Poll of the Day > I unapologetically like Big Bang Theory and don't get the hate

(+) Yeah! (+)

Bazinga!

(yes I do like the show. Haven't seen Young Sheldon yet though)

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none of us are surprised

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Sitcom cliches
Dumb, cheap humor and stereotypes
Unrealistic and unlikeable characters
Shallow pop culture pandering

I don't even see what the appeal is. It's ostensibly about smart people but the show itself is dumb, yet for some reason everyone continued to cling on this idea that it's a sitcom for nerds

Oh look another shitty thing you like, ok?

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It's nerd blackface

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DirtBasedSoap posted...

none of us are surprised

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its not that it appropriates nerd culture or whatever, its that its hacky and not funny. Its jokes for the LCD.

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I hate also how the characters are like "nerds" and "geeks" at the same time. They're astrophysicist professors at a university or whatever, but also pop culture dorks who make Star Trek references in daily life. They aren't buyable as academics at all, it just seems like lazy writing to be like "hmm well we gotta make the geeks look smart!"

Its a boring show, a lot of the humour is forced and the characters definitely feel forced. I could never got into it

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CoorsLight posted...

They're astrophysicist professors at a university or whatever, but also pop culture dorks who make Star Trek references in daily life

I don't see the problem here

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Clench281 posted...

the problem

I think his point was at the bottom of the post, that it is unrealistic:

CoorsLight posted...

aren't buyable as academics

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Maybe I can't explain it right but I just don't find the characters believable. It feels like they meshed together a couple of character archetypes that are vaguely related but don't fit together

Academics do make nerdy pop culture references in daily life

Not all of them, of course, but plenty do

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The fact that they have a Halo night is unrealistic.
Statistically speaking in a group of 4 friends you'll have at least one who thinks Halo sucks.

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I watched every episode last year with my gf. Enjoyable show. Dont get the hate at all.

Academics have some odd personalities when you get working closely with them. Ive known a few very heavily into pop culture references, some into odd things with weird quirks, and one that used an idiom every few sentences and emailed in unintelligible word shortenings.

I mean its a sitcom, situations and personalities will stretch for entertainment. I cant think of a popular comedy sitcom after Friends came out where characters and situations generally werent ridiculous.

I thought everyone liked that show?

I don't really watch that kind of show, like I never watched friends or any of the other popular sitcoms.

I found the first few seasons entertaining enough, but it really just dragged on far longer than hamfisted "look guys we're so nerdy and awkward!" jokes could carry it, and I lost interest.

Clench281 posted...

I don't see the problem here

It's mostly that they just cram all the nerdy things into every one of the characters. The whole "nerd blackface" critique perhaps goes a bit far in that it's not nearly as hurtful and doesn't have nearly the same discirminatory history of actual blackface, but it's not inaccurate: They made the characters by cramming as many nerdy stereotypes and pop culture references in as possible, which - as somebody who is actually nerdy and knows plenty of nerdy people - is just too unrealistic to be anything but cringy, more often than not. It's largely a matter of trying to appeal to a mainstream audience that will say "lol, what a nerd," just like blackface is trying to appeal to a white audience that will say "lol, what a *redacted*." That's not to say it can't be funny to play up stereotypes like that, but the novelty wears off pretty quickly if there isn't enough other interesting content to prop it up and/or if it's too hamfisted.

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I'm not a big fan of sitcoms tbh

Though I do enjoy HIMYM and Married... with Children

I would say anti sitcoms are better, such as Always Sunny and That 70s show

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It's funny.

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Clench281 posted...

Bazinga!

Same.


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Muscles posted...

I'm not a big fan of sitcoms tbh

Though I do enjoy HIMYM and Married... with Children

I would say anti sitcoms are better, such as Always Sunny and That 70s show

30 Rock and Broad City are probably my favorite

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It's a dumb sitcom but I like dumb sitcoms soooo

Also That 70s Show is a 100% traditional sitcom lol

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I never really understood the hate either. As someone who grew up with sticoms, it does everything that a million other sitcoms from the 80's and 90's did as well. It takes a single premise, repeats the joke for 8 - 10 seasons until people stop thinking it's funny, and goes away. That is literally the definition of a sitcom. I mean sure, nowadays sitcoms aren't nearly as common as they are now but that doesn't mean that one show is automatically the devil incarnate.

I honestly have a lot more hate for shows that try to hide that they are sitcoms like The Office or Community. Not Parks and Recreation though, I liked that one for some reason (probably Chris Pratt, dude is hilarious. Oh, and of course Nick Offerman).

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Dikitain posted...

I honestly have a lot more hate for shows that try to hide that they are sitcoms like The Office or Community.

I don't think you watched those shows right.

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I like saying Bazinga! to make people mad or to make them laugh.

As far as the show goes it's REALLY BORING for me, but that's just imo. I find 99% of TV super boring, and 99.99% of sitcom material falls there. Too scripted, jokes that don't elicit the same reaction as in real life...if I like a series it's usually for 2 seasons. The Office (British) is great, the American one should have ended sooner. Freaks & Geeks is great. First couple seasons of That 70s Show.

as far as TV goes I only watched The Mandalorian, The Eric Andre Show and F is for Family in the past year.

Zareth posted...

It's nerd blackface

ahhahahahahaha omg

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I could never focus on Parks + Rec or Community, even though they both can make me laugh when friends show me it (especially Parks + Rec, although I feel if I sat down and watched it, I would want it to end after 2-3 seasons lmao). My friends were surprised I didn't like Arrested Development. Something just seems really forced in that show and I can't quite put my finger on it.

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I'm obviously in a minority here. Through the course of the 90s/00s, sitcoms just seemed awful to me. Home Improvement, Friends, Everyone Loves Raymond, Roseanne, and whatever the hell else.

Seinfeld seemed to have funnier and more realistic premises overall to me, even though it upped the absurdity level. Probably makes me a hypocrite for thinking this, so I'll concede that.

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Zareth posted...

The fact that they have a Halo night is unrealistic.
Statistically speaking in a group of 4 friends you'll have at least one who thinks Halo sucks.

If the one who thinks it sucks still agrees to play, then you have a viable target and should go nuts with a Needler on them.

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ReturnOfFa posted...

I'm obviously in a minority here. Through the course of the 90s/00s, sitcoms just seemed awful to me. Home Improvement, Friends, Everyone Loves Raymond, Roseanne, and whatever the hell else.

Seinfeld seemed to have funnier and more realistic premises overall to me, even though it upped the absurdity level. Probably makes me a hypocrite for thinking this, so I'll concede that.

The worst one was 2 and a half men

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Clench281 posted...

The worst one was 2 and a half men

Right!

Although one time I laughed when he (not sure which of the guys) looked at the former child character and said "I used to take shits as big as you"

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Clench281 posted...

The worst one was 2 and a half men

Haha, I actually liked that one. And of course, same creator as The Big Bang Theory (Chuck Lorre).

Speaking of That 70's Show, does anyone remember That 80's Show? I think I only watch the first episode, and the only memory I have of it was thinking the main character's sister was kind of cute (in a 80's valley girl kind of way).

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It's a show created by Boomers and is funny only to Boomers.

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Dikitain posted...

Speaking of That 70's Show, does anyone remember That 80's Show? I think I only watch the first episode, and the only memory I have of it was thinking the main character's sister was kind of cute (in a 80's valley girl kind of way).

I did watch That 80's Show. It was a lot weaker than That 70's Show but I still enjoyed it for what it was.

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raj had almost zero character development
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It actually is a very funny show... Unfortunately it's one of those shows that has become subject to the "cool to hate something" bandwagon.

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Krazy_Kirby posted...

raj had almost zero character development

Didn't he have the MOST development?

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Metalsonic66 posted...

Didn't he have the MOST development?

he became able to talk to women w/o being drunk, not much else...
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Krazy_Kirby posted...

he became able to talk to women w/o being drunk, not much else...

Pretty much

I would say Howard was the most developed, went from Creepy perv to Loving Husband and Father

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Dikitain posted...

I honestly have a lot more hate for shows that try to hide that they are sitcoms like The Office or Community. Not Parks and Recreation though, I liked that one for some reason (probably Chris Pratt, dude is hilarious. Oh, and of course Nick Offerman).

The fuck are you talking about? How are the Office and Community hiding that they're sitcoms?

OH NOES IT DOESNT HAVE A LAUGH TRACK IT MUST BE TRYING TO PRETEND ITS NOT A SITCOM

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CoorsLight posted...

Sitcom cliches
Dumb, cheap humor and stereotypes
Unrealistic and unlikeable characters
Shallow pop culture pandering

I don't even see what the appeal is. It's ostensibly about smart people but the show itself is dumb, yet for some reason everyone continued to cling on this idea that it's a sitcom for nerds

It's typical Chuck Lorre drivel catered to the lowest common denominator. That's why his shows always get seven or more years on the air. Two and a Half Men was his best effort and even that went downhill five or six years in its run.

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Smarkil posted...

The fuck are you talking about? How are the Office and Community hiding that they're sitcoms?

OH NOES IT DOESNT HAVE A LAUGH TRACK IT MUST BE TRYING TO PRETEND ITS NOT A SITCOM

It's not so much not the laugh track, but parts where I guess you were supposed to laugh. I have that issue with later Malcolm in the Middle episodes. It's been a long time since I've seen it, but there were a number of episodes where it didn't feel like a sitcom compared to the first few seasons.

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Ogurisama posted...

I would say Howard was the most developed, went from Creepy perv to creepy pervy Husband and Father

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I unapologetically like Big Bang Theory

Stuff like this is why I believe everything you do is a gimmick.

CoorsLight posted...

Sitcom cliches
Dumb, cheap humor and stereotypes
Unrealistic and unlikeable characters
Shallow pop culture pandering

I don't even see what the appeal is. It's ostensibly about smart people but the show itself is dumb, yet for some reason everyone continued to cling on this idea that it's a sitcom for nerds

Plus all of their references are shallow as fuck. They make Family Guy's references look deep by comparison.


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The moment in the show that gets me is in the episode where Howard is given the task of throwing the first pitch at a baseball game. The whole episode is spent making fun of Howard for not being able to throw a baseball. Then at the end of the episode Howard decides to use the Mars Rover to deliver the pitch instead. This seemed like a really cool and creative way of lettting him win and paying off the episode.

But nope, instead the robot doesn't work out and he ends up getting boo'd by everyone.

And that is basically how the show works, hammering nerd stereotypes for the sake of comedy and never let them have any victories. It gets annoying.

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EvilMegas posted...

I don't think you watched those shows right.

Dude thinks hes watching an office documentary that just happens to have humour in it lol

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Zeus posted...

Plus all of their references are shallow as fuck. They make Family Guy's references look deep by comparison.

Family Guy (especially modern Family Guy) is way worse than Big Bang Theory ever was

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I don't HATE it, it's just incredibly cliche, unfunny 90% of the time, etc. Watch a few episodes on youtube with the laugh track removed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ib889nSZVU

Goosebumps posted...

I don't HATE it, it's just incredibly cliche, unfunny 90% of the time, etc. Watch a few episodes on youtube with the laugh track removed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ib889nSZVU

The pacing of the acting and editing is done with the laugh track in mind. Of course it's going to feel off/awkward when you remove it and replace it with silence.

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they're "nerds" but none of them like eroge

they're just what boring people think nerds (and in the case of Sheldon, an autist) are

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DrPrimemaster posted...

The moment in the show that gets me is in the episode where Howard is given the task of throwing the first pitch at a baseball game. The whole episode is spent making fun of Howard for not being able to throw a baseball. Then at the end of the episode Howard decides to use the Mars Rover to deliver the pitch instead. This seemed like a really cool and creative way of lettting him win and paying off the episode.

But nope, instead the robot doesn't work out and he ends up getting boo'd by everyone.

And that is basically how the show works, hammering nerd stereotypes for the sake of comedy and never let them have any victories. It gets annoying.

I think what it comes down to is that it's a show that was dated before it ever even started. Nerd culture exploded in the 2000's which is when the show started. But the content they ascribe to nerds is something that I would have seen in the 80's as a depiction of what nerds are - obsessed with comic/video games, fat and/or unathletic, don't get women, don't understand social norms, etc.

But by the time it came out nerd culture became something that was shared across 'non nerd' boundaries. Dudebros were playing Halo, everyone started to love superhero movies, 'nerds' were becoming icons on youtube, etc. It'd be like creating a show now about gay stereotypes from the 90's.

At the end of the day it really doesn't matter. People like what they like. But it's so absurdly unfunny to me. I don't find it funny as a 'jock' and I don't find it funny as a 'nerd'. I don't know what people are getting out of it.

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