CBS
Last night, Jim Parsons took home an Emmy for his role in The Big Bang Theory. The Internet being what it is, expect a lot of whining about that. But while Parsons shouldn’t be begrudged his award, for reasons we’ll get into, The Big Bang Theory, as a show, is loathed by real nerds, and really should be loathed by anybody who cares about not being condescended to.
Instant Show, Just Add Premise
The most basic problem with The Big Bang Theory, both in terms of being genuinely funny and in terms of the world it pretends to portray, is that it’s generic. The show is allegedly set at CalTech, and its four characters are supposedly scientists, but it’s created by Chuck Lorre, who you might remember as the guy who picks fights with Charlie Sheen. Lorre isn’t a scientist, to say the least, but he is a purveyor of formulas.
And therein lies the problem: The Big Bang Theory could take place anywhere, with the characters doing anything and having any interest. You wouldn’t even need to change the jokes beyond a few words. Take, for example, two characters, Leonard and Leslie, breaking up over a scientific dispute. It could just as easily be a premise revolving around sports teams, and, in fact, that’s entirely how the episode is written; the science itself is irrelevant, one side is Team String Theory and one side is Team Quantum.
It’s not that The Big Bang Theory needs to be Nova with jokes, it’s simply that the premise is so fundamentally unnecessary to the actual plot and characters, that you wonder why they bothered. And speaking of the characters…
Fake Geek Cast
Parsons actually deserves his award, I think, because he’s had to try and work out a way to deliver the same basic joke for more than a hundred episodes without it going stale or making us worried he’s a serial killer. The show’s been accused of mocking autistics, but really, Parsons can only do so much with his material.
The show gives its cast, and it must be said it’s brought on some pretty experienced journeyman actors, nothing to work with, and what’s irritating is how fundamentally uninterested it is in changing that. This is a show so concerned with getting its depiction of a subculture right, the nerdy interests of its main characters are quite literally for sale. The show’s writers don’t know enough, or care enough, to make a joke feel real. Futurama mocks nerds all the time, but it earns it because it’s pretty incisively observed: Their Star Trek episode is full of hilarious in-jokes only a hardcore Trekkie would get, but the greatest Star Trek fan of all time in that episode is an unemployed virgin who lives with his mom.
Is it a stereotype? Sure. But the show earns it because it’s clearly written by people who have been to the conventions, who have spent far too much time obsessing over the show, and who one day realized they were too obsessed and let it go. The message isn’t “Ha! Look at the loser!” but is instead “There but for the grace of God.”
Getting It Right
One can make a fairly valid argument that the show isn’t aimed at nerds, but rather at that mythical creature, The Average Television Viewer, which is fair as far as it goes. But for those willing to defend the show, I’d simply ask this: If the writers don’t care, and think you won’t notice… what does that imply that they think about their audience?
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/photo/569/thumb)
I’m not that big of a nerd and I hate the show anyway.
God bless you
I hate a predictable sitcom, and TBBT is definitely that.
You can see the punchline for half the jokes on that show coming a mile away.
As someone who actively enjoys Parks & Rec and TBBT, I am always amused at the lengths people will go to so they can disparage the latter. It’s an effing sitcom, not a referendum on your coolness. Let it go.
What “lengths” is anyone going to disparage the show? Guy wrote a blog post about why the show isn’t that great. This is a site that covers a lot of pop culture, talking about stuff like this is literally the point, not some out of the way thing they strain to do.
I love Warming Glow, but their fascination with not being consulted over whether TBBT would be successful is long-running meme. Hell, their Emmy review has two cracks at the show. They strain incredibly hard to criticize the show when they can. It wasn’t just one blog post. It’s comical.
We get it. You wish Community was more successful. Move along, nothing to see here.
Again, it’s a pop culture site, this show is currently a very prominent part of pop culture, so they write about it. Much of what they say is valid criticism and also, what strain? It seems like you think insulting the show is an incredibly difficult thing that requires great mental effort to do. Why do you care if they don’t like the show and write as much? Does it affect you?
So they can criticize TBBT, but I can’t criticize their criticism of TBBT because their criticism is valid, but mine apparently is not?
I really don’t care if they like show. I care that criticism be actually thoughtful and not knee-jerk and predictable. But apparently that doesn’t meet your standards, which I care about not.
everyone can critisize everybody else here. no one is stopping you. just don’t come trolling in here and then get upset when people disagree with you.
Of course you can criticize the coverage, but for you to say that you want criticism to be thoughtful is a joke when you haven’t provided any of that yourself. Your entire criticism amounted to “I like both of these things and I think you criticize one too much ” without an elaboration of why you think that or why what they are doing is a problem.
You don’t want their criticism of the show to be “predictable” but you don’t mind that the show itself is predictable?
I’m just upset that they used snarky jokes, but didn’t have a laugh track that informed me the jokes were funny.
1. I don’t think the show is predictable. Not as much as it is criticized for. I think the paths they have taken with most of the characters is pretty interesting. The Penny-Leonard dynamic has been much more interesting than most “will they, won’t they”, IMHO.
2. Trolling? Funny.
3. Here’s thoughtful, Derbel. Just because it’s a multi-cam, Chuck Lorre comedy doesn’t mean it is automatically low-grade or “predictable.” TBBT should not be punished for the sins of Two and a Half Men anymore than Brooklyn Nine-Nine should get a free pass on its weaknesses simply because Schur created P&R. Penny-Leonard, the ways they have had Sheldon change throughout the introduction of new characters and the examination of social tics through multiple characters who have a variety of personalities provide more than “derp, nerds.”
The show ain’t perfect, but it really gets crapped on for no reason other than “derp, nerds and a laugh track/studio audience.”
Wait, you don’t think the show is predictable? Come on. I have no real hate for the show and sometimes even get a laugh from it. But you can see those jokes coming from miles away. It’s kind of hard to take you seriously if you’re making that your first bullet point.
Forget it, y’all. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
It’s not that I have anything against this show, but if it brings enjoyment to the type of person who watches CBS programming then I hate it for making their lives anything but agony. That being said, this site does have a tendency to get a big ol’ boner for either bashing or promoting things and they’ll ramble on and on and on about it.
If you had a solid point to make you wouldn’t have to pretend that Brooklyn 9-9 is a weak show.
I agree with you Brian. It’s pretty comical how often someone who’s never watched a show can tell you it’s not funny and the same thing over and over. I’ve watched Modern Family a few times, laughed maybe twice, but I don’t have a hardon to go in every article regarding the show and wishing death on the cast.
Well said! The show makes me laugh and that’s what I want it to do!
Indeed…very that some would write an article to justify why they don’t like a TV show…because it is just that! I don’t like Breaking Bad…OMG…call the thought police or uproxx :)
i’ve never seen the show, so i can’t comment, but at least the phrase “nerd blackface” wasn’t used in this article, so hooray for that.
as a black nerd, that phrase is fucking asinine and insulting
i see it way too often from detractors of this show to the point that i typically dismiss them for being way too dumb
Ya, I get what people mean by that comment, but the term itself has so much more negative meaning that simply “one dimensional stereotyping”.
I usually stick to comparing it to “funny foreigner” comedies from the 80s.
Looking forward to all the BBT fanboys rage coming soon. Bazinga to us all!
Ha, I clicked on the article thinking the same thing. The last BBT fan rage-a-thon was incredible.
Bazinga!
Bazinga, bazinga bazinga.
Bazinga? BA-zinga.
God bless you, @Otto Man. You knew that’s what I wanted.
Bazinga, bazinga!
Otto Man, that was the best BBT fan impersonation I have ever seen, well done.
TBS has ads saying their contracts earn them $100,000 for every bazinga, bazinga!
Its a goddamn SITCOM, not a documentary. It makes me laugh simply because its the no-thinking kind of nonsense that I watch tv for at the end of a long and exhausting day.
And that’s the kind of nonsense that got us four Transformers movies.
Its certainly not the best thing on tv by a long shot, but at least its not some hackneyed Kardashian bullshit or something.
@Shadowtag I gave up halfway through Transformers 2. BBT is just shutting your brain off. Transformers is more akin to having someone shit in your face while taking money out of your wallet, and Michael Bay buying 16 more Ferraris.
Yeah, getting a joke that isn’t blatantly obvious is so difficult. Especially since you are exhausted from working on the railroad or something tough like that.
You’ve never had someone shit in your face while taking money out of your wallet? I don’t think you’re doing sex right.
@foremania Apparently.
I hope it goes on as long as humanly possible just to hear people bitch about it.
I’ve never understood how “shutting your brain off” can be considered praise for anything.
Huffing spray paint will shut your brain off too, and you don’t have to pay a bunch of people millions of dollars to get there.
It’s pretty clear that the backlash is a response to the praise. No one really cares if you turn on BBT and turn off your brain, it’s the praise for acting, writing, and viewing that is off putting. Hide your shame like the viewers of King of Queens.
@Phrasing I understand. I never personally praised it. It is what it is. I know its a turd, but if it makes me laugh, then fuck it.
@Phrasing nailed it.
Jesus Christ, read a fucking book at the end of the day. Sit outside and stare, (indirectly), at a sunset. Drink a beer and watch air molecules while contemplating the vastness of the universe and the cruelty of an indifferent God.
OK maybe just drink the beer.
But fuck this nonsense of “Hurr, I like the show because I doesn’t have to think while I watch it.” And I’m not trying to insult @Squish78 as much as it seems like I am, more criticizing everyone who accepts and follows a show that doesn’t make them think or at least challenge them a little. That’s a life of oatmeal and macaroni and who the fuck wants that?
@Horatio Cornblower I get it man. But that’s also not all I watch. When you read all day, reading another book isn’t really ideal. Some days I don’t want a drink. I watch a lot of TV that’s on the science channel, Discovery, H2, etc. Fuck man…sometimes my brain needs a rest. A 30 minute TV show isn’t going to make me retarded. I don’t speak for everyone, and God knows it’s all some morons watch. It’s a TV show, not a way of life.
@Squish78 I get it and I don’t begrudge anyone their tastes, fun as it is to argue over the internet. I do get frustrated that good, creative shows, in all sorts of genres, get overlooked or canceled early because so many people elect to watch shows, over and over, where they don’t have to think. And I get that because so many people do that TV execs will continue to churn out crap shows like that and cancel good shows that aren’t because they’re in business to make money, not to keep me happy.
Man I want a fucking unicorn.
@Horatio Cornblower I also wasn’t lobbing insults at you. I do feel the same way sometimes. This is why Better Off Ted and Happy Endings are no longer around.
As a follow up to my earlier point, I understand the need to shut down every now and then.
But I don’t think something that does that deserves piles of money and awards for creativity.
@Squish78 RIP Better off ted :/
I guess where I come in on this, is the half dozen or more comedies that are laugh out loud funny, consistently, for years, and don’t take significantly more thought. And their lack of acknowledgement by mainstream America, which creates an environment unfavorable to new, original comedies. That’s the main problem I have with the show in question, and the people who watch it. We can all have different tastes and everyone loves something that is legitimately crappy. The difference is that Top Gun didn’t clean out the Academy Awards when it was released, or spawn a hit franchise that produced more awards.
I was a Computer Science major and nerds fucking love BBT.
Cool story bro, I’m glad that your experience as a computer science major has allowed you to not only define what “nerds” are, its also let you understand the every single one of them loves BBT.
Sad, lonely souls he crave any form of attention, even if it’s pandering.
It’s not like “nerds” are above being pandered to.
The parts of this article about CalTech being a meaningless backdrop were pretty solid. Then it just kinda ended. Oh well.
They love staring at Penny and her fake tits. The show is the plate they are served on.
Bazinga!
Derbal, him saying nerds love the show is pretty much the same as this site saying they hate it, no?
@Fire Wok With Me Penny’s tits are fake ? I didn’t know that and that news makes me sad. For whatever reason, I hope this not true.
@B-MO Yep, she has given several interviews where she has stated that the best decision she ever made was getting her boobs done. Or I should say Kaley Cuccoo (sp)? did.
There’s got to be something terribly wrong in your life when getting bolt-ons qualifies as the best decision you’ve ever made.
@nyccine Or the world, seeing as how it made her a multi-millionaire. At least she has a sense of humor about it.
@nyccine I’m sorry, are you aware she gets paid A MILLION DOLLARS AN EPISODE?! She ain’t married, and she doesn’t have a kid. So, yeah, getting huge fake tits is literally the best decision she’s ever made.
The “million-dollars-an-episode” was coming to her regardless of whether she got implants or not.
Speaking of, if “turn off your brain” is as common among BBT fans as it seems to be, how does the cast even have enough pull to demand such a raise? It looks like you could replace the actors with random people off the street and do just as well.
Fact is: This is a sitcom. You can hate on it all you want, just like the millions out there that hate on all the other sitcoms… but they make MONEY. So. Much. Money. So you can sit there high and mighty and talk about how they’re “fake nerds” all you want… are you making that much money? No. They are. It’s always been that way, it’s always going to be that way.
Well, we all know the market is the final arbiter of the value of anything.
That’s why Justin Bieber is the world’s greatest musician and Kim Kardashian is the greatest internet innovator of all time, right?
So Otto was a little faster on the draw then I was, but what exactly is your point? Something makes a ton of money so it should be immune from criticism? That line of thinking is exactly why we still get crap like this.
I think maybe the “it makes money” argument is in response to “why do the writers even bother”?
And this, class, is Exhibit A of the Floyd Mayweather Defense.
Truly it is the Garth Brooks of the teevee.
Money my friend. It’s why Edison was hailed for 200 years and Tesla was forgotten… in 200 years we’ll discover who was actually right. It all boils down to money. Always has, always will.
Did you just compare Chuck Lorre to Thomas Edison?
Jesus Bazinga Christ.
Bazingod?
Thomas Edison hadn’t even been born 200 years ago.
@Thornus Don Lemon calls that semantics
I hate Chuck Lorre as much as the next guy but I don’t think I’ll be having this discussion in 200 years.
I’m pretty sure none of us will be discussing anything in 200 years.
Thank god our internet witticisms will live on forever!
How can anyone respect or like this show after what Kaley Cuoco did yesterday? Leaking a sex tape? Ugh. Such a shameful move. And so degrading to women
This is a trap, isn’t it?
she suffers from franco syndrome, otherwise known as “sleepy eyes”
Not sure I should google that or not….
Nice one, muff.
Admit it. You all googled it just in case was tre
Was is called “Man Hands Job?”
I admit nothing. Also, I’m pretty sure I would already have a copy if it were true ;)
Why is pointing out that something isn’t good and explaining why amount to “butthurt” Also, telling people to “get over yourselves” while simultaneously attempting to ride the highest horse possible is a tad hypocritical.
*he= who*
They the hell are you talking about?
they=what
My response/ correction to my response isn’t where it should be. Look up.
I will not.
Penny is a young woman who grew up in America in the 80s and 90s and I’m supposed to believe she hasn’t seen an Indiana Jones movie? Or that she knows nothing at all about Star Wars despite it being completely interwoven into today’s pop culture?
I just really hate that in a time where movies based on comics and sci-fi/fantasy books are released pretty much every weekend that it’s apparently a sign of devolving when Penny accidentally mentions Star Trek to “normal” people.
I know plenty of girls who haven’t seen Star Wars or Indiana Jones.
I’ve never seen Star Wars. I know pretty much the whole story after having it shoved down my throats to anyone I’ve ever made the mistake of mentioning this around. At this point, I don’t want to see it. It can’t possibly live up to the hype that it’s been giving over the past few decades. Indiana Jones however, I owed a fucking whip and a fedora when I was a kid, until I tried ‘capturing’ my brother with the whip. I’ll never live down that beating…
I’ve never seen Indiana Jones, and I have friends who have never seen Star Wars or Star Trek. That’s not that unrealistic.
It’s not just that she hasn’t seen them. She knows nothing about it or Star Wars or Star Trek or anything despite it being part of pop culture for more than 20 years. Even people who have never seen a single minute can at least give you a few basic details, but Penny knows nothing.
And it could be entirely possible that there are people who don’t know either. Pop culture works in mysterious ways.
Here’s an even crazier idea! I grew up in NYC in the 90’s, attended a science school and now I do neuroscience research and I’ve never seen star wars, star trek, or Indiana Jones.
Also I am a girl
Yes, you are a girl. And you won’t be a woman until you’ve seen these movies. Get cracking…
@Aqualad08 (－‸ლ)
I know plenty of people who have never seen a star trek episode or a star wars movie… and these people love TBBT too. You can’t really classify all the people. I watch this show, I enjoy it, do i think it deserves all the awards it gets? no, it’s not particularly clever, it follows a very bland formula for its jokes and its plots are predictable if not boring.
It is what it is.
The backlash against The Big Bang Theory is truly more annoying than the show itself.
if they made a sitcom about athletes who lived together and had them be a bunch of dumb jocks, real athletes would be upset about it too. or if a bunch of white guys wrote a sitcom about a minorities. it feels fake because it is.
I don’t know if the writers of the big bang theory are nerds or not – obviously you think they are not true nerds so they have no place writing a show about them. Do you also require that Parks and Rec must be written by people who work in local government?
I would actually prefer my science fiction be written by 2000 year old Time Lords.
@willroyboy
How about Blue Mountain State? Every dumb jock I know seemed to love that show. And yes, that show was very, very shitty.
No. it isn’t.
I’d rather watch the ending of Jurassic Bark on a loop for a half hour than a single episode of this shitful travesty
They don’t make enough tissues in the world for that 30 minute stretch.
I would also state the reason Futurama gets away with their nerd-pokery is that there is actual *heart* there; think about it, there are arguments over which 10 episodes rip your heart out and stomp on it the worst, whereas BBT has what? A catch phrase? Fuck that noise. If they cared one bit about their characters BBT would have a leg to stand on.
You can’t compare a cinematic masterclass like jurassic bark to BBT, they’re not even trying to be similar. Even jurassic bark when they wrote that I bet they were hesitant to do it because of how far afield from what is the norm for a cartoon comedy show. But there in is the difference. Where futurama took a massive gamble and ended up with something truly great, BBT would never even think to take a gamble like that because they will always go with the safe, bland, repetitive formula because they know it works.
I call it the formulorre.
Man, a lot of BBT anger there. Isn’t the thing about TV that you can just change the channel if it makes you that a steaming about Chuck Lorre and all these other damn wiener kids making a shit load of money perpetuating a sitcom formula…… It’s CBS. It’s sitcom. It’s what they do. No need to get angry, or try to get everyone else angry telling people how bad it is. It’s pointless. To quote Bill Master from this week, “it’s like teaching a horse to count”. Just hop on Hulu, watch The Bridge, and get over it. While we all wait for the impeding “Ouch my Balls” premier.
It is what they do is one of the worst justifications. Why can’t you expect a higher quality product when there is so much money being used to make it?
Because it’s not your money?
Comments like this confuse me, first of all, I wouldn’t describe a majority of the people criticizing this show as “angry” In fact most have laid out several reasons why they don’t like this show and the praise it gets from certain outlets. Second, this is a website that covers pop culture, which this show is very much a part of, so why do people need to “let it go” What exactly is being affected by people expressing their opinions on the show? Also, if it bothers you, follow your own advice and just don’t click on the link.
I think it’s because it’s not new. Big Bang Theory is criticized often here and elsewhere and it just gets old.
Bingo Taco.
Now I want to go to a Bingo where the winners get tacos. Dammit.
@Brian Shea Dammit man it’s BAZINGA Taco!
Perhaps it gets the hate because quality shows are cancelled left and right, and this sack of shit wins awards for acting and writing.
We get why it is hated. It is just we are tired of people hating it and move on to better things. In other words, ignore TBBT and move on.
I have family members who watch this show, and they all use the “turn my brain off” excuse. For some reason I’m wired differently. For me to forget about my troubles and relax I need to watch or read something where I’m super invested in the plot or characters. Then I can focus on the show and block everything else out.
Very apt name for yourself on here, it seems.
I didn’t mean that in a “I’m smarter than them” way, I meant I’m a neurotic mess who can’t block out distractions and stop thinking about work, bills, family commitments, etc. unless I can completely force myself to focus on something else. So I need a show I can get really into and block out everything else rather than a mild distraction.
@Squish78 Yeah, fuck that guy for having a reasonably expressed opinion that didn’t insult anyone else amirite?
I would like everyone who uses the “I turn my brain off while I watch this” to explain to me why that’s OK when discussing a show supposedly about SMART PEOPLE. Shouldn’t this show require you to turn your brain ON?!
Man I don’t like the show either, but you all are acting like Chuck killed your loved ones.
How is anyone acting like that? A majority of the comments and the article itself are just articulating why they don’t like the show, no one is being hurt or even affected by whats being said here, so whats the problem?
@DeathBear2000 He did. Two of them killed themselves after being trapped in a house and forced to watch Two & A Half Men for 4 days straight.
Thanks for bringing that up.
Bastard.
I hate this show. To generic and nerd black face. I take my attention some where else.
Isn’t this kinda preaching to the choir? Uproxx writing an anti-BBT article is like Pitchfork writing a “why Pitbull isn’t that good of a musician” article
Pretty much.
You 2 are the only people on earth that got that internet analogy. Also what is a pitchfork?
Uproxx: our pop culture tastes are better than yours.
Also, bring back Matt.
If you like TBBT, they are better than yours.
@Syed Ali Haider That taek is so elitist I threw up a little and a reason why the Pitchfork joke exists.
Bring back Matt.
BBT blows.
but bring back Matt.
I don’t like this show, so I don’t watch it. That’s my one-man stand against it.
It does portray “nerds” in a shitty, stereotypical way, but whatever. I’m not that and I don’t care.
Thing is, stereotypes exist because they are a good part true.
Oh yes. I’ve seen a few episodes of Big Bang Theory back when I lived at home, my parents love the show. I know there are very much people like that, but they don’t represent the nerd culture as a whole by any means, and it’s frightening that some people buy into it. My own parents included.
That last sentence made me sad. I’m going to cry into my girlfriend’s chest until I go to bed.
My parents own the DVDs. I eventually ended up watching it. Is it good? I enjoy it, but I can see why people don’t and think it shouldn’t win every award. Do my parents think I am Sheldon whenever I overreact and panicked over things like a dentist appointment? Yes. And I brought that upon myself. Do I also believe people overreact to it on all sides? Yes, because Uproxx is more miserable for bringing this up and feels like an ambiguous, public shaming contest.
Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to go to the fetal position and cry in the shower like Muscle Man from Regular Show (best comedy in the world).
“WHY REAL NERDS HATE ‘THE BIG BANG THEORY'(AND WHY YOU SHOULD TOO).
How would you define someone has a “real” nerd.
But jokes aside, I use too really like this show but I starting to get tired of it.
I think UPROXX would do it fans a better service by pointing out better shows that aren’t getting the big ratings. I never heard of Rectify until I heard it mentioned on UPROXX. I haven’t seen it from the begining but the few episodes of Rectify that I watched were very good. But I read more about the dislikes for TBBT reading any love and praise for Rectify.
That’s a damn good idea. Focus on the good instead of the bad. Also, Uproxx needs to break out of their comfort zones. An article like you suggested will most likely contain Community, even though the Internet loves it like a pet dog. It needs some more obscure, rarely-talked-about-on-Uproxx shows like Rectify or any of the shows on Toonami.
Also, I noticed that Rectify S1 is on Netflix. Time to schedule a binge watch.
I didn’t realize Rectify is on Netflix now. Thanks.
It’s a sitcom! Just turn your brain off! It doesn’t have to be smart!
Seinfeld! 30 Rock! Curb Your Enthusiasm! Married with Children! The Cosby Show!
Sitcoms are dumb just let me watch my dumb show! Writers shouldn’t have to try hard, their lives are hard enough!
Seinfeld, 30 Rock and Curb are some of the “smartest” sitcoms ever made.
congratulations. you solved the joke.
The joke was to list three smart sitcoms and two….not-so-smart sitcoms?
I’m not sure I get it.
Well Seinfeld and Curb are the other isn’t.
Well now I’m butthurt.
the cosby show I threw in for iconic status, but there’s 3 quality sitcoms and 1 awesome satire of a sitcom. Using the “ITS A SITCOM” excuse for why it’s okay for the writing, acting, directing, everything to be so lazy and phoned-in disparages the sitcom as a form of entertainment.
Dude fuck those who didn’t get your joke. It was a good one. No need to explain it. That’d be like.. damn, BBT, I guess.
Where am I?
Real nerds don’t write for Pop Culture blogs, either.
Actually, writing for a pop culture blog sounds like pretty much the nerdiest thing ever.
Sums it up.
The show is pretty much the Boy Band (or whatever manufactured pop artist/group is popular with the kids) of sitcoms. It’s incredibly shallow but designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
I would love for someone to explain to me what a “Real Nerd” is. Sounds like elitist douche talk. I never understood why people feel the need to place themselves above others by claiming a “Real” version of whatever it is they’re talking about (for example, “I don’t listen to *insert musician* because I listen to REAL music”). I’m a nerd and I thoroughly enjoy TBBT. And as someone said above me, the anti-TBBT crowd is horrifically more annoying than they claim the show/fans are. It reminds of those people who hate Cloud/Sephiroth and won’t stop whining about why those characters and the game they spawned from are overrated (they aren’t and it isn’t). They too, go the “REAL gamers should like THESE characters” route and just…sigh. Oh well.
It’s blind elitism laced with just a hint of contrarianism. I mean FF7 was an absolute masterpiece, but as a result it brought in a lot of new fans to the franchise, and then you have the people who were on board with the series long before that who feel that now their little niche thing is being “mainstreamed” so they say FF7 is overrated and the characters aren’t very good.
but on that note, FF7 doesn’t come close to FF6 *SCOFFS*
@Omnicat – Of course not. Even implying FF6 and 7 are in the same realm is pretty much blasphemy.
I love the suggestion that writers have to “earn” something before they can write about it. Fuck you. It’s fiction. It’s entertainment. Change the channel you monkeys. Two and a Half Men is an abomination of a television show so you know what I do? I don’t watch it.
It’s not a documentary. It’s not a news program. It has zero need to reflect reality. Most everything that’s been on the big or small screen has been a watered down version of the reality it portrays because you can’t show the complexity of people or scenarios in the time allotted and still entertain people. That, by the way, is the goal of a prime time TV sitcom – entertainment. It’s NOT meant to educate. It’s NOT meant to inform. Any instance in which that happens is a happy coincidence for which we should be grateful.
Are there people who watch shows like this and then think they understand the subculture that it’s pretending to portray? Probably. But the fault for that doesn’t rest with the writers, the producers, the actors, the grips, the audio or video techs, the camera operators or anyone else working on that show. It rests with the fucking retards for whom the majority of their world view is shaped through what they’re shown on a 55″ screen.
Nerds aren’t a protected class that we have to coddle. They’re not all virgins in their parents basement, right? Some of as are grown ups with jobs and the capacity to do things on our own? Then go launch your own show about real nerd culture, turn it into a commercial and critical success, and take down the white whale here.
SILICON VALLEY
look at this guy bragging about his 55″ tv! Some of us are sitting with their 14″ portable CRT screens that have dead pixels clustered together to create censorship black bars!
Amen WittyPhrase!
It’s a network sitcom. Most of them could be set anywhere. Does it matter that Community is about a community college? It could be about a bunch of strangers placed into any situation. Most sitcoms take a premise and then don’t worry how those people would actually act, they just come up with “funny” situations for them. This is not a defense of BBT, but as far as network sitcoms go, it’s not even close to the worst. It just gets the hate because of the ratings and awards.
How me and 2.5 men (well hung dwarf) banged your mother.
The same people watch 2.5 men also watched How I met your mother and this show (already forgot the actual name).
To be fair to this show I wouldn’t waste a second of my time watching any TV on regular cable. You could throw shit like Community, 3rd rock from the sun (still on?) 30 rock, parks and rec.. etc in the same pot and mix them all up and if your lucky you might end up with one mildly funny joke.
How dare you denigrate a sitcom that had both John Lithgow AND Joseph Gordon Levitt!
That was JGL I thought that kid was Asian?
I want to spend a day with you where I say the name of a network TV show and you tell me what you think it is.
sounds like fun.
I don’t think the “turn off your brain” defense is one people really believe in. I think it’s one they heard once and they’ve adopted it.
…having been successful.
If I’m NOT a nerd, then it follows that I should LOVE this show, right? Well sorry, I’ve never seen it and hereby vow never to watch a single episode, ever.
The butthurt fanboys defending the show like it was the cure for cancer is more annoying than the show itself. And that’s really hard because the show is extremely annoying.
We’ve now got people on both sides of the argument calling the other butthurt.
I haven’t seen this much butthurt since they let Frank Lentini compete in an ass-kicking competition.
I’ve seen this much butthurt since Lex The Impaler 38: BIG BLACK DICKS, little white chicks.
because he has 3 legs (i had to google it but boy did LOL when I found the reference). that was funnier than any joke that was ever on this show (still don’t the remember the name)… : /
@Verbal Kunt I imagine that the Venn diagram between fans of TBBT and RFAD would be two circles as widely separated as Cuoco’s fake boobs.
/I’m assuming they’re fake, she won’t return my letters asking.
How can people be butthurt over things they don’t like?
@Verbal Kunt: given how strongly I associate TBBT with stray flecks of fecal matter, that analogy really works for me.
@JohnyMyko because other people like it, with some of them (NOT ALL, SOME) thinking it is the best thing since sliced bread. And that annoys them. It’s like the console wars. And politics. And religion.
Still not as bad as Community fans.
Aren’t they GREAT physicists on the show, as in all of them are in coveted spots doing amazing research? IRL those tend to be billionaires. Why are they living in that shitty apartment?
I thought they were just public school teachers.
I was told years ago nerds either love it hate it. I hate it.
The cast is solid but the characters aren’t. There’s barely any difference between the four guys, besides one being a poor Spock imitation, one being a human being and two horny guys. They’ve pretty much crammed every nerd interest into one character and created four characters.
CSB: My college roommates for over a year composed of four engineers (myself as one mechanical, one civil and two electrical). One was a damn fine EE and well liked (but struggled with women) but outside of one board game, his fantasy and sci-fi interests were non existent. Another was a decent student but was a bigger sports guy – but not into the “nerdy” -er side of sports and went out on the weekends – which you could say the same about my last roommate as well. Me? I was okay academically and leaned more towards sci-fi than fantasy and comic books never interested me.
Now, for a show – and for a sitcom – everyone’s interests and qualities would be cranked to 11 and tweaked for comedy. For a CBS sitcom, we’d all have the same interests and would be virtually impossible to tell apart, apart from appearance.
I can accept exaggeration for the sake of humor, but there are better sources of entertainment that have nerds are characters, or even make fun of nerds.
Sorry Kungjitsu, this wasn’t in reply to you.
Actually, no, not the physicists working for colleges, even CalTech.
They even try to justify in one episode why Sheldon chooses to have a roommate: he can’t afford the rent alone even though he has a drawer of uncashed payroll checks and a waitress lives across the hall.
Why would a bunch of University researchers be billionaires?
Quit asking questions and just turn your brain off and then…PROFIT!!!
@troi
Physicists and mathematicians fall into two categories: Those hell bent on discovering how the universe works and exclude everything else from their lives (i.e. Nobel Laureates), and those who get frustrated with academic bureaucracy and decide to get rich (i.e Every successful 21st century hedge fund).
At some point the hot chick would have glanced too long at a Porsche or a diamond ring, and the dude that’s dating her would have decided that he needed to get it for her. No heterosexual man or homosexual woman has ever said no to money AND tits at the same damn time. Economics modeling is to a physicist like beer league softball pitching is to a major league hitter, so dude and his three buddies would have started a hedge fund or gone to work for one and gotten rich. That old chestnut.
I don’t watch the show anymore but making completely vapid pointless television with interchangeable parts for the sole purpose of extricating money from people is perfectly fine. why should anyone aspire to do better or be better if what they’re currently doing is successful. Its completely ok to pander to the lowest common denominator and be devoid of any real value if that formula works. it doesn’t matter if we should aspire to greater levels of intellect and attempt to find something worthwhile to do. and it is ok to turn off your brain. you don’t need to consistently be working at full capacity with your intellect. so if you like bbt fine it doesn’t matter how harmful to culture it may be with its repetition and and sub standard plots
But why should that be rewarded with Emmys? I think that’s really what sparked the article and a lot of people’s hatred for the show. It’s a lot easier to ignore when it’s not winning over far more deserving actors and shows.
If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.
We are canceling the
apocalypsethis show.You presented your argument and backed it up with evidence. Kudos. And I must say reading this site’s criticisms of this show in the past is what got me to be tired of watching it.
the show has had a few bright spots over the years but i agree, it’s pretty generic. plus if you watch the first season again, all you get is cliches and stereotypes. plus it makes nerdy people look terrible and annoying. the way everybody talks especially leonard and sheldon, is offensive to my ears.
Every time I try to “turn my brain off” to enjoy this show I end up in a coma.
BAZINGA!
When the show first came on the air I had friends telling me it was funny. Friends who played D&D. Friends who love sci-fi. Friends whose opinions I generally respect, and who in fact I think are far more hyper-critical of things than I am.
I watched an episode and wanted to throw away my television and by a new one because it had been dirtied.
It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but it was pretty bad.
First–I’ve seen all this before. They touch on nothing new. Second–the reason stereotypes exist is because there’s a kernel of truth there, but this is so pretty much taking the stereotypes and running to the extreme. You see, exaggeration must be funny. Must be. Every show is built on it, right?
I remain stunned. The people who sat and picked apart the Lord of the Rings films scene by scene because of lack of consistency told me how funny this show was.
could it be that the show tells them that they can play D&D forever and not make any real effort to meet women and the hottie across the hall will just want to hang out with you because of… idk Stockholm syndrome?
Your “friends” sound like real dicks.
@Surly Duff I don’t believe his friends are 100% dicks though.
definitely assholes, though.
I understand people have differing tastes in sitcoms. When I say, “This show sucks.” what I am really saying is, “In my opinion, this show is terrible.” (even though it is actually terrible). That said, I have never known a show to have so many defenders, even those who aren’t fans of the show. The comments on this article alone prove this- people coming out of the wood work to stand up for poor TBBT, even if they don’t watch the show or particularly like it. There have been plenty of well-written, well-performed sitcoms over the years and even on TV today that show what a GOOD sitcom truly is. TBBT success is a fluke, and it is baffling the ratings they get and that the clown lead has won yet another award for this drivel.
I’m wondering if it’s more of people who aren’t fans of the show are tired and annoyed of hearing and reading that this show is bad so many times ?
Personally, I think it’s a mediocre sitcom.
As far has the big ratings it gets, I heard it didn’t get these big ratings until after it went to syndication. I know I didn’t wacht TBBT until after FOX and TBS started showing reruns.
Do you realize that pretty much everything that was said applies to about 90% of the sitcoms out there? Everyone just gets so up in arms over TBBT because it has so many viewers. The fact of the matter is that most sitcoms are shit.
90% of the sitcoms just like it arnt being praised daily or yearly at award shows etc. and the 10% that are better get the shaft and little to no attention or recognition because of it. There would be absolutely no push back from folks had this show just i dont know blended into the back ground where it belongs… as white noise.
Look, when it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter if it’s “blackface for nerds” or whatever hyperbolic bullshit critics make up for it. It’s boring, predictable, safe comedy. That’s why it’s bad. If it mocked nerd culture in an interesting and funny way it’d be one thing, but it’s nothing but hacky and tired writing and that’s why people shouldn’t like it.
The exact characteristics you describe are, for the most part, hallmarks of any REALLY popular show.
The question you should ask is… how many of the jokes or references in BBT passed you by? because a truly good comedy has subtlety in it and a niche thing like nerd culture should be rampant with “easter eggs” in it for the nerd in us to try and find. I see none of this in BBT.
Because the UPROXX commenting system is the Chuck Lorre of commenting, I have to post this again…
I was told years ago nerds either love it hate it. I hate it.
The cast is solid but the characters aren’t. There’s barely any difference between the four guys, besides one being a poor Spock imitation, one being a human being and two horny guys. They’ve pretty much crammed every nerd interest into one character and created four characters.
CSB: My college roommates for over a year composed of four engineers (myself as one mechanical, one civil and two electrical). One was a damn fine EE and well liked (but struggled with women) but outside of one board game, his fantasy and sci-fi interests were non existent. Another was a decent student but was a bigger sports guy – but not into the “nerdy” -er side of sports and went out on the weekends – which you could say the same about my last roommate as well. Me? I was okay academically and leaned more towards sci-fi than fantasy and comic books never interested me.
Now, for a show – and for a sitcom – everyone’s interests and qualities would be cranked to 11 and tweaked for comedy. For a CBS sitcom, we’d all have the same interests and would be virtually impossible to tell apart, apart from appearance.
I can accept exaggeration for the sake of humor, but there are better sources of entertainment that have nerds are characters, or even make fun of nerds.
Posted twice, NERD. Just joshin’
Two and a Half Men with “nerds”
Chuck’s a genius.
having no strong feelings about it’s accurate/inaccurate depiction of nerds, i just hate what I have watched of it because much like every CBS sitcom that exists, it isn’t fucking funny.
I think you missed the references.
80085
tee hee hee!
I’ll take number of dollars chuck lorre wipes his ass with for $500, Alex!
This show is nowhere near as annoying as people like you who whine about how you think this identity is being misrepresented. Like your the only set of individuals who that’s ever happened to in the last 50 years of television. Looking at you cops, lawyers, judges, teachers, IT workers, servers…
yes, but is it 1337?
Not to get off the subject of TBBT but I think the title of this article is wrong/misleading. Besides not been told what makes someone a “real nerd”, I doubt Dan Seitz took a consesus to find out if these so called real nerds like this show or not.
I better, or more accurate title would have been: : Why I hate the ….. or Why I think TBBT is not funny.
I am strongly reminded of the kangaroo gif Danger posted the other day.
BAZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGA!
I used to be part of the TBBT hate-train. But then I realized I got better stuff to do than fuss over a show I don’t watch.
Like comment on a blog that you’ve got better stuff to do.
Two commenters who have such great usernames and avatars really shouldn’t be fighting like this.
@Rikki-Tikki-Deadly It’s all the show’s fault. You obviously have to go back in time and kill Chuck Lorre to stop the madness.
I got better stuff to do than replying to your reply of my comment about how I don’t care about The Big Bang Theory.
There’s plenty of reasons to dislike the show (not that I do) – the sexist and racist humor that is just one step away from mocking those attitudes or the fact that the characters are all in a holding pattern for the last two seasons. But getting nerds wrong? There’s some exaggeration but as far as I can tell they tend to make them look better and less irritating than similar people are in real life. I say this as a guy who’s been to plenty of game conventions and even an SCA event or two.
I’m a huge nerd who hates the fact that BBT and Modern Family still survive on the I Love Lucy Sitcom premise, complete with laugh track and people still love that shit – which makes me question mankinds’ taste. You want to nerd out? Watch Futurama, Fringe, or Dr. Who.
And yes, I realize that two of the shows I mentioned don’t exist anymore.
And yes, I don’t have to watch MF/BBT, but they steal Emmys from shows that are much better. And I hate them for it.
Modern Family doesnt have a laugh track.
Yeah. In fact, Modern Family is a single-cam sitcom in the same vein as The Office and Parks & Rec. I don’t see any resemblance to I Love Lucy.
Yeah, it also doesn’t have any laughs anymore. “The Office” only with a family. Brilliant…
My issue with Modern Family and even P&R is… ummm who are they talking to?
Tried it. Didn’t like it. Moved on.
I’ve had friends say “Oh! You should love it!” Why? It’s a lazily-written show about stock nerd characters. Why the hell should I love it? Cause they name drop Indiana Jones, Star Trek and the blonde from Priceline’s tits are amazing? (And they are amazing). By that reasoning, I should like Guy Fieri’s frankenfood because I like bacon.
Then again, I don’t go on an anti-TBBT crusade. It’s just not interesting to me nor are most sitcoms. Hell, I haven’t seen a minute of Parks & Rec or Community and I think admitting that means I have Nerd Team Six converging on my location as we speak!
*LASER SCOPE AIMED AT HEAD*
Oh God, I used to get “I thought it’d be right up your alley. You’re into comic books and stuff.” all the time. Yeah, well that type is sitcom is not what I’m into.
Can we talk about how awful a show Blossom was? Big Bang perpetuates that awfulness by giving Mayim Bialik work.
I know its gonna be one of those days on the internet when a site I frequent tells me why I should hate something.
Parsons does NOT deserve his Emmy wins. I’ve seen him on Conan and he is that character in real life. Maybe he adds a tick or two here and there, but he isn’t acting. As such, he’s not the best actor and should not being winning any awards.
This ^
Same reason Robert Downey Jr shouldn’t win any awards ever!
Did you watch the Emmy’s? His award speech was very respectable. He spent the whole time talking about how awesome the other nominees were and how ridiculoud it was that he won. Hell, he even slipped in a hint of ‘I know this show sucks and I’m sorry.’
The show is awful, but Parsons gained my respect last night.
Ever notice the bloggers at Uproxx only get passionate in their articles when they hate something? When were sitcoms suppose to reflect real life? Did Dick Van Dyke reflect a real writers room? MASH a real medical unit? Cheers a real bar? 30 Rock a real tv show? Talk about unrealistic expectations.
Yes.
Well yea, I think the reason most of us hang out here is because it’s like a virtual Player Hater’s Ball.
Doesn’t need to reflect real life, but I wish it didn’t rely on the same lazy jokes time after time. I really hope you’re not comparing any of those aforementioned shows to TBBT.
Actually…about MASH….oh, nevermind…
Heh, the first time I read “30 Rock a real tv show?” I thought you were implying it was a lesser show in same way :)
I think it was just Dan’s turn to get the clickz.
Big Bang Theory: The John Cena of Sitcoms
I think it’s more like the Bo Dallas of sitcoms.
It’s the Rakishi of sitcoms
It’s clearly the Marmite of sitcoms.
No other show has ever elicited such love or hate reactions.
@foremania BOzinga!
Damn it, @Omnicat FTW.
I think it’s the Corey Graves of sitcoms
Upon further reflection, it’s the Thad Jarvis of sitcoms.
All praise be to Dan Harmon… and Harmontown is his gospel!!!!!!
Real Nerds Hate The Big Bang Theory. Nope. Real nerds watch Toonami.
The article is alright, but it does rehash Uproxx’s continual hate for TBBT without providing alternatives like what B-MO said in an earlier post. In comic book terms, it’s Greg Land drawing Mighty Avengers.
It’s an incredibly stupid show for incredibly stupid people, and it makes them feel like they’re smart because it’s totally about nerds and science.
nail on head.
I would argue with this, but then you’re a doctor so I’d lose.
Tbf… it’s ever so mildly edumacational for those people. I mean how else would they know that Schrodinger owned a cat?
By watching Doctor Who, or any of the other dozen shows it’s been brought up on. But it comes up in Doctor Who twice including in Blink (which is the jumping in point for newbies).
I hate it because their jokes makes me cringe, this has to be the corniest show I’ve ever seen.
This kind of goes without saying for every profession that has attempted representation with an audience made up of the general population. Everything from police, to gamers, to plumbers and cat enthusiasts. If everyone who watched these shows were ONLY the folks who participated in the shows then the networks aren’t doing their jobs. They need to make it comical, accessible, or accurate. And the ones that do at least 2 of those get it right, but never all 3.
Thanks to shows like this, although I don’t particularly care for it, the mainstream now has a conduit by which to dabble (not fully dive) into a once abhorred paradigm. It works harmoniously with the surge of Hollywood interests in the comicbook industry, fantasy, and science fiction.
Either way I’m happy that I can talk Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead with my old man even though Daenarys is “the blonde” and Rick is “the cop”.
We live in a world now where we have “nerds”, not just nerds.
Really tired of these articles lighting the beacon for rally cries encouraging people to hate things.
This is the current scourge of modern journalism.
This isn’t journalism, it’s opinion.
On a blog.
About things on the teevee.
Meant to initiate discussion and generate clicks.
As are most things on the intertoobz.
If you want to get riled up about scourge journalism there are a number of bad things happening now that actually matter that are being reported poorly and/or inaccurately by supposedly legitimate news organizations.
Again, this an opinion about a teevee show on a blog. Bazinga.
BAZINGHAZI!
Using the term “real nerd” automatically disqualifies you from being a nerd.
Dan thinks that an Xbox controller is better than mouse/keyboard.
Dan hates the Xbox, remember? It is all that Dualshock 4. :)
(Why you should hate this show too)
Ah…no Peg. *flushes toilet*
But I don’t know if you guys heard this or not, but Bryan Cranston isn’t actually a chemist. Unreal, right?! And a lot of that chemistry stuff wasn’t even true! It’s like, if Gilligan doesn’t care, then why should we? Talk about a fake geek cast.
>>.. the greatest Star Trek fan of all time in that episode is an unemployed virgin who lives with his mom.>>
Does that refer to Howard Wolowitz? If so, that character is gainfully employed as a mechanical engineer who lives with his wife.
no it was an episode of Futurama who acted like an all knowing being who kidnapped the cast of Star Trek and Futurama and forced them to enact his fan fiction
You know what show had great nerd scientists? Better Off Ted.
Rest in Piece Veridian Dynamics, we hardly new ye.
But you couldn’t turn your brain off and watch it. Getting jokes is such hard work.
+1
I like that. Palate cleanser. It is the television equivalent of ginger.
Troll hard, WG. Troll hard.
“The Big Bang Theory” could be the star of a show called “Shows I Don’t Care About.” It is fun to watch people argue over it, though.
Do you have any idea what it’s like? Everywhere I go, “Hey Duchess, you must like Big Bang Theory, right?” “Hey, your sense of humor reminds me of Big Bang Theory, Duchess.” I am NOTHING like Big Bang Theory! When I make jokes, they are inherent to a story! Deep, situational and emotional jokes based on what is relevant and has a POINT! Not just one interchangeable joke after another!
Man that quote works just as well for Big Bang Theory as it does for Family Guy
The manatees are moonlighting.
blossom is a neuroscientist.
She’s also an anti-vaccine nut.
Also: why does she not have a job in neuroscience?
She certainly has a face for it.
Gamma Squad y u no let me embed:(:(:(
Bazinga on YOU!
They left out the “I” but whatevs AMIRITE CROSS-STITCH BAZINGA WOO
.
I’m sorry. If you don’t like it….don’t watch. I love the show and it’s pretty obvious millions do too.
Holy shit you people care too much one way or the other about this show. Settle the fuck down, watch it, or dont watch it.
THIN MINTS FOREVER
It is called entertainment for a reason. It is NOT REAL LIFE, nor is it meant to be. Watch it, laugh, don’t laugh or change the channel….
This is the weakest argument against a show/album/movie I had seen in quite a while. Dan, you sound like a writer for Vice or something. You are barking at the wrong tree here.
The show is written to touch on the general portrayal of the nerd/geek part of society. General portrayal of a blond girl with big breasts (AKA Kelly from Married With Children). So the viewers, of a variety of ages and genders can enjoy the easy references the show is using to portray its characters. Just because its not as deep and authentic as Futurama, it was never planed to do so.
I dont understand the beef with the authenticity of the show. It is generalizing many things and many shows do – prime example is the 80’s/90’s family sitcoms like Step by Step, Family Matters, Fresh Prince. Every episode had some issue at hand, one character pushed it too far, got punished and humiliated and then learned a lesson by the end of the episode. Same goes with TBBT – prime example is Penny getting addicted to online video games and has an awakening by the end of the episode, its a classic case of many many nerds/geeks out there who dont leave the house and play video games 24/7.
This, this, this.
Why are you reading a site that discusses television shows if your response to a criticism is “it’s just a television show.” Discussing television shows is literally the point of this website. Television shows.
Beginning and end of argument.
CBS.
Come on people its only a comedy show. If you want accuracy watah science shows. This country has lost it sense of humor.SMILE & LAUGH. DON’T FROWN.
Can’t smile and laugh at idiocy.
No matter where I’m from.
I’ll laugh when it’s funny.
Nerd minstrel show.
^^^^^
@Darth Slacker Asuka from Evangelion. Easy. My profile pic is more obscure. :)
As for the shame of wearing a Flash or GL shirt in fear of being confused for Sheldon, don’t. Especially since the new Flash TV show is coming. However, it is understandable to hate the fact that TBBT and DC Comics are under the same corporate umbrella.
It’s just… a really bad show, and I didn’t laugh. The few times I’ve seen it, I’ve come away insulted by not only by it’s success, but it’s very existence. And this is coming from a guy who not only thinks Home Improvement is a national treasure, but also that Yes Dear was a pretty solid show. YES DEAR!
I never understood the appeal of 2 and Half Men either. And to a lesser extent, How I Met Your Mother.
Bibbity bobbity boo.
Flibbity flobbity floo.
WHERE IS THE SUBSTANTIA NIGRA AND WHAT DOES IT DO???
@Sill Bimmons O.o?
Yes, I am a nerd and sometimes the show is a bit flat, but other times it is spot on – like when they could not get tickets to Comic-con, or when one of them asked why two Star Trek uniforms and he answers, “One is a dress uniform and the other is for regular duty” which made perfect sense to me. It’s a simple little sit-com, not a morality play.
Way to gank an article from last season, fellas. [www.cc2konline.com]
As my old man used to say, “Opinions are like assholes: everybody has one.” I happen to enjoy TBBT and I’m a geek. I enjoy it because it helps those who are not geeks to better understand us. I also enjoy it because it makes me laugh at my own idiosyncrasies and embrace my inner geek.
As to “fake geeks” on the show, Mayim Bialik is a neuroscientist, which sounds pretty geeky to me.
So lighten up; it’s just a show and no one is forcing you to watch it.
The substantia nigra allows the brain to control muscles at rest.
The depigmentation of the dopiminergic neurons of the substantia nigra in the pars compacta region is the primary cause of uncontrollable tremor in Parkinson’s disease.
I just chose it because it agreed with the meter and rhyme of my joke:
I can’t decide what the best part of this whole discussion is. I’m torn.
On the one hand there’s the people that think “it’s just a sitcom” is an argument for why something shouldn’t be held to a high standard. This type of argument seems to only come up in visual media. You never hear “It’s just a book, it doesn’t have to be good”. (I’ve never seen BBT beyond it being on in the background while I’m distracted and forgot to change the channel, so I can’t speak to the quality of the show itself) If you like it, that’s great, but you should be able to articulate why you like it.
On the other there’s a whole host of people defending the article who apparently never bothered to read the URL or look at the banner image. “YOU’RE READING THIS ON A TV BLOG” is not a valid argument, because while you may have found it from a cross posted link on a TV blog, it is in fact a Gamma Squad article so there’s a whole host a reasons why someone might have found the article without coming to it from a TV blog.
Blogs are opinion aggregation foramina.
If you want a factual argument regarding ANYTHING the best place you can go is ANYWHERE BUT A BLOG.
EVERYTHING HERE IS THE OPINION OF A BORED IDIOT SHUT-IN ARGUING OVER TRIVIAL MINUTIAE, MYSELF INCLUDED.
People on blogs disagree vehemently over their opinions. Their meaningless, meaningless opinions about bullshit that DOES NOT MATTER.
Bleeeaarrghhhhh!
Fllleeeaaarrrghhhhhh!
Um… okay… Not sure what that has to do with anything I said. I didn’t say anything about “factual arguments” or even implied that opinions are wrong.
But you just keep doing your thing there, guy
I just remember something about you crying for the redirects.
WON’T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE REDIRECTS
You’re a little punchy tonight, aren’t you
I just wish that someone would think of the redirects.
It’s got nothing to do with you or me.
The host a reasons why someone might have found the article without coming to it from a TV blog…let’s just say I pray to whatever higher power there may be that such a tragedy never befalls either of us.
The horror…the horror…
If we all work together we can save humanity from the tragedy of the inconvenient redirect.
If not…
I’m just saying if you’re going to give someone shit about complaining about a TV article on a TV blog, you should probably make sure you’re on a TV blog.
Please go back and read my first reply more carefully.
This whole fucking thing is a joke and everyone on this thread is an idiot.
We’re just BORED idiots.
You’re a strange dude and I’m tired. I’ll go back to gawking at everyone arguing about a show they don’t like
So all you’ve got is the Chewbacca defense…
/sigh
I like to watch Big Bang theory the same way I like to watch porn: I turn off my brain and jerk it to the blonde with dead eyes and big tits. *hip thrusts*
Did I do this right?
MAYBE
@Sill Bimmons And you over-explained it. Yeah, I got that from a Google search. Don’t know why you tried to tell a joke in this particular sub-thread or if you are being an ass or not. Granted, I can be, but this post has apparently made everyone an ass. Also, it is really late.
No un on the intertoobz evar haz eney inmate nollege RITE
Cud b I learnt sumthin in my nurrologee Pee h dee to no to maek taht joek in the frist place beefor u lokked it up but whatevs ur super smrt!
Hey soory did’nt see teh sine will bee moar carful nekst tiem abuot joakes:
To those saying if you don’t like it, don’t watch it, why get all bothered about a show … WELL….
… the main problem we have here is not just with the show, but that the show is popular and winning awards. The popularity ensures that shows like this will continue to get made. It’s even more disheartening to see a broad, formula comedy win awards, especially when the Emmys have been getting better over the past decade at focusing on quality shows without any worry of ratings. As TV has gotten more intelligent in some places (i.e. cable), they’ve generally been rewarding those shows. This doesn’t fit the new TV prestige, which again would be fine, if it wasn’t so lauded.
It’s also frustrating to see this get renewed easily and spawn imitations while shows most people I know love (and I think most of Uproxx does) like Community and Futurama struggle to remain on the air. There are lots of bad sitcoms out there, but most of them fail pretty quickly. I’d like to have a few good ones stick around, but if this is what makes money, it hurts those chances.
Parsons seems like a good guy, but I can’t forget how he keeps getting awarded while Danny Pudi has never been nominated for a similar role, which I’d argue he does better. And at least his character actually has Asperger’s and the show is open about it, unlike the characters in BBT who kind of have the characteristics but are just played of as “well, they’re nerds, they have bad social skills.” That’s really demeaning to people who have these problems. It’s hard for them. Community had some deep episodes about Abed’s problems and how he handled them. BBT plays it up for yuks.
So, yeah, when shows you like are struggling to hang on, and shows you hate are prospering, you’re going to be angry, right?
I think the best thing either Uproxx or us the commenters can do is point out better shows that are on T.V. so hopefully, they can gt better ratings and stay on the air longer. I think complaining about shows like TBBT isn’t going to do anything to help betters shows.
IMO, Brooklyn Nine-Nine(FOX) is a great comedy.
I’ve only seen a few episodes of the Goldbergs (ABC), but I think it’s a good show. I going to try and watch more when season 2 starts airing.
Rectify is a good drama which is getting a third season on SundanceTV.
For those that like anime, Toonami started airing Gurren Lagaantwo weeks ago. I like that anime. I use to watch it when Syfy aired anime on Monday nights. This Saturday, Toonami is airing an Attack on Titan marathon, 12a -6a
For some people including myself, award shows suck to begin with and we don’t care about their outcomes. Who cares if Modern Theory won all the awards? But, yeah, that’s an opinion that not everyone shares.
Like B-MO said, it is better to focus on the good shows instead of dwelling on the bad, hoping the good shows get the ratings attention they deserve. Dwelling on the bad results in articles like this that play to a base who hates TBBT and will troll with more “Bazinga!”s than has been said on the show. I’m surprised we haven’t reached Godwin’s Law at this point.
Articles like this make me wonder if the internet had been around back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s would sites like this be cranking out articles like “Why Real Sailors Hate McHale’s Navy and So Should You”, “The Brady Bunch is the Death of Television as We Know It”, and “20 Reasons Happy Days Sucks (Hint: 17 are about Chachi)”. I’m sure the weekly animated gifs of Mary Ann on Gilligan’s Island would also have made for popular click bait.
Or when Star Trek got canceled. That would have generated a lot of comments
Oh, yeah. I forgot that you are a troll and hate opinions different than yours. Must be proud with your big-boy pants. Elitist ass.
Bring back Matt.
I love the big bang theory, who cares what other people like and don’t like. Be true to yourself. I love the show and hope it stays around for years!!! Soft Kitty, warm Kitty, little ball of fur, happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr!!!!
EVERYBODY ELSE IS WRONG.
BAZINGA!
what it *really* sounds like is one member of a particular subculture is mad about the fact said sub-culture is getting poked fun at. can we go back to the 80s where people could take a fucking joke once in a while??
WHAT ARE YOU, SOME KINDA MÖTLEY CRÜE FAN?
Whenever I have the displeasure to be stuck in a room with BBT being on, I always get the feeling that the audience is laughing AT the nerds, not with the nerds. It might not even be that bad of a show, but whenever I hear the laugh track, it just makes me think of high school and having to hide my TNG lunch box. Yes, I owned a TNG lunch box, and yes, it was mocked. In the ’80s.
Contrarily, I love The I.T. Crowd. And that mocks me just as much as BBT does, but it feels like it’s coming from someone that is sharing the mocking, not just doing it maliciously. And that makes all the difference.
Also, it’s light-years better than BBT. That might help, too.
you see the problem is this. It’s always a catch -22 , because if the show turns out as it has, then it’s “not even funny because its not remotely accurate” blah blah blahs… but if it IS accurate, then it hits too close to home, and the target audience ends up not liking it , because its not always easy to laugh at yourself..
If you are going to ask people to laugh at themselves, it helps if you make the jokes funny. But nerds aren’t the”target audience”of TBBT anyway.
Who cares what nerds think?
Flagged. Ginger is fantastic.
The only thing that actually bothers me about this article is the actively trying to tell people why they should hate something. Hate it. Who cares? They have plenty of fans or else they wouldn’t still be on the air and getting awards. Tell people why you hate it and leave it at that.
It’s a show for ENTERTAINMENT. Some of the people and situations are accurate and some are not. Either way both examples are subjective to each viewer. So here’s a tip for the BBT haters…..Don’t care for the show? Don’t Fuckin watch it! Same with any other blog or comment people like to be negative and bitch on. Really people.
So I guess the author is a “real” nerd. Don’t you love it how one person can form an opinion and then project it on an entire community?
What from which planet are you, author? I’m a true nerd. My degree is in mathematics with a concentration in pure and applied mathematics. My minor was chemistry. I played an online role-playing game for years until lightning struck the server. I was captain of my high school debate team. People don’t get much nerdier than me, and I love the Big Bang theory, imperfect though it may be!
I’m a physicist and a nerd. I enjoy the show. The jokes to me are funny. Sorry, just because you say it’s so, doesn’t make it that way. They do hire a real live scientist to fact check them. So yeah, I’ll keep enjoying the show.
this post is SHIT… TBBT rocks!!!!!
As usual, the author of this article has no idea what a nerd or a geek are. They are two totally different things and most of the characters on this show usually show sides of both. Also, as a science nerd myself, the jokes frequently are funny. You are talking about sitcom formula. So what? EVERY sitcom has that formula. Further more, if the you cared to research a bit, you would learn that the writers actually do work with a physicist so the jokes and storylines make sense to those that know about such things (which it seems you don’t), so move along.
I find this fascinating. Regardless of what anyone thinks of the show, positive or negative, at the end of the year the show will be number one; the stars will have made a shitload of money; and the show will be back for at least two or three more seasons before it rides off into the sunset on top of the ratings heap. IOW, it doesn’t matter what you or I think of the show, or whether or not nerds like it, or whether or not someone understands the difference between a nerd and geek, or any of that extraneous crap. The bottom line is, the show is a hit and there isn’t a goddamn thing you can do about it except switch the channel.
For the record, I’ve always loved the show, and I think it’s one of the funniest shows on TV. And unlike some of you, I don’t need for everyone else to agree with me.
Who cares about all this crap. The show is freaking hysterical!
My 1st husband was a nerd; a brain like Sheldon and tied to his mommy like Howard. We had 2 friendly divorces (I divorced his mother!) My 2nd husband is a math nerd and a great guy, but a nerd he is! We both love the show because it reminds us of so many of our nerdy friends. My nerd hubbies both love sci-fi, hub#1 talked like Sheldon but was kind-hearted like Leonard. I could be a nerd if I hadn’t been so bored in school and slept through most of it. The show brings me many smiles and I am always saying, “Wow! that’s just like so and so!” I even loved a nerd in high school that was built like a handsome hunk…a rare find in a nerd…He’s the one that got away and today is a multimillionaire *sigh*
Nerds are wonderful !!!
So I’m not a real nerd because I don’t hate TBBT?
The same could be said for several shows, why single this one out? Because the writer of the article isn’t a fan that’s why.
Whenever someone tells me they like BBT, I ask if they’ve seen The I.T. Crowd, and the answer is inevitably, “No.”
BLAH BLAH BLAH!!! You sound like whiny babies who didn’t get their dinner and sent to bed HUNGRY!! BIG BANG IS FUNNY AWESOME AND SORRY BUT WE LIKE IT AND MORE PEOPLE LIKE IT THEN DON’T IT’S WHY IT’S BEEN ON THE AIR SO LONG!!! GET OVER THE COMPLAINING AND GO OUT AND GET SOME FRESH AIR THEN COME BACK AND THINK OF NEW THINGS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!!!
Reads like a sad effort at being an actual intellectual. If you know it’s network TV and you know who created it then you know what to expect so why have a big fat bitch and moan about it? Oh wait, because you feel it doesn’t deserve the success it’s had. You know the exact same thing could be said about Friends right? Get over yourself mate.
Good grief…it’s a sitcom and very funny…get a grip man!!
I love the show. My son has autism and I have NEVER thought they made fun of individuals with autism. The character of Sheldon shows traits of autism which is why people think that. He doesn’t like change, he can go on and on about the same things, he doesn’t get sarcasm, doesn’t like strange people, and doesn’t like people touching (or sitting) his things (or on his spot on the couch). The word “Bazinga” has been put all over shirts, a lot of which autism parents by (BTW, my son has one). And Howard did eventually get married to a beautiful wife which shows me that even geeks can get the girl. If it weren’t about science then it wouldn’t even be called the Big Bang Theory. This show is awesome and I love Sheldon!!
I think it’s cute when faux nerds try to pass themselves off as nerds and then claim that their opinions represent those of nerds.
First, if you consider yourself a sci-fi fan or a Trekkie, or pronounced the old name of the SyFy network the way they pronounced it, you’re a a faux nerd and can leave the room. Science fiction fans abbreviate it as SF, not sci-fi. Star Trek fans are Trekkers, not Trekkies. And, the proper pronunciation of “sci fi” (*especially* the old network) is like “Skippy”, but with “f” sounds instead of “p” sounds.
I am a nerd. My B.S. major is in computer science and my minor is in electronics engineering technology. I have an Extra class ham radio operator license. I’ve been a computer geek since the days of the S-100 bus. I’ve been supporting computers for decades. I’ve been a comic book fan for decades. I participated in weekly roleplaying games for decades. I started playing Magic: the Gathering at GEN CON the year it came out.
If you consider yourself a nerd just because you text all the time or know to use Facebook or an iPhone or how to rip music from a CD, then all I can say is “Bah, you big phony.”
I didn’t learn of TBBT until it was in its fifth season. One day, a UNIX admin co-worker recommended it. Later that same week, the owner of the used book/game/comic shop I’ve frequented for decades recommended it. So, I decided to give it a try …
And, I LOVED it. I still do. Yeah, sometimes there are dumb things, and characters don’t behave in consistent fashions, but it makes me laugh. … sometimes a lot, and frequently at myself. They’ve had scripted discussions that I felt like I could participate in without a script. And, nearly all the computer geeks and comic book fans that I know also love the show.
I think the key to some of the popular shows is when fans can identify with the characters in it. I could see myself in these characters at times. It’s like Doctor Who, where we know we couldn’t be the Doctor, but we could see ourselves as his companion, a necessary part of formula for the show.
I do have one big complaint, though. Why does Sheldon not like Babylon 5? Why would he draw the line there? It was *way* better than DS9! :-)
Why can’t people just let other people watch what they want, laugh at what they want. If you do not think it is funny, turn the channel over to another of the hundreds of channels on the TV or internet, I am sure you can find something that suits your tastes. Apparently a LOT of people think it is funny or they would not make a million and episode. et those of us who like it, like it and those of you who don’t, oh well sorry you have no sense of humor.
Those of you who are being critical of Big Bang Theory really need to lighten up. The show is not supposed to be taken this seriously. With the events happening in the world I relish anything that will put a smile on my face. This show makes me laugh every time I watch it. For that reason alone I defend it’s premise. If you don’t want to watch Big Bang then turn on Real Housewives of some town. You’ll want to slice your wrists after five minutes.
okay when my google alert showed me this article my first reaction was WTF.
Come one guys, we have to understand that this show was meant for laughs. And okay fine, sometimes it can get insulting for those who actually see theirselves in the different characters or how this is just a loosely based reality kind of show but really?
This show was able to make so many people laugh so hard. This show was able to capture the attention of the people not only from the US but also in other countries as well.
So yea, maybe for you this show isn’t really that great, but it is to others. So suck it up and get over it. No one tells you, the shows you watch sucks. Or if ever they did, I wouldn’t be surprised, maybe you just have bad taste in shows. Or you’re waaaaay too serious with life. Live my dear. You need to, to be able to enjoy. Just saying.
“But for those willing to defend the show, I’d simply ask this: If the writers don’t care, and think you won’t notice… what does that imply that they think about their audience?”
Not a big fan of the show, but I’ll bite.
Who’s to say that they think you won’t notice that they aren’t trying too hard to appeal to actual nerds. You said it yourself, their target audience is the average television viewer, not the type of people they are portraying in their show. Do you really think they don’t appreciate their audience? What they’re doing is (quite obviously) working, so that must mean that they are entertaining a large group of people.
I think that criticism like this is just silly. Acting as if your own taste is superior in public makes you look like an asshat, but do it on your blog and you’re a demigod to those that agree. The Internet has already shown that they don’t like the show, so you’re really just shooting at an easy target. This article is all shitty commentary, no facts, and appeals to the target audience of this website. Doesn’t that mean you’re just as bad as them? What does that imply you think about your audience?
I don’t understand why there is all this hate for hate for the show. I’m a nerd and a massive Star Trek fan and I love the show. To say that the show is generic and can be plugged into any situation and place (read science/sports) the same can be said for any show on tv. There are so few “original” ideas and people are generally comfortable with what is familiar and that they can relate to. Jim Parsons deserves his award because he is a wonderful actor and the monologues he has to regurgitate are amazing and noteworthy. You can try – without tripping over your tongue. Good luck.
Not every show is for everyone. I personally do enjoy TBBT because regardless of its nerd premise, the personalities of the characters are entertaining and the jokes are valid to any stereotypical group. I would like to note that Chuck Lorre is NOT the only writer for the show. He co-created TBBT with a writer who had previously worked as a programmer and the show is based on that man’s friends/roommates/colleagues from college. You don’t have to like the show, but some people do. There’s no need to be so degrading. To each his/her own.
I just love TBBT. Maybe i’m stupid but hey, who gives a fuck.
LADY THEY SHOULD CALL YOU JAWS! WHY! BECAUSE NO ONE TOLOD THEM THAT IT WAS SAFE TO GET INTO WATER! POINT WELL MADE AND NICELY DONE!
Talk about in-depth analysis? This article is about as valid as one claiming you should hate “The Honeymooners” for inaccuracies in depicting the occupational details of bus drivers and sewer workers. It’s a sitcom. Sitcoms create humor through the tension of human interaction between quirky yet likable characters. Yeah, that’s a formula. And TBBT consistently delivers. The fact that you compare a show using actual (and talented) actors to one using animated characters is telling.
I’m not a nerd and I can’t stand that show. Isn’t that Blossem girl pretty nerdy in real life?
The guy who wrote this is full of himself and has no fucking idea what he is talking about. A very dangerous combination. I hope he does the right thing and refrains from breeding, or better yet dies of a self inflicted stroke and choke in his parent’s basement so he can spare us all any more of his critiques…Have a nice day :)
Who cares what real nerds say and think, they are used to be ignored anyways. The show is funny. Get a sense of humor if you really get worked up about a sitcom.
I feel I have two personalities (at lease as everyone does) I have the side that is a total girly girl and probably more in tune with Penny but I also have my nerdy side in which I love Star Trek and Star Wars and all the others so I do find that I relate well to all the characters Even Bernadet who is very bubbly (that is totally me) and Amy who has a past of being a punch bag for bullies (unfortunately I have experienced that in my past but I was always a better dresser lol). The thing is that not everyone likes the same things and other people should not be dictating what people like and do not like. Especially people who have not even watched a show to know what it is all about. At one point in this article they said there was a character who was unemployed and living with his mother. Try watching the show once in a while. The character who was unemployed and living with his parents was an extra in an episode where the guys went looking for someone who had stolen from Sheldon in the game War Of World Craft. He was not a regular on the shoe (however I can name some real people who are unemployed and living with their parents and play video games all the time) The only full time character who lived with his mother was Howard who was employed at the university as an engineer. A year or two ago he went to space and married Bernadette (before going to space) and he lives with his wife in an apartment. He definitely has a strange relationship with his mum but that is one of the funny things about the character. It did just occur to me though that there is another character you may be thinking about. The comic book store owner who went to live with Howard’s mother after his store burned down. Another odd relationship and he was unemployed after the burning of his store, but it was a fun story line and again if you actually watched the show you would have known that was not an unemployed person living with his mum. That is just one of the many mistakes you made in this article. Bottom line, learn some thing about the subject you are writing about before going on about it and making yourself look like an idiot.
OK. My husband is the buy if you look up Geek in the dictionary you find his picture there, and The Big Bang Theory is one of his favorite shows. He owns all the episodes, and watches the reruns just for fun. I like the show, but both he, and my son (the two geeks in the house) LOVE the show. So if it’s not geared towards Geeks, who do the geeks around here like the show so much? Just asking? In this household you may as well say “I’m Penny” LOL.
Aloha, Bonnie
“Futurama mocks nerds all the time, but it earns it because it’s pretty incisively observed”
“the show earns it because it’s clearly written by people who have been to the conventions, who have spent far too much time obsessing over the show, and who one day realized they were too obsessed and let it go.”
I’m sorry but this is some elitism level bullshit of an argument. Stating who is qualified to poke fun at certain people/subgroups IS NOT an exact science, even though it seems like you (and many of these specific haters of the show) seemed to have tricked yourselves into thinking it is.
Why are the writers of TBBT any less qualified to poke fun at nerd culture, than the writers of Scrubs being qualified to poke fun at the people who work in a hospital DESPITE the fact that no one really comes from the medical field that worked on that show, even in the vaguest sense. Yet people consistently praise Scrubs for ACCURATELY portraying the hospital environment.
Also IMO people like you Dan Seitz who claim to be REAL NERDS (as if there was only ONE WAY to qualify who a nerd is in this world) yet shun people WHO DARE like something that you or a group of people don’t, are more toxic to nerd culture than TBBT is on its WORST DAY.
Sperman can’t fly, Batman does not exist, Robin can’t lay eggs, Spiderman can not spin a web, Mr. Freeze can not Freeze things with a freeze gun……………… The Big Bang Theory is Funny show….Get over it.
Why does this article suggest that I should hate TBBT. Can’t I decide for myself? ……As a side note. My son is a computer geek, he doesn’t like Big Bang that well……Says it hits too close to home. The only difference between his friends and the characters on the show, is that there are more girls on the show.
Really why must we place people with intelligence into subculturals anyhow. Does it serve some inner moral purpose? I think not if the basic human species could not have a terminal in which to base complaints upon I don’t feel they would experiance happiness at all.
As soon as I read the ‘why you should too’ part, I knew this article was going to be stupid. TBBT does quite a good job at capturing ‘geek speak’. As a nerd, with a bunch of nerd friends we all laugh at this show, primarily because it does a pretty good job at the actual conversations we have.
Yes, it exaggerates things quite a bit, but that’s where the humor come in… but from Dungeons and Dragons, to Star Trek TBBT captures those geeky moments in ways that only someone who’s ‘been there’ can. While the guy who created the show might not be one of them, its quite obvious the writers are.
But really isn’t that what most TV is, writers/actors milking it until the TV viewer finally gets it and realizes ‘yeah which episode have we seen that before’ the smart writers and actors will realize and figure ‘yeah we made are millions and we’re gettin residuals now, and let’s just not renew the contract and bow out before we get cancelled’ happens all the time, MASH was getting like that and they even admitted it on ‘Bewitched’.
OMG really? i dont give a shit what anyone thinks i love the show, its fun and relaxing, if i want real i will go somewhere depressing or what the news and try find something real on there :O
watch
This whole article is an opinion. How you feel about the show, is your personal opinion…it’s not right or wrong, it’s just what you prefer. Just like nearly every show we see on TV, TBBT has an audience that appreciates it, or it would not survive very long. If it’s not your cup of tea, simple solution, find a show that is.
People not liking the show doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is dan seitz’s elitism. His claim that if you like The Big Bang Theory your not a “nerd”; is EXTREMELY ill founded. Since when was there some list of qualifications as to what makes you a nerd? Or any list of qualifications to be able to poke fun at specific subgroups? Not every nerd on this planet has the same interest.
If this article was simply him not liking the show I could live with that. But he takes it upon himself to try and convince us that only nerds can make fun of other nerds. It basically just feels like he’s re-enacting his childhood by building a club house, then putting up the sign of “No Girls Allowed” because he thinks that girls are incapable of getting/understanding boys.
It’s a narrow minded viewpoint. For example he liked “The Man of Steel” while I absolutely abhor it and don’t get what other people see in it. But I would never use THAT as a way of telling people there not really nerds IF they liked a movie I hated.
Millions love this show and find it funny. So do I. Millions love Friends and find it funny. I don’t. Er, thats it.
The ratings basically say despite what you think, the rest of the world fell in love with it.
I think it is more that nerdy people like to be made fun of, and that is what they are doing.
If the movie revenge of the nerds proved this, then TBBT is basically a continuation. The show goes on because they also are playing it like a soap opera in that new technology is being fantasized, and people want that. Relationships are old but become a part of the show, but I like more about how they come up with creative ways to try and test theory which is what all good scientists are striving for.
Doing it in a comical way is genius.
“Coming Attractions: Nike KD 7 Lifestyle
Sebastian Stan Explains Chris Evans’ Penchant For Boob Grabbing
Why Real Nerds Hate ‘The Big Bang Theory’ (And Why You Should Too) ”
Sorry jackass,I will determine for myself if I should or should not like the show. I’m not a sheep like you. Typical American, tell others what they should or should not like.
I have been watching TBBT since it started – I find it truly entertaining. I like ending my day with a few good laughs, which I don’t find much of on TV anymore.
Ok, I don’t know who you think you are, but seriously every comedian worth his/her salt has always said true stuff is the funniest stuff. and maybe the science of show isn’t perfect. But, I am married to a nerd. He was always a nerd, he will always be a nerd. And he thinks the show is a hoot. He lived with a real life sheldon in college as one of his roommates. He also lived with a non jewish version of walowitz as well. He knew some Kuthrapali type people, none of them so shy they had to be drunk to speak to women, but close. And believe me, from the outside looking in I spent more time laughing at those three, in their tiny little dorm room than doing anything else that year. I actually thought back then, that year of his life could have been a sitcom. Like the show if you want. Don’t like the show if you want, but don’t try to force your opinion on other people. Some people get it, and some don’t. And thats completely ok. But, if you don’t like it, just don’t watch it. It’s really that simple. Besides anything is better than all the reality tv drivel that is being shoved down the throats of Americans on a daily basis these days right?
I am a nerd, have been all my life. Have nerds friends with many of the same personality traits as some of the characters. I think the show is funny. It is a frigging sitcom. If you have to seriously think about the jokes, they are Not funny…hence Community’s ratings Suckling out. Call it what you will, you are still a lame blogger, while the show remains extremely popular after 8 seasons. I think you are most likely a failed writer that has to resort to bashing other writers work, because you can’t actually get your work published, or can’t sell your script. Go back to your mom’s basement and keep “publishing” your work. Hope your day job at 7-11 keeps your gas tank full….how cow, I just posted my writing online….I’M A BLOGGER NOW!!!
Ok, so I’ve only got three degrees, and as they’re in law, psychology and nursing perhaps even a lifetime of Star Trek and Star Wars conventions doesn’t make me a proper ‘nerd’, but I enjoy the show. If you don’t, feel free to turn off. I don’t like a lot of American sitcoms, but I don’t feel the need to write in and criticise them, their viewers, their writers and anyone who posts any damn thing about them. Laugh whenever you can, unless your life is so amazing you never needed or enjoyed a chuckle from a tv show.
mmmkay so this entire article is an opinion…. and despite the fact you guys are “real” nerds Stephen Hawking who openly said he loved the show and has loved being on it twice or more now is not? real nice wording there…..
My nephew graduated from Cal Tech. He said these are his people. He said its a great portrayal of them.
I REALLY dislike the portrayal of women on the show besides that it has bearable short comings.
BBT stated with three solid story lines that made it a favorite with viewers. One was nerdy Leonard, who was a failure with women, living across the hall from a beauty, Penny, who trotted numerous idiot boyfriends past his door to her bed. Some of the best shows are watching Leonard try and fail to impress Penny. Second was Howard the sex fiend, who was Leonard on steriods. The third was simply Sheldon.
For some reason, the writers decided to turn loser Leonard into a stud, who jumped from the doctor, Leslie, Raj’s sister, to the grand prize: Penny. Linking Leonard with Penny removed 1/3 of the show’s best story lines because it removed the boyfriends (remember Zack) and Leonard’s reaction to rejection. This has led to the most boring couple on TV because there is no chemistry between Johnnie and Kaley.
Finally, the writers married off Leonard and turned him into a man-child husband with a bossy wife. The actress that plays the wife is good but not good enough to replace the loss of sex fiend Howard.
The show is too far down the wrong roads to make reverse the mistakes so the show is probably headed for cancellation at the end of the current contract.
Wow. You actually said real nerds. I guess that means you and the people you judge suitable to be called a real nerd. We already have a word for what I think would suit you. But its very rude. Anyway, time for some internet porn and possibly a “real nerd”.