Why do some nerds hate Big Bang Theory?
- Thread starter Buccura
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Right....you watched a whole season. And I was basing my comment off of what a lot of the people in this thread were saying.ZeroMachine said:
A lot of people simply said: I don't like sitcoms so I don't like this show (or something to that affect).
And seriously, the people saying that the show just makes people laugh a nerds and paint them in a bad picture don't understand why the show is popular. It's because a lot of people actually LIKE the characters and grow attached to them. Nobody would sit around and watch a show for four seasons because it's just laughing a pathetic nerds. They get to know the characters and then find humor in the various situations which they are put in.
I will concede this though. I have read the thread and have seen many people recommending the show "Comunity." I decided to watch the pilot episode and I must say that if it keeps up at that hilarious pace, I will definitely consider it a big step up from the Big Bang Theory.
Anyway, didn't mean to ruffle feathers with my initial post I was just annoyed at how generic the comments were about why people didn't like the show. It just seemed to me that the majority of the people watched a bit of an episode and were determined to hate it from the start.
When you actually understand the techno-babble you realise that it isn't actually that smart and is really quite shallow. I mean year 12 physics and some additional reading and you pretty much know everything that comes out of sheldon's mouth. otherwise it's just poor and repetitive stereotypes.
Blasphemy!hazabaza1 said:
on a more serious note, i happen to love big bang theory. i also consider myself a nerd.
but what is this jersey shore thingy you mention?
I don't hate the show, I don't really watch it. But you know who I do hate?
Leonard.
Bear with me, he's the closest thing to a protagonist the show has and the character who male viewers are supposedly meant to empathise with. Now I can get past the fact he's whiny, neurotic and his voice hasn't broken. But he constantly abandons his friends and convictions, just on the possibility of being with Penny. He has absolutley no moral fortitude. I watched one episode where Penny makes an offhand comment about comics and he starts selling his collection. Ignoring that the largest market for comics (now) is adults, that some comics are considered great works of literature (Watchmen, Sandmen etc) and that there's the value of collecting something. Penny says comics are for kids (paraphrased) and he gets rid of them. There's countless other times where he compromises his beliefs (one where Penny's into mysticism and the like) just for the chance to have or continue having sex.
I hate Leonard.
Leonard.
Bear with me, he's the closest thing to a protagonist the show has and the character who male viewers are supposedly meant to empathise with. Now I can get past the fact he's whiny, neurotic and his voice hasn't broken. But he constantly abandons his friends and convictions, just on the possibility of being with Penny. He has absolutley no moral fortitude. I watched one episode where Penny makes an offhand comment about comics and he starts selling his collection. Ignoring that the largest market for comics (now) is adults, that some comics are considered great works of literature (Watchmen, Sandmen etc) and that there's the value of collecting something. Penny says comics are for kids (paraphrased) and he gets rid of them. There's countless other times where he compromises his beliefs (one where Penny's into mysticism and the like) just for the chance to have or continue having sex.
I hate Leonard.
This is pretty much how I feel about it. Most of my friends say the same thing. It's like those high school shows. No one I know in high school actually watches and likes stuff like High School Musical, it's always people younger than the age group or better yet, someone who isn't actually in that demographic. It's almost like spectators at a zoo. They aren't nerds so they watch the Big Bang theory as if they can somehow glean what 'our world' is like.BrailleOperatic said:
I gotta agree there. I like the show but sometimes I want to scream at Leonard to man the fuck up and stop being such a whiny little *****. TBH, Sheldon is the character with the most appeal for me.WolfThomas said:
So is it a case of a light blinking to let the audience know when to laugh? I didn't know shows like that still filmed live.Lisa Janine said:
Oh well, Big Bang Theory is still the enemy. Long live COMMUNITY!!!
And Welcome to the Escapist. Stay out of the basement, the poll-eating monster doesn't like it when people interrupt his noms.
Personally, I don't care with those nerds think.
They are probably too uptight to enjoy a show like this in the first place. I actually didn't like this show when I first watched it, but I gave it another chance and it grew on me. It's really not too bad of a show all things considered, at least in my humble nerdish opinion.
They are probably too uptight to enjoy a show like this in the first place. I actually didn't like this show when I first watched it, but I gave it another chance and it grew on me. It's really not too bad of a show all things considered, at least in my humble nerdish opinion.
I feel pandered to, and I also think that the writers only know about half of what they are talking about. Their characters are completely stereotypical and so, at least to me, it feels like I'm agreeing with Fox news or something...
#1: It requires the suspension of disbelief that a theoretical scientist that understands string theory and a actual scientist will live in the same $900-1350/mo apartment. Anyone with that IQ is usually offered a $250k+/yr job in physics, although see #5.
#2: It requires the suspension of disbelief that a woman the much lower IQ would put up with the antics and talking down to of the higher IQ male leads.
#3: They keep on talking about inside references that people laugh at if they understand it.
#4: Awkward moments as funny only work if it's once every 35 minutes, not once every 35 seconds. Take Borat for example: The nude scene was funny for about 20 seconds, then they kept going, and went into more and more poses. After 60 seconds, you were kind of disgusted, after two minutes, you were annoyed, and after three minutes, you looked at your watch wondering when the movie was over with. After five minutes, you were asking yourself if you could leave politely and make it look like you were going to the bathroom.
#5: They never seem to learn anything, and they just seem like...assholes. They act like cute nerd kittens, but to those that understand their babble, they just come across as unworkable assholes.
#2: It requires the suspension of disbelief that a woman the much lower IQ would put up with the antics and talking down to of the higher IQ male leads.
#3: They keep on talking about inside references that people laugh at if they understand it.
#4: Awkward moments as funny only work if it's once every 35 minutes, not once every 35 seconds. Take Borat for example: The nude scene was funny for about 20 seconds, then they kept going, and went into more and more poses. After 60 seconds, you were kind of disgusted, after two minutes, you were annoyed, and after three minutes, you looked at your watch wondering when the movie was over with. After five minutes, you were asking yourself if you could leave politely and make it look like you were going to the bathroom.
#5: They never seem to learn anything, and they just seem like...assholes. They act like cute nerd kittens, but to those that understand their babble, they just come across as unworkable assholes.
Eh, there's a few moments of laughter every now and then, but it's a crap show all in all. I don't like it because the show isn't made for nerds, it's made about nerds. And in that regard, it's an old stereotype to make fun of. Hell, one of the characters is the typical "basement" dweller. I don't remember which one... it's the jew right? The story is paper-thin as is the character development, but hell it's just another dime-a-dozen American sitcom.
You know what show IS awesome? Breaking Bad.
You know what show IS awesome? Breaking Bad.
I'd like to chip in here, as one of those nerds who loathes this show with an unhoy passion. First up, the "nerds" in the show are blatant stereotypes. They're not there to appeal to nerds, they're there so other people can laugh at the common conception of nerds. One sticking point for me was a clip where Summer Glau shows up, in show, playing herself. She sits at a table, and our "nerds" proceed to flip their shit collectively, and silently. They're freaking out in the worst possible portrayal of fanboyism, combined with the standard "nerds can't talk to girls" stereotype, with a dash of "nerds are social rejects with no self esteem". And it is spectacularly, painfully, condescendingly obvious that this tripe is supposed to be funny (the laugh track is a subtle hint), but it isn't even remotely entertaining. In fact, it's more like gradually having your soul drained into the hands of whichever moron decided to exploit some of the most generic and uninteresting stereotypes in existence.
In conclusion, I find the show exists to make other people feel superior to nerds by portraying "nerds" in the worst possible light, and making use of every. Damn. Stereotype. In existence, without any form of clever writing. The time spent on this show would have been better spent on more Arrested Development, but I doubt any of the writers are anything more than talentless hacks.
This whole thing was fuelled by rage, so sorry if it doesn't always make sense.
In conclusion, I find the show exists to make other people feel superior to nerds by portraying "nerds" in the worst possible light, and making use of every. Damn. Stereotype. In existence, without any form of clever writing. The time spent on this show would have been better spent on more Arrested Development, but I doubt any of the writers are anything more than talentless hacks.
This whole thing was fuelled by rage, so sorry if it doesn't always make sense.
While I too am a nerd who know lots of nerds who are just as weird and socially awkward as those guys, and they were the ones to introduce me to the show claiming it to be one of the funniest they've ever seen. And believe me when I say this, one of those guys is in his early 40s, he's a biology teacher who still lives with his mother, knows pretty much any RPG book and rules by heart and is quite the writer (in fact his script for "highlander 2" was a killer).jackpackage200 said:
It varies from person to person, I'm one of those people who go "it's funny 'cause it's true" whenever I watch it.
If a show's only real shtick is poking fun at a demographic, I can work with that. Most of The Chappelle Show was that, and I thought it was hilarious. But Dave Chappelle didn't end his shows with a moral lesson about how black people are real human beings like the rest of us. From what I've seen in Big Bang Theory, it's essentially that: nearly every 'nerd' character acts like they're aliens alien crammed into human bodies, comically unfamiliar with our human ways. Most episodes have Penny being driven to the brink of insanity (and with good reason) by behavior that would get most people sectioned, and she only stays because something towards the end of the episode reminds us that nerds occasionally have moments where they act like us 'normal' people, or make themselves useful somehow.Buccura said:
So yeah. Basically that. It takes people who are certifiably insane, adds a few lines for them about Star Trek or comic books, and calls them nerds for it.