Recently, I tried to introduce CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory to a good friend of mine. Like me, this friend plants himself squarely and proudly among the members of geek culture – the gamers, the comic book readers, the ‘geeks’ and ‘nerds’ – that BBT claims to be about.
To my surprise (and I’ll fully admit, consternation) he absolutely hated it. When I asked him why, he answered in a way that got me thinking. As a member of the geek culture that the show attempts to portray, he felt that BBT spends much of its time laughing at us rather than with us. As an avid watcher of the show who has never felt this way, I was more than a little surprised. So, while watching the new season, or catching a rerun, I’ve kept his reaction in mind and tested it against my own feelings on the matter.
I found that while I understand and share the suspicion of mainstream mockery that geek culture is used to, I don’t believe that The Big Bang Theory is one of the culprits. In fact, I would argue that it has even served to advance the acceptance of geek culture today as something more than teenage escapism or the mental image most people have of a twenty-something unshaven guy playing Halo in his parents’ basement.
Here are three reasons why, well into its sixth season, The Big Bang Theory remains not only one of the funniest shows on TV, but also one of the most subversively important.
1. Welcome To The Mainstream, Mr. Spock.
It’s no secret that BBT is a runaway hit for the CBS network. Co-created and shepherded by the famous (and/or infamous, depending on your outlook) Chuck Lorre, the show is in its sixth season – in other words, retirement age for most sitcoms – and still pulls in an average of 15 million viewers each week. At first look, it doesn’t make sense that a show conceived as being about scientists who can barely talk to girls and who go to the comic book store religiously has found itself on top of the television comedy mountain. For years, geeks and nerds have been nothing if not sidelined in popular culture – and when they do appear, it is usually to be maligned.
But in recent years, those trends have changed. Geek culture has stormed its way into the mainstream without adapting to suit the guys who used to make fun of you in high school for wearing your favorite Star Wars t-shirt. Thanks to Marvel’s superhero movies and Christopher Nolan’s groundbreaking Batman franchise, among others, the geeks have inherited the earth. Following this logic, BBT was the advance scout for the main expeditionary force we’ve now become so aware of.
The show’s broad (if not always perfectly deep) range of references to science fiction shows, comic books, and scientific principles helped obliquely introduce mainstream America to the sorts of things we geeks take for granted – and make them interesting to people who had never heard of them before. If there’s one thing that geek culture has always been, it’s a place for the people who feel like they might not belong anywhere else, and BBT helps open those welcoming doors a little bit wider.
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10 Comments
I really like TBBT, but I’ve always preferred Two and a Half Men, I just laugh a whole lot more at that
Thank you for the article. You do not know how I share your sentiment at being at wonder as to why people would take the show as “mainstream” laughing AT geeks. Like what you said in your 2nd reason, it is allowing us to laugh at ourselves. That is exactly how I find the series: it lets me relate to the characters, identify with them and not feel bad about myself because for having that kind of personality or having been in that kind of situation being portrayed means I am definitely not the only person in the entire planet to have experienced that or have read that comic book or have seen that movie. It has also taken the pathetic things I have in life and made it hilarious.
One of the reasons I think some “geeks” are insulted and that they think the series is making fun of them is they are over protective of their “culture” and that they think it should remain sacred and something that only “real geeks” could appreciate. They think it’s not laughing matter and there’s nothing funny with being able to relate to those characters or get the references.
I agree 100%. You nailed it, especially the last part about “real geeks”. If the geek crowd feels insulted by it, it’s more because they feel the culture is something that should be kept as somewhat of an inside joke amongst themselves, and not shared with the world.
Thanks for the response, Anjelica! You make a great point that as viewers, besides letting us laugh at ourselves, the show also helps us realize we’re not alone in the things we like or the experiences we’ve had.
I am mostly impressed by how clever the writing is, in that they deviate from the classic episodic TV plot design.
In the Big Bang Theory, none of the characters are ever ” right ” all the time. None of the characters are ever ” wrong ” all the time. The producers are not afraid of allowing their characters to display both negative and positive traits.
In every TV show I can think of, the hero is always the hero.
” Gunsmoke’s ” Matt Dillion was always the hero. Capt. Kirk was always the hero. Hawkeye in ” M*A*S*H ” was always right. Imagine an episode of Gunsmoke where Matt Dillion was wrong and the viewer knows he was wrong ?
Most of the time Sheldon is wrong, but sometimes Sheldon is right. Sometimes, Sheldon gets to be the hero. And, they do this with all the characters.
No matter how many times a character is shown being self centered and insipid, they are then also shown in a sympathetic approving light. I think this is one reason for the show’s popularity. I think viewers identify with this duality in the characters personalities. It makes them more loveable.
No other TV show that I can think of really does this.
That’s a great point, Amon! You’ve very succinctly summed up something about the show that I agree is often lacking in today’s comedy. Many shows have characters that exist solely as stereotypes or are only around to serve as mechanisms to the story – a choice which removes the possibility of any consistent character development and, over time, makes it more difficult to identify with said characters.
Big bang theory hasn’t been funny since season 3 (before all new characters were introduced and started to become a traditional friends rip-off (removing every bit i liked about the show)).
Thanks for the response, Bill! I find it really interesting that you feel the show has taken a downturn since S3, as I felt that that was when it really came into its own. Granted, they do follow in many ways the sitcom model most recently presented by Friends, but if the model’s not broken, why fix it?
I agree with Bill, it hasn’t been as good as it was since season 4.
And still, groundbreaking? I think that’s a a bit of a stretch.
Amon is right 100% – I’ve always been impressed with how BBT manages to keep from “Fonzi-fying” the show. No one’s always right, no one’s really a stereotype… I think of Sheldon’s mother, played by Laurie Metcalf. She could be a one-note joke, laughable and easily put down, but instead, you get someone smart enough to deal with Sheldon.