The Problem With The Big Bang Theory

This again? TBBT is a comedy show. People laugh because it's funny. The culture that has spawned around TBBT has made nerd/geek culture cool. People don't buy and wear "Bazinga!" shirts because they like Penny and finds Sheldon to be a some kind of freak. The general audience love these characters. And through building that love and care of these guys, Chuck Lorre if anything has made Science and geek culture more populare than ever. Look at how HUGE geek and science-related things has become in social media. Look at the following astronauts are getting. Youtube channels and facebook groups about science.

Yes people find them quirky, just as the characters of FRIENDS were quirky. People still love them and even identify with specific things they do or issues they face.

My guess is people who find TBBT insulting are people who project self loathing. Clue #1: Feeling ANGER towards a TV show.

I discovered TBBT through a friend who nicknamed me 'Sheldon' due to my tendency to be somewhat socially awkward, geeky, and sharing some of Sheldon's OCDs.

I fell in love with the show, and I don't really agree with the conclusions of the article.

I don't feel like the writers are making fun of me, and I certainly don't feel that Penny is the 'normal' and cool character in the show. She's an underachiever, has a borderline drinking problem and poor choice in boyfriends before she met Leonard.

Yes, there is a self-deprecating component to all this. The characters are caricatures of various nerdy personalities, but I find them lovable, and I can relate to some of what happens to them.

I can laugh at myself, at my fondness for Star Trek, at my awkwardness in public, at my OCDs, at my love for everything technical and my interest in sciences. Being able to laugh at yourself is a strength, not a weakness.

What if others are watching the show and believe that it is to be taken at face value? Why should I care?

These nerds are successful scientists who work on the Mars Rover program, fly into space and go on adventures to the North Pole while Penny -the supposedly normal and cool character- is waiting tables in a dead-end job, shows no real passion for anything apart from shoes and it going nowhere.

Anyway, it's just a show. Some like it, some hate it. I personally don't think it fuels such a negative view of what nerds are. Maybe it's a caricature that some may take at face value but I'm not worried about that, the joke's on them really and they don't even know it.

I've read theories like this before, and I gotta say, I don't agree with them. A big part of his argument hinges on "The humour in The Big Bang theory relies on the audience siding with and relating to Penny, the character coded as “normal” in comparison to the main four guys."... and maybe we're watching different shows, but the one I watch has more humor from the guys' standpoint (and often at Penny's expense). Yes, there is some humor from her standpoint, for people that identify more with her—but there should be, she's a member of the cast, and there are people who relate to her. But there's far more humor for people who relate to the geek characters (since there's more of them).

I thought the problem with the big bang theory was it's inability to explain the low entropy starting condition?

EDIT: btw if you want a comedy show that's rooted firmly in the geek world, dig up the TV version of the dilbert cartoons. superb.

> "We aren’t laughing with Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard. We’re laughing at them"

Well, here is my confession... I do like the show, and I guess it is a guilty pleasure.

I like it because I feel identified by the characters (my wife even call me Sheldon when I am being pedantic about something). But the author is right, when I watch the show I laugh at them and by transitivity I laugh at myself, which I have learnt is the best way to keep a good humor.

Big Bang Theory is a depiction of what idiots think intelligent people are like. Those characters do not exist in real life.

IMHO UK's IT crowd is a much better and funnier depiction of geeks (albeit Moss is a bit exaggerated too).

I think Apatow's Freaks and Geeks was the best representation of what it's like to be a nerd/geek/freak/outsider.

Note that this is about the tv series, not the physical theory.

It's a damn TV show, not a documentary. If you don't put your brain into low power mode and stop pondering about stuff, you won't enjoy it. It's a sequence of light jokes and a very loose story-line.

Another example that comes to mind: I like SciFi. If I'd analyse every movie for scientific credibility, I'd have a horrible time and would hate the genre. Just put your brain in error correction mode and switch on your creativity and you'll have a great time.

And if you don't like it, watch documentaries.

As someone who considers themself (and many of their friends) a nerd, I have to say I thoroughly enjoy the show. I study physics, I love Sci fi, I read comic books etc. I don't feel genuinely insulted by the show. Yes jokes are made at nerds' expense. But if you can't laugh at yourself and your own "culture", there's something wrong.

If you don't like the show, that's fine. Don't watch it. But don't try and turn me against it just because you don't like it.

I watched an episode of this show once. It wasn't very funny. I don't think it's part of some grand conspiracy to belittle nerds. It's just a crappy show that anyone with an ounce of sense won't waste more than 20 minutes of their life on.

IT Crowd - Non-nerd characters are the actual clowns.

The Big Bang Theory - Nerds are the clown characters.

In IT Crowd, the nerds are put into hilarious situations because of an insane normal world. In Big Bang Theory, the nerds are put into hilarious situations because they are insane.

A doubt most people idenity with to hot, farm girl in big city, little slutty, stuck working at cheese cake factory because acting isn't going so well stereotypes. Comedy is funny because they take quirks people see in themselves and others and magnify them. The jocks aren't cool and relatable in TBBT either.

The problem with it is that you're watching it as if it's a show for nerds when it's a show about nerds as seen by people who are not nerds. You're not the target market for this show.

As a side note on your page layout - My screen is massive. Please don't be afraid to use the space available!

Disagree with this authors sentiment. I too am a nerd and relate to the caricatures of nerds on the show.

I collect comic books, was obsessive about magic cards, star wars vs star trek, dressed in nerd costumes rather than sexy costumes, and have a mild case of OCD.

I like those things but I still see the humor in pointing out their absurdity on some levels.

Many shows do this -- even the mainstream comedies. They make fun of binge drinking, hookup culture, being stupid, etc.

Penny is made fun of constantly for her poor life choices, lack of degree, poor job, loser bfs, etc. AND the audience laughs at her constantly for it. Quite frankly I am proud that I relate with Sheldon more than Penny.

I saw a reference recently that summed up why I dislike The Big Gang Theory: "Nerd Black Face." It is treating the nerds and geeks on the show as unself-aware fools for "real" society to laugh at.

Interesting perspective that I had never thought of. . .I totally get it. . .but I still enjoy the show, only now I may feel guilty about it. Maybe I was so nerdy/naive I never perceived that the audience could be laughing more at them than with them. And honestly, I've been wishing we could see less of Penny. I get why Leonard is supposed to pine after Penny, but I keep thinking "get over her and move on to someone better". . .And I'm speaking as a female nerd.

That entire (mostly valid) point could have been made in 1 paragraph.

Every mass-media depiction of an activity or group will be simultaneously exaggerated and incomplete. In particular, TV comedies will emphasize anything that can make you laugh. They'll portray as idiots and make fun of: nerds, geeks, musicians, politicians, assistants, policemen, scientists, managers, presidents, models, spies, secretaries, firemen, astronauts, unemployed, lawyers, extraterrestrials, students, depressed, celebrities, immigrants, writers, and even the dead ones if need be.

I'm not sure which side I'm on really. There are both good jokes there and some really mean episodes that are laughing about really nasty behaviour.

But to see how depressing some of the scenes actually are, search for "big bang theory without laugh track" on youtube. Once you listen to it like to a real situation... it's just terrible.

I knew I hated that show for some reason I just could never put it into words like he did.

To be honest i never even got into it it a lot of people wanted me to watch it but after a few episodes it was clear this is not something worth my time.

I couldn't help it cringe when the main characters put themselves in a socially awkward position unlike regular geeks I values social interaction as much as technology so my social skills are quite high for a geek.

Plus i didn't find any of the jokes in the show funny frankly i found them quite insulting to geek culture.

There's no one you can identify with the guys are just too awkward and the girl seems more like an extra that happens to be sexy and the guys are drooling on her.

I know this is supposed to be a exaggeration of the typical geek but it just doesn't work for me.

I quite like this writeup. I've seen a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory, and could never quite put my finger on why I didn't enjoy it, when I knew people who claimed it was the cleverest thing on TV and absolutely hilarious.

Clearly, though, I need to check out Community.

I can't quite put my finger on why I find this article annoying.

I find black on brown extremely hard to read.

It's TV, what did you expect?

I had the impression that the whole embracing of being a geek/nerd was self-deprecating. But it seems that some people are being so ironic these days that it's hard to see where the meta-irony ends and the genuine feelings start.

It seems that people who aren't nerds respect (that is, dis-respects) nerds just as much, just that now they can do it with more general social approval, and the nerds can't really talk back if these are relatively small slights because of all the seeming self-deprecation from nerds themselves; you don't want to be seen as humour-less and overly sensitive. Journalists can refer to working adults as nerds because, you know, self-irony and all that. Never mind the subtle put-downs; don't be sensitive.

I think that people who have nerdy interests while also being a well-rounded person (a trait nerds aren't known for) are the biggest winners in this case. They already have social status, and then get even more respect for having interests that are associated with intelligence. Plus, since they already "have a life" in the mainstream sense, you know that they are being nerdy out of genuine interest and not because they were socially awkward and had to "find comfort" or whatever in some nerdy pursuit.

I don't really consider myself a nerd, nor really a "normal" person. I think I have a lot of the negative traits of a nerd, while lacking some crucial traits/skill of a "normal" person. I don't really fit in anywhere in this dichotomy.

He doesn't produce it, but "Two Broke Girls" being picked up from a pilot, nevertheless going into its third season, pretty much solidifies the point about Lorrie thinking.

Very interesting points of view. I share the analyse.

sigh not the shitty TVshow again.