Does everyone hate The Big Bang Theory?

I admit that I’m surprised there’s not an active thread for discussion of The Big Bang Theory. Although I know many people who seem to enjoy it, I have also encountered many people who find it inane at best, and insulting at worst. Is it cool for nerds to enjoy it, or cool to hate it? I have trouble keeping track these days.

My wife and I enjoy it. In fact, in one of the last episodes, Leonard says “A nerd? I’m king of the nerds!” which has been my response to my wife, an actor, for decades now. It was a sweet bit of reflection on our lives.

I tried to watch it one time. Just a dumb stereotype of nerds, like what somebody thinks is a nerd, but they do not know them in real life. No problem if you enjoy it though.

It’s a sitcom. It doesn’t work for me just like modern art and sports don’t work for me. All sorts of interesting people like those things, but I can’t develop a taste for them, so I just don’t think about them that much. If you’re into it, that’s cool and I’m glad it makes you happy.

I tried to watch it but couldn’t. Too dumb.

I love the show, but the overwhelming opinion on these boards is that’s it’s garbage, or at least those who think it is are vocal enough to keep others from bothering to defend it. I’m fairly certain if you change your opinion and espouse the virtues of Moderns Family instead, you will be welcomed with open arms.

I enjoy it. It’s funny. Yes, the characters are stereotypes and extremes – but they’re sitcom characters. People who find the stereotypes offensive and not representative of real geeks probably resemble the characters more than they’d like to believe.

And I know Sheldon in real life. This guy’s a better dresser and a game designer, but otherwise, it’s hilarious how close he is to Sheldon.

It’s like complaining Troy and Abed aren’t realistic. “Nobody would recreate the holodeck in a bedroom. Nerds aren’t like that!” <shatner>For God’s sake, people, it’s a TV show.</shatner>

I find it pretty funny. The Wil Wheaton episodes are just plain awesome; I love that they portray him as a giant asshole in real life.

I like it–it’s frequently amusing, they get enough of the science right to avoid angering me, and they either have a nerd or two on the writing staff or they consult with them frequently. As Denny said, it’s just a sitcom, not a documentary. If the conventions of sitcoms bug you, so will this show.

Sheldon’s very watchable but the accompanying exaggerated laugh track is destruction upon him.

That clip with the soundtrack omitted is the most effective anti-ad I can think of. Plus it’s on CBS, which signals nothing good.

What clip?

Rough.

Troy and Abed are played-up stereotypes as much as the Big Bang Theory characters are, but I don’t want to smack Troy and Abed whenever they open their mouths.

Love the top comment: “NO LAUGHTER, JUST LIKE REAL LIFE”

I like it. It’s often genuinely funny, the laugh track and Johnny Galecki’s painful performances notwithstanding. The writers obviously know something about nerd culture and physics, and its the only sitcom I know of in which academics are portrayed doing research rather than just teaching.

Its so far along and I’ve never watched it, I sorta feel trying to now will cause me to miss out on stuff.

I don’t hate it. It’s just that underneath the veneer of nerd paint it’s a standard sitcom.

Community on the other hand – that show is geek all the way down.

I enjoy it a great deal. The pop-culture references are ones that I can immediately recognize, and they get a lot of the geek culture (D&D, Star Trek references) correct. It’s also the one sitcom that I can stand to watch with my wife, which counts for a lot.

This. Didn’t find it funny at all.