Anytime the mainstream media tries to personify the geek culture, my hackles go up. We all know Screech. We all know Screech is simultaneously too broad to be real and too real to be funny. So when The Big Bang Theory showed up this year, I’m like, okay, great, they ran out of fat wisecracking husbands and slim wisecracking blondes and pretty wisecracking 20-somethings. All that’s left are my people.
But I’ve gotten tricked into watching a few episodes and I have to say…it’s funny. They are not faking the geek; the comic references and sci-fi punchlines make it clear that they hired the real deal and they are making a play specifically for the kind of audience that does not watch the sitcoms listed above. It’s got the guy who played Sara Gilbert’s boyfriend on Roseanne in the lead, and I always liked him. And did I mention the theme music was written and performed by Barenaked Ladies?
I’d be offended if they got the geek stuff wrong (“Take us seriously!”) and I still get kind of offended when they get it right (“I’m being pandered to!”). But I guess I’ll take the latter over the former. Especially if it makes me giggle.