# The Big Bang Theory - am I missing something? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168 "2009-02-10T03:16:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/21 "2009-02-10T21:11:01Z")
I’ve seen two or three episodes, and I think it’s really funny. The nerds are certainly exaggerated, but the type of things they talk and care about are the type of things I could see myself talking and caring about if I lived with three other versions of me instead of a perfectly normal woman. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/22 "2009-02-10T21:15:49Z")
I’m more of a Leonard fan, sometimes it feels to me like it’s becoming the Sheldon and Penny show. It still makes me laugh out loud. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/23 "2009-02-10T21:17:35Z")
While I can identify with Leonard maybe more than the other characters, his whiny way of talking gets on my nerves sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/24 "2009-02-10T21:34:54Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > While I can identify with Leonard maybe more than the other characters, his whiny way of talking gets on my nerves sometimes. Leonard is my favorite too, and it isn’t the voice that bugs so much as he has a perfectly good pair of glasses but he wears them too far down his nose and constantly tilts his head up to look at people. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/25 "2009-02-11T00:46:33Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > Yep, there’s your problem. Is liking Two and a Half Men a bad thing? I mean, it’s no masterpiece, but it’s funny. Anyways, reading this thread I think I’m going to give up on this show. I gave it a shot and it’s not for me. Still, thanks for all the responses, I just wanted to know if there was some great reward for waiting it out, but it sounds like most people found it at least amusing at first and grew to love it more. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![imfloating](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bc79bd/32.png) [@imfloating](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imfloating)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/26 "2009-02-11T01:14:27Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > I keep reading and hearing great reviews of the show The Big Bang Theory. It seemed like something I would like - I work in a large research lab and know lots of nerdy science types (okay, maybe I am a nerdy science type too) and I like Two and a Half Men, which I believe is made by the same people. I thought I should check it out. > > I just watched my 3rd episode, and I just don’t get what is appealing about this show. I feel like I’m missing something - it doesn’t seem remotely amusing to me. Is this one of those shows you need to watch many times to ‘get into it’? Should I have started at the beginning? Do you need to watch episodes in order - I sort of jumped around a bit? Am I missing some important backstory on the characters? Is it one of those ‘funnier in repeat viewing’ type shows? > > If the answer is just “well, sometimes you just don’t like something” then that’s fine, I can accept that not everything is my cup of tea. I know I love some shows that other people probably hate. I just for some reason feel like this show should appeal to me, so I want to hear other opinions before I give up on it. Thanks I was just gonna ask the same question…except for the research lab part. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/27 "2009-02-11T01:54:26Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > Is liking Two and a Half Men a bad thing? I mean, it’s no masterpiece, but it’s funny. From the limited viewings I watched of the show, it definitely wasn’t for me. It was too “sitcommy” and relied on way too many standard “sitcom” jokes that seem to be dumbed down to appeal to the largest audience possible. Of course I can’t blame them because it seems that’s the only way a show stays on the air nowadays. Of course, I never really got into the Big Bang Theory either so perhaps major network sitcoms aren’t for me? My favorite TV comedies include Arrested Development, Strangers with Candy, The Office, 30 Rock, Mr. Show… Hmm, perhaps it’s just the laugh track that infuriates me about most sitcoms? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/28 "2009-02-11T01:58:46Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > Of course, I never really got into the Big Bang Theory either so perhaps major network sitcoms aren’t for me? My favorite TV comedies include Arrested Development, Strangers with Candy, The Office, 30 Rock, Mr. Show… Hmm, perhaps it’s just the laugh track that infuriates me about most sitcoms? Could be. Different strokes and all that. Personally, I love BBT and 2.5M, and positively loathe all the ones you list as “loved.” Oh, well. We have all kinds. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/29 "2009-02-11T02:09:35Z")
Love the show! How can I not like a show with Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBj7-50bloE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBj7-50bloE) If you don’t find that funny, the show isn’t for you. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/30 "2009-02-11T02:13:53Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > From the limited viewings I watched of the show, it definitely wasn’t for me. It was too “sitcommy” and relied on way too many standard “sitcom” jokes that seem to be dumbed down to appeal to the largest audience possible. Of course I can’t blame them because it seems that’s the only way a show stays on the air nowadays. > > Of course, I never really got into the Big Bang Theory either so perhaps major network sitcoms aren’t for me? My favorite TV comedies include Arrested Development, Strangers with Candy, The Office, 30 Rock, Mr. Show… Hmm, perhaps it’s just the laugh track that infuriates me about most sitcoms? Hmm, fair enough. I guess it’s just a ‘you like what you like’ kind of thing. You can’t make yourself enjoy something. I too love Arrested Development, The Office, and Mr. Show, but I hated Strangers with Candy and I will happily watch Two and a Half Men, Friends, Seinfeld, and other laugh track type shows. Who knows what influences these things. Just the other night I was riding my roommates ass for not liking Flight of the Conchords (which I think is hysterical). He just doesn’t see why it’s funny at all. Different strokes for different folks. I guess I should go apologize to him! ETA: **imfloating** , you’re welcome! **MaddyStrut** , that video ‘is not available in my country’ ☹ ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/31 "2009-02-12T01:29:29Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > we invented a 5-item version of rock-paper-scissors , so seeing the characters on the show do the same thing was pretty funny, for example Were they really supposed to have invented that version, though? It was taught to me 4 or 5 years ago (there was even a website), so the lizard and Spock additions aren’t really unique to the show. I like the show well enough, but I too know people who think it’s the best thing ever, and am kind of confused. These are mostly language or history types, so it’s not as though they’re relating to the characters in the been there way Simplicio and friends might. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/32 "2009-02-12T03:29:29Z")
> [@MaddyStrut](#): > > Love the show! How can I not like a show with Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock? > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBj7-50bloE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBj7-50bloE) > > If you don’t find that funny, the show isn’t for you. You know what? I’m the wrong demographic, I generally go for less broadly drawn characters, etc. etc. But. That bit guarantees that I’ll give the show at least another ten episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Madgolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Madgolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madgolf)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/33 "2009-02-12T04:51:19Z")
I am calling Jumped the Shark at the Fudd speech impediment guy. His second episode appearance really bummed me out. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168/34 "2009-02-12T13:10:08Z")
The speech impediment guy annoyed me also. Shark Jumping isn’t strictly defined of course but does the common usage really allow the phrase to be applied to a show as soon as an episode airs. Doesn’t it sort of require some perspective to tell if the episode in question was an exception of the true start of a change of the program? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-am-i-missing-something/485168.md?page=1)