OT: Sens Lounge LXXVIII | The Big Bang Theory Is Objectively Terrible Edition

[Benjamin]

Is a show funny if it needs to tell me when to laugh?

 

[LatteLarrys]

Anger Management is amusing as well to watch random episodes.

I've occasionally watched AM. I can't get over DeWulf's awkward acting; her character feels so forced. It's a treat to see Barry Corbin star as an opinionated, old Texan, though. Loved him in Red Alert 2!

 

[2CHAINZ]

I think you guys are crazy Big Bang was a great show for like the first 4 -5 seasons. Once the guys all got girls and they made Raj and Stuart pathetic it lost its touch. I couldn't understand how Stuart went from picking up penny to this pathetic sad sack. Sheldon was easily one of the best characters on tv and Howard was a nerdy less successful Barney Stinson. The dynamic of the characters was just executed perfectly. I am against the laugh track I hate it as well but to say Big Bang was always a terrible show is crazy.

 

[Micklebot]

I think you guys are crazy Big Bang was a great show for like the first 4 -5 seasons. Once the guys all got girls and they made Raj and Stuart pathetic it lost its touch. I couldn't understand how Stuart went from picking up penny to this pathetic sad sack. Sheldon was easily one of the best characters on tv and Howard was a nerdy less successful Barney Stinson. The dynamic of the characters was just executed perfectly. I am against the laugh track I hate it as well but to say Big Bang was always a terrible show is crazy.

It certainly has jumped the shark though,

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

I think you guys are crazy Big Bang was a great show for like the first 4 -5 seasons. Once the guys all got girls and they made Raj and Stuart pathetic it lost its touch. I couldn't understand how Stuart went from picking up penny to this pathetic sad sack. Sheldon was easily one of the best characters on tv and Howard was a nerdy less successful Barney Stinson. The dynamic of the characters was just executed perfectly. I am against the laugh track I hate it as well but to say Big Bang was always a terrible show is crazy.

I disagree with most of your post, but this part especially. Sheldon's character is entirely one-dimensional — he's a brilliant and egotistical scientist who doesn't understand social norms. That's it. That's him in a nutshell. The best characters on TV are well-fleshed out, have understandable motivations and are often relatable on some level. The only people who can actively relate to Sheldon are those who insist they're smarter than their peers.

Also, Howard as a less successful Barney? No. Not even in the same stratosphere. The only common thread is that they both hit on girls.

 

[2CHAINZ]

I disagree with most of your post, but this part especially. Sheldon's character is entirely one-dimensional — he's a brilliant and egotistical scientist who doesn't understand social norms. That's it. That's him in a nutshell. The best characters on TV are well-fleshed out, have understandable motivations and are often relatable on some level. The only people who can actively relate to Sheldon are those who insist they're smarter than their peers.

Also, Howard as a less successful Barney? No. Not even in the same stratosphere. The only common thread is that they both hit on girls.

Ok first off I am talking about Sheldon being a great character in this genre of familyish comedy. I am not comparing Sheldon to the development of Walter White or Jesse Pinkman. I do not have to relate to a character to think they're fantastic I define a fantastic character on a show by how they develop and interact with the other cast members. I think Big Bang did an exceptional job at this. Sheldon is to them what that one person in our social groups who thinks they're smarter than everyone is to us. Sheldons motivations are to win the noble and to be smarter than everyone that has been made very clear from the first episode. There are a couple episodes where the group is together without him and they come to conclusion that he makes the group smarter and is always teaching them stuff, also that he is completely loyal to his friends. His lack of understanding emotion and extreme use of logic is what makes him a great character its almost like he's a sociopath with his complete lack of understand social conventions. That to me is fascinating, yes that's all he is and you won't see such dynamic growth but I don't think that's what they were striving for Sheldon is great because of how different he is from everyone.

As for Howard I am more comparing the lengths he will go to to get laid like letting a girl drive the mars rover or wearing fake tattoo arm sleeves. Barneys whole purpose in how I met your mother was to bang girls and he would go to extreme lengths to do it.

 

[2CHAINZ]

Also the episode where Sheldon gets a napkin signed from Leonard Nimoy and he gives Penny all the gift baskets and her very first hug from him was amazing.

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

+1. Awesome show. Even with Terry Crews playing... well, Terry Crews... it's so well done. Not just your typical buddy cop show.

+2 to Brooklyn 9-9. There are legitimate laugh out loud moments on that show. The key is the cast. Andre Braugher's deadpan delivery is amazing and Joe Lo Truglia is a very underrated character actor.

The rest of the team fleshes it out nicely.

 

[MainDotC]

LoL twitter feed on the side. Isn't that new ?

 

[Do Make Say Think]

LoL twitter feed on the side. Isn't that new ?

Brand spankin' new even! It wasn't there this morning

Also, you guys watch way too much TV

 

[Fusbolito]

Brooklyn nine-nine is a great show, and quite funny, but it's pretty much "Parks and Rec" with guns. I really want to see an actual funny show that is NOT a situation comedy. One whose laughs derive from great writing, and comic acting and timing, as opposed to the extremely tired trope of mismatching situations with expectations or Family Guy-style "random internet humour" and "Hey, remember show X? It sure existed!" cutaways.

 

[saskriders]

Big Bang is crap. Just like this new stuff at the side of the page

 

[Senscore]

I love you, NoScript.

 

[TonySoprano11]

I think BBT is actually quite funny, and this is coming from someone who generally does not watch TV and loathes sitcoms.

I am not a science-y type person at all, so I dont give weight to the argument that people who don't like it don't understand the science joke. I think it is more about people not understanding nerd culture.

As someone who has grown up (since the early 80s) playing tabletop RPGs (D&D), video games, collecting comics, obsessing over sci-fi and fantasy movies/TV, going to Cons, etc - this was the first show where I felt like the characters on the show represented the same kind of social-lifestyle I had. I think its possible that people don't get the show because they dont get quite understand the quirks and jokes about their nerdyness.

Clerks was the first movie that I felt did the same thing, albeit Clerks was way more graphic in their approach. Plus it had the hockey which has always been another love of mine.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

I think BBT is actually quite funny, and this is coming from someone who generally does not watch TV and loathes sitcoms.

I am not a science-y type person at all, so I dont give weight to the argument that people who don't like it don't understand the science joke. I think it is more about people not understanding nerd culture.

As someone who has grown up (since the early 80s) playing tabletop RPGs (D&D), video games, collecting comics, obsessing over sci-fi and fantasy movies/TV, going to Cons, etc - this was the first show where I felt like the characters on the show represented the same kind of social-lifestyle I had. I think its possible that people don't get the show because they dont get quite understand the quirks and jokes about their nerdyness.

Clerks was the first movie that I felt did the same thing, albeit Clerks was way more graphic in their approach. Plus it had the hockey which has always been another love of mine.

Speaking as someone who currently has two D&D groups, four consoles, is in a rush to get home and play a new video game, bought two new comic books today, adores sci-fi and fantasy, and went to two cons this year, I can assure you that Big Bang Theory seems to be mocking that lifestyle (and the "socially awkward nerds" that adopt it) more than they are embracing it.

Clerks showed the less stereotypical side of it, which was great. But BBT seems to exaggerate that type of lifestyle to the point of near-parody.

 

[Deku]

Speaking as someone who currently has two D&D groups, four consoles, is in a rush to get home and play a new video game, bought two new comic books today, adores sci-fi and fantasy, and went to two cons this year, I can assure you that Big Bang Theory seems to be mocking that lifestyle (and the "socially awkward nerds" that adopt it) more than they are embracing it.

Clerks showed the less stereotypical side of it, which was great. But BBT seems to exaggerate that type of lifestyle to the point of near-parody.

This.
I recall watching a few minutes of the show once and I was a bit offended by the scene that I saw. The four guys were just playing an online game, and they were very into the game. There was nothing funny about it, but of course they plastered laugh tracks all over it, expecting an audience reaction of "LOOOL THEY'RE NEEEERDS, THEY LIKE VIDEO GAMES THAT'S SO LAMEE LMAOOO"
There wasn't one actual joke in the whole scene but it was riddled with laugh tracks.

Not to mention, every character is a stereotype.

 

[RedWhiteBlackGold]

I love you, NoScript.

Downloaded it, it removed the side stuff but it also removed the drop down script on the menu bar. Any idea how to enable that?

 

[Senscore]

Downloaded it, it removed the side stuff but it also removed the drop down script on the menu bar. Any idea how to enable that?

You just have to fiddle with the scripts using the corner icon.

When you find what works, give it permanent allowance.

 

[saskriders]

The thing I don't like about BBT is it seems to make fun of people for being socially awkward, and that is just cruel.

 

[Mr Invidious]

Madden 15 on next-gen is very, very impressive. Very early but the mechanics feel fantastic.

This has the potential to be my favorite Madden game ever.

 

[Deku]

The thing I don't like about BBT is it seems to make fun of people for being socially awkward, and that is just cruel.

That too. It really pisses me off because I can relate.

 

[Qward]

I think less of anyone that enjoys this show. Its not funny at all.

There is no laugh track, they muted the laughter, you can even hear where they screwed up.

It is filmed before a large studio audience.




If you do not like the show that is fine, but don't lie about it.

 

[StefanW]

I really enjoy The Big Bang Theory, although I have to admit the last season was the weakest so far. I never thought of it as a smart show though. It is just a normal comedy that happens to be about smart people, and should not be mistaken for a documentary.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

Not quite, but you're on the right track. The show's recorded in front of a live audience, but the laughs are often enhanced or manipulated. That's because when they're recording, the fifth take may be the best one from a film perspective but the audience reaction is likely much less enthralled than the first take — you can only laugh at the same thing so many times before it gets old.

So, you'd think they'd capture the laughter from the first take and call it a day, but the big networks like sweetening the impact of the laugh tracks by adding in artificial laughs, emphasizing strange and/or high-pitched laughs, and just generally manipulating it to make it more TV-friendly.

Just to re-iterate to Qward's point. It's neither fully recorded nor fully live. It's a mix of both.

 

[2CHAINZ]

People are offended by the BBT ?? Socially awkward "nerds" who hook up with hot girls, ya I would be offended to....