Heretic!

As I have just watch 4 seasons in less than a month, I can say that I like it.
I have more of an issue with IT Crowd, though I like it too, where nerds are portrayed in a failed, rubbish life than TBBT.
I don't identify with Penny, I think the audience is meant to be in tune with Leonard more than anyone else.

+1

You could have an entire episode with no Penny, or just a brief moment on the stairs where she might misunderstand something a bit too clever for her pretty little head. I'm really not sure that Penny would ever watch the show.

Anyone seen 2 Broke Girls recently?

Sophie is class

I think that may be a facet of British vs American comedy than a 'geek' thing. British comedy is much more often about the failure at life railing against world he can't defeat than it is about making someone 'the hero'. I know US comedy has that too on occasion (Married With Children for example and Curb Your Enthusiasm) but it's definitely a more common thing in British comedy and, frankly, we do it better. Hancock, Sykes, Citizen Smith, Some Mothers do 'Ave em, The Young Ones, Dad's Army, Reggie Perrin, Father Ted, Even Black Adder started that way. Almost all the best British comedy takes the story of 'loser against the world and the world wins' in some form. American comedy generally doesn't like the central character not 'winning' to some degree or other.

I find a lot of british comedy incredibly cringey, worst of all being outnumbered and the older stuff.
Anyway, what I was trying to say is that I don't think TBBT makes fun of nerds, I think the way Penny is portrayed is a lot meaner.

I hate cringey stuff, but we're looking at it from different angles I suspect.

I absolutely can't stand things like The Office (UK) or most American comedy films these days, embarrassing just isn't funny to me.

The office is terrible.
I think very dry humour such as black books is what the UK does best.
I quite enjoyed Marion and Geoff too

I think you've hit the nail squarely on the head there, the British do love a loser.

I'd add the early Only Fools and Horses to that - but, interestingly, when they did "win" and Del Boy and Rodney got rich, it lost its magic - which kind of proves your point about the loser aspect. But then again, much of that was down to greed from the BBC and not realising when the story had run its natural course. They should have stopped at the point they got their millions, but came back and spoiled it (in my eyes anyway).

The trouble is there's nothing in that list that's even remotely recent, though - Father Ted's at least 10 years old, isn't it?! I can't remember when the last genuinely funny, clever and original British comedy was made. Certainly nothing recent springs to mind.

Coupling was excellent, but that was a good few years ago and not a major hit I suspect.

Same with that Fry ad agency one.

The inbetweeners and fresh meat are brilliant and recent.

+1

Better on the radio.

I think his method is faulty. He should compare it more with Frasier. In that there were a couple of nerds, into psychology, wine club and opera. Around them was an ensemble of less nerdy types. I'd say they are consciously trying to recreate the Frasier template, and doing so with mixed success.

There was no need with Frasier to identify with any single character, at some point you would have been rooting for any of them (even Bulldog). If TBBT is to be judged good or bad, the relative success or failure to achieve that same balance is part of the reckoning (in my view it does reasonably ok).

Also like TBBT, Frasier referenced lots of highbrow stuff. The thing is, the joke about Balzac had nothing to do with poetry, it was about his name sounding a bit like ball sack. Very funny it was too. I don't recall any real knowledge of Kirkegaard or Wagner being required to get the jokes, so I don't think it's terribly bad that I can get the jokes in TBBT in spite of my awfulness at maths and science.

I think that guy is experiencing culture shock. Now that his lifestyle has made it into the world of sitcom for apparently the first time, he's lost track of the fact that sometimes this involves a little gentle prodding of its absurdities. I've played D&D, it was lots of fun, but you've got to be able to see that it's a bit odd.

I do think they need to round out the characters a bit more though. This far into Frasier, Niles was much more than just a henpecked snob wiping chairs with his hanky. I don't think Howard has made the same kind of progress.

Known to my generation as Stifler's Mom.