Geekitude
It's very bizarre to realize that you're in a sort of "minority" that can be offended by uninformed writing.
I don't have cable, so I don't usually see shows on their first-run, and I almost never watch sitcoms. It was in this manner in which I was able to successfully avoid exposure to the series Big Bang Theory. I'd heard of it, seen promos for it and was pretty sure that despite its supposed casting of geeks as protagonists, it was basically just Revenge of the Nerds on T.V., just without the jocks.
This weekend, while over at a friends' house, I saw two episodes. They were exactly what I expected: round after round of "let's laugh at the geek obsessions!" (baseball and football fans evidence the exact same behavior, albeit with much less interesting and thought-provoking topics; watch ESPN and mentally replace the sports statistics with information about the TARDIS. Pretty familiar, ain't it?) It wasn't until two characters got into a serious argument about the relative merits of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, however, that there was the sort of "huh" moment. The scene can be viewed here.
If you watch the video, you probably know where this is going.
From Allan Asherman's The Star Trek Compendium:
About the only things people seem to agree on about Star Trek: The Motion Picture are that it was expensive to produce, is visually attractive, and has a fine musical score.
Right. That musical score provided the theme that Gene Roddenberry specifically requested be used for The Next Generation. The score that set the standard thereafter for the musical depiction of Starfleet and Klingons for the franchise as a whole. The score from the composer who was asked back to the franchise for four more features and a television series theme. To refer to the music as a "failure," even as part of a passing joke, just makes no sense.
However, the problem with the show comes quite clear toward the end of the clip, where one of these guys suggests that Star Trek IV was "unarguably" the best of the original series films. Star Trek IV was the most popular of the original series films because the comedy element gave it great crossover appeal to the mainstream.
NO ACTUAL GEEK WOULD EVER ARGUE THAT THE VOYAGE HOME WAS BETTER THAN WRATH OF KHAN.
Trust me. I know this.
I get that the series is attempting to appeal to a mainstream audience, but seriously - geeks finally get to be the protagonists on a television sitcom, but they can't even get a Trekkie on the writing staff to correct obvious mistakes? Isn't that kind of like having a medical drama without a doctor to consult with?