I thought this show was mainstream from the start.....
Big Bang-Next Generation
- Thread starter ItsGreen
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I'm 55 and my wife is 56. We love it because we've both been Trekkies and sci fi fans our whole lives, and we love the genre references and jokes. We think of it was a sitcom written "for us nerds."
I like it because I have a lot of nerdy scientist friends and I can't help but see some similarities.
I'm 55 and my wife is 56. We love it because we've both been Trekkies and sci fi fans our whole lives, and we love the genre references and jokes. We think of it was a sitcom written "for us nerds."
The strange part isn't their age--it's that my parents are not sci-fi fans in the least, and have little-to-no knowledge of higher mathematics or physics.
My siblings gave me hell about my affinity for sci-fi when we were kids, and now they watch, too.
I watched the ComicCon/TNG episode... God that was painful. This is what passes for humor these days?! This is what some think is a GOOD representation of geeks and nerds? Ugh.
I stand by my "Nerd-Face" comment.
I stand by my "Nerd-Face" comment.
It's what passes for humor on CBS. But since only senior citizens and chemically castrated sex offenders watch CBS, it's not really a representative audience.
Community is also a good show for representing nerds.
Big Bang Theory, the very premise of the beginning of the show is that there's something silly and weird about being intelligent, being socially awkward and enjoying science fiction (And that the three naturally go hand and hand). And while I admit the references can be good, they cover them in a very 'quirky' superficial way like any other sitcoms.
Big Bang Theory, the very premise of the beginning of the show is that there's something silly and weird about being intelligent, being socially awkward and enjoying science fiction (And that the three naturally go hand and hand). And while I admit the references can be good, they cover them in a very 'quirky' superficial way like any other sitcoms.
The behaviors of the group of guys were just every nerd/geek trope imaginable. It was just, ugh, annoying to watch. "Production values" of the show didn't strike me as great either. Granted, it's a sitcom but, man, it was just ugly to watch. I'm glad I don't watch sitcoms anymore. I did find the B-Story with the girls trying to get into comic-books and understand Thor's hammer and getting into a nerdy discussion over it. I wish the episode had been about that rather than this tenuous Star Trek connection nonsense.
That's basically my problems with The Big Bang Theory. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call it "Nerd Blackface," though this isn't the first time I've heard that term applied to the show.
Granted I've only watched one episode, but based on it and everything else I've heard about it, this basically summarises it and its humour:
"We're nerds." [HA HA HA]
"The blonde girl doesn't understand what we're talking about." [AH HA HA HA]
"[Obscure sci-fi reference]" [OH HO HO AH HA HA HA]
I shudder to think what category I fall into!
Seriously, most of my Trekkie friends are hooked on the show. And, yes, I have laughed in recognition more than once . . . .
Along with 2 1/2 men, it's the Micky D's of sitcoms. I've got a pretty broad sense of humor, I like my low brow and my high brow, slapstick, or whatever...but BBT is one of those shows where I'm ahead of every joke. It's predictable. I guess some find that comforting and just want to switch off at the end of the day but I want to be engaged on some level at least. Just like Trek 2009, it's written for a very different mind set...although to be fair, Trek 2009 had enough redeeming qualities for me to enjoy it at least.
Really, once Seinfeld, Friends and Frasier were off the air the sitcom died as far as I'm concerned.
Have you checked out "The B--- in Apt. 23"? I don't watch a lot of sitcoms, but I've been enjoying that one.
Big Bang Theory is basically Friends with more nerd references. With the addition of Amy and Bernie, even more so. Replace the nerd reference with snob references and you've got Frasier. Penny is just a young, attractive Martin Crane.
I've not watched any sitcom since either Fraiser or Friends went off the air (I forget which one went off last, I think it was Friends.) I've seen the occasional episode of various ones but, really, none of them grab me anymore as none of them even begin to interest me and really, the jokes and such on them are just barely a step above the ones in those "[Genre of Movie] Movie" movies.
I guess my problem with the show – and I'm saying that as someone who has watched every episode of it – is that they don't want the viewer to laugh with the characters but at them. It didn't bother me at first, but the last two seasons or so have been really annoying in that it's always "Look how socially awkward and uncool geeks are!" Think about it, this show is written for an audience that is like Penny rather than the boys. The stories are always looked at from an angle of someone who really isn't a geek. And I think that might be the reason why the show is so popular with general audiences. To me, though, some of the jokes can really be offensive. I swear, another "lesbian" joke out of the mouth of Amy and I'm gonna quit that show.
Also, it seems like the authors don't really care about the characters anymore. No-one is allowed to be really happy. Everyone is just a basic joke, a cypher. And it has become apparent, that none of these people are actually friends. They never help each other and aren't there for one another. They are never allowed to become emotional either. And that's really tiring.
It's also somewhat offensive how they always tease with Raj's apparent homosexuality, but never seem to have to balls to actually make him gay. Really, it's just there so we can laugh about him. And it's hillarious!
Not.
Also, it seems like the authors don't really care about the characters anymore. No-one is allowed to be really happy. Everyone is just a basic joke, a cypher. And it has become apparent, that none of these people are actually friends. They never help each other and aren't there for one another. They are never allowed to become emotional either. And that's really tiring.
It's also somewhat offensive how they always tease with Raj's apparent homosexuality, but never seem to have to balls to actually make him gay. Really, it's just there so we can laugh about him. And it's hillarious!
Not.
When people use the "laughing with people" line, they tend to forget that laughing at people is always funnier than laughing with them. Comedy without cruelty is useless. The Big Bang Theory is already pretty tame, defanging it to preserve thin-skinned geeks from getting offended is a terrible idea.
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