Over a decade ago, the nerds of network TV came in one flavor – awkward.  They followed the same carbon copy format of ill-fitting retro clothing, large glasses, a difficulty socializing with non-nerds, and in some cases, a disturbing love of cheese.  As loveable as characters like Family Matters’ “Steve Urkel” or Boy Meets World’s “Minkus” were, they were hard to relate to.  On September 24^th, 2007, all that changed.

CBS introduced a new take on the classic nerd with The Big Bang Theory, a sitcom surrounding two nerdy roommates, their two nerdy friends, and the hot non-nerd girl down the hall.  If this show was produced years ago, it’d be pretty easy to guess the weekly formula – nerdy guys pine over hot girl, attempt to woo her with science, “geeky” fandoms, or large quantities of cheese, and ultimately fail in a “golly gee, that’s okay” way.  But Big Bang tosses the clichés out the window and instead presents viewers with different variations to their nerd herd.  And best of all, they’re believable.

From mild mannered Leonard, obsessive compulsive Sheldon, aspiring ladies man Howard, shy-until-drunk Koothrappali to waiting-to-be-discovered-waitress, Penny, Big Bang has a cast of characters that are easy to identify with.  What’s most refreshing is that each of these characters is completely comfortable in his own skin.  This isn’t a nerd-turned-sexy-knockout kind of show.  These characters enjoy marching to their own nerdy beat.

Gamers will enjoy references to Halo and World of Warcraft, but will also be surprised at the attention to detail, like touching on selling in game equipment on auction sites – something the inexperienced MMO gamer might not have thought existed.  One of my favorite gaming scenes is when Penny tries her hand at Halo and proves to be a capable adversary.  Unfortunately, the idea that games like Halo are too difficult for most girls – especially the typical “girly girl” – is still very commonplace.  That’s why scenes like this give the show +50 likeability in my book.  And with references to Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, classic comic book characters, and more, there’s something for everyone.

Still unconvinced?  Watch this…

But even more than the nerdy references, the real appeal of the show is the characters themselves.  They mesh together so well, that after a few episodes, they start to feel like old friends.  Years ago, viewers could expect to see groups of nerdy guys in a school’s math or science club, with the main character wondering what they did to deserve such a fate.  On Big Bang the five friends band together for a variety of causes – from trying to help Koothrappali get over his phobia of talking to women to an intervention for Sheldon when the idea of luminous fish becomes more important than his job.  There’s truly never a dull moment.  And Big Bang is user-friendly.  The episodes don’t have to be viewed in order, and the humor can easily be grasped, no knowledge of Star Trek or physics required.

The Big Bang Theory can be seen Monday nights at 8:00 PM on CBS.  Get clips, cast info and more at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/big_bang_theory/

Want to see it from the beginning?  The complete first season of Big Bang is now available.

Get your nerdy fix before Heroes or 24, and prepare to be hooked.

Stumble it!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 9:12 pm and is filed under Comedy, Jennifer Eatherly, Television, geek love. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.