We are being laughed at. A ranty article purely for debating purposes.

[Bagpuss]

http://www.geekosystem.com/big-bang-theory-love-hate/

This one seems more a complaint about the lack of range of female characters on the show, than the portral of any of the male characters.

http://www.ugo.com/tv/11-reasons-geeks-hate-the-big-bang-theory?page=3

Oh so reason number 1 for disliking BBT is the characters on the show are more successful than real geeks, so not at all like every other sitcom (Friends - just how did they afford those massive appartments on their generally jobs?).

http://cliqueclack.com/p/big-bang-theory-hates-nerds/

Ah so this critic is complaining it has gone downhill and become more mainstream, as lost its edge and got lazy in it's writting... okay I can get with it having jumped the shark, happens to the best of them.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.304640-Why-do-some-nerds-hate-Big-Bang-Theory?page=1

Ah so the laughter track, not being particularly funny, and getting it's references wrong seem to be the main complaints not how it shows geeks in general.

http://ifanboy.com/articles/199683/

Okay he says he dislikes it but doesn't go into a huge amount of detail, but at least this seems close to disliking it for the same reason you do.

http://forum.the-big-bang-theory.co...ody-know-anybody-that-is-really-like-sheldon/

Erm there seem to be an awful lot of people in that topic saying yes they know people a lot like Sheldon, so I'm not seeing how this helps your case.

http://www.ucsdguardian.org/arts-en...ulture-it’s-just-a-big-bang-bust#.UXLpgMu9KSN

I particularly like how this one while attacking BBT for the reason's you've given, holds The Guild up as a shinning example of how to do a geek sitcom right, despite this being one you attack for the same reason's as BBT.

http://blogs.redeyechicago.com/geek-to-me/2011/12/29/the-big-bang-theory-and-the-nerd-myth/

This one is pretty mixed, and basically points out what everyone in this thread has been saying the characters are stereotypes, but then so are the characters in every sitcom.

And lastly, but probably the best one: http://butmyopinionisright.tumblr.com/post/31079561065/the-problem-with-the-big-bang-theory

I agree it is the best one. Perhaps you should have just stuck with this one. Perhaps BBT has run it's course, I mean there was a time in sitcoms you could laugh at black people, and gays and the like, but that was the first introduction of them into mainstream culture on TV, and as they got more accepted the comedies changed so instead of laughing at them you would laugh with them. Perhaps BBT was the introduction and shows like Community are the next natural progression.

Can't say I'm a fan of the show myself, but mainly because of the canned laughter and it not being particularly funny.

 

[haakon1]

they're making films about supergeeky stuff like LotR and The Avengers which are turning out to be increibly popular mega-blockbusters! I still maintain that we (geeks) have never had it so good.

I couldn't agree more.

Also, as a fan of Big Bang Theory, I have to point out it's about two things -- sex and physics geeks. Thus the double entendre title.

It's essentially a comedy about the sex lives (or failed attempts at them) of a group of single young people in the big city. It's "Friends" with PhD's. We are meant to laugh at, laugh with, and identify with these people.

And there are other stereotypes besides geeks in the show -- Penny is an airhead blonde, Sheldon's mom is a stereotype of Texas Christian fundamentalists. But it's a well-written enough show that none of the characters (except perhaps Sheldon) are one dimensional. Penny is more than what you originally see, Howard matures enormously, Sheldon's mom has a wild past, etc.

Perhaps the most interesting "diversity" angle to the show isn't the geeks, but that a lead character is Indian. That's a first for a major hit American TV show (Kelly Kapur in "The Office" was a minor character). Even Star Trek didn't have a major South Asian character.

 

[Morrus]

Perhaps the most interesting "diversity" angle to the show isn't the geeks, but that a lead character is Indian. That's a first for a major hit American TV show (

Really? That surprises me. But there's a demographic angle to that. In the UK, we have plenty of Indian actors in major roles, but very few, say, Mexican or Canadian actors. I don't think that's really a big deal - just a natural reflection of the demographic makeups of each country. Neither has a major Icelandic character!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think Sheldon himself- were he real- would assert that he is most emphatically NOT one dimensional, but rather 11 dimensional- its just that most of the dimensions are so infinitesimally small that they cannot be perceived without equipment that has yet to be created, but we know they are there because theory demands that they exist.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Perhaps the most interesting "diversity" angle to the show isn't the geeks, but that a lead character is Indian. That's a first for a major hit American TV show (Kelly Kapur in "The Office" was a minor character). Even Star Trek didn't have a major South Asian character.

Well, Persis Kambatta had a major role in the first Star Trek movie...and here have been some major supporting characters of South Asian ancestry in several shows, like "Bug" on Crossing Jordan...though I don't think that show was as big as BBT.

Go back further and you find Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the (stereotypical, supporting character) Kwik-E-Mart owner on The Simpsons and Jawaharlal Choudhury, the exchange student from New Delhi on Head of the Class.

Compared to most of those early characters, though, BBT and other modern comedic depictions are more common AND more normalized & balanced.

 

[haakon1]

Really, because trading friendly insults is a pretty common chat up technique used by both men and women.
...
No because normally people don't insult people to their face, unless it is done as a friendly jest, or their has been some angry build up before hand. Hence it probably wasn't intended to cause offence.
...
Have you even watched the movie? The "virgin" in it, was the most likable character of all his male companions, for his naivety round women, he was the most caring, and least chauvinistic male character in the film. Sure he painted miniatures and was a virgin at the start of the movie. But he wasn't a bad stereotype, he was handsome, caring, had a job wasn't overweight, in fact his only problem was his naivety around women. It's hardly a terrible stereotype.

An intriguing perspective, and you might be right.

But my first interpretation would be that it was meant as a joke/friendly put down, not a come on, and came out overly harsh either due to the female joker's own social awkwardness, or perhaps drinking too much (the incident took place in a pub, if I understood correctly).

Your theory does make me question for a moment my impression of my own experience of being "accused" of virginity in a London pub by a coworker way back in 2000 (which stung enough to be able to recall it clearly now). Maybe Gareth wasn't trying to be insulting or making a joke that came out wrong . . . perhaps he was trying to suss out if I was interested in him? I never considered that possibility until now, but I've been known to miss some fairly obvious hints from women too, up to and including invites to come drink alone together in a hotel room as not possibly being a hint of sexual interest . . . so I guess I might miss a whole lot of things!

Again, I do have somewhat Sheldon-like characteristics, on occasion.

 

[haakon1]

Friends - just how did they afford those massive appartments on their generally jobs.

I never did like "Friends", and that was always a good excuse for why in my mind. I assumed it was an LA-written version of NYC, as opposed to the clear NYC sensibility (and imaginable apartments) of "Seinfeld".

As a New Yorker who now lives in Seattle, I also think "Frasier" didn't get Seattle at all, so it was probably also written by people who hadn't spent much time here. Heck, it lacked the obvious (and funny) Seattle stereotypes one can find on PEMCO commercials -- like "First (snow) Flake Freakout Lady", "Blue Tarp Camper", and "Relentless Recycler", which are all close to local reality as a I know it. Persnickety psychiatrists who dress well though, that's totally offbase. I seriously don't think anyone in Seattle resembles Dr. Frasier or Niles Crane.

 

[Lwaxy]

Really? You know why geeks enjoy these programs because they identify with some of the behaviours the characters have, they are laughing at themselves. If you can't laugh at yourself what can you laugh at?

Exactly. A lot of the characters are clearly on the autism spectrum, or have ADD, or some other non-neurotypical set ups. Just like me. Just like 80% of the geeks I know. It's us.

I love TBBT, especially Sheldon. Don't like Amy that much because it's very very unlikely that an Aspie like her would not know Star Trek, at least. From the others, I only know, and loved, Eureka. I might watch IT Crowd, but that is, from the little I saw, a bit overdone and not totally my style.

TBBT also pokes fun at the other end of the human spectrum, though. Penny and her dumb friends, the over-social pretty dumb blonde - there is the balance.

 

[haakon1]

Well, Persis Kambatta had a major role in the first Star Trek movie...

I did say TV show, not movie. I mean, for movies with South Asian characters, we've got the fairly big hit of the "Harold and Kumar" movies. Which also ties into Morrus' point about demographics -- the number of South Asians in the "Harold and Kumar" generation has to be several times that during the "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" generation, which goes a long way to explain the casting choices.

To me, the super odd thing about BBT isn't an Indian character (there are lots in academia and related fields in the US), but the lack of any major East Asian characters. When I think of my friends who really like BBT, several of them are Chinese immigrants . . . I've heard from them that it's actually quite popular in China too (watched off the internet).

have been some major supporting characters of South Asian ancestry in several shows, like "Bug" on Crossing Jordan...though I don't think that show was as big as BBT.

My scientific criteria for "big" is that I like and watch the show. So, by that reckoning, BBT, original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and The Simpsons are all valid points . . . but "Crossing Jordan" or "Star Trek: Voyager" would not be, as a I don't like/am not familiar with them. You know, science.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

BBT is WAAAY bigger than Crossing Jordan ever was.

What I was getting at was similar to your point. South Asians have been a part of American pop culture- especially geek pop culture ("Bug" was quite geeky, for instance)- for quite a while, but mostly in really isolated and/or stereotypical roles or in the periphery of the shows.

Its only in he past..what, 5 years or so...that South Asians have been a very visible and essentially mainstream and non-stereotypical factor in USA entertainment.

Viva la demographics!