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- Thread starter SoapyCy
- Start date
If I want real "Nerd Comedy" I watch Silicon Valley. That one's nerdy enough that my wife doesn't get it.
It's still not 100% realistic though. Not many TV shows are.
I'm curious what all of the BBT haters watch with their champagne tastes?
Bash it if you will, but it has always been my guilty pleasure as well as one of my favorite shows. Sure, it isn't in-depth like a Breaking Bad or other shows that I also enjoy. However, sometimes I'm just looking for some cheap laughs, even with a laugh track, that I many times just run in the background. I'm also a nerd myself at heart (see my DCEU and Marvel Cinematic Universe threads on here I started), which allows me relate and know a lot about all their topics, and in particular their jokes. Howard has always been my favorite. Yes, it may not be the pinnacle example either of what true "nerd" culture looks like, but at the same time, I'm always amazed at how spot-on a lot of the stuff is.
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- Mar 27, 2006
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Silicon Valley is very good, and has a lot of authenticity to it. The Venture Brothers is one of the smartest and best written shows on TV. You're the Worst on FXX is another very smartly written show, not nerd humor, but still right on point. Another one on FXX is Better Things with Pam Adler. Man Seeking Woman is another great one. And you can't complete a smart show list without Futurama, which is basically king of smart shows.
I know plenty of nerds who go to comic-con and have a ton of collectibles. I have a friend who has more legos than his young children.
Futurama is great, but alas, it is no more. I don't get FXX so I can't really relate.
The thing is, Silicon Valley would probably not fare well on network TV. I'm glad it has the place it does on HBO, but the masses wouldn't get most of it. That's why I pay for premium HBO programming.
But when I just want to watch a regular old sitcom, BBT isn't all that bad.
- Mar 27, 2006
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Oh, and you can't forger Archer.
It's actually a perfect example. TBBT does it's "drivel, drivel, drivel, "NERD REFERENCE," drivel drivel, drivel" style.
Here's how Archer does it.
In one episode, one of the characters (Pam) makes reference to being an MMA fighter in her spare time. Later, we see her from behind without a shirt on for a few seconds, and you can see she's got this massive tattoo of a poem on her back along with several tick marks. The poem is Lord Byron's Destruction of Sennacherib. They never make reference to it. No character announces what it is, or delivers any kind of punchline about it, because that would ruin it. It's just there.
It's actually a perfect example. TBBT does it's "drivel, drivel, drivel, "NERD REFERENCE," drivel drivel, drivel" style.
Here's how Archer does it.
In one episode, one of the characters (Pam) makes reference to being an MMA fighter in her spare time. Later, we see her from behind without a shirt on for a few seconds, and you can see she's got this massive tattoo of a poem on her back along with several tick marks. The poem is Lord Byron's Destruction of Sennacherib. They never make reference to it. No character announces what it is, or delivers any kind of punchline about it, because that would ruin it. It's just there.
- Mar 27, 2006
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I agree and don't have a problem with that. Dumb, mindless shows are fine and dandy. My issue is that BBT gets lumped in as a smart show, when it has more in common with Two and a Half Men and Two Broke Girls than it does with Silicon Valley.
I'm on team HipHopp. Maybe it's just a reflection of the era I grew up in, but the laugh track doesn't bother me. I'm pretty sure nearly every tv comedy in the 80's and 90's had one.
- Mar 27, 2006
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A Destruction of Sennacherib tattoo is the 18th century equivalent of "Thug Life." A bad ass poem about laying waste to your enemies. It's development for Pam's character done subtly and hilariously.
I don't have an opinion either way on BBT. I've watched a few episodes. Not the worst thing I've ever watched, but not the best. Two Broke Girls, on the other hand, may be the worst thing I've ever seen. We often watch the channel 17 news at 9, and we can't turn the channel fast enough when it's done because 2BG comes on right after. Even the first few seconds of that show are terrible.
While we're talking about bad shows, anyone here catch Whitney during its short life? Pretty sure she's the main writer for 2 Broke Girls as well so that explains the overlap..
That one was bad. I think I watched the first episode. Not sure how it lasted past the first commercial break.
Admittedly, I think I watched through half of the first season just to see if it would take a turn but that was probably more so because I was into Chris D'Elia's stand up at the time (and by stand up more so crowd work because his writing isn't that great either).
Interesting. I'm never sure how much to believe these things, but if the maps are legit, pretty safe to say the Ohio and Mississippi rivers (south of the Ohio) are definitive cultural divides.
It's very telling that you're so guarded about your lower than average tastes in entertainment.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
It only took 4 minutes. Nice work.
Now, can we do something about this $100k income figure? Is that really a guarantee in their fields for a university position? This one I don't know, but I'm willing to be skeptical and jealous.
