No attempt to clone The Big Bang Theory yet?

[The Mirrorball Man]

That's true. These characters are not just generic nerds, they're scientists who happen to be nerds. I have quite a lot of scientists and engineer friends who think the show is spot-on.

[DalekJim]

I've seen about 5 episodes and it seems to be offensive shit that points and laughs at how weird geeks are, for the amusement of mainstream society. Give me Community any day. It laughs with us, not at us.

[The Mirrorball Man]

DalekJim wrote:

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I've seen about 5 episodes and it seems to be offensive shit that points and laughs at how weird geeks are, for the amusement of mainstream society. Give me Community any day. It laughs with us, not at us.

Comedy that laughs "with us" is for my grandma.

[DalekJim]

The Mirrorball Man wrote:

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Comedy that laughs "with us" is for my grandma.

Uh, OK.

[Captain Picard.]

Carcazoid wrote:

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I know people who act exactly like the characters on the show (and the Sheldons are as clueless about it as he is).

The only one I find funny is Sheldon.

[CaptainWacky]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfy2FWI5_oQ

It's shit, sorry.

[Temis the Vorta]

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.

[Captain Picard.]

CaptainWacky wrote:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfy2FWI5_oQ

It's shit, sorry.

True, that was just ****

[The Mirrorball Man]

Captain Picard. wrote:

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True, that was just ****

Did you just censor the exact same word that anyone can read in your quote?

That, on the other hand, was funny.

[Captain Picard.]

The Mirrorball Man wrote:

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Did you just censor the exact same word that anyone can read in your quote?

That, on the other hand, was funny.

I just have a thing against cussing

[ThunderAeroI]

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.

[billcosby]

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/bel...-clone-of.html

sojourner wrote:

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Everytime I watch BBT it makes me wish Breaking In had survived. The first season of that show was great, the second season, after it got "retooled", not so much.

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.

[gblews]

tighr wrote:

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The Big Bang Theory is absolute shit television.

I say this as someone who has watched since the pilot and has seen every episode. And there are many funny episodes, but it's your standard generic canned comedy. They are all already clones of each other. This one happens to be about geek guys who have trouble with women and like comics, but they are just sterile enough to be appealing to a wide demographic and thus it has success. It is no different from Lorre's other shows.

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?

[sojourner]

billcosby wrote:

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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.

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.

[FPAlpha]

Spot's Meow wrote:

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Same here. That's why I don't get it when people say that it's just making fun of nerds or portraying that sort of culture inaccurately, because from my perspective working at a university and living with someone who was in a PhD program in Physics, the show is dead on. It's so funny to me because there is so much truth in it, kind of the like the first few seasons of The Office (before it got too detached from reality). The jokes make sense and are hilarious because these things happen in real life, and the real life "characters" are just as clueless about it, as Carcazoid said.

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.