Why do some nerds hate Big Bang Theory?

[LokiArchetype]

My gf's parents used to be watching The Big Bang Theory whenever I went over and it was cringe-worthy.

Luckily though, I got her mom the first two seasons of IT Crowd for Mother's Day and now they watch that instead.

 

[Shakespeario]

I actually had to ask a few nerdier friends for help on this as I like the show and am not the genius nerd type. I'm more the high functioning sociopath who enjoys nerdy topics. A friend of mine rebuilds dinosaurs for a living and bartends as a hobby felt it was okay but the nerds are written by nerds who are writing about nerds they've never met. Another friend of mine- a bit awkward but knows more about history and politics than every text book I've ever read- can't get past the laugh track. That's because it a CBS show and meant for older folks who miss old sitcoms. And me actually, I like classic sitcoms as I was raised by them. I can still hear the laugh track in my life or the Doogie Howser typing song right now.
My guess- the humor doesn't agree with those that hate it and/or find being the one laughed at as being mean though I don't think that's what's happening here. Remember nerds have been the 'new cool' for almost 15 years. Revenge of the Nerds all the way up to now. The idea of the nerd has changed from socially awkward but good natured and brilliant to completly absorbed in one topic which is often useless (comics, games, anime, software but no hardware) and kind of angrily defensive about it.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

It has a bloody laugh track. That's really all the reason I need to hate a television show - with stuff like Seinfeld I was somehow able to overlook that aspect, but from what I've seen of this particular show it wasn't nearly funny enough to overcome that stupid laugh track. In retrospect it may be that my exposure to shows like Arrested Development or Better Off Ted, which were rib-burstingly funny without a cackling "studio audience" cluing you each time that a joke (supposedly) happened, has subsequently spoiled my ability to watch anything that doesn't live up to their high standards, as the presence of that annoying laughter really stood out like a sore thumb the last time a Seinfeld re-run caught my attention, but whether I'm just more sensitive to it or the shows just suck harder, these days I can't seem to watch anything that's "supposed" to be funny if they include that stupid bloody laugh track - there is no quicker way to make me decide watching your sitcom is not worth my time than to include one.

Laugh tracks are the death of humor, and you should not use one ever.

 

[tehweave]

because their audience laughs at every sentence and half the jokes are just technobabble the average person wouldn't understand.

also stereotyyyypes

The show depicts the most stereotypical nerd. Antisocial, possibly suffering from aspergers. But of course, such is the world of the sitcom. Every sitcom ever made ever has shown the most cliched and stereotypical character archtypes, but it seems that's just the genre. I think nerds don't like the fact that now we are the ones under the stereotypical stethoscope of the sitcom genre.

The show is not how real nerds live their life. We do not play games where we try to get past laser trip wires to eat lunch. We see this as hollywood trying to appeal to us by being as cliched as they can. It's not working. Nerds don't watch that show.

 

[TiefBlau]

It's not a nerd-based sitcom; it's a sitcom with nerds in it. It's the same old boring, rehashed formula, but with 25% more esoteric references. In the end, it's still comedy for the lowest common denominator.

It's not Patton Oswalt. It's not Randal Munroe or Vihart. It's just stupid.

 

[Reaper195]

It's a sitcom. I fucking hate all sitcoms. Which is why I like How I Met Your Mother. It's a sitcom made for people that hate sitcoms.....somehow.

I like HIMYM because it gets downright surreal/silly at times and doesnt take itself too seriously (well most of the time)

probably the only american sitcom I like

Now that you mention it, I do watch other shows, although I never really considered IT Crowd, Father Ted and such similar ones as sitcoms, even though that's what they are. Maybe it's just that almost all american ones expect you to laugh at every friggin' line, while European ones ask you to laugh when they have built to a decent joke.

 

[olicon]

Oh boy, you guys have never heard physicists talk, do you?

I quote myself

Plus, if you are an actual theoretical physicist (like I am)

I actually HAVE a doctorate in physics (that takes a bit more than 4 years), do you really think I don't know how it 'really' is? I first heard of the show when I met a few of my old colleagues (and one actually was a fan).

Little fun fact, in my year, the majority of the students was female...

We're split half and half. Judging from how they look in my years, I don't envy you though. At least the guys were half way interested in hitting the gym every now and then.
Also, sweet shiznik. Kinda wished I could follow that route, but I want to work back home when I graduate, so physics was out of the option.

@The point about laughing tracks:
I just realized something.. TV shows do need to leave a break for people to finish laughing (just in case it is funny), which would in fact turned into awkward silence without the laughing track. Hmm...

 

[Allevil]

After watching dozens of episodes, I don't think I've ever seen the show tell a joke. Just making references to nerdy things does not make a joke.

 

[Spinozaad]

I'm not a stereotypical nerd (which, as a label, has become hollow anyway), but I find The Big Bang Theory just horribly unfunny.

Does not mean it is as funny as the bloated corpse of a dead duck (although I do think so), but I prefer shows like 'Archer' or 'Danger 5'.

 

[ElectroJosh]

I think it came too late in the game for me;

When a lot of sitcoms started coming out that did not include laugh tracks watching a new show with them seemed - wierd.

Also it wasn't as funny as Spaced or the IT crowd (which included lots of good geek references) and currently it isn't as funny as Community so I can't be bothered with it.

If it makes you laugh (whoever you are) then watch it. I really have not been able to laugh at an episode (I have chuckled and smiled and some things - but not properly laughed).

 

[Yuno Gasai]

I believe it's because they've dumbed down a lot of their jokes. If you watch an episode from one of the more recent series' and compare it to an episode from their older series', there's a visible difference (and I'm not just referring to the laugh track).

Personally, the laugh track doesn't bother me. I grew up watching Red Dwarf, that show has always had a laugh track, so I'm used to it and able to block it out rather effectively.

 

[Zyrocz]

I found some of the earlier episodes funny when I was younger. I still don't 'get' who this show is supposed to appeal to though. Are they making fun of the 'nerds' or are the 'nerds' making fun of everyone else.

 

[JoJo]

Hey guys, what's going on in this threa... wait, those look suspiciously like bones there. Is the Escapist being assaulted by an army of necromancers right now? I swear every other thread is a fucking necro.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

"The Big Bang Theory" just isn?t funny at all and, despite being nerds (and I am one myself), none of the characters are relatable or remotely likeable. I think I?ve only ever laughed, like, twice the entire time I?ve watched it whenever I was bored and had nothing else to do.

I don?t know whether or not it?s because it relies on too many geek-culture references or the overly abused laugh track ("Two and a Half Men", which also isn?t funny, has this problem too, although it?s slightly funnier than "BBT"), but I?d much rather watch something like "Friends" or "Scrubs", intelligent sitcoms with three-dimensional characters.

I mean, I remember that episode where Sheldon and Leonard?s flat gets robbed, and Sheldon?s literally just name-dropping all the video game consoles and games that were stolen, ending with, ??and 'Ms. Pacman'." And what, that was the punchline? That was meant to be funny?

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Does it have to be related to the fact they're nerds? Maybe they just dislike it... it's not like everyone who likes Sci-Fi likes Metroid.

My fundamental problem with the show is that I am far too often told that I'm like Sheldon. This is generally told to me by people who only interact with me professionally. There seems to be the presumption that just because I know a great deal about science and math, that because I work in IT and because I play video games I must be exactly like some nerd on TV who's head is so far up his own ass that he is literally incapable of maintaining any sort of human contact.

I suppose what annoys me is that this assumption is largely based on the fact that our only interaction is in a setting where I am paid to know things that they do not. That these people are themselves paid to know things that I do not does not make me assume they are similarly disabled.

Beyond that, I have no gripe with the show. I don't really think it's funny but it isn't really offensive and is certainly no worse than other sitcoms. That it doesn't make me laugh is irrelevant and I'm sure it is a fine show.

 

[Skin]

The stereotypes are the primary joke. Also the technobabble works in two ways. One, it's genuinely funny to those who get it and two, the fact that it's babble is funny to those who don't

No. They do not incorporate jargon and jokes fitted to profession at all. The technobabble is just that. Scrubs on the other hand is a show that did have 2 layers of comedy, whereas TBBT is marketed to the lowest common denominator, which is a shame, because the first season was quite good and at least they made an effort.

Show has been garbage ever since they made Howard a ladies man, and Sheldon went from socially awkward to obnoxious aspergers dickhole.

 

[gazumped]

I found some of the earlier episodes funny when I was younger. I still don't 'get' who this show is supposed to appeal to though. Are they making fun of the 'nerds' or are the 'nerds' making fun of everyone else.

I never figured they were making fun of anyone, it's just a sit-com in which the situation is the main characters are physicists.

I always figured it was pretty clever in avoiding cheap shots and stereotypes, for instance, by now there's almost as many female nerdy doctor main characters as male nerdy doctor main characters. Also that episode where the guys make fun of Penny's nice-but-dim boyfriend (and she has a go at them for it) spins around the whole "Oh, no one understands us because we're smart" stereotype on its head.
Penny as well would have been so easy to stereotype as a dumb blonde but she's got far more depth than that.

 

[Suicidejim]

Partially because it kind of relies on the whole 'nerds are awkward antisocial man-children' stereotype, and partially because a lot of the jokes and/or plots are just standard sitcom fare with the fact that the punchlines are all science-based or based on nerdy pop-culture references.

Mostly, it just doesn't make me laugh that much though. It's alright, just nothing special.