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When people are blown away by the fact that i find The New Girl and The Big Bang Theory unfunny.
Why is that such a big deal? Why would I want to hear more cache jokes about how many times these people have freaking read LOTR and Star Trek: Champion Edition, and how that supposedly makes me the target audience?
Comments
Not sure about New Girl, but the big problem for me with TBBT, is that for a show ostensibly about nerds, all it does is mocks them and treats them like defective people. The joke is never the stuff they do and what they say, the cast themselves and that's all a bit mean spirited.
Well, not entirely. Some things they say are obviously intended to be jokes. Like, for example, I recall an episode in which Game of Thrones was mentioned. Shortly thereafter, the studio audience must have seen something really funny happen just offscreen, because the laughter was uproarious. There wasn't a joke about Game of Thrones or anything. Someone just went "hey, Game of Thrones is a thing that exists."
The Big Bang Theory is kind of interesting in that, despite displaying nerds as dysfunctional (and let's not act as if this forum is by and large a counterargument to that), it's essentially a positive and sympathetic depiction all the same. Even if it's based entirely on stereotypes, it's a humanising show.
There's no doubt it still looks at the nerd thing from the outside, though. The joke is always based on how nerdy something is rather than more inherent forms of humour, and it's not like it ever goes for anything but the lowest common denominator when it comes to nerdy humour, anyway.
It's the equivalent of a bunch of men writing a show about what women get up to, you know? The whole thing has the barest outline of accuracy and everything else is filled in with stereotypes, however well-meaning. Of course, the issue with a show like that written by nerds for nerds is that it would be much riskier. As it stands, The Big Bang Theory is successful specifically because it can easily appeal to non-nerds as well.
The problem is it's humanizing in a pretty pathetic way. We want Leonard to get the girl, not because he's a great guy and they have good chemistry (He's not, they don't) but because he's got a shitty life... despite having a solid job at a university pursuing what is presumably his passion. No, his life is sad because he's a nerd.
The jokes in the show aren't jokes about D&D or Game of Thrones or Green Lantern (It's a power battery, not a lantern you jackoffs. If you're going to write an episode about Green Lantern and make something the focal point you should at least do a cursory reading of Wikipedia) but the joke is that they like these things and man that's just weird.
I think a lot of people into geek chic and the backlash against nerdy culture as sexist/internalizing/demasculinizing/communist propaganda/whatever is that it seems to view the idea of nerd culture as something that has taken over when it hasn't. While things like Avengers and Dark Knight make a lot of money, the box offices actually reflect the popular attitudes in ways other than we want it to. Maybe people weren't so excited to see an experiment to do what comic books did on the big screen as they saw shiny explosions and thought it'd be a fun way to waste a couple hours because the commercials told them to.
The Big Bang Theory is pretty insidious here. 'Nerds are taking over' is what it's trying to say to nerds, but at the same time, it assures others that these nerds are weird are awkward and pathetic and off-kilter. It plays both sides and it's the kind of friend that insults you while trying to pretend to be your friend.
And Sheldon strikes a particular itch for me. It's a double-edged thing where people like him despite the fact that he's a terrible person and the fact that the show treats him like a terrible person despite clearly having some sort of mental issue. The writers have said he doesn't have aspergers and isn't autistic, but I think that's basically a ass-saving move to keep from people getting angry at it. I know this is a tired comparison, but I can't help but think about how appealing and likable Abed is as a character despite the fact that he's explicitly told to have aspergers and has a lot of typical symptoms. But unlike TBBT, we're not supposed to laugh at how weird and different he is. We're asked to understand him, which makes both for a stronger character without getting rid of the comedy where he compares things to a TV show or doesn't fully understand sarcasm.
tl;dr- Alex what have you done to me?
This hilarious, recent College Humor comic seems relevant, especially these two:
because I have to link this every time
So some casual criticism
You'd figure shows like Community and Scrubs would make you realize how distracting laughtracks are. Heck, even children's cartoons don't have laughtracks. We're effectively saying we expect children to be better at discerning comedy that adults.
Though considering the success of Big Bang Theory...
I remember there actually being a decent gag this one time (the one where Sheldon mentions that he made tea not because he was offering, but as a conversational point), but I mostly don't like it, either. My high school besties all do, though.
Actually, I can't even remember if the gag was well-executed or not, but the dialogue itself was sorta funny.
I've never actually seen the big bang theory, my knowledge of it extends as far as "bazinga", and that's about it.
edit: That chart kind of pisses me off, tbh. Seems to paint "nerddom" as some kind of secret club and then go AND YOU'RE NOT IN IT, NYEEEEH. Which is just really, really stupid.
I realize it wasn't the original purpose of laughtracks, but anymore they seem to exist so lazy writers can get away with padding only 12 minutes of writing into a 22-minute slot.
Like, it's not even played for actual jokes anymore. They just kind of bash their forehead on it at random intervals during dialogue so everyone can stand around awkwardly for a bit longer.
On the subject of New Girl, I don't find it that funny, but it has some amusing moments and it doesn't violate my basic sensibilities so hats off to it.
Laughtracks still exist?
See gentlemen, this is why I don't watch sitcoms.
Well, a good reason not to watch sitcoms is that reality television is the same thing but with worse production values because its "reality." (nevermind all the scripting that gets done).
Reality television doesn't even faze me anymore.
It's just like "oh, another show about people getting mad at each other. How entertaining."
There's nothing wrong with the basic idea of a sitcom. It's just sturgeon's law at work.
I think the closest thing I ever saw to a funny sitcom was Scrubs. And I've been repeatedly told that that's not actually a sitcom, so what do I know?
Also these little posters intrigue me, let's take a closer look here.
This guy here. Why the hate? Yes, he sorta looks like a fratboy. But do you see that thing on his hip? That's a replica energy sword. This isn't someone who plays Call of Duty, this is someone who thinks that Call of Duty sucks because it lacks the vast expanded universe the Halo games have. He probably also likes Marathon and can spot most of the references to it in the Halo series. I feel like this is someone who could give you a pretty thorough rundown of Covenant Politics off the top of his head, and refuses to call Grunts anything but Unggoy.
And the other one:
This woman has a working bow. So she's either an archer, or more likely, a LARPer, which is just about the least respected kind of nerd there is. So that takes guts.
TLDR: If you're going to make pictures of people who are pretending to be nerds, don't make it really easy to argue that they're actually nerds.
Also most people have at least one obsession, and thinking you're better than someone because your obsession is more obscure doesn't make you a "nerd" it makes you a hipster. And no one likes hipsters.
Do note that it's College Humor. It's making fun of the hipster nerd superiority. This is even at the top:
Comic-Con doesn’t stand a chance against this real-life Legion of Doom…
Because "Josh Wheebum".
Quite frankly, the amount of worship Josh Whedon gets is just stupid.
He deserves to have his name massacred.
Besides, why would a Halo fan care about Whedon anyway? He's never been within thirty miles of the franchise.
Or, it could be a Green Arrow knockoff- thus the boxing glove arrow.
I never said what kind of LARPer.
That would be cosplay, not LARPer.
You know what, Nova?
Your face is cosplay.
So there.
Ooh, burned.
Also I just realized something about that first one again. One of the bulletpoints is "makes you afraid to go on Xbox Live". Really dude? You're afraid of someone six states away yelling at you over the internet?
Considerin' as how it's a joke, I'm fairly sure it's intended as a humorous exaggeration of the CoD online userbase, many of whom are not known for their... well, social skills, I guess. "LOL I PWNED U FGT" is not uncommon to see. The joke is implying that the man in the picture is one of the types of people who give the playerbase that reputation.
That is; exaggeration, man.
Why should somebody do something that makes them uncomfortable for any reason? Somebody yelling at you online might not be a big deal, but it's a bigger deal than multiplayer.
But the thing is
mute button
it exists.
Yeah it's telling that I can't tell who the joke is on here. Are we making fun of the guy in the picture or people who act like the guy in the picture actually exists? That's the real question here.
Another question "why is it 1AM already"?
The joke is on people who act like that/consider people who act like that nerds.