Comedies like Big Bang Theory are already clones, they're part of mainstream network comedy and they follow the same formula that a comedy about garbage collectors or waitresses would. And I'd like to see evidence that the demographic makeup of the audience for this show is any different from any CBS comedy.
Did you just censor the exact same word that anyone can read in your quote? That, on the other hand, was funny.
I think it is funny when you take it for what it is. I wouldn't call it insulting towards nerds (that's probably King of the Nerds on TBS), but it does have its moments where I question the sprite the joke was told in. But all in all its not any more crap tv than anything else on tv....castle excluded because that show is awesome.
You won't get any argument for me that shitcoms are shit-u-ation comedies and are shitty at best... but even the best, most well polished shitcom is going to have some level of stink to go along with it. As for the Chuck Lorre format, I couldn't watch his other shows on salary. I do recall finding some of Rosanne amusing back in the day... I have a soft spot for the brilliance of John Goodman. Frasier was great, riddled with esoteric references and yet wasn't beneath itself to do fart jokes and the like. They had Fraiser's dad balance out all of the academic references with his rough around the edges character. Seinfield was also guitly of this: for all the groundbreaking format used (show about nothing) invariably there were plenty of episodes which revolved around George and Kramer's bowel movements, Elaine's need for tissue paper, etc. And yet... no rival shows on other networks to copy their format. Except of course, The Big Belarus Theory. http://boingboing.net/2010/02/10/belarusian-clone-of.html Thanks, I hadn't heard of this and this is the kind of thing I was looking for. The concept seems clever enough... wonder why it died. It got replaced by New Girl, which I can't bear to watch.
You took the words right off my keyboard. BBT is itself a clone of the insipid "Two and a Half Men", complete with similar obvious jokes, laugh track, and pedestian acting (except Jim Parsons). And of course we will see another one of these generic deadpan crapfests, aren't the ratings for Two and a Half starting to slip?
It was a victim of scheduling pretty much. I think if the scheduling issue had been worked out, and it not been retooled, it would have caught on in the second season. It would have been a great sitcom for SyFy. If they did sitcoms.
Pretty much it which is why some maybe react so harsh against Big Bang calling it shit or something else because they believe it's making a mockery of the sub culture. That's open for debate but as Spot said the steretypes in the show are not far off from reality and i have some similarities to the guys on the show myself which is why i find the show so funny because at times you need to be able to laugh about yourself. The shows' golden seasons were 1-2, maybe 3 (the time where they actually made science jokes but a little bit of general knowledge and a bit of interest in science was easily enough to get most jokes) but they did downgrade the complexity of the humor once the show hit really big and became one of the most successful current sitcoms. It bounced back in a different way once the girl group was established as a counterpoint to the guys and i'm really looking forward to each new episode now as i find the show quite entertaining.
Haha, true, and reminds me of my favorite joke from Archer, which takes most of the episode to set up and pay off. Archer gives Cyril an inkpen filled with poison, and warns him that the cap slips off for no reason sometimes. He then also gives Cyril a Russian pistol (a literal Chekhov gun), and tells him it has no safety, and that he should keep it in his underwear. Later, when a hooker is digging in Cyril's pants she accidentally gets stabbed with the poison pen and apparently dies. Archer: I said the cap slips off the poison pen for like no reason, didn't I? Cyril: I know, but I assumed that if anything bad happened... Archer: Do NOT say the Chekhov gun, Cyril. That sir, is a facile argument. Woodhouse: And also woefully esoteric. Takes some background knowledge to get the joke, even if you were paying attention to the set-up.
If it's shit I don't watch it. Yeah, I watch Community, too. Great show. Troy and Abed are "nerds in blackface",too. But being on a "quirky intellectual" show makes it okay.
TBBT is awesome! You can take anything as far as the situation but you need to cast the right mix of actors to make it work.
Um, I think what DalekJim was referring to was that BBT gets laughs strictly from mainstream ideas of what "nerds" are. There is not much insight into what real nerd culture is about. With Community it is more than just laughing "with" us. It appears to be a sit-com made by nerds, acted by nerds, for nerds and if you don't get it, well, oyou better ask somebody. Where BBT is a show about what mainstream adults "think" nerd culture is all about. Thus the very superficial approach. I'll bet Grandma would be scratching her head trying to figure out Community, but would have no trouble "getting" BBT.
Being a nerd and having lived in nerd culture for oh, 40 plus years, I'd say TBBT gets it right 95% of the time. It veers towards the extreme at times for comedic effect, but it is a comedy. Just as Home Improvement played "macho" guys into do-it-your-self projects for laughs. If TBBT is how "mainstream adults" see us, Community is how we'd like to see our selves: Quirky eccentrics.
I've not found the show to be particularly offensive towards nerds. I have found it to be lazy, cliched, dull, and formulaic. I'd also add that just because there are people really like these characters isn't an excuse for shoddy writing. It's the age old "but this really did happen" excuse that gets thrown out when an outlandish plot is shown. Just because something is real doesn't mean it'll make for good fiction.
If this show isn't getting physics nerds wrong, then physics nerds are insufferable. Either way computer science nerds are the nerd master race anyhow.