Cautiously optimistic.
Catherine Hardwick is a bit bleh, but Emile Hirsch is a good actor, so this could go either way. Though it's probably likely she'll rachet up the teen angst, forgetting that Hamlet is 30.

Relationships.
While I agree that a Sheldon/Penny hook up would be disastrous, I can't see why the notion of Sheldon having a romantic relationship is so out-there. I know quite a few people on various parts of the spectrum who are in perfectly functional (if a tad odd) relationships.

Walken is on record as never turning down a film that pays, provided he's not busy at the time.