Big Bang Theory isn't made for geeks; it's made for people who want to laugh at geeks. Mostly, it's made to sitcom conventions and happens to use geekery as the punchline to conventional setups, situations, and timing. It's a show on rails, with ostensible 'nerds' as set dressing. Provided you watch it as a formulaic, mildly entertaining sitcom, it serves that purpose. Occasionally you can nod knowingly at catching Sheldon's obscure-to-the-general-public science references. But if you're the kind of person who catches Sheldon's references, the show's not for you. (In the aggregate, at least. Personally speaking, I enjoy Sheldon, even though I recognize him as a caricature.)

There have been some great commentaries over the last few years about shows for nerds vs. shows about nerds. Compare, for example, Big Bang Theory and Community. The former has more putatively 'nerdy' characters, but it's by no means a nerdy show. The latter revels in its obscurity, geekery, and absurdity, even though only one of the characters is supposed to be a 'nerd' in the vein of BBT's Sheldon. General Population watches BBT for entertainment, but also for a sort of paradoxical validation: to feel 'in' on the nerdery, but mostly to place a safe distance between itself and nerdery. Nerds, meanwhile, watch shows like Community, which make no bones about their nerdery.

Traditionally, the gulf between content 'for nerds' and 'about nerds' has been pretty wide. That's because the non-nerdy public finds the genuine article to be unfamiliar and vaguely threatening. If Judge's take on Silicon Valley succeeds, it will be the first time in years that someone's bridged this gap.