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[Harlock]

So, I has been watching the first seasons and is a lot of fun. In early 2000s I had a group of friends who would meet every Friday night at a comic shop, and a lot of the show’s situations were similar. XD

 

[LegendOfKage]

Generally speaking, because too often "nerd does nerd thing" is the punchline rather than the premise for a clever joke. At least that's always been the impression I got from the show.

 

[RagnarokIV]

Crap and unfunny.

 

[winjer]

A lot of the jokes are making fun of nerds. Not so much making fun with nerds.
So the show has a stigma of punching down.

The show also has a major problem with the relation between Penny and Leonard.
She is a train wreck of a person, with a ton of problematic relationships, on a dead end job. Leonard is a successful scientist, with good carer and a high paying job.
But somehow, Leaonard is portrayed as being the lucky one to have snatched Penny, just because she is pretty.

 

[wipeout364]

Because we are all creationists on neoGAF.

 

[The Cockatrice]

no hate from me. I watched it until the end and enjoyed it up until i dnno its last 3 seasonsish but was still ok. I think the issue was that it could never live up to Two and a Half Men which was fantastic.

 

[SaintALia]

My wife liked it. I remember her showing it to me back in the day because she thought I would like it. Sat down and watched it with her and never laughed. Watched a couple different episodes, my feelings stayed the same. I never thought it was good. Just a lot of references and tepid, low effort jokes. But she loved it and it was really popular at the time and became much more popular over time, so I figured it was just another popular thing I didn't get.

Can't say I 'hate' it though, but I do agree with winjer that it seems to be poking more fun at nerds/geeks than laughing with them, but I only watched a couple episodes so I can't truly weigh in on that. And the numerous references are likely bait for said nerds/geeks to watch, so I dunno.

 

[MMaRsu]

American cringe humor with a laugh track..

 

[Chuck Berry]

Try watching it without the laugh track

 

[SkylineRKR]

Like so many series it falls of a cliff after 3 seasons or so. Because it does what so many series do over the halfway point

Spoiler

Everyone eventually hooks up with one another, they introduce babies, and the guy with the non talking to girls issue? guess what

But I read some good points here. its indeed cringe humor with a laugh track. If you really pay attention, they even laugh if someone says he's going to the bathroom or something mundane. Also I never thought about it but its true, Leonard is supposed to be lucky to be hooking up to some low life train wreck that barely works jobs and is clearly dysfunctional. Just because he's a nerd. In real life a guy like that would be loaded and way above such wrecks.

And maybe its me but that guy Sheldon who got the highest paycheck for this show? I couldn't stand him more than a few minutes per episode. Its every time the same punchline over and over. And his constant 'amy farrah fowler'. Just a shit show.

 

[SlicedBread3]

For a lot of people it's because they just watch clips posted online that have been heavily edited or taken out of context.

I'm surprised the "totally unedited" video with the laughtrack removed hasn't been posted here yet.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Big bang was an important comedy show, Sheldon getting unstable and angry at Leonard is great.

 

[Paltheos]

I watched a few episodes a long time ago. I didn't think it was funny. It seemed like just another run-of-the-mill sitcom but with a 'nerd' coat of paint that was just aiming for low-hanging fruit.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

 

[diffusionx]

"Smart science people are super nerds who like all stereotypical nerd stuff" - pretty cringe

That said, putting on the show when it is on syndication for one or two episodes is not the worst. It's entertaining sometimes, unlike that one with the waitresses and booba.

 

[dave_d]

American cringe humor with a laugh track..

Haven't you heard? That's not a laugh track, that's a real audience and Chuck Lorre even bragged they had to make it less funny because the studio audience laughed too much.

In all seriousness though a studio audience is bullshit. I mean they tell them when to laugh with signs, put shills in there as well and even encourage the audience to laugh really hard even at stuff that sucks. Plus they usually have a warm up comedian to get them ready. Long story short the audience is part of the performance and they're manipulated and controlled as much as anything else in the show.(Which means they might as well have a laugh track since the studio audience is nothing more than one these days.

FWIW I never got around to watching the show since it didn't seem to appeal to me. However hearing that garbage from Lorre and basically how far his head is up his own ass only made me glad he never got royalties for the TMNT theme.

 

[GymWolf]

First 2 season were kinda funny but then it gets worse and worse.

 

[AJUMP23]

It isn’t funny. The characters are awful.

 

[lughnasadh123]

No hate, just indifference and slight confusion what the fuss was about.

 

[Fbh]

My family used to watch it back in the day.
It's not terrible but most of the humor is very generic and uninspired. Also personally I think Sheldon is really insufferable which I guess is the point of the character, but the way the show always makes him get away with it isn't really funny or enjoyable IMO.

 

[Doom85]

A lot of the jokes are making fun of nerds. Not so much making fun with nerds.
So the show has a stigma of punching down.

The show also has a major problem with the relation between Penny and Leonard.
She is a train wreck of a person, with a ton of problematic relationships, on a dead end job. Leonard is a successful scientist, with good carer and a high paying job.
But somehow, Leaonard is portrayed as being the lucky one to have snatched Penny, just because she is pretty.

-agreed

-Sheldon and Amy are the only healthy couple (at least in comparison to the others) to my memory. Penny can be very unlikable, but I do think Leonard pushed my patience plenty too at times. Howard would often be a creep at times, but pretty much cleaned up his act when he met Bernadette, but then she becomes just like his mother and needs to work on her temper. Raj is a fucking idiot who whines about how lonely he is and how his friends don’t have much time for him anymore, which could be relatable, except he does meet a good amount of women he could be happy with but either screws it up or is unfaithful.

Sheldon and Amy seem way healthier compared to all that. True, they can each have their own moments of selfishness and such toward the other, but it feels in-character to how they’ve always been and ultimately neither of them felt like they would be better off without the other.

 

[TintoConCasera]

First 2 season were kinda funny but then it gets worse and worse.

I somewhat enjoyed watching those early seasons with some pals at college. We would get high and laugh at the nerdy stuff that we know and love.

After that, the series became less about nerds and more about other shit so we lost interest. Plus those laughing tracks are the worst.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I always thought of this show as being a show for people who aren’t typically a nerd, but want to see nerdy things. My parents watched this show a lot. It’s ok. I use to watch Frazier, so maybe it pleases that “other side”. I’ll buy nerd stuff, so watching nerds isn’t as interesting as it is to someone who only hears about comic con and etc.

With its popularity. I can only imagine how less of a nerd each of the actors and actresses are in real life. It’s like picturing them bullying the nerd, but later in life they played a nerd in a TV show.

 

[Doom85]

If you want to watch an actual excellent comedy series from around that time that has lots of nerd references (focused more on movies and TV series, but there are a bit here and there for video games, cartoons, etc.) in an actual clever way rather than just, “I named a thing! Please laugh!” as well as just great humor in general due to having actual fleshed out characters, then Community is a must watch for you.

Honestly the Emmy nominations drove me crazy. Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard all nominated for Acting. Sheldon, sure, that actor’s great, but Leonard and Howard felt like standard performances to me most of the time. Meanwhile, none of the cast for Community got a single nomination, WTF. At least Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas won Best Animation and Remedial Chaos Theory, one of the best episodes, got nominated for Best Writing, but they should have had way more nominations for the Emmys.

 

[SlimySnake]

It was trash. A few good moments but mostly stuff that was not funny at all.

Two and a Half Men was way funnier.

And yes, Community too.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

then Community is a must watch for you.

Community and arrested development are such a good time.

 

[Mossybrew]

This show felt like a relic of the past even when it was airing. I was pretty much over that standard laugh track/studio audience style sitcom at that point and never had any interest in this show. The format was just totally surpassed by shows like Community, Parks & Rec, The Office, Modern Family, The Middle, etc.

 

[Highway Star]

No hate.
I loved that show.

 

[Big Baller]

 

[Codes 208]

It has its flaws but it also had some funny moments

However i strangely prefer the young sheldon spinoff.

Though one of the funniest things to me was years ago, the actor for sheldon asked on twitter if they should stick with xbox one or switch over to ps4. Even sheldon was getting fed up with xbox’s shit

 

[Mihos]

I liked it!

 

[6502]

It was a good show early on, the nerd jokes got infuriating because they were lazy and often factually incorrect as things moved on.

Raj character was interesting but turned awful due to bad writing. His chemistry with Howard became creepy then he ended up with stupid lines like "I am gonna give it to them so hard when I come out of the closet!" Oh no did that sound gay? *laugh track* the actor was also phoning it in (not that I blame him). It was just lazy.

Penny cut her hair to avoid makeup time, lazy girl. Leonard got fat and whiny.

Sheldon actor quit because he had enough.

The only good characters by the end were Howard, Burnadette and Stuart. Will Weaton too.

So by the law of American TV we are due an awful spin off about Raj.

 

[mitch1971]

Cliche nerd characters. And Sheldon is one annoying fuck who needs a good slap out his 'me me me' attitude.

 

[MayauMiao]

It was funny for a couple of seasons but kind of went downhill after one of them got married.

 

[6502]

However i strangely prefer the young sheldon spinoff.

After 2 seasons the young Sheldon got boring, but the other characters are great and given room to shine. It is more of a family drama with funny bits than the colourful big bang *laugh track* a minute. And it is so much better for it.

 

[Zathalus]

Throw my hat in for a another recommendation regarding community. 30 rock for that matter as well.

 

[Bombolone]

It was wholesome brain dead entertainment back in the day.
Room mate and I used to smoke up and enjoy a few dumb laughs.

My brother hates the show, and was taken back that I enjoyed it.
He finds dumb, corny, goofy characters offensive for some reason.
I told him they aren’t real human characters, just imagine if it was a cartoon.

 

[ClanOfNone]

It was Friends with nerds, and they were both terrible.

 

[NeverYouMind]

It is ironic that a show about smart people has dumber content than some cartoons.

 

[Jinxed]

Haven't seen big bang theory but I watch young Sheldon with my daughter and I catch myself laughing a few times.

 

[StueyDuck]

So, I has been watching the first seasons and is a lot of fun. In early 2000s I had a group of friends who would meet every Friday night at a comic shop, and a lot of the show’s situations were similar. XD

It's very corny... easy to make fun of.

It's hardly hurting anyone but it's not very good tv or comedy either.

It's comedy for the slower folk who think saying bazinga is hilarious

 

[OmegaSupreme]

I got stuck in the er a few months back for 6 hours. The only thing on the tv was this. It's not funny. These guys aren't any nerds I've ever been around.

 

[Hrk69]

It's designed for people with a very low bar for humor

And oh boy, there are a lot of those people around.

 

[nkarafo]

The first seasons were good because the characters were actual sociopath "simp" nerds. That was the hook, it was funny and for many people even relatable. And the episodes would mostly focus on nerd stuff and lore, which again, it was relatable and unique since i don't remember any other sitcom with that premise.

Then they started having relationships, sex, etc. I'm not American but holy hell, if your nerds have so much sex with so many different girls then i really need to move there.

Then the series wasn't about those four guys and their hot neighbor anymore. Now its about those four guys and their four wives/girlfriends. Now the series is about more "serious" stuff like relationships. Basically now it's trying to emulate Friends or something like that.

Yeah i know 'it has to evolve" but i disagree. It doesn't have to. Because now that it did it became shit.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Extremely anecdotal evidence, but I've literally never known anyone funny who likes The Big Bang Theory. It seems to appeal to the unfunny masses.

 

[nkarafo]

But anyway, if you want nerd humor watch The IT Crown instead.

 

[Davevil]

maybe because it doesn't make you laugh and disappears in front of a timeless masterpiece like this?

 

[Ownage]

It was Friends with nerds, and they were both terrible.

At least Chandler was on cocaine.

 

[PSYGN]

I've never seen an episode, but watched 2 min of it just now but had to close out of it. Felt like I was reading Reddit posts. If that's the charm then yeah I guess not for me.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

This show is 100% the reason nerd culture had an influx of normie tourists.

I used to keep my power level so fucking low. I'm glad that phase has ended.