So I have had the misfortune to be watch a lot of Big Bang Theory in the hospital. I have never seen such unlikeable writing paired with such mean spirited and offputting characters. Why was this show popular?
Comments
Log in with your Bluesky account to leave a comment
I think a lot of shows with mean “spirited people” are popular because it interacts with the viewers own negative aspects; it’s like feeding your shadow wolf over your light wolf, but you are taking zero risks
There's no question that I have always had a lot of nerd in me, so I found this show to be really funny. Also, I like "Young Sheldon" even better. To me, it depicts Sheldon as basically a brainy sociopath that was guided by his parents and family to overcome his affliction.
You’re not alone…ALL my friends LOVE this show.
Really? How?Mind-numbing stereotypical cliched characters with a laugh track. I say I hate it, not funny at all,
they say I have to watch more. I say NO…
The only reason I cared about it at all (occasionally, at best) was Sheldon, the AroAce Autistic among a sea of allo allistics (even if those allo allistics were mean as hell to him), and then they fucked that shit up too (with corrective rape of the character), and I stopped watching even for that.
Big Bang is often my escape from the news. It's a great palate cleanser from all the garbage in politics. Sometimes you just need to laugh and not have to analyze plots or characters.
I have never met anyone who's watched it except while forced to, like in your type of situation. Who was watching this? Why was it popular enough to get a young Sheldon?
Should have probably asked for a working remote. I’m sure there were plenty of other shows that you could’ve griped about being forced to watch “a lot”. Or you could’ve picked up a book
You ask this of an audience that gave "The Apprentice" 10 seasons? Because men like Harv Weinstein and Mark Burnette run the entertainment industry. They tell us what to watch and we do, because that's what's on.
Yeah, but...I was watching that with my friend, a lovely although simple-minded girl, and we were laughing sometimes at the same time but at completely opposite things 👀
Show has some issues but I felt like home. (And expressing this definitely halped my therapist refer me to the right tests, lol 😂)
I don’t know and it’s not even the fact that they were mean it’s the fact that they were mean but they were so goddamn annoying and lame themselves. Take a show like Seinfeld where those people are mean but at least they were cool and funny.
Why are incels the new norm for young men? Jfc I’ve only scene clips of that show and it’s like nails on a chalkboard. I imagine it’s all insufferable twats all the way down.
I think it's because it reinforces their world view point? Or they like the idea that you can get any woman if you just keep trying no matter how she actually feels about you?
It started out funny, then devolved into the same mush just like any other sit-com. TV shows are to sell eyeballs to advertisers, the more gullible the head holding them the better.
Because the nerd gets the hot girl. Because the autistic genius is loved and welcomed by the hot girl. Because the autistic genius finds a girl who is like him and loves him. Because it actually celebrates smart people without looking down on dumb people.
Because they represent the nuances of being human
Because people could feel better about themselves by watching those people, and that is the nature of man
I felt is was not really different from many other sitcoms that came before it. Watch Seinfeld, King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond. The characters in all those shows are straight up repugnant, act horribly to others and and are always self serving. Still good for laughs, but…
I could never understand it either. It's misogynist and racist.
The way they treated the Raj character was awful. When they got together to eat, he always sat on the floor while the rest of them sat in chairs. And he was the only male on the show who didn't end up in a relationship with someone.
I always hated people who said “it’s a show for nerds.” No, its a show where the punchlines are still how these “nerds” are so hard for their normal neighbor to relate to
Oh darlin the show was intended for emotionally stable people with an IQ above 60…thus it really wasnt that enjoyable for most people in the US. But I do think Disney is bringing back the ‘Powder Puff Girls’…
My thoughts exactly!
Now, explain why they made a spin-off for the most authentically and completely obnoxious character in the whole group, as a child.
The entire show is intended as an inside joke for nerds. I'm reminded of when Dizzy Gillespie was asked to describe the appeal of his music in an interview, he responded, "Man, if you can't dig it, then I can't explain it to you."
Big Bang often crossed the line but its only character failing was Amy. She became too much of a normie as the show went on and her obvious bisexuality and kinky side were left undeveloped.
It was consistently outstanding. There was a character for everyone. Some of us embrace our dark sides. I am known for laughing at other people's struggles.
Because people neither understand nerds, nor autistic people. Sheldon was at one point viewed as good autistic representation, as in they thought he was a good image of what autistic men are like. But he's not, he's an insecure bully that uses his intelligence to belittle others. The show thinks
that because they don't give him a dx, that they're still doing a good job. The show is pure slop, feeding the masses bad jokes based on not understanding the science/fandom, or just finding the quirks of the cast weird. Not to mention the outright misogyny,
the outright homophobic jokes shown towards Howard and Raj despite baiting it for years. I dislike Howard immensely, he's nothing more than a nerdy Jewish stereotype, and his behaviour towards all the women on the show is horrific. It's the whole thing of "they're marginalized so it's ok"
but that's completely wrong. Just because they're smart and successful now, doesn't mean it gives them carte blanche to do whatever they want, because they're blind to fixing their own issues. And they never do. It's impossible to tolerate if you're also marginalized, or maybe that's just me.
The first season wasn't that bad, but it is fascinating how as the show progressed everyone other than Howard became a worse person; granted if Howard got any worse he'd have been arrested. Also hate that they accidentally wrote Sheldon as autistic and then made sure to say he isn't.
I hated how he started as a guy who was oblivious to social cues but as the show progressed he turned into a guy who was very much aware of social cues but chose to be a massive asshole to everyone in his life anyway
Contrary to what many people claim, it was a show that made fun of nerds and nerd culture, as opposed to one that celebrated nerd culture. It allowed normies to laugh at nerds without making them feel bad about it.
I don't think so. Like they make fun of them, but also humanize the characters even if they are stereotyped. The show also made being a nerd a lot more socially acceptable; so I can never completely hate it.
Uh... And in our nerd circles we were totally sure it's about a dumbass blonde we get to laugh at thanks to her encounters with quirky smart ppl 👀 I talked to one friend and was shocked there's actually any people who do the opposite 😂🙈
I think this is honestly the thing that never jelled with me... Despite them all supposedly being friends, there was always someone that was the butt of the joke? Wether it's Penny for being 'less intelligent' when she's often a voice of reason, or Sheldon for being Autistic yet everyone shows up.
I work in IT and a very specialized field. Neuro diverse people are the norm in my field. Not many people are fond of big bang. “The IT Crowd” though, totally different story
I loved that show until I got to the weird trans episode was all huh that was really off and looked some things up online and ended up going on a rabbit hole of Linehan’s anti trans thing and now I can’t enjoy it as much
Oh...
IT here too, from running helpdesk to specialized support with 100% ND team (albeit smol)🙈
I love IT Crowd in general, but the only people I like are Moss and kinda Richmond, everyone else drives me crazy and kringemeter runs over at the higher-ups 👀
That makes sense. I teach school band in a selective high school where there is a high number of ND kids. They used “Sheldon” as an insult. I had to shut it down pretty quickly. In music the ND kids really stand out as non-team players and it frustrates the others.
Oh, and that Roy. Ugh, funny at times, but mostly "Whole men disposal services? Yes, the whole man pls".
Just remembered the portrayal of a redhead woman as the typical "I dunno anything about computers hihihihi shoeeeeees! Meeeen! Hihihi"... Nah, Pippi Langstrumpf and Amy are mucho better ❤️
Tedious? It's perfect. The whole Hollywood blitzkrieg need for speed Superbowl override everywhere being forced by huge conglomerates makes me prize TBBT and japanese documentaries on traditional garden lanterns like it's a gift from gods 💀
I also hated it! But you know what I didn’t expect? Absolutely falling in love with Young Sheldon. Me and the kids binged the whole series in less than 6 months (that’s quick for us.) Whole, funny, and RETRO ;)
Oddly enough it’s spin-off is actually pretty good imo, young Sheldon not having a laugh track really helped it imo, makes it far more “naturally” funny than the bbt, also the characters are actually fun and likable lmao
Where have you been for the last 9 years?? All joking aside, I started watching after it was over. Sheldon is spot on for someone with high functioning autism. My son has the other end of that spectrum and I can see what he would have been like had he been more verbal and more aware
I honestly don't get it either. I feel like the whole show is mean spirited, and you only really watch to see shitty people be shitty or to make fun of nerd culture.
Honestly with the state of things right now, are we really that surprised? Dumb guys who other dumb guys think are smart are definitely having a moment.
I'm a huge Star Wars/comic books/D&D nerd and at first I refused to watch the show because it made fun of nerds. When I finally tried it, I liked it. I still knew they were making fun of nerds, but it was like laughing at myself. The first few seasons anyway. It got really bad by the end.
Oddly enough, I disliked all those shows and didn't find THEM funny, just mean-spirited. Granted, I didn't what any full episodes of any of them, I found what little I did see off-putting. Different sense of humour, clearly.
I think this just proves that our opinion is usually mostly formed from our own experiences. I never saw the show in that way. There are annoying things about it but I liked that it was a show mostly about nerds and I don’t think they came across as mean they were all insecure but in different ways.
I was forced to watch it at a laundromat. I watched the first season when it first came out and thought it was fun. Seeing it again was CRINGE. Why did everyone love this? It's gross. Bad acting, writing, mean and toxic behavior--- yuck!
My main gripes with the show were the way they treated Raj and Penny.
Penny, who often said she didn't want children, ends up pregnant and it's assumed she'll have it and just be happy with it.
It's a Republican's dream, a vibrant independent woman shamed and manipulated into having a kid.
Oh 100% absolutely correct. And didn't Bernadette originally not want kids too? Like adamantly childfree? And ends up pregnant and it's not even addressed that she may not want that?
Yes, and she ended up having 2 kids, I believe.
The show had this weird psychotic philosophy that you can only have a happy ending if you get pregnant. Like why don’t you just get pregnant already?
It’s that old tired right-wing belief that a woman can’t have a fulfilling life without children. 🙄
Comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKS3MGriZcs
Really? How?Mind-numbing stereotypical cliched characters with a laugh track. I say I hate it, not funny at all,
they say I have to watch more. I say NO…
I litterly know a few that think that.
Show has some issues but I felt like home. (And expressing this definitely halped my therapist refer me to the right tests, lol 😂)
I was deeply offended by the comparison.
Because people could feel better about themselves by watching those people, and that is the nature of man
The way they treated the Raj character was awful. When they got together to eat, he always sat on the floor while the rest of them sat in chairs. And he was the only male on the show who didn't end up in a relationship with someone.
Now, explain why they made a spin-off for the most authentically and completely obnoxious character in the whole group, as a child.
It really just normalises the rudeness of people.
IT here too, from running helpdesk to specialized support with 100% ND team (albeit smol)🙈
I love IT Crowd in general, but the only people I like are Moss and kinda Richmond, everyone else drives me crazy and kringemeter runs over at the higher-ups 👀
Just remembered the portrayal of a redhead woman as the typical "I dunno anything about computers hihihihi shoeeeeees! Meeeen! Hihihi"... Nah, Pippi Langstrumpf and Amy are mucho better ❤️
There hasn't been a frame of TBBT that wasn't tedious.
I never felt so insulted.
There rarely was a punchline, it was just a nerdy catch-phrase and then the laugh track would hit.
Ultimately, it was an audience laughing at people with difficulties, especially those with traits people associate with Autism.
At the same time, the "nerds" thought they were in on the jokes and didn't realize they were the ones being made fun of.
Modern family
Parks and Recreation
30 Rock
Any others?
Quite topical with the original “nerds” as comic book films went mainstream too.
Harmless fun with Sheldon genuinely something different and launched Kaley’s career.
I really like this one and Stalking for Love
And the small Wayne Wealth video
Actually I like several, lol
But yeah this one is really good!
Penny, who often said she didn't want children, ends up pregnant and it's assumed she'll have it and just be happy with it.
It's a Republican's dream, a vibrant independent woman shamed and manipulated into having a kid.
The show had this weird psychotic philosophy that you can only have a happy ending if you get pregnant. Like why don’t you just get pregnant already?
It’s that old tired right-wing belief that a woman can’t have a fulfilling life without children. 🙄
Seeing new live action adaptation took years if not decades. Not like weeks that it is now.