Big Bang Theory is a fuckin' minstrel show where the blackface is left off in favor of bad nerd puns. Community has Donald Glover AND Chevy Chase. The girlfriend owns.
Basically what Pro said, I could forgive BBT for it's total reliance on old and unfunny 'nerd' stereotypes if it were occasionally funny, which it isn't.
Geeks + Pretty girl = geeks go "HUUUUUURRRR PRetty Girl" yeah that show go old real fast... just like that formula, still haven't seen community but I've heard good things
I do admit that Big Bang Theory is full of forced nerd jokes, but I think that there is real character development. I just think that its beneath the surface.I actually get more frustrated with Howard as a Jewish stereotype than the nerd stereotypes. Myam Bialik has been killing it on Big Bang. I love Community too and watch it the next day on hulu.
-Come on!!! Community is one of the funniest and truly nerdiest shows on TV right now! Watch Basic Rocket Science, Epidemiology or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons from this season alone and just try to tell someone it's not for "geeks" and is hilarious! Big Bang Theory fucking sucks. I mean, it's all-around terrible. It gave my television set cancer... I want to meet this guys girlfriend and apologize to her.
I actually like both, though I prefer the humor of Community much more than the one of BBT. Especially since I just got into college. Meh, it's all about what you identify with, I guess?
'The Big Bang Theory' in awful. I can't help but think that any of the geeks who watch it and think it's such great nerd humour are a little bit ashamed of themselves.
Of course, anyone who enjoys a television show with a laugh track should be ashamed of themselves.
I think that in both shows the characters are becoming more caricatures of what they started out as during the most recent seasons.
I still watch both shows and Community is still the one I prefer, but it got me mostly from the good camera work in the pilot, I haven't noticed as many cool crane shots lately.
Community is a really well-written and -acted comedy, absolutely the most innovative sitcom since Arrested Development - I'd really recommend people check it out, as it's always been a ratings underdog (just like AD). BBT, on the other hand, is using the same laugh-track-driven setup ----> punchline gags that have been tired for a decade, and the only aspect separating it from King of Queens is the subject matter, which as the first commenter so accurately mentioned, is a minstrelization of cliched nerd stereotypes. Once again, the absent girlfriend is the only rational person in the comic.
Big Bang Theory isn't JUST an unfunny show about 150% concentrated nerd/geek stereotypes and slutty whores who lost a bet and now have to sleep with them; it's also hideously offensive.
It's not offensive for the stereotypes, the misunderstandings of geek subcultures, or anything like that. It's offensive because it consistently makes fun of people with severe social deficiencies. Sheldon, considered by fans to be the funniest character of the series, is borderline autistic, if not borderline schizophrenic, and that's comedy to the douchebags who write it.
I don't understand why anyone would be offended by stereotypes being played up in comedy. It's COMEDY. Why are you taking it seriously in the first place? And for that matter, it's TV fiction. Why are you expecting it to be realistic? Are you seriously expecting a TV comedy NOT to over-exaggerate?
When was the last time the male characters were stymied by a pretty girl on BBT? Most of the stupid comments I see bashing the show seem like they're written by people who only watched the first 3 or 4 episodes.
With lines like "Of course, anyone who enjoys a television show with a laugh track should be ashamed of themselves," I think "kyle" might actually be the real life inspiration behind Sheldon.
Between Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement, and Criminal Minds, I'm convinced that one of two things has happened; Either someone at CBS has sold their soul, or a significant portion of the American population has no idea how to use their remote controls, and somehow they have all ended up with their televisions permanently stuck on their local CBS affiliate.
Community was created by Dan Harmon! Co-writer of Scud: The Disposable Assassin. Yeah that guy. If that's not nerd currency there I don't know what is.
I am a huge fan of both and the It Crowd and 30 Rock, of them all, I don't think there is even a competition. Community is the funniest, most well-written and smartest sitcom I have ever seen. n fact, it might be funnier than my favoritest sitcom of all time, BBC's Coupling.
No matter what show, book, movie, music you like, there's always going to be some snob who says that it's aweful and that their taste is better.
Live and let live I say. Or, you know, watch and let watch.
Now I'm going to pull out my BBT DVD set. And laugh when the laugh track laughs. And when a "pretty girl doesn't understand nerd stuff" joke comes on. And I will only be ashamed of the people mocking me, for belonging to the same specie as them.
you are ALL dumbass nerds that read a poorly drawn web comic. like, the fact that it's a WEB comic alone means it's automatically worse than garfield and the family citrus. i mean COME ON. BBT is a bunch of fags waiting around for the laugh track to chill out, and community isn't HALF as good as chuck. so, fuck you all! i hope each one of you gets hit by a bus today. i really mean that. i really do.... :(
ARGAAARTGGG pEOpLE ON THE IANATRERNETS DOONT HAV THE SAME OPINION AS MEEE!!!! THE WORLD IS OVVVERRRRR!!11! HOW CAN U ALLL SUCK SO HARD?! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!
I watched the first three seasons of BBT and by the end of the third season I hated the show and what it had become. It wasn't funny anymore and the Penny/Sheldon fighting seemed so forced and stale, along with everything else about it. I wouldn't go as far to call it nerd minstrel, its just straight up anti-funny.
While Community for me has only gotten better. It's one of my favorite shows now, if not ever. Parks & Recs is up there too.
I think the fact that choosing what to watch qualifies the girlfriend to be labeled a bitch is where the humor of this comic comes from. It really doesn't matter what 2 shows were listed in my opinion.
Community doesn't need a laugh track to let you know when it's being funny. BBT jokes are forced an obvious. I do love Sheldon as a character though. What's not to love about Community's Meta-ness?
I just don't understand why nerds are supposed to like Big Bang Theory. "Haha! These virgins don't understand how to interact with women! Video games! These guys are just like you, right?" Is it because they name drop Zelda? Are we supposed to watch and go "Zelda?! I know what that is! That's so cool that they know what that is! I thought it was a secret!"
When I watch TBBT, it always feels like they say "What do nerds like? Let's do that!" TBBT is a sitcom made FOR nerds.
When I watch Community, it always feels like they say "What do we like? Let's do that!" Community is a sitcom made BY nerds.
TBBT is kinda like the guy who pretends to be a nerd because nerds are cool these days. They say stuff like "Hey, George Lucas sucks and Halo rocks, amirite, guys?"
Community, on the other hand, is like a real life-nerd. Sure, it doesn't make references to Star Wars or LOTR as much as TBBT, but that's because they don't need to. And then, they get to the zombie episode and the DND episode, and they emulate the emotions and tropes that happen when you experience them because they don't just know nerdy things, they UNDERSTAND them.
I remember laughing at the "Did someone say pegasus?" joke on Community's DND episode because I know how sometimes a Dungeon Master would have a simple, easy to solve scenario in a DND session that the players would complicate for no reason. And a show that understands that feeling is a TRUE nerd.
I'll admit, I liked TBBT for a while, but I stopped watching at season 3, when I realize that most of the jokes can be described as "Insert Nerd Reference Here."
I rather dig the 'nerd minstrel show' commentary I see here and have seen elsewhere.
Big Bang Theory is... okay. It's a pretty shallow show and almost a generic sitcom. The nerds I know (ie my friends and I) watch Community instead if they watch either. They are by far a better written show. Maybe only occasionally watch Big Bang out of curiosity, not really following it.
Abed is a much better nerd / aspie character than Sheldon. Now Sheldon does slightly remind me of some nerds I've known. Yet Abed rings far more true as Sheldon gets some things just off. For example it bugs me that someone with his personality loves DC and Marvel, but also has been quoted to love anime. They even made a shirt of a line about anime. Considering his character, he's more likely one of those many comic nerds who hate anime. They try to make them all catch all nerds when in reality nerds have their own little camps, especially when they're as obsessive a personality as these guys.
Xenos, the thing about Sheldon is that every single thing he ever does or says makes PERFECT SENSE if you consider this one, simple fact:
Sheldon is autistic (and his friends are too ashamed of his behaviour to get him to a psychologist who could diagnose this).
This makes the laugh track not just annoying but sadistic. The creators/writers don't just hate autistic people and make fun of them; they also hate their fans by making them laugh at autistic people.
On an unrelated matter, does anyone need soap? I bought a boxload of it just for the box ...
Sheldon is not autistic, at best he has Asperger's.
I think Community is much more creative than BBT in their use of jokes and humor. I also like the fact that it doesn't have a laugh track.
BBT isn't what it used to be: Lenny hook up really took its toll on the show, and now it's just angst about a relationship only the writers wanted in the first place. This season, a lot of the episodes have been pretty mediocre, or just sad efforts.
The last two episodes of Community have been odd to me, but before them the show presented us with a golden episode week after week. It is consistently good, and people are finally starting to notice, even though it still has to fight TBBT in terms of ratings.
TBBT is a show where we have Leonard, someone who hates himself and the fact that he's a nerd, trying to change himself to become anti-nerd. Is that a show for nerds?
Also: if you really have Leonard as a "nerd who can't get laid", how come he has sex in every other episode, with a different girl almost every time no less?
The real difference? Community is written by clever nerds, TBBT is written by a bunch of unfunny old guys _trying_ to be clever nerds. Also, Sheldon's not autistic, he's just a self-centered jerkoff.
Big Bang Theory is a fuckin' minstrel show where the blackface is left off in favor of bad nerd puns. Community has Donald Glover AND Chevy Chase. The girlfriend owns.
ReplyDeleteWow...no reason to fight...both shows suck.
ReplyDelete^That is a completely apt comparison!
ReplyDeleteCommunity is way more true-geek (lol wut) than BBT :( And my grammar just died :)
ReplyDeleteCommunity did have their own D&D episode...
ReplyDeleteBasically what Pro said, I could forgive BBT for it's total reliance on old and unfunny 'nerd' stereotypes if it were occasionally funny, which it isn't.
ReplyDeleteGeeks + Pretty girl = geeks go "HUUUUUURRRR PRetty Girl"
ReplyDeleteyeah that show go old real fast... just like that formula, still haven't seen community but I've heard good things
I do admit that Big Bang Theory is full of forced nerd jokes, but I think that there is real character development. I just think that its beneath the surface.I actually get more frustrated with Howard as a Jewish stereotype than the nerd stereotypes. Myam Bialik has been killing it on Big Bang. I love Community too and watch it the next day on hulu.
ReplyDelete-Come on!!! Community is one of the funniest and truly nerdiest shows on TV right now! Watch Basic Rocket Science, Epidemiology or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons from this season alone and just try to tell someone it's not for "geeks" and is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteBig Bang Theory fucking sucks. I mean, it's all-around terrible. It gave my television set cancer... I want to meet this guys girlfriend and apologize to her.
Community is miles above BBT, girlfriend wins in 1.
ReplyDeleteThis guy is streets behind.
ReplyDelete@Toshimoko- You mean Community is streets ahead of BBT.
ReplyDeleteI actually like both, though I prefer the humor of Community much more than the one of BBT. Especially since I just got into college.
ReplyDeleteMeh, it's all about what you identify with, I guess?
It is called DVR or TIVO. Then everyone wins.
ReplyDelete'The Big Bang Theory' in awful. I can't help but think that any of the geeks who watch it and think it's such great nerd humour are a little bit ashamed of themselves.
ReplyDeleteOf course, anyone who enjoys a television show with a laugh track should be ashamed of themselves.
Community had an episode focusing entirely on a D&D game. Who's the nerd now, Chuckles?
ReplyDeleteI think that in both shows the characters are becoming more caricatures of what they started out as during the most recent seasons.
ReplyDeleteI still watch both shows and Community is still the one I prefer, but it got me mostly from the good camera work in the pilot, I haven't noticed as many cool crane shots lately.
Community is a really well-written and -acted comedy, absolutely the most innovative sitcom since Arrested Development - I'd really recommend people check it out, as it's always been a ratings underdog (just like AD). BBT, on the other hand, is using the same laugh-track-driven setup ----> punchline gags that have been tired for a decade, and the only aspect separating it from King of Queens is the subject matter, which as the first commenter so accurately mentioned, is a minstrelization of cliched nerd stereotypes. Once again, the absent girlfriend is the only rational person in the comic.
ReplyDeletedonald glover=over rated.
ReplyDeletechevy chase=hack.
big bang theory=it's just o.k.
argument over.
Big Bang Theory isn't JUST an unfunny show about 150% concentrated nerd/geek stereotypes and slutty whores who lost a bet and now have to sleep with them; it's also hideously offensive.
ReplyDeleteIt's not offensive for the stereotypes, the misunderstandings of geek subcultures, or anything like that. It's offensive because it consistently makes fun of people with severe social deficiencies. Sheldon, considered by fans to be the funniest character of the series, is borderline autistic, if not borderline schizophrenic, and that's comedy to the douchebags who write it.
Parks and Rec / 30Rock = Better than both. Although yeah, Big Bang Theory sucks and Community is better.
ReplyDeleteParks and Recs / Community > 30 Rock / BBT
DeleteI don't understand why anyone would be offended by stereotypes being played up in comedy. It's COMEDY. Why are you taking it seriously in the first place? And for that matter, it's TV fiction. Why are you expecting it to be realistic? Are you seriously expecting a TV comedy NOT to over-exaggerate?
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of either, but both are geeky.
ReplyDelete@Sorceror
ReplyDeletehttp://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ComedicSociopathy
:D
The IT Crowd
ReplyDeleteBetter than both of them
When was the last time the male characters were stymied by a pretty girl on BBT? Most of the stupid comments I see bashing the show seem like they're written by people who only watched the first 3 or 4 episodes.
ReplyDeleteWith lines like "Of course, anyone who enjoys a television show with a laugh track should be ashamed of themselves," I think "kyle" might actually be the real life inspiration behind Sheldon.
Between Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement, and Criminal Minds, I'm convinced that one of two things has happened; Either someone at CBS has sold their soul, or a significant portion of the American population has no idea how to use their remote controls, and somehow they have all ended up with their televisions permanently stuck on their local CBS affiliate.
ReplyDeleteCommunity was created by Dan Harmon! Co-writer of Scud: The Disposable Assassin. Yeah that guy. If that's not nerd currency there I don't know what is.
ReplyDeleteYES! -Props like MAD for the person who mentioned IT Crowd!!! It IS better than both. That show is INSANE funny. -It also had a D&D episode...
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan of both and the It Crowd and 30 Rock, of them all, I don't think there is even a competition. Community is the funniest, most well-written and smartest sitcom I have ever seen. n fact, it might be funnier than my favoritest sitcom of all time, BBC's Coupling.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what show, book, movie, music you like, there's always going to be some snob who says that it's aweful and that their taste is better.
ReplyDeleteLive and let live I say. Or, you know, watch and let watch.
Now I'm going to pull out my BBT DVD set. And laugh when the laugh track laughs. And when a "pretty girl doesn't understand nerd stuff" joke comes on. And I will only be ashamed of the people mocking me, for belonging to the same specie as them.
/Sky
you are ALL dumbass nerds that read a poorly drawn web comic. like, the fact that it's a WEB comic alone means it's automatically worse than garfield and the family citrus.
ReplyDeletei mean COME ON.
BBT is a bunch of fags waiting around for the laugh track to chill out, and community isn't HALF as good as chuck.
so, fuck you all! i hope each one of you gets hit by a bus today. i really mean that. i really do.... :(
Yeah Community isn;t HALF as good as Chuck.
ReplyDeleteIt's TWICE as good as Chuck.
Hey! I'm a geek and I watch Community! No disrespect to BBT meant by that. I'm just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteARGAAARTGGG pEOpLE ON THE IANATRERNETS DOONT HAV THE SAME OPINION AS MEEE!!!! THE WORLD IS OVVVERRRRR!!11! HOW CAN U ALLL SUCK SO HARD?!
ReplyDeleteRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!
Family Citrus? Is that about a household of grapefruits? Or was that Big Tang Theory?
ReplyDeleteI forget.
I watched the first three seasons of BBT and by the end of the third season I hated the show and what it had become. It wasn't funny anymore and the Penny/Sheldon fighting seemed so forced and stale, along with everything else about it. I wouldn't go as far to call it nerd minstrel, its just straight up anti-funny.
ReplyDeleteWhile Community for me has only gotten better. It's one of my favorite shows now, if not ever. Parks & Recs is up there too.
I think the fact that choosing what to watch qualifies the girlfriend to be labeled a bitch is where the humor of this comic comes from. It really doesn't matter what 2 shows were listed in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteCommunity doesn't need a laugh track to let you know when it's being funny. BBT jokes are forced an obvious. I do love Sheldon as a character though. What's not to love about Community's Meta-ness?
ReplyDeleteThis guy is the AT&T of people.
ReplyDeleteAnd even MORE props from another spectator for the poster who mentioned The IT Crowd. Definitely wins.
ReplyDeleteugh, he is the worst. and his girlfriend should sever and find someone streets ahead.
ReplyDeleteI just don't understand why nerds are supposed to like Big Bang Theory. "Haha! These virgins don't understand how to interact with women! Video games! These guys are just like you, right?" Is it because they name drop Zelda? Are we supposed to watch and go "Zelda?! I know what that is! That's so cool that they know what that is! I thought it was a secret!"
ReplyDeleteWhen I watch TBBT, it always feels like they say "What do nerds like? Let's do that!" TBBT is a sitcom made FOR nerds.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watch Community, it always feels like they say "What do we like? Let's do that!" Community is a sitcom made BY nerds.
TBBT is kinda like the guy who pretends to be a nerd because nerds are cool these days. They say stuff like "Hey, George Lucas sucks and Halo rocks, amirite, guys?"
Community, on the other hand, is like a real life-nerd. Sure, it doesn't make references to Star Wars or LOTR as much as TBBT, but that's because they don't need to. And then, they get to the zombie episode and the DND episode, and they emulate the emotions and tropes that happen when you experience them because they don't just know nerdy things, they UNDERSTAND them.
I remember laughing at the "Did someone say pegasus?" joke on Community's DND episode because I know how sometimes a Dungeon Master would have a simple, easy to solve scenario in a DND session that the players would complicate for no reason. And a show that understands that feeling is a TRUE nerd.
I'll admit, I liked TBBT for a while, but I stopped watching at season 3, when I realize that most of the jokes can be described as "Insert Nerd Reference Here."
I rather dig the 'nerd minstrel show' commentary I see here and have seen elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteBig Bang Theory is... okay. It's a pretty shallow show and almost a generic sitcom. The nerds I know (ie my friends and I) watch Community instead if they watch either. They are by far a better written show. Maybe only occasionally watch Big Bang out of curiosity, not really following it.
Abed is a much better nerd / aspie character than Sheldon. Now Sheldon does slightly remind me of some nerds I've known. Yet Abed rings far more true as Sheldon gets some things just off. For example it bugs me that someone with his personality loves DC and Marvel, but also has been quoted to love anime. They even made a shirt of a line about anime. Considering his character, he's more likely one of those many comic nerds who hate anime. They try to make them all catch all nerds when in reality nerds have their own little camps, especially when they're as obsessive a personality as these guys.
Xenos, the thing about Sheldon is that every single thing he ever does or says makes PERFECT SENSE if you consider this one, simple fact:
ReplyDeleteSheldon is autistic (and his friends are too ashamed of his behaviour to get him to a psychologist who could diagnose this).
This makes the laugh track not just annoying but sadistic. The creators/writers don't just hate autistic people and make fun of them; they also hate their fans by making them laugh at autistic people.
On an unrelated matter, does anyone need soap? I bought a boxload of it just for the box ...
Sheldon is not autistic, at best he has Asperger's.
ReplyDeleteI think Community is much more creative than BBT in their use of jokes and humor. I also like the fact that it doesn't have a laugh track.
BBT isn't what it used to be: Lenny hook up really took its toll on the show, and now it's just angst about a relationship only the writers wanted in the first place. This season, a lot of the episodes have been pretty mediocre, or just sad efforts.
The last two episodes of Community have been odd to me, but before them the show presented us with a golden episode week after week. It is consistently good, and people are finally starting to notice, even though it still has to fight TBBT in terms of ratings.
TBBT is a show where we have Leonard, someone who hates himself and the fact that he's a nerd, trying to change himself to become anti-nerd. Is that a show for nerds?
Also: if you really have Leonard as a "nerd who can't get laid", how come he has sex in every other episode, with a different girl almost every time no less?
God, everyone's weighing in on this one.
ReplyDeleteDown with Big Bang Theory, up with Community. That is all.
The real difference? Community is written by clever nerds, TBBT is written by a bunch of unfunny old guys _trying_ to be clever nerds. Also, Sheldon's not autistic, he's just a self-centered jerkoff.
ReplyDeleteThe comments here are all in the wrong tempus now that we're in the darkest timeline. :(
ReplyDelete