Why This Match?: Because much like Ross and Leonard, they are essentially character doppelgängers. The obvious connection is their status as the focus of the central romantic thread in each show and their initial blissful ignorance to the fact they are the object of a close friends desire. This lack of awareness can be explained by their ditzy natures, something which was phased out for both when the show creators realised they had penned them as that tired old trope, the dumb blonde stereotype. The writers rectified that by shaving 20 IQ points from Ross and Leonard and donating them to Rachel and Penny, making their respective relationships more equal. If anything it restored the balance of power back towards the women, in turn making Rachel and Penny more positive role models. Finally, both started life as terrible waitresses with aspirations to do more, but were held back by their lack of focus. Then, all of a sudden, they got mad, ditched their jobs, fell serendipitously into a career relating to what they wanted to do, and...hated it at first. The Battle: The two butter-wouldnt-melt beauties were presented as wide-eyed girls in new towns looking to start a fresh life following the breakdown of a long-term relationship. They were the person every girl wanted to be; independent, beautiful and full of dreams. Neither was looking for a knight in shining armour, but both found one right on their doorstep. Then things changed. Around season four Rachel went from being a funny character with a likeable personality to a self-involved chore. In trying to add depth the writers ended up making her more shallow and materialistic, making her one of the most wafer-thin characters on the show. As Jennifer Aniston got richer, her acting got worse. By the end it was like watching one of Pennys plays. Penny never got that bad, though she became far less interesting and watchable as TBBT developed. Like Aniston, Kaley Cuocos acting ability also went down the tubes as her bank account increased, with much of her verbiage in later seasons feeling like badly scripted comedy lines as opposed to sounding like an actual real person. Both have been destroyed by overzealous writers eager to make their mark by doing something fresh and different with well-established characters, when fresh and different was not required. People do not simply change their personalities overnight, and having them do that in order to sell a joke is something that continually rankles with me. Winner: Penny. By the end of Friends I was hoping that Rachel would be written out. Penny has never evoked such a negative response and indeed remains a mostly agreeable contributor to TBBT, even if she is nothing like the sweet, innocent girl introduced back at the beginning. Score: Friends 1-2 The Big Bang Theory
The author of the highly acclaimed 'Titan' book series, James Dixon has been involved in the wrestling business for 25 years as a fan, wrestler, promoter, agent, and writer. James spent several years wrestling on the British independent circuit, but now prefers to write about the bumps and bruises rather than take any of them. His past in-ring experience does however give a uniquely more "insider" perspective on things, though he readily admits to still being a "mark" at heart.
James is the Chief Editor and writer at historyofwrestling.co.uk and is responsible for the best-selling titles Titan Sinking, Titan Shattered, and Titan Screwed, as well as the Complete WWF Video Guide series, and the Raw Files series.
