It’s Just a TV Show, Dammit!

Nov 03, 2009 12:26


Originally published at Brian's Universe. You can comment here or there.

Last night I watched my first episode of the sitcom, Big Bang Theory. Why? Because the episode was to revolve around one of the main characters learning football to be closer with his girlfriend and her friends, who are Nebraska Cornhusker fans. As I too am learning football from my girlfriend…who ALSO is a Husker fan, one could not avoid watching the episode for the parallels alone…

Now I know a lot of people who love this particular show…including friends, ex-girlfriends, acquaintences, you name it. I know a lot of people who squeed about it at Comic-Con, and a lot of people tell me it’s funny. In all honesty though, I’m weird about sitcoms. After Arrested Development, very few, if any, sit-coms have held the same spark for me, the same interest (though I’m told I need to check out 30 Rock, and I will…). I think Arrested Development spoiled me, and I also think it’s premature cancellation prevents me from getting too attached to one of these shows. I know, I’m weird.

Anyway, I tuned into last night’s episode with an open mind, wondering if the main character would learn about football in the same way I am, wondering how funny the show itself would be, if I would like the characters…etc. Well, to sum up…I was not amused…like, at all. In fact, I felt embarrassed for these characters. These overtly-done, badly-written, woefully-stereotypical geek archetypes that I thought and hoped we’d all gotten past. Even the inclusion of a Quiddich reference and a Cylon toaster didn’t amuse me. Oh, and the main reason I tuned into the episode, the whole football thing, wasn’t even that big a part of the episode. To say I was disappointed would be pretty much on the money, even with low expectations.

So that’s fine, I’ve watched shows I’ve not clicked with that other people LOVE (i.e. Babylon 5, Farscape, The X-Files, etc),  even though this show annoyed and offended me moreso than others. I usually just say “meh, it didn’t click with me” and move on. However…many of my friends who are fans of this show lept up to the show’s defense. “It’s really funny,” they would decry, or “You need to watch it in order!” or “Check out this ONE episode, it’s really funny.” I doubt I’ll be watching it again, though, but I appreciate their fervor.

Now, as a huge fan of a show most people who’ve not seen it malign *cough Supernatural cough*, I understand both the delight in swaying a new fan onto a show you love, or the sadness in seeing someone brush off a show you adore needlessly. I’ve dealt with that ever since I became a fan of the show. However, I was not prepared for the sheer amount of polarization found in people when it comes to Big Bang Theory. People either adore it, or find it bothersome and unfunny like me. There doesn’t seem to be ANY in-between.

This has, therefore, sparked some fun debates on Twitter and Facebook between fans of the show and non-fans that I know. The non-fans say things like “I find this show offensive and I don’t understand how geeks can like it.” The fans retort by saying, “I am a geek, and I love the show.” Again, no in-between. I find it funny how the people who like the show can’t seem to understand why the people who don’t like the show don’t like it, and vice versa.

Sadly, some folks seemed to take it nearly personally that I didn’t like “their” show, going on to spew out hatred over a show I did like. This contrarian way of acting isn’t necessary, honestly, nor is it fun. I find it interesting that being a geek or a nerd means you have a lot of varied interests when it comes to movies, TV shows and the like. We’ll never all agree on them all, nor will we have time to see them all. Most of the time we should, I’d think/hope, just agree to disagree, but part of being a geek is passion over our fandoms, and agreeing to disagree seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

So I’ve given my example (Supernatural) of a show I love that other people scoff at, as well as a counter example (Big Bang Theory) of a show I wasn’t thrilled with that other people love. Where do you fit into all this? Do you have a show you adore that other people can’t stand, or a show you hate that everyone else seems to adore? Can’t wait to hear your feedback, and thanks for reading.

babylon 5, huskers, television, farscape, big bang theory, funny, x-files, girlfriend, supernatural, football

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