Critics Find ‘Big Bang Theory’ Season 8 Insufficient In The Humor Department

The Big Bang Theory may be the number one comedy on television, but a polling of several critics across the internet finds that Season 8 is not quite up to par thus far.

IGN recently labeled the premiere episode for Season 8 as “lackluster” overall. The most recent episode of The Big Bang Theory, titled “The First Pitch Insufficiency,” was also labeled as a “sort of a middle of the road episode for the show” where “none of the humor particularly stood out.” Their review continued:

“This week’s installment [of The Big Bang Theory]…was entertaining, but not especially amusing. It gave the full group something to do, but didn’t wrap up in an entirely satisfactory fashion. Good, but not great, in other words.”

Meanwhile, Vulture columnist Kimberly Potts criticized several of the show’s plotlines – including Howard’s moment to shine – by questioning whether “the writers would once again skip the tired clichés of nerds who have no athletic skills and find a new way to let character and actor shine.” She also aired her grievances about the Sheldon-Amy-Leonard-Penny plot that didn’t progress anywhere in the end:

“The episode’s B story was just as underwhelming, for it helped the entire installment amount to a placeholder as the show deals with an issue that plagues all sitcoms that are fortunate enough to make it to a season eight: how to propel the characters forward enough to keep them interesting while still milking story lines like the will-they-won’t-they marriage of Penny and Leonard and the will-they-won’t-they you know of Amy and Sheldon’s relationship?”

As recapped previously by Inquistr, “The First Pitch Insufficiency” centered around Howard as he’s asked by NASA to throw out the first pitch at the Los Angeles Angels’ Space Day. Meanwhile, Sheldon exposes kinks in the Leonard and Penny relationship when he claims that he and Amy are the “superior couple” when the quartet double dates. This helps expose Leonard and Penny’s fears about their recent engagement.

Despite the mediocre reviews of The Big Bang Theory Season 8 thus far, the ratings certainly haven’t suffered. In fact, despite being moved to a new night because CBS acquired the rights to NFL Thursday Football, The Big Bang Theory helped propel CBS to a ratings victory on Monday night according to the LA Times:

“CBS’ The Big Bang Theory won Monday night’s TV ratings, averaging 16 million viewers. Though down 13% from last week’s 8 p.m. premiere, the episode was still No. 1, with a rating of 4.7 in the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic, according to Nielsen ratings.”

What do you think? Is The Big Bang Theory Season 8 as good as previous seasons?