to see 说 character paired with romantically, the very natural belief would be that such an action -- even if in a conditioned setting like this -- is a precursor to a potential 更多 down the road. In other words, I continue to believe that it's entirely likely that Prady and co. are deliberately using the perception of the Sheldon-character as is to slip many a building-block for that future Sheldon/Penny romantic foundation. Uh huh. Yeah, okay, whatever, I'm delusional. It's still fun. And he's still hand-feeding her chocolate. See?

5.) Once again, the show's writers created a Sheldon/Penny nugget in the service of a joke. For the punchline, the laughline, the moment of hilarity, whatever, it's still there, it's still happening, it's still building that foundation, and in this case, another one just continues to crumble with barely any foundation starting out. When Penny went to sit down, she sat in Sheldon's spot, and then moved, apologized, leading to another 浓情巧克力 go-round. I'm delving deep here, but it's true enough. When an individual has a connection with another, one of the ways they seek to hold on to that connection is wearing their clothing (see above: NOT Leonard's shirt), and, yes, sitting/laying in areas that are reminiscent of that person. Penny, as she often does, heads straight for his spot. Now my afore-mentioned conjecture likely is taking it a step too far, but the two lesser possibilities also contain a connection of sorts between the two. The first is that she's subconsciously trying to rile him, since she always does it, and she's subconsciously trying to rile him up because she enjoys their little skirmishes. The 秒 is she agrees with Sheldon that it is indeed the best 座位 in the house, which shows, yet again, how alike they are. Another key point, having nothing to do with Sheldon and Penny per se, is that Penny chose to automatically sit down as far away from Leonard as she could on that couch. In the service of a punchline 或者 not, it's there, it happened. Penny chose to sit in Sheldon's 座位 instinctively, as opposed to sitting 下一个 to Leonard.

6.) Oh, it was awesome! Sheldon mouthed the word "chocolate" to Penny; she mouthed back "thank you" with a beaming grin. A heavenly moment for us 或者 what?

7.) He denied it, tip-toed around it, but already Leonard is having issues with Penny ... and continues to be dishonest with her about it. Dishonest to the point that when he has the perfect opportunity to tell her what Sheldon has been doing, he chooses not to. What a guy! And, yes, that means I'm holding him to a different standard than I am Sheldon. Why? Because Leonard is her boyfriend now; he needs to man up. Sheldon sure as hell would.

8.) I know it meant nothing, I know that, know that, know that! But, I also know that I'm not the only one who got vaguely dirty thoughts when Leonard 说 to Sheldon: "you're not sanding Penny!" Suddenly, I wanted Sheldon to "sand" Penny very much. Whatever vaguely naughty thing I could imagine that would be.

9.) Here's a tiny little tidbit of a clip ... as [info]fujiidom wrote: "There's something about Penny catching the tossed 浓情巧克力 that just ... sums them up. Ridiculous, misconstrued, but totally on par with one another."

10.) Ah, the lovely Sheldon and Penny parallels continue. Throughout the episode, Sheldon used 浓情巧克力 to condition Penny to essentially make his life 更多 pleasant. In the end, Penny uses sex to get Leonard to make her life 更多 pleasant (ie, put that 床, 床上 together for her). In other words, Penny basically did the same thing to Leonard (in a different way) that Sheldon did to her ... 展示 again? Sheldon and Penny? Think alike, they just happen to go about things in slightly different ways. Made-for-each-other!

11.) Finally, we come to our last nugget, that bit about the future possibilities. Sheldon is a scientist, and he likes getting results. At the episode's end, Sheldon came to the conclusion that sex works better than 浓情巧克力 to modify behavior. If that wasn't supposed to set off alarm bells ringing that Dr. Sheldon Cooper has now been introduced to a scientifically-viable reason to have sex (since he's shown himself to be uninterested for the pleasure aspect ... as of yet) -- specifically with Penny, I don't know what the writers were thinking. I just have one thing to say, until that little seed possibly grows into bloom upon the 显示 a few years down the road

Next topic- How well these two can act

halcyon-smile, Mistah_JsLover and 7 others like this

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sihab I like S/P as friends.I'm not a shipper of either S/P or L/P .I love Sheldon with his science.

VrySpecialAgent "And hopefully if some of you L/P shippers read it, you will at least try to understand and see the brilliant light that is Sheldon/Penny." I have never met a L/P shipper that hasn't understood what people see in S/P at least a little bit. I acknowledge that they are friends. I like them as friends and I look forward to their scenes. However, just because they're friends and she accepts his idiosyncrasis does not in the slightest mean that they are going to be a couple-because they're not. The writers have said so. The reason I stay away from certian sites like LJ is because fanpop so far has managed to remain shipperwar free. Sure, Naomi and Marie may disagree on things occasionally, but anything ugly has been said in private, if at all. If you don't have an origional article, then post a [i]link[/i] to these types of articles. For me this seems to be a desperate plea to get L/P friends to concede that S/P are friends, and after reading it, I am even more so a fan of their friendship. However, on fanpop we have so far been able to coexist as L/P shippers, S/P shippers, and neutral people such as Dean-Girlx and JimmyManceLuvr, and that is because we are too mature to bash another's opinions. I've read the work of Arabian before, and what he/she does is fail to acknowledge any sort of platonic/romantic relationship that is not S/P. If Paradox wants to tell us to keep an open mind, then they had better do it themselves.

robothor1111 This [i]almost[/i] made my day; it was hilarious! So this is Arabian…I’d been told about them by a friend. So this is what they come up with! Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big, BiG fan of Sheldon and Penny’s friendship-it’s adorable and funny, but I can’t see Sheldon working romantically with any girl. Though [i]if[/i] Penny/Leonard break up for good, and [i]if[/i] both of them get over it and neither are sad at all, and [i]if[/i] if Leonard finds a great girl who he loves and loves him back and he’s totally happy, and then [i]if[/i] the writers came to me and said. “Sheldon is going to get a girlfriend. That’s not negotiable. It is going to happen; who do you want the girl to be?” I’d say Penny. I’d hate that he had to get a girlfriend, (there’s a difference between being alone and being lonely) but [i]if[/i] all those other things happened first, I’d be okay with it. She’d be who I’d want him with. But I don’t want him with anyone. And although I’m amused by people who write up all this stuff, reading things like this and knowing people are trying to twist it around ruins their friendship for me, just a little bit. Though I don’t understand people that wonder why the writers insist on portraying them as friends, or why they always make him a kid around Penny/Leonard…ever consider it keeps happening that way because that’s the way that it is? Just a thought. And if you brought these over from L/J as a response to my Leonard/Penny article, let me tell you one thing. Leonard/Penny shippers are NOT blind to the S/P friendship. In fact, most of us love it. We're not in denial about their dynamic. We're seeing all the things you are. We just interpret them in different ways. No one's 'right' unless you consider the people who write the show as being 'right.' And I agree with you on something-that shirt, as I noted when the ep aired, is not realistically Leonard's. Now, if the writers come out and say 'that's Leonard's shirt,' then it's Leonard's shirt, because they write it, it's their show, and we can't contradict what they say because what they say goes. However, I did make a comment at the time that it was way to big to be his. So I'm either going with it was hers, or it was his but it had to be long enough to be respectable for T.V. so they just made it cover her up. Now about him making that ephiphany about sex being a motivator, well, that wasn't anything deep, it was a joke that showed that he's about the last one on earth to pick up on that. Remember, this is a comedy, and there really isn't anything hidden going on-it's not a soap opera or a crime drama. Comedies are face-value. This was all said in my humble honest opinion, and as I have no interest in starting (or continuing) a shipper war, I'm sorry if anyone took offense to this as I respect your opinions.

bigbangfanatic Wow, this doesn’t scream ‘grasping at straws’ at all!

newmixgirl To be honest I think each ship sees what they want to see.I know people who can get S/P and I know people who don't get L/P, and the other way around. I can see a S/P scene in a romantic way because I ship it, as L/P shippers see a certain scene to them as romantic, while I find it dull or in no way romantic. No ship is going to win in a ship war. I as a S/P shipper, am well aware that my ship will probably never happen, I know that. I'd be more that satisfied if S/P became Best Friends. But I have to say that right now L/P are not ready for anything serious, I don't think they're right for each other, and I honestly want them with other people, because I don't see them working together, but this is my opinion. [i]or why they always make him a kid around Penny/Leonard…ever consider it keeps happening that way because that’s the way that it is? Just a thought. [/i] I'm sorry Marie, but I have to disagree with you there, before S3 there was no hint as something like that, and I honestly think that it's done more out of making a few laughs as to it really being true,again just my opinion. In the end I think both S/P shippers and L/P shippers both have valid points as to why they see the possibility of there ship and I don't think either one is wrong. Also Paradox is open minded, but also take account that it a S/P community so they are going to take in account more for their ship as any other shipper community would do

robothor1111 I added the kid part in there, Naomi, what I really was emphasizing there was the part of my sentence that you left out, the part about them being friends. Were you talking to me aobut your last paragraph, because if I said or implied that Paradox isn't open minded, I didn't mean to.

robothor1111 And when you say "I'd be more that satisfied if S/P became Best Friends." I really think they already are. I'd love for them to admit it, though that probably won't happen as comedies never change their origional path and that had S/L as best friends. But maybe one day they'll add that in there.

newmixgirl ^ Yeah I really wish they would at least say it, because I do believe they're best friends at this point. It's like you said, we can all think they are, but till the writers say it it's still not "technically" true :/

robothor1111 Yeah if Sheldon/Penny happens I'm not going to slit my wrists or anything, I just don't prefer it. I didn't take it as you were against my opinion, I just didn't want you to think I was trying to say you were wrong.

JarOfMemories Actually, if you want to get technical, the two could never ever work. Sheldon has been the same way his entire life, and it would make absolutely no sense for him to suddenly begin having certain feelings toward a woman, especially Penny. Even if emotions are irrational, it's Sheldon's own way of thinking and how he views the world. He's also very quite narcissistic, so that could probably be getting in the way as well. It's not something I like to admit since I do ship the pairing, but let's get realistic here. Loved the article though.

rb30999 I don't know if anyone has noticed but the Shenny shippers seem to be the only ones who are trying to force the relationship by aggressively pursuing it in all ways. All over the net. More fanfic, more articles relating to why it should be Shenny, more nitpicking...you get the idea. I think when one stands too close, it becomes difficult to look at the whole picture. Just because you like them together doesn't mean everyone else should. Besides I believe if Shenny do come together it will take a lot away from Sheldon. Sheldon will have to give up too much to let him remain Sheldon. Leonard-Penny seems natural. As for nitpicking, here's some from my side 1. In The Fuzzy Boots Corollary, Penny asks Leonard if it was a date. The way she says it conveys a relatively positive undertone thereby hinting that she might like to go ahead with it. 2. In The Hamburger Postulate, When Sheldon infers that it is Leonard + Leslie in the room, She sort of implies that she's not exactly happy about it. "Good for him. Gooood for Leonard." Everything is just an observation and an opinion. Please don't take anything personally.

detty4ever I'll also tell my opinion on the subject. Just my point of view and nothing else. Leonard and Penny aren't OTP material. OTP's have slow building,development, real romance. Leonard and Penny have sex. And it might be the ultimate dream of many guys to find a hot blonde chick and say I love you to her(and let's not forget that most of the writers of the show are guys), but I'm not content with that. I want the something more. One of the biggest(if not the biggest) arguments against the Sheldon/Penny idea is that Sheldon will lose his edge as a character. But I never really thought the Shenny as a distorting element of Sheldon's idiocycracy. On the contrary, it is because Sheldon is who he is that this idea sounds perfect to me. Sheldon is the hero who never leaves a damsel in distress, he's the noble one, who has other more important things to do in life rather than caring for romance. He has found his call, he's the beautiful mind genius guy and this is exactly the time when she appears. Penny with-no-surname, who influences this hero, who makes him sing his beloved childhood song as a round and who makes him feel so much graditude by her actions that Mr I-never-touch-ppl-cause-I-like-to-keep-a-dinstance-from-my-body couldn't but feel the need to express himself in physical terms, by hugging her. Twice. Cause in reality Sheldon doesn't lack physicallity and desire, he has just managed to supress them using Kolinar. So, when it comes to Sheldon and Penny I'm not suggesting that he should turn Leonard 2.0 and start trying to get into Penny's bed. What I'm suggesting is that I want to see how a person with supressed desire will try to cope with the realization that he's drawn to a polar opposite like Penny. Maybe he'll consider it as a kind of illness and try to cure himself, or maybe it'll lead him into a dream of the two of them kissing. Or maybe nothing of the above and it'll just be writers putting him to ask from Penny to teach him how to kiss, just because he wants to master this ability too. Or as also have mentioned in the past, the Shenny could only be the two of them holding hands and smiling to each other in the finale. Cause even that would be enough.

rb30999 • I'll also tell my opinion on the subject. Just my point of view and nothing else. Leonard and Penny aren't OTP material. OTP's have slow building,development, real romance. Leonard and Penny have sex. Is it really necessary? It is usually the case yes but certainly not necessarily. Also, Leonard andPenny are not together anymore. So there’s a chance of the slow build up and real romance that you crave. Another observation, Shenny shippers seem to have only one point against Leonard i.e. he has sex with Penny. I believe it is an important aspect of any relationship. Also the American Sitcom relationship paradigm seems to be sexual relationship developing into romance and not the other way round. I refuse to believe that they just have sex. If that was the reason it would've happened long ago. But Leonard does love Penny and genuinely cares for her. He never takes advantage of her in an inebriated state. In fact he helps her to see reason and not just do something impulsive that she may regret later. Right now, I believe that Penny is more like Rachel (before Bloomingdale’s job) and Leonard is still not as Cool (?) as Ross. Both of them have to reach a middle ground which they will do slowly and steadily as you wish. • And it might be the ultimate dream of many guys to find a hot blonde chick and say I love you to her(and let's not forget that most of the writers of the show are guys), but I'm not content with that. I want the something more. I will concede that most of the writers are guys and guys do have a thing for the so called hot blonde chick (no offence meant it may be brunette/redhead) but how many of them would actually consider a guy like Leonard or Sheldon? Its not fair to us guys. Even the girls want that tall, slightly tanned outdoorsy person with the Herschey's bar abdomen and square jaws. The reasons for that are manifold. I’ll let you in on a little secret although it was Oscar Wilde who put it into words first but it is true and you must think about it a bit. “ A beautiful woman is one whom I noticed. A charming woman is the one who notices me.” And therefore by corollary, Guys will always go for the beautiful and charming woman. If Penny hadn’t been with the guys the way she is, they would probably not be hanging out with her. Anthropologically, every species (no exceptions) tries to combine the best possible gene pool. Survival of the fittest as Darwin would say. The attraction felt by a person A towards B is a result of that usually. in the wild, hunters would be looking for strength, cunning and such abilities while potential prey would be looking for qualities to avoid being hunted. Given that logic and what I’ve seen till now in the 27 yrs of my life, the first stage of attraction is always either looks/voice. The thoughts, sense of humour etc would always come later. Recent scientific evidence by way of papers published by the British. Sociologically I blame the media and yes people in general. Everyone has spread around a certain image of attractiveness (i don't mean just looks). We grow up surrounded by these. Everyone around us is measured with that image fed to us throughout our lives. And yes it is the dream of every guy to land a girl like Penny (Not just the hot blonde but Penny in particular. The desire to be treated without condescension by the most attractive girl (individual preferences) in class/school/department and everyone else for that matter is much stronger among the geeks because of their distant dream of social acceptance. But most of the times, us geeks would simply not have the courage to be able to go up to them and say something which might actually take the conversation forward in a positive way. For us it’s like trying to play football (soccer) while balancing a glass on the heads and therefore we're not playing as freely as perhaps we'd like to. And this is where Penny comes in. She's been nice to all the guys and they appreciate it by welcoming her into the group. If it had just been the hot stupid girls/mean babes as in 2.5 men, they would've banished her long ago as they probably have done with Alicia (Dead-hooker). As far as my knowledge of the American relationship paradigm goes (fed by the sitcoms and movies), the pattern is always sex first love later. And the attraction is mutual during that time rather than onesided. Also the break up (for the time being) makes sense as Penny has been in many more relationships than Leonard most of which have ended badly for her. In case of Leonard, he hasn't even had that many to have them end badly for him. • One of the biggest(if not the biggest) arguments against the Sheldon/Penny idea is that Sheldon will lose his edge as a character. But I never really thought the Shenny as a distorting element of Sheldon's idiocycracy. On the contrary, it is because Sheldon is who he is that this idea sounds perfect to me. Sheldon is the only one in the group (now apart from AMY) who is perfectly happy with the way he is. He does not feel the need to change for anything or anyone. Although he has accommodated certain events and people in his life but he hasn’t changed himself in order to adapt. • Sheldon is the hero who never leaves a damsel in distress, he's the noble one, who has other more important things to do in life rather than caring for romance. I don't think that Leonard is not noble. In fact all of the characters are actually quite noble. Leonard helps the Damsel in Distress while Sheldon rejects the whole idea of Damsel in Distress (as a 12th century social code which would need to have anyone knighted for it to apply). Leonard provides long term solutions to the problems faced by Penny rather than short-term arrangements as by Sheldon. A case in point is The Financial Permeability. Sheldon just lends her the money while Leonard tries to get to the root of the problem and tries to help her. If you're referring to the shoulder dislocation thing, Leonard was never even in the apartment and who knew that Penny would slip and dislocate her shoulder? He didn't intentionally leave her at a time of distress • He has found his call, he's the beautiful mind genius guy and this is exactly the time when she appears. Penny with-no-surname, who influences this hero, who makes him sing his beloved childhood song as a round and who makes him feel so much graditude by her actions that Mr I-never-touch-ppl-cause-I-like-to-keep--a-¬din¬sta¬nce¬-fr¬om-¬my-¬bod¬y couldn't but feel the need to express himself in physical terms, by hugging her. Twice. Cause in reality Sheldon doesn't lack physicallity and desire, he has just managed to supress them using Kolinar. Sheldon is the genius in a family of non-geniuses and holds a very superior view of him. At times he does behave in a childlike manner especially when he does not get his way. He always has to be right and he is never wrong. He may apparently be wrong but he is never wrong. The hugs yes they are a huge gesture from him. One can’t even begin to think how huge. But just because they he hugged her does not mean that she can bring him out of his shell and then they can have a romantic relationship. It could be one of the most platonic relationships seen on TV. Anyways, I’m gonna make my point in favour of Leonard now. He is a relative underachiever in a family of super geniuses. The cold attitude of his mother coupled with constant comparison with his siblings and derogatory remarks pertaining to every aspect of his life including psychosocial development at the age 5 have made Leonard very, very insecure. These along with his past relationships have actually left him scarred in that aspect. Combine the above factors with the stagnation in his career and a roommate like Sheldon who does not let go of any chance to berate him on either his relationships or work and you land up with Leonard. The good at heart down on luck chap who is in actual need of a boost in almost all aspects of life. It is at this time that Penny with no surname enters and is actually nice to him despite what he is and who she is. He’s been trying to shed some of his geekiness in order to gain social acceptability as well as to perhaps gain the confidence to break away from the shackles his family has put around him. He desires her. But not in the manner of any average guy “which is not to say that if a carnal relationship were to develop he wouldn’t participate.” Yes he desires her but not in a way that she would be hurt.. He does not advise her with malice in his heart or with an agenda to hurt her. If anything, he always tries to cheer her up trying to be as unbiased as possible. He feels inferior to her and wants to be able to ebjoy the things that she does trying to learn them to impress her (e.g. Nebraska game). On the other hand even Penny actually feels a little inferior to him in terms of knowledge. She lies to him about college. She tries to learn Physics in order to be able to relate better to his work (ultimately relating to him better) and to surprise him. Throughout any of the episodes, she does not feel inferior to anyone else to try to better herself for them. She definitely does not feel this way towards Raj and Howard with Raj being Raj and Howard being contemptible initially [now that he has a girlfriend he’s definitely better]. Sheldon is respected for his knowledge but in other aspects he’s usually being such a pain in the ass (according to her) that he’s actually the equal and respected rival. And Leonard is the only one amongst these that she can actually relate to, feels more comfortable with than any of the others and who is actually her way out of the hole she’s dug for herself. • So, when it comes to Sheldon and Penny I'm not suggesting that he should turn Leonard 2.0 and start trying to get into Penny's bed. What I'm suggesting is that I want to see how a person with supressed desire will try to cope with the realization that he's drawn to a polar opposite like Penny. Maybe he'll consider it as a kind of illness and try to cure himself, or maybe it'll lead him into a dream of the two of them kissing. Or maybe nothing of the above and it'll just be writers putting him to ask from Penny to teach him how to kiss, just because he wants to master this ability too. Or as also have mentioned in the past, the Shenny could only be the two of them holding hands and smiling to each other in the finale. Cause even that would be enough. In some ways Sheldon is actually the literal opposite of Joey (from FRIENDS). The one thing we don't know about him is how he will get to Pon-Far. Moreover, Sheldon will always be looking for a gene pool that is intellectually strong (to create Sheldon 7.3) and therefore is more likely to reject Penny as a mate for procreation and therefore accept Amy (they’ve already discussed conception) With his current idiosyncrasies and inflexible attitudes, Penny will never be able to adjust with him romantically. He'll keep trying to deride her on the basis of (?)intellect and she will definitely not take it lying down. And if he decides to let it go so that Penny and he are able to adjust romantically (not necessarily sexually) he will need to downgrade himself to Leonard3.7 at least. [ Notice that 7.3 and 3.7 from a Sheldon dialogue about 73 and 37 ;)] About the dream sequence thing. I found something on the net and it does seem like a good scenario for an episode some guy named ELMO wrote it up: I think they should have one episode in which Penny and Sheldon get really drunk, then wake up in bed together and can’t remember whether they slept together or not. Then leave it a bit ambiguous at the end, but the pair clearly disgusted for life. That actually seems like a good idea for a storyline. What if Leonard walks in on them waking up too?!? And he’s like “PENNY?! SHELDON?!?!” Penny:”..It’s, at least I think it’s not what it looks like.” Sheldon looks underneath the blanket. “I’m not wearing pants. Why am I not wearing pants?” Leonard: “SHELDON?!?! SHELDON?!??!” Sheldon: “Leonard I don’t know whether to answer you or not because you seem to be saying my name as a question-not a statement.” Penny: “I think we should all just calm down and figure this out-(Raj and Howard walk in) Howard: “Oh. Oh this is a scientific wonder. I didn’t think he had it in him.” Raj leans in and whispers in his ear. “Yes, Raj. Oh snap!” Penny: “Can you all just get out so I can find my clothes?!?!?!” Sheldon: “I think these are yours.” (Holds up thong) Howard: WOOOOOOO! Leonard: “That’s it. I’m leaving.” (Exits the apartment, slams door) Howard: “Whoa. He seemed pretty mad.” (Awkward silence) Penny: “WOULD YOU JUST GO!” I’m really sorry about the whole point by point thing but just couldn’t resist and due to some unknown reason, even though I have a huge exam next week, I can’t seem to let go of this. p.s. Another thing to ponder. If Shenny does happen, won’t it go the Joey-Rachel way?

hey287 ^ Your "comment" is extremely long, and as you say its your opinion, I suggest you write your own article about it instead :) "He never takes advantage of her in an inebriated state." That statement is incorrect. The classic example would be season finale season 3. It was obvious that she was drunk. I WOULD actually believe that Leonard genuinely loved her, if he said no to drunk sex, and did the noble thing and stopped something that the drunk Penny might/might not regret. When I have the time to read through your whole comment, and not just skim through it, I will comment again. Because at the moment I'm not sure if you ship L/P, S/P or neither - there's too many points to support just one.XD LOL when I saw how long your comment it was I was like 'can you you imagine finishing up your "article-of-a-comment" but then your computer crashed!' I would of been like Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!..... ...so anyway thanks everyone for taking my article seriously, I truly respect all your opinions

rb30999 yeah i'm really sorry about the length. I do get carried away while writing about stuff I think I feel passionately about. But do let me know your comments as per your convenience. While you're at it combine this one too as it explains some of the points raised by you and those that I felt were implied in my (?)opinion :) yeah I thought abt the crash part too but i realised it after I had posted it and then saw how long it actually was. This is actually my first time participating in such a discussion on the net so do forgive such SHORTcomings (Pun intended):P Let me put this on record that I'm strongly in favour of LEonard-Penny. The points i've given are actually in reply to the comment just above mine. Each point is marked by a bullet in front of it and then what follows countering it is actually my point. It is a little tedious but i couldn't differentiate betweeen the two. there was no option to format things much. I have to concede the 3rd season finale point. But The reason I think I overlooked it is because I didn't thhink of it as taking advantage. My interpretation of that part is below (I apologise in advance if it gets too lengthy/convuluted or both) Leonard does want Penny back. He's sleeping. This is when Penny bangs on the door and tells him that he's ruined her for stupid/ non-genius people. At this point he is overwhelmed. And also not thinking straight maybe due to lack of sleep and depression over Penny combined with the fact that Penny herself has come up and is telling him that she can't date stupid guys anymore. So as electricity takes the path of least resistance, he starts thinking that Penny wants to get back together (as also evidenced by his reaction the next morning). So at that time he's not thinking that its taking advantage of her but that the sex the night before was a sign of reconciliation. I expect him to think that way because, again, he isn't much experienced in relationships and therefore is unfamiliar with certain situations in one.

rb30999 I also have another one like that. People's comments and my reactions. But that one has actually become about 17 pages long. if u want, i could mail that to you.

rb30999 Sorry another thing came to mind. Its a little nitpicking and I apologise to anyone offended by this in advance. It is not supposed to be sexist or anything. When Everyone else (except Leonard and Penny) refers to their sexual encounter in season3 finale they refer to it as "Yee-Haw" I am guessing that its because Penny is on top (literally and figuratively). so one could perhaps say that Penny coitussed leonard and not the other way round and therefore we shouldn't blame leonard for it.:O I know bad point, stupid point and definitely not a part of debate. Try to take it light heartedly. :b

shenelopefan I agree with you at all... Penny and Sheldon have a chemistry that Leonard and Penny don`t have...

hey287 Oh my god you guys! I'm fine with debating, but there's no need for angry arguements! But I also like to say; Has anyone's comments have anything to do with the ARTICAL!?! You should be quoting it, saying you agree/disagree with the statements "because..." .Then have your own evidence to justify disagreeing with me! If you just write your own opinion in the comments, then type your own damn article, and then I'd comment apropriatley!!!!!! GEEZ

robothor1111 @hey287 with all due respect, the article is an analysis of 3.03. However, the title you typed for it is "Why L/P do not work and S/P does." The title opens the door for comments-people explaining why they think L/P do work are disagreeing with what was posted-the title of the article. Personally, I find the title to be almost asking for a ship war; so far we've managed not to. Again, not trying to be rude, just explaining. :)

hey287 ok ok you're right robothor1111. I was just getting a little annoyed with some of the comments. :(

robothor1111 I understand-just another thing I'd like to point out is how you start it: "listen, people.." I don't take offense or anything, but it can come across as challenging to some. Just please make sure you're conveying the tone and attitude you'd like commenters to. That said, Peter, I don't think anyone can argue that there are a lot of LP shippers. But while I am with you saying some people's attitude can make us dislike a ship more, the same can happen vice versa.

robothor1111 Excuse me, but if you were talking to me, I agree with you on what ship should be endgame. Now, I have met some drastically immature Shenny shippers, but reacting with anger will only make disagreements escalate into something ugly.

robothor1111 Okay, just making sure. I hate to offend people. :)

Mistah_JsLover I love the S/P pairing and i really hope the writers Will realise their mistakes with the L/P & S/A pairings Soon. All of Your points are valid, and let us not forget the episode where Amy & Penny compete against Sheldon & Leonard in boardgames and eventually escalate to wrestling. She totally aimed for the mouth in that kiss! I strongly believe that the only reason that kiss was on the nose is because Leonard and Amy was in the room with them. Shenny all the way!