The Big Bang Theory?

[Smeatza]

I stopped watching when Penny and Leonard got together. I don't even know why, it just wasn't funny anymore.

 

[darkstarangel]

Maybe thats why they called it the big bang theory. First, it never existed then BANG! its everywhere.

But seriously though,as a uni student studying science the humour appeals to me & my class mates because we get it. Hell, we even use most of the formulas you see written in the background.

Still, I think the secret behind the shows success are characters who live sheltered lives & are foreign to normal everyday non-sciency things like sex & sports that are ingrained in our culture & respond with objective scientific analysis. Such characters aren't all that original but as far as I know a whole show based on them is. And thats one thing TV studios are dying for, originality.

 

[Alluos]

Yup, I enjoy the show, and apparently I'm stupid too.
At least according to some of the super intelligent gentleman that inhabit these forums.
If you are one of these super intelligent gentlemen (or ladies) please go impale yourself on the flag-pole of your ivory tower.

Sincerely: an idiot.

 

[Fidelias]

Well, I love the show, even though it's whole point is to poke fun at nerds.

I love it when they actually get references from Star Wars and games and stuff like that right. I can't think of a single other show that actually even tries to get that stuff right.

 

[ElPatron]

TBBT is like eating a bag of doritos.

It's fun while you are doing it, but the other 15 hours and 40 minutes of your day you think it's a stupid activity.

Or maybe you wanna eat it all like a fucking pig! (To catch up with the series I watched several episodes in a row for a week, not doing that again)

Points for reference.

so you're left with the viewership of A: "lol let's laugh at the nerds" and B: "omg they are like, so like me!"

I am in the middle of those, so that's probably what makes the show at least enjoyable for me.

Well, I love the show, even though it's whole point is to poke fun at nerds.

I don't think so. Even the nerds get girlfriends there, the whole point is trying to shoehorn a nerd-fantasy setting without the "non-nerds" understanding it at a first glance.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

I think it's pretty fun. The science jokes are pretty much always spot on and well researched, at this point they managed to have almost every major physicist on the show at some point (including Hawkings) which is pretty solid, and the geek jokes are almost mostly accurate. As for the relationship bits that's standard sitcom fun. They just took the four major science nerd stereotypes, ran with it and it worked. You see lots of more functional individuals elsewhere so it's not like they're claiming that functional geeks don't exist. It's just that they aren't as fun.

Ooh, cameos from famous physicists, it must be so good now! lololol *rolls eyes*

Ugh. It's a cheap gimmick, and I hear the same stuff from people who only watched Battleship because Rihanna (a.k.a. talentless hack relying on cheap sex appeal, yet it is some kind of role model for this deplorable generation of stupid teenage girls #5021) was in it. The relationship bit are standard sitcom fare, but they're made even worse when none of them even remotely fit together and, as aforementioned, the characters are horribly unrelatable and unlikeable that it's hard for you to root for Leonard when he finally gets it on Penny or whatever.

And it sure doesn't seem like they're claiming that functional geeks don't exist. That's the whole point of stereotypes. Among the side-characters are a petty man with a speech impediment who's Sheldon's rival, and that awkward comic book guy who, in one episode, said longingly, "I love you!" when Penny walked through the door.

Functional geeks can be "fun" (perhaps you mean funny; Rachel in Friends was never exactly funny and kind of a normal while stereotypical girl, but the writing of her character and the sitcom as a whole was good, at least IMO) if they're written well. But The Big Bang Theory has shit writing, so it just falls flat on its face.

 

[Sean951]

So I like The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. I can empathize with the characters and some of the situations they get put into. Yes, it's typically a hyperbole, but it's a TV sitcom, what did you expect? Beats any other sitcoms I have watched. Yes, Friends was cool, but it's HIMYM set in the 90s with references I don't always get because I was still a child at the time. Seinfeld, from what I've seen, is just stupid. The only thing I laugh at from it now is the Soup Nazi.

 

[ElPatron]

I say that The League and Curb Your Enthusiast shit on any modern sitcoms from my point of view.

snip

I certainly can agree that what Chuck Lorre touches becomes shit, and that the "nerd" thing is a "gimmick".

Look at Syndicate 2012. It would be impossible to create an experience similar to Syndicate without making it a very demanding co-ops game. So they introduced worthless gimmicks to make it "different".

Sitcoms are dime a dozen. They found a gimmick to make it different. Big deal! I think it's safe to assume that it's still possible to make an original FPS game, but it's almost impossible to create a really original sitcom without a gimmick.

I could shit on How I Met Your Mother because of it's gimmicks, but apparently it's the second coming of Friends in terms of popularity.

Example, The League and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia both use the gimmick of the "man-child" very effectively.

Seinfeld, from what I've seen, is just stupid. The only thing I laugh at from it now is the Soup Nazi.

It's the drawbacks of the Seinfeld effect. It no longer holds up to the standards because it was the standard that was copied ad nauseam.

See the amount of threads of people saying that HL2 is shit? Same thing.

 

[Jazoni89]

The IT Crowd does the whole nerd thing much better than the Big Bang Theory does.

At least in the IT Crowd they are not trying to actively rip the piss out of Nerds, but rather glorifying Nerd culture in more ways than one.

Also, I love the character development in that series. For example, at the beginning, Jen is just a normal young woman who got a job working with a bunch of Nerds, but then she becomes just as Nerdy as the other two main characters as the series goes on.

 

[chimeracreator]

I think it's pretty fun. The science jokes are pretty much always spot on and well researched, at this point they managed to have almost every major physicist on the show at some point (including Hawkings) which is pretty solid, and the geek jokes are almost mostly accurate. As for the relationship bits that's standard sitcom fun. They just took the four major science nerd stereotypes, ran with it and it worked. You see lots of more functional individuals elsewhere so it's not like they're claiming that functional geeks don't exist. It's just that they aren't as fun.

Ooh, cameos from famous physicists, it must be so good now! lololol *rolls eyes*

Ugh. It's a cheap gimmick, and I hear the same stuff from people who only watched Battleship because Rihanna (a.k.a. talentless hack relying on cheap sex appeal, yet it is some kind of role model for this deplorable generation of stupid teenage girls #5021) was in it. The relationship bit are standard sitcom fare, but they're made even worse when none of them even remotely fit together and, as aforementioned, the characters are horribly unrelatable and unlikeable that it's hard for you to root for Leonard when he finally gets it on Penny or whatever.

Nope, that was her trying to break into the film industry while with these guys it's them having a good time. As for people with masters or phds or who are in the process of getting one that I've talked to about the show most of them seem to be fans rather than offended.

 

[Lucky Chainsaw]

I actually really liked the first two seasons, but the later stuff makes me see why everybody hated it in the first place.

That said, I remember a time in which people on the internet DID like it as the "good" alternative to Two and a Half Men. Then out of nowhere it became a huge punching bag. Oh well.

 

[Rylot]

I liked through about half of season 3 or so then I just stopped watching. Through about half of season 2 they'd bring up some scientific theory or law and go into depth to make a joke about it (Pavlov's Dog etc...).

Mid way through the second season they started bringing up scientific things and just dancing around them. Sheldon: "There you are my missing Neutrino" [laugh track explodes].

Sheldon and Leslie arguing about black hole theories: Leslie to Leonerd:"Which theory would you teach our children?" Leonerd: "I'd let them make their own decision." Leslie: "They're just children!" [laugh track explodes]

This show doesn't require you to be intelligent in any way shape or form. You don't need to know a damn thing about anything they're saying to get the jokes. If that were true you'd need a phD to watch this show. Saying quantum physics a whole bunch doesn't make a show smart.

[laugh track explodes]

 

[ElPatron]

snip.

I hated that joke because from any nerd's viewpoint Vista was a tremendous failure. I mean, 7 didn't hog so much resources, that's good!

But the whole "le" thing comes from reddit or 9gag or whatever. If you let social bookmarking websites taint an experience never expect to find it enjoyable.

snip

Come on, TBBT glorifies nerd culture a lot. They made the blond crush fall in love with the nerd. Come on, people who make fun of the nerds are portrayed as complete retards.

 

[Blind Sight]

I really don't go for any show with a laugh track. But my parents are in love with it.

Personally my favorite description of the show is by a friend of mine who called it "Nerd Black Face".

Damn it, you beat me to it, I was just going to say that the Big Bang Theory was the nerd equivalent of a minstrel show.

The IT Crowd does the whole nerd thing much better than the Big Bang Theory does.

At least in the IT Crowd they are not trying to actively rip the piss out of Nerds, but rather glorifying Nerd culture in more ways than one.

Also, I love the character development in that series. For example, at the beginning, Jen is just a normal young woman who got a job working with a bunch of Nerds, but then she becomes just as Nerdy as the other two main characters as the series goes on.

Yes the IT Crowd does do the whole 'nerd sitcom' thing much better, probably because the guy writing it is a fairly big nerd himself. Jen's slow realization that she has 'become what she loathed' is one of the best parts of series.

 

[gim73]

I really like the show. I think they are idiots for putting it up against community, because they have pretty much the same limited audience, but I'm just gonna watch it on the internet later so I don't really care if their initial ratings are hurt.

In general, CBS is the fail station. For years they have been pumping out the same garbage and rehashed versions of garbage, but now they finally give us a decent show. And it is decent. It's a fun show! I really can't say there are any particular episodes where I was like 'That was lame. Didn't work at all' They all work well.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

This is called syndication. It's on like three times a day now. As far as traditional live sitcoms, this is one of the sharper and better written ones. A lot of girls like this show, too. I got a date once by making reference to it (though only one date - she wanted a taller guy).

 

[The Funslinger]

Big Bang Theory has always been going strong, it just seemed to be unpopular because it got a lot of hate. It has occasionaly inaccuracies, the laugh track is overused, and it's simply just not all that plausible - so the nerds the show was meant to appeal to have shunned it and it's bred a subculture of people who think being nerdy is cool now so they wear stupid glasses and dorky clothes, co-opting an aesthetic and lifestyle that real geeks and nerds suffered with for decades before it suddenly became mainstream.

We earned the right to be nerdy. We fought for that. Now hipsters are taking it away while at the same time failing to relate to us. Many people blame shows like Big Bang for this.

I rather like the show myself. It's fun to watch and I'm invested in the characters. I just hope it doesn't last more than a couple more years - I think they could satisfyingly end it after season 6 or 7, but it's on the verge of seriously jumping the shark.

I agree. I enjoy the show, but I think it has brought out that hipster sub-culture.

The main problem I have is that while those people try to emulate nerdiness, they do it to a certain level and still decry actual nerds with some arbitrary line that once crossed is sad and pathetic.

"Hey Sheldon"
silence in the audience
"Hey Leonard"
A few chuckles are heard in the background
"My new computer came with Windows 7..."
The crowd begins to get hyped, a few drop like flies
"It's more more accessible than Windows Vista..."
Laughter is loudly starting to come up
"I don't like that"
The audience breaks in crazy laughter, the actors retreat from the set as the crowd starts choking and vomiting on each other, all the while exploding with roars of laughter so loud it's deafening

-An average The Big Bang Theory episode.

Brought to you by 4chan! Nice copy/paste skills there, bro.

 

[Reginald]

Hey, here's a joke for you Big Bang Theory fans. Ready? Here it comes! Star Trek! Ha! Get it? Well, I'll tell it again, just in case. And again after that, just to be sure. One more time for good measure. Well, folks, if you liked that, you're gonna love this! Ready? Stan Lee! Stan Lee, Stan Lee, Stan Lee! Ha, ha, ha! Ok, ok, catch your breath for this one, all right? Get ready, this one absolutely slays! Ready? Ok. String Theory. Oh, hoo hoo hoo! Ha ha ha! Hee hee hee! Spank me and call me Sally! Right, now, here's a girl that's supposed to be good looking, and get this, she'll a dullard! Oh, goodness me! Christ on a cracker! Paint me green and call me lettuce! Queen's nuts on a stick!

 

[The_Echo]

I like The Big Bang Theory.

Sitcoms are parodic farces on reality. Everyone in a sitcom is an exaggeration, people that probably wouldn't actually exist in reality.

As such, I don't really think too much about the quality of most sitcoms, because they're inherently kind of stupid (especially modern sitcoms). Some are better than others, and The Big Bang Theory certainly isn't the best. But it's fun to watch, so I don't really care.

Also, I don't have a clue how it seemed to get so popular all of a sudden. I started watching it about six months ago because my mom had started watching it, and it airs the same day of the week that I visit her.

Before I started watching it, I was convinced the show was about nerds trying to get laid. I thought the title was a pun to that effect.

 

[Sean951]

Seinfeld, from what I've seen, is just stupid. The only thing I laugh at from it now is the Soup Nazi.

It's the drawbacks of the Seinfeld effect. It no longer holds up to the standards because it was the standard that was copied ad nauseam.

See the amount of threads of people saying that HL2 is shit? Same thing.

Yeah, but I never really watched Sitcoms until HIMYM and Big Bang. Until then, I mostly just watched Law and Order and ER. I guess I also watched The Simpson's and some Futurama. Seinfeld just never did it for me.