The Appeal of Big Bang Theory
Catherine Brickner
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Entertainment
Have you ever found yourself making jokes about math equations, physics formulas, or other engineering concepts taught at Kettering with your fellow Kettering students. Have you ever thought to yourself afterwards, only at an Engineering School would jokes like these be made. Well, if you have, you are wrong. Jokes based on math equations, physics formulas, and engineering concepts are not only made by others around the world, but are now being aired on national U.S. television with over a million viewers[1] watching, including many of your fellow Kettering Students. Who would air jokes such as these? CBS in their season old sit com, The Big Bang Theory.
The Big Bang Theory sitcom is written by Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men and Dharma and Greg) and is based in Philadelphia. It involves two geeky, accomplished, physicist housemates in their twenties, Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), who live across the hall from Penny (Kaley Cuoco), an attractive waitress from Kansas. When Penny moves in, Leonard develops a large crush on her and throughout the series tries to romance her, though his geekiness prevails.
The Big Bang Theory appeals to a wide range audience. Unlike other television series labeled "geeky" such as Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, the sit com is based in an environment the average person can relate to whereas typical "geeky" shows are based in a sci-fi setting unfamiliar to the average person, with odd clothing, and fictitious beings. Although it is somewhat comparable to Linwood Boomer's Malcolm in the Middle, both are comedies involving the humorous interaction of those with above normal IQs with the rest of society, The Big Bang Theory seems to be a new type of genera. This genera incorporates those considered normal and those considered geeky. A comparable show to The Big Bang Theory would be Britain's Channel Four series IT Crowd. Although IT Crowd is similar in the sense that they both involve males with higher than normal IQ's but lower than normal social skills interacting with a female who would be considered "normal", Big Bang Theory is not set in a work place environment. Big Bang Theory is also aired in the United States were as IT Crowd is currently only aired in Britain, though there are rumors of it air in the states soon.
The Big Bang Theory sitcom is written by Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men and Dharma and Greg) and is based in Philadelphia. It involves two geeky, accomplished, physicist housemates in their twenties, Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), who live across the hall from Penny (Kaley Cuoco), an attractive waitress from Kansas. When Penny moves in, Leonard develops a large crush on her and throughout the series tries to romance her, though his geekiness prevails.
The Big Bang Theory appeals to a wide range audience. Unlike other television series labeled "geeky" such as Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, the sit com is based in an environment the average person can relate to whereas typical "geeky" shows are based in a sci-fi setting unfamiliar to the average person, with odd clothing, and fictitious beings. Although it is somewhat comparable to Linwood Boomer's Malcolm in the Middle, both are comedies involving the humorous interaction of those with above normal IQs with the rest of society, The Big Bang Theory seems to be a new type of genera. This genera incorporates those considered normal and those considered geeky. A comparable show to The Big Bang Theory would be Britain's Channel Four series IT Crowd. Although IT Crowd is similar in the sense that they both involve males with higher than normal IQ's but lower than normal social skills interacting with a female who would be considered "normal", Big Bang Theory is not set in a work place environment. Big Bang Theory is also aired in the United States were as IT Crowd is currently only aired in Britain, though there are rumors of it air in the states soon.
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