This is one of those sitcoms I'm not quite sure on how it became so popular. Maybe because of the genius-wannabes audience it managed to attract? Or maybe we're really all just geeks hoping to have adorable darlings of ourselves (only actually smarter) on the tube? Whatever the case, it worked. The sitcom is as normal as any pre-Arrested Development sitcom, but somehow, other people are actually thinking it's special.
Season 1 introduces us to a fairly simple plot. Geeks plus bimbo next door. As the show goes on, the characters get a bit rounded... but not really. The writers are confused themselves as to what pop-culture and academic references real scientists would actually know and refer to. Sometimes it's believable what the geek characters do and don't know. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I kind of have a hard time believing someone as smart as Sheldon would even waste time watching the pseudo-science in any Dr. Who shows and the like. And as for the luminous fish that he supposedly invented, I thought the real world did that already. Unless I misunderstood the documentary I watched in my Marine Science class.
So really, each character is still a caricature. As far as I know, smarty pants in the real world won't even bother with bimbos. Smarty pants in the real world are, like Sheldon, all pompous and lacking social skills, but unlike the rest of The Big Bang Theory gang, they could actually get bimbos if they wanted to.
Anyway, to break it down:
Penny - I guess if I'm a guy, I'd find her hot? As a girl I'm not swooning for her right now. She's just meh.
Leonard - I have a thing for guys with weird hand gestures and mannerisms. And usually I'm not into the central good guy who takes the obnoxious character (Sheldon) out of trouble, but with this one, I'm going to make an exception.
Howard - So basically, everybody's in love with Sheldon right? Because he's so smart and pompous yadidada. But Howard is actually my favorite character. Usually, I'm not into the token pervert misogynistic mama's boy, but I find Howard's witty surprising interjections more fun than the others. Because when others quip, I feel it planned and coming. With Howard, it's like he's not missing a beat, but you don't expect him to fill in the beat either.
Rajesh - Is hot. Basically that's it. He can't talk to hot women unless drunk or on drugs. And sometimes he's silly funny. Which again, I find way better than the over thought "intelligent" quips from Sheldon and even Leonard.
Sheldon - Ah, Sheldon. Sheldon, Sheldon, Sheldon. The Jack of Will and Grace. The Barney of How I Met Your Mother. I guess the Joey of Friends? Anyway, whatever. Sheldon. I'm usually into the star character of each sitcom. I'm usually all for social skills-lacking characters like Anya of Buffy, who tells you the truth in a manner so innocent and rude, it's funny. So I don't know why Sheldon is just not doing it for me. Sometimes, he does, I guess. But overall, I just see him as the obnoxious person that he actually is. Maybe as I already mentioned, he's just so overwritten. The writers are shoving it down our throats that he's so smart so he has the license to be a bastard. Just like Gregory House! That makes him sexy too, for a lot of women who want bitchy, emotionally uncaring men, I guess.
But... maybe that's just me being all post-February bitter (apparently, it lasts that long) or maybe I can make you believe I have a point. But regardless of the characters, you really have to admit that with Season 1, The Big Bang Theory looks to be just another ordinary sitcom. Maybe it is too smart for me. I like my sitcoms smart-silly, like the Complete Savages or That 70's Show. It's fun to watch. With The Big Bang Theory, it's not that it's not fun. It's just that, with most episodes, I don't need to watch it to get the jokes. Good god, they sure do talk and talk and talk. They might as well have written it for the radio. At the latter episodes, I was actually just getting it over with, so I grabbed my PSP, played Peggle, and just listened.
Still, I have three more seasons copied on my notebook. Maybe I'll change my mind. Who knows?
