(Published July 21, PDI-Entertainment)
By Oliver M. Pulumbarit
Contributor
Finally, a TV series about nerds and nerdity that dweebs and non-dweebs alike can appreciate: “The Big Bang Theory,” a weekly sitcom about a pair of physicists and their idiosyncrasies, wittily shines a spotlight on the supposedly “unpopular” social clique.
It’s easy to get immersed in the lives of roommates Sheldon and Leonard (Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki), two twentysomethings with contrasting personalities, but with a common love for science and a number of geeky hobbies.
In the show’s pilot episode, they meet a new neighbor, the bubbly blonde Penny (Kaley Cuoco), a sexy waitress/aspiring singer who has nothing in common with them, but she’s open to hanging out with the brainiacs.
The dialogue usually has its share of punchlines that involve behavior peculiarities, pop culture trivia, even scientific and historical facts. The opening theme goes, “Math, science, history/unraveling the mystery/that all started with the big bang!”
The show pokes fun at the “misfits,” but it also gleefully tackles the considerable contributions of the intellectual to different cultures. Created by Chuck Lorre (“Two and a Half Men”) and Bill Prady (“Gilmore Girls”), “The Big Bang Theory” also offers insightful situations that illustrate eggheads’ various fixations, and their aversion to societal norms.
The cast of characters includes two other science types, the sex-obsessed Howard (Simon Helberg), and Raj (Kunal Nayar), who can’t speak to women unless he’s drunk or medicated. Both drop by Sheldon and Leonard’s place from time to time to play video games or engage in some similar activity.
The distinct personalities make it easy to understand and pigeonhole the characters, while the snappy, sharp repartee makes them all similarly important parts of a bigger whole.
Still, the character that really stands out is extra-eccentric Sheldon, whose social ineptness and overly logical approach has gotten him into trouble a number of times already. Heck, he’s been the source of most of the first season’s mirthful situations; his lack of common human personality traits has prompted his friends to call him a robot. But Sheldon proudly admits that social relationships “baffle and repulse” him, anyway. Parsons’ portrayal is consistently excellent.
The writing’s mostly good, although one scene, which tries to emphasize the boys’ lack of non-scientific knowledge, isn’t particularly funny or logical. They fail to answer a question about the line immortalized by beloved cartoon character Tweety (“I tawt I taw a…?”). Sheldon answers “a Romulan?” Come on! These people love trivia, action figures, DC comic books, and Star Trek, and can’t answer that basic question correctly? Unbelievable. But thankfully, such out-of-character bits don’t happen often.
The episodes have been traditionally paced; each topic predictably spawns problematic situations (usually involving some character’s eccentricity), but goes off on funny, often clever tangents. For approximately 22 minutes weekly, “Big Bang Theory” delightfully gives its various takes on the nerd, constantly celebrating his extraordinary capacity for understanding and applying useful--and useless--information.
“The Big Bang Theory” airs Fridays,
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