If you're in IT, there's a pretty good chance that you consider yourself, at least somewhat, a "geek" in one way or another. Perhaps it's an attachment to things like science fiction (Star Wars, Star Trek, The Matrix, etc.), comic books, video games or other things typically associated with "nerd culture." Perhaps you're just fascinated with numbers, science or other things that could get you classified as one of us. In the past, such associations would be shunned by society, but no longer – it's time to wear our geekiness like a badge of honor. And the TV show "The Big Bang Theory" is our standard-bearer.
Now in its second season, the CBS sitcom (Mondays at 8 p.m.) seemed like just another "losers go gaga over hot girl who moves in next door" comedy that didn't have much hope for it. But after watching a few episodes later in the season, I realized that the characters in the show are much, much more than that. Yes, the basic premise is that a young, attractive female (Penny, played by Kaley Cuoco) moves in next door to two brilliant physicists, one of whom (Leonard Hofstadter, played by Johnny Galecki) finds her very attractive. But Sheldon Cooper (the brilliant Jim Parsons, who deserves the Emmy nomination right now) could care less about social relationships, and is constantly arguing or challenging Leonard on things in the "normal world". Sheldon reminds me of Data or Spock, in that he's extremely brilliant on several topics, but extremely naïve in other ways.
The show is rounded out by two other friends of Sheldon and Leonard, who complete the "geek circle of friends" in unique ways. Howard Wolowitz (played by Simon Helberg) is an engineer who lives at home with his mother and is constantly trying to woo the ladies, but failing miserably (the show creators have likened Howard's character to Pepe LePew). Rajnesh Koothrappali (played by Kunal Nayyar) is an Indian scientist who has the unique condition of being unable to talk to beautiful women in person (unless he's drunk), which makes for very awkward situations whenever Penny is around.
The show's comedy does come from these awkward situations, and at times they are making fun of the "geeks", but at the same time they've got some incredibly funny jokes that only geeks would understand and appreciate. For example, in an episode from last season, Sheldon buys a prop from the movie "The Time Machine", and once the machine arrives in the apartment, the four friends can't wait to "travel through time". Sheldon sits in the machine and pushes the button, and the other three friends walk around in "fast time" – a joke that is funny if you've ever seen the original movie. It's this appreciation for geek culture that makes the show so enjoyable to watch. These guys are technically brilliant as well – in one episode, Leonard goes to a Best Buy-like electronics store to shop for a gift for Sheldon, and ends up giving IT advice to shoppers in the store, with technically correct information about the differences between 802.11n and 802.11g wireless routers (kudos to the show's writers for knowing this stuff).
Another example – in last night's episode, Leonard says that the game "Rock Paper Scissors" is too easy for people who know what the other person is going to predict, so he suggests that they play "Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock", adding two more components to the "simple" game. Witness this line of dialogue: "It's very simple. Scissors cuts paper, paper covers rock, rock crushes lizard, lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes scissors, scissors decapitates lizard, lizard eats paper, paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes rock, and, as it always has, rock crushes scissors." Not only is this funny to watch (when they play the game later, the guys all pick Spock as their first move), but it shows how a brilliant mind would think of expanding a simple children's game (I commented to my wife that when I was a child, I tried to expand Rock Paper Scissors by adding 'dynamite', but couldn't figure out what dynamite would do to paper).
Another instance of the great writing in the show – two characters get into an argument over which Star Trek Movie was the worst, with one proclaiming, "Star Trek 5 is the standard by which all badness is measured." This was an actual conversation that my other "geek" friends and I have had on many occasions (we've ranked the Star Trek movies in order of coolness – the answer, by the way, is Star Trek 2, 3, 4, 1, 5 – in my humble opinion).
Happily, the ratings for the show have gone up on The Big Bang Theory this year, so hopefully more people will find the show and continue to enjoy its look at people who are happy with being just a little bit geeky. If you've thought it was just a cheesy sitcom, check it out for at least a few episodes.
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I watch this show every week
I watch this show every week (well on TiVo), sort of a geek myself, I find it hilarious and pretty much pokes fun of every stereotype of a "geek."
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