So how many of you that hate BBT watch Cops/Dr/Lawyer/Detective shows?
Those are just as stupid and far more unrealistic than BBT
I would rather watch a full season of BBT than any single CSI/Bones/Homicide...cop procedural any day...
I am a BBT hater and I guess you are trying to find shows that I think are funny.
A lot of these are Australian and British so you probably wont know them.
My favourite comedy of the year was
I also like The Gruen Transfer.
I love The Chaser .
(BBC) QI .
*Except for the Wire, which is the motherf#~$ing bomb.
Mrs. Gersen and I are currently hooked on it. About to finish Season 3... 2 to go after that. Anytime I ask what we're doing on some open week night, Mrs. Gersen chides, "The Wire, duh!"
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Frank Subotka for Secretary-Treasurer!
(BBC) QI .
QI is brilliant.
Really, 90% of British TV is better than American stuff by far. Not sure if it's even a fair comparison, to be honest.
Then again their seasons are really really short ;)
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
|
*Except for the Wire, which is the motherf#~$ing bomb.Mrs. Gersen and I are currently hooked on it. About to finish Season 3... 2 to go after that. Anytime I ask what we're doing on some open week night, Mrs. Gersen replies, "The Wire, duh!"
Woot! Mrs. Sebastian and I binged on it late last year (HBOGo FTW). As your lawyer,* I advise you to avoid any and all internet lists about the most shocking character deaths of all time - there's a hell of a surprise in store if you can avoid the many spoilers about it...
*For comedic purposes only.
(BBC) QI .QI is brilliant.
Really, 90% of British TV is better than American stuff by far. Not sure if it's even a fair comparison, to be honest.
Then again their seasons are really really short ;)
There is a lot of crap British and Australian shows... Geordie Shore, Snog Marry Avoid...
but they don't (usually) have supposedly smart people doing rediculously dumb things.
Lots of really intelligent people are actually quite dumb when it comes to things outside their field of expertise and/or common real life scenarios. If that's your biggest gripe of BBT, than I would suggest avoiding the vast majority of TV, because that's what most shows, and especially sitcoms, rely on - taking people out of their comfort zone, and showing their reactions, and it's often the more specialized people that are easier to do it with because their comfort zone tends to be smaller.
Some people on here have wildly different tastes in TV than I do...
I love NCIS the characters are awesome (I may have started watching it because it co-stared the male romantic lead from Dark Angel) so much so that I watched an 8 season marathon of it to burn a week of time. I found Community to be dull and uninteresting with barely any depth to the characters. As I said I love Big Bang Theory because I get to laugh at myself (we all have a little bit of inner geek or nerd). I find most British TV to be low quality and have rarely watched more than one season of any of it. The exception of course being Doctor Who which I love. And I do often watch British shows... they sound really really interesting from their advertisements. They just disappoint when I watch them. Maybe I am too American in my tastes? Hmmm actually I did like all of season one of Torchwood... the later seasons sucked.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
What is SO important about a laugh track? I barely notice them...
|
(Though, that said, for some reason, I am obsessed with the fact that NCIS is able to generate multiple seasons worth of television given that their jurisdiction should be extremely minimal).You must be REALLY baffled by Psych's multi-season crimefest.
If it keeps going like this Santa Barbara's going to be a ghost town.
Though the fact that it's more comedy than drama helps matters immensely.
Yeah that reminds me of Midsomer Murder...a British cop series set in small rural communities...it must have got to the point where most of the villagers were murdered or murderers because the cop moved to a new village five seasons in.
They are a psychological cue to tell you when to laugh because you are otherwise struggling to find the funny bit.What is SO important about a laugh track? I barely notice them...
So all these shows that use a live studio audience or a laugh track are trying to what? Trick people into laughing? Why? They don't work. I laugh when I think it's funny, not when they tell me to laugh. Don't you? Doesn't everyone? Is Hollywood being silly?
And why not just ignore the laughing if it bothers you?
They are a psychological cue to tell you when to laugh because you are otherwise struggling to find the funny bit.What is SO important about a laugh track? I barely notice them...
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
(More seriously: That show is popular due to its characters, and not its stories.)
This is also true of BBT.
As a huge fan of the show, I have a great deal of affection for the characters. When Sheldon said he must rub something over Amy's chest (to help combat her illness), because the audience knew the characters so well, and because the actress could convey this complexity with a single look, it trancended 'funny' and affected the fans much more than any mere joke could. This complexity would largely be lost on a viewer not so familiar with the show.
This phenomenon is by no means unique to BBT. It is so common that it is a large part of the reason for any show's longevity, wether the writing quality is good, bad or indifferent.
As for the 'canned laughter', like it or not, realise it or not, laughter is a communal activity. It is much easier to share a laugh than to laugh alone; the joke that may make you laugh out loud when in company might only raise a smile if you first heard it alone.
When we laugh at a joke, we want to tell others about it; it is the nature of laughter.
The people who edit the reaction of a live audience understand this. One possible use of this technology is to 'make' you laugh at bits that aren't funny, but there are other, less cynical uses. Often the audience is still laughing at one joke so they miss the next. Shows are recorded twice, partly to change some material (and they use the best in the final edit), and sometimes the same material gets a bigger laugh one time than the other, so why not use the best one? Sometimes they have to shorten the laugh because it covers subsequent lines.
The above is true for all shows 'recorded before a live studio audience', not just BBT. This process is no more cynical than any other type of editting. When you do a scene 5 times and use the best take, is that somehow okay but choosing the best one (of two) audience reactions is somehow evil enough to make the sound engineers lose their collective paladinhoods?
Not evil, just annoying.
I'd rather they ditch the "live studio audience" and thus have no excuse for adding the laugh track, myself.
I laugh when I think it's funny, not when they tell me to laugh. Don't you? Doesn't everyone?
Apparently not, according to Vincent's story on the prior page.
I personally just find it annoying when the laugh track pops up and I'm sitting her wondering "What was funny about that? Why is the audience laughing?" Which is what happened the vast majority of the time in the episode I was forced to watch.
but they don't (usually) have supposedly smart people doing rediculously dumb things.Lots of really intelligent people are actually quite dumb when it comes to things outside their field of expertise and/or common real life scenarios. If that's your biggest gripe of BBT, than I would suggest avoiding the vast majority of TV, because that's what most shows, and especially sitcoms, rely on - taking people out of their comfort zone, and showing their reactions, and it's often the more specialized people that are easier to do it with because their comfort zone tends to be smaller.
Yes, and most shows don't use it as a constant insult to their characters. BBT does. Every episode I have watched has spent more time insulting the main characters and making them be morons than actually trying to be funny or creative.
I personally just find it annoying when the laugh track pops up and I'm sitting her wondering "What was funny about that? Why is the audience laughing?" Which is what happened the vast majority of the time in the episode I was forced to watch.
LOL You just described my first time watching Big Bang Theory. My boyfriend LOVES the show and I rarely watch sitcoms... my usual fare being crime drama or science fiction. But it isn't a big secret I am a bit geeky so my boyfriend made me sit though an episode. Was I offended that he thought of me as relating to the bumbling characters on the show... no. Life is 99% how you react to it, I chose not to be offended. I made a deal with him since I don't usually like sitcoms I offered to always watch the show with him IF it made me laugh just once. If it didn't make me laugh he would never put it on while I was over. He agreed and much to my surprise... I laughed twice in the last 15 minutes of the show. Ok the first half was just me wondering why people thought this was funny. But the situation got to me despite my negative predisposition and I actually had two genuine laughs. So I am no longer forced to watch it I actually like the show now and actively watch it even on my own.
I personally just find it annoying when the laugh track pops up and I'm sitting her wondering "What was funny about that? Why is the audience laughing?" Which is what happened the vast majority of the time in the episode I was forced to watch.LOL You just described my first time watching Big Bang Theory. My boyfriend LOVES the show and I rarely watch sitcoms... my usual fare being crime drama or science fiction. But it isn't a big secret I am a bit geeky so my boyfriend made me sit though an episode. <snip> Ok the first half was just me wondering why people thought this was funny. But the situation got to me despite my negative predisposition and I actually had two genuine laughs. So I am no longer forced to watch it I actually like the show now and actively watch it even on my own.
Mine was the exact opposite. I sat through an episode with my mom giggling madly the whole time, and laughed at exactly one joke. Something about Sheldon being drunk and doing a Batman impression. After that I got chastised for not having a sense of humor, but at least I haven't been badgered into watching another episode.
Never seen Archer. Family Guy is irritating, crude, and overrated.
This is sort of off topic but sort of not but I'm trying to get a general read here. Those who don't like the show because either 1) They're offended by it or B) They think its not clever or funny at all, what do you guys think of shows like Family Guy and Archer?
Family Guy and Archer aren't even pretending to be in the real world, so they cannot hit the same level of insulting. I still find both of them annoying more often than funny.
It used to be good.
But that was a loooong time ago.
|
|
I personally just find it annoying when the laugh track pops up and I'm sitting her wondering "What was funny about that? Why is the audience laughing?" Which is what happened the vast majority of the time in the episode I was forced to watch.LOL You just described my first time watching Big Bang Theory. My boyfriend LOVES the show and I rarely watch sitcoms... my usual fare being crime drama or science fiction. But it isn't a big secret I am a bit geeky so my boyfriend made me sit though an episode. Was I offended that he thought of me as relating to the bumbling characters on the show... no. Life is 99% how you react to it, I chose not to be offended. I made a deal with him since I don't usually like sitcoms I offered to always watch the show with him IF it made me laugh just once. If it didn't make me laugh he would never put it on while I was over. He agreed and much to my surprise... I laughed twice in the last 15 minutes of the show. Ok the first half was just me wondering why people thought this was funny. But the situation got to me despite my negative predisposition and I actually had two genuine laughs. So I am no longer forced to watch it I actually like the show now and actively watch it even on my own.
It's OK...breath deep: They will have made the Pilot to Blakes 7 soon so we will all be saved or doomed by the greatness of it or failed experiment.
This is sort of off topic but sort of not but I'm trying to get a general read here. Those who don't like the show because either 1) They're offended by it or B) They think its not clever or funny at all, what do you guys think of shows like Family Guy and Archer?
I like Family Guy...I like American Dad more, I don't think Archer has made it to Australian TV yet...
The Commercial stations in Australia don't do Scifi/superhero shows very well. They put them on very late at night, they promote them kind of like "hey nerds we have some stupid show for you" or worse in a ironic hipster way...
The one of the government run TV stations (ABC) used to show Dr Who right from the 1960's I grew up in the 70's and 80's watching Dr Who, Monkey Magic, Star Blazers, and G Force at 6pm after school. When the new Dr Who came out the controller at the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)hated sci fi and was going to let it go to a Commercial station... There were protests, several government ministers and leading business people came-out and said that the ABC must have Dr Who.
Its now one of their best rating shows, he did let Torchwood go to a commercial station and it ended up being shown at 11pm.
It's OK...breath deep: They will have made the Pilot to Blakes 7 soon so we will all be saved or doomed by the greatness of it or failed experiment.
Blake 7.... Excitement and trepidation, that show went to some very dark places I hope they do it justice.
It's OK...breath deep: They will have made the Pilot to Blakes 7 soon so we will all be saved or doomed by the greatness of it or failed experiment.
Blake's 7?
Ok you made me look that up... I was an infant when it aired so it isn't surprising I never heard of it before. Still I am optimistic, after all someone online compared it to Firefly. SyFy owns it now I guess, and they have had mixed success with shows.
It's OK...breath deep: They will have made the Pilot to Blakes 7 soon so we will all be saved or doomed by the greatness of it or failed experiment.Blake's 7?
Ok you made me look that up... I was an infant when it aired so it isn't surprising I never heard of it before. Still I am optimistic, after all someone online compared it to Firefly. SyFy owns it now I guess, and they have had mixed success with shows.
I am not sure if you will like it. The special effects were done by the same team that did original Dr Who. It was often shot in the same locations.
Crap special effects forced them to write good stories (most of the time) old school BBC Sci Fi is more character study and very slow paced.
|
|
It's OK...breath deep: They will have made the Pilot to Blakes 7 soon so we will all be saved or doomed by the greatness of it or failed experiment.Blake's 7?
Ok you made me look that up... I was an infant when it aired so it isn't surprising I never heard of it before. Still I am optimistic, after all someone online compared it to Firefly. SyFy owns it now I guess, and they have had mixed success with shows.I am not sure if you will like it. The special effects were done by the same team that did original Dr Who. It was often shot in the same locations.
Crap special effects forced them to write good stories (most of the time) old school BBC Sci Fi is more character study and very slow paced.
GO TO YOUR ROOM!!!
This is sort of off topic but sort of not but I'm trying to get a general read here. Those who don't like the show because either 1) They're offended by it or B) They think its not clever or funny at all, what do you guys think of shows like Family Guy and Archer?
I like Family Guy. It's pretty dumb, but in a funny way. As a masked, bow-wielding vigilante I found Archer really offensive. It's like every joke is a stab at my expense. Sorry, but I've turned 30. I can't spend all night partying and/or shooting badguys and not need a couple of days just lounging in front of the tv in a bathrobe to recover. No amount of time on a deserted island is going to change that. Harumph!
Actually, they just aired the first episode of Archer last week, so I really have no opinion on it. Is it supposed to upset me?
I like Family Guy. It consistently goes out of its way to crudely insult everyone on the planet - no group is spared. That kind of flagrantly intentional tipping of so many sacred cows is hard to find. I mean, making fun of geeks is sort of hallowed by tradition, but making fun of babies? Crippled people? Pedophiles? Asians? The list goes on and on. Even when it's not funny I salute them for the effort.
And Family Guy has one other thing going for it: when I'm staying at a motel in East Bumville, Nowhere, no matter what else, I can always turn on the T.V. at any time of day or night and find a rerun being played.
Archer I've never heard of.
|
|
I am not sure if you will like it. The special effects were done by the same team that did original Dr Who. It was often shot in the same locations.
Crap special effects forced them to write good stories (most of the time) old school BBC Sci Fi is more character study and very slow paced.
I prefer to think of them as amazing special effects, given they had next to no budget!
|
My observations on BBT.
I find I laugh BEFORE the laugh track hits. So what use is the laugh track to me? NOTTA, I ignore it. I have observed this over the past couple of BBT to see and I have found I laugh before the laugh track kicks in.
I find during The Colbert Report I hit the laugh marks with his live audience.
This cannot be true of all comedies. Used to love HIMYM but this season it has gone bad and the laughs even with laugh tracks are not there.
I don't hate the BBT, but its humor pales in comparison to Archer, which is probably the smartest and edgiest program on TV today.
As for Family Guy... I like it from time to time, but ever since South Park pointed out the obvious formulaic approach they use to create filler content in episodes with throwaway jokes, my appreciation has lessened. It's a sometimes-treat, in my book, and not something I find consistently funny.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Heh, I love to see how differently people perceive the same thing...
First let's examine this notion that TBBT characters are "stereotyped geeks".
(Well, short aside, but people, if you are going to claim to be defending the honor of intelligent people who are unfairly stereotyped as antisocial or "not cool" due to their vast intelligence, and you do so because you identify with them... learn to friggin' spell and master basic grammar first, OK? Sheeesh...)
Yes, they are stereotyped geeks. The basic concept of the show is to play off of geek stereotypes for humor.
But, have you noticed how many hot chicks Leonard has bedded on that show? What is it now, six or eight? I know geek, and I don't know many geeks who have to juggle two hot relationships while attempting to rebuke the advances of a third. I'd bet Leonard has had carnal knowledge of more females than Ross ever did on Friends.
Raj does not really come across as "geek" to me. He comes across as the guy in the group who follows the group's lead.
Howard is more Jewish over-mothered son than geek.
If anything I find the show stereotypes the "cool kids" in far more negative ways than the geek stereotypes. Penny learns that she was a bully. Leonard's high school bully turns up and bullies him again. Pretty much every boyfriend Penny has other than Leonard is a cartoonish caricature of the idiot, testosterone flooded athlete.
While the show definitely overplays the geek stereotypes the writers are at least smart enough to handle the science halfway decently. For a culture that typically treats science as either brain cooties or thinly disguised magic, TBBT gets a surprising amount of their science right. That is what finally convinced me that the writers were actually trying to represent intellectual pursuits rationally and honestly.
And they do their best to make the geek traits as endearing as possible. In the end they even manage to make Sheldon a sometimes sympathetic character, which is quite a feat.
I rarely laugh at sitcom jokes. I find myself laughing at TBBT quite a bit. It is the best written and best performed situation comedy since Seinfeld, and Sheldon Cooper is a brilliant comedic creation ranking up there with Barney Fife and Cosmo Kramer.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
It is the best written and best performed situation comedy since Seinfeld
How fitting then, I couldn't stand Seinfeld either.
@AD: You describe what the fundamental problem is about the show: it serves its characters up for ridicule. But the crowd of geeks and nerds doesn't laugh about the geeks and nerds in the show. They laugh about the dumb people like penny and the boyfriends you describe.
But the "boneheads" who are more like Penny laugh about the geeks. The show is divisive at its core. And that is not a good thing.
But, have you noticed how many hot chicks Leonard has bedded on that show? What is it now, six or eight? I know geek, and I don't know many geeks who have to juggle two hot relationships while attempting to rebuke the advances of a third. I'd bet Leonard has had carnal knowledge of more females than Ross ever did on Friends.
That has probably less to do with "Lets make Leonard awesome" and more to do with 99% of middle-age or younger women on TV are hot.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
@AD: You describe what the fundamental problem is about the show: it serves its characters up for ridicule. But the crowd of geeks and nerds doesn't laugh about the geeks and nerds in the show. They laugh about the dumb people like penny and the boyfriends you describe.
But the "boneheads" who are more like Penny laugh about the geeks. The show is divisive at its core. And that is not a good thing.
I'm a Geek (not a nerd as it was once said to me what is the difference between a geek and a nerd. A nerd Has Intelligence, no style, a Dweeb has neither and a Geek has both intelligence and style) I laugh at everything Geek and nerd.
Having played sports though High School yet I was a geek then because I played D&D (1979) I was also considered a Freak because I listened to heavy metal, played in metal bands, BUT I was also so called a "Roper" (Cowboy) because I had friends that where cowboys, I hung out with them, I did rodeo, FFA Future Farmers of America) Grew up on the horse racing track (Dad still trains and races quarter horses), and being a "Jock" because I did sports.
I also laugh at the Jock stereo type because I have known many of those types in my life. (Hi my name's Chris Brockel, I play Football, know what position? Defense... ~laughs~ yes true story) And he was not the only one.
I laugh at the people like Penny, because I have known types like her too. Girls who think they are so hot they treat guys like boy toys, yet get treated like scum by the boy toys they treat like poo. And I've known Leonard types, Sheldon types, Howard types and yes even Raj types.
I laugh at everyone in the show because in some small way I am laughing at my own life, my own experiences and the experiences of others I have known.
So I blow that theory out of the water.
So I blow that theory out of the water.
No. As the saying goes: exceptions confirm rules.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
No. As the saying goes: exceptions confirm rules.
So I blow that theory out of the water.
Then you cannot say that geeks laugh at the jocks and the jocks laugh at the geeks that is a stereotype and then you are just as guilty of what you say the show does.
It is really as simple as this. There are many who LOVE this show and think it is funny. There are many who do NOT like the show and think it is stupid. it has nothing to do really if you are geek or jock, it has much to do if you think the situations are funny. Maybe because you have found yourself in that situation or knew someone in that situation. Then again you might be offended because you have been in that situation and felt 2" tall and people laughed at you and maybe that hurt.
If you've watched a season and still think it is dumb... so be it. I can say how much I HATE Game of Thrones. I love fantasy, but I cannot stand the show. I cannot stand it after seeing episode 1 twice and many of the others once. I gave that show a 2nd chance. But I do not enjoy it and won't watch it again. I can say I love walking dead. Does it make since? NO. Do people do stupid bone headed mistakes that many would not make in real life? YES. Just something about the sow and love it. just like I love BBT. it has something many of us think work. If it did not work? I would not be on the network.
So with that BAZINGA!
Thank you IceniQueen. I have said something similar myself.
PS: I also don't like Game of Thrones... I stopped watching very early after they killed that poor dog unjustly. I don't like shows that celebrate tragedy or evil, which is why I also hate most reality shows.
Thank you IceniQueen. I have said something similar myself.
PS: I also don't like Game of Thrones... I stopped watching very early after they killed that poor dog unjustly. I don't like shows that celebrate tragedy or evil, which is why I also hate most reality shows.
Wait, how does that "celebrate tragedy and evil"?
The wolf died, it was sad. Do you just not like it when bad things happen in shows?
|
<internet high-five/fist-bump to IceniQueen> I agree with this person (not saying guy or girl. It's the internet).
Side Note - Though I can't say anything on GoT. Don't have HBO and haven't bothered to watch the series yet. I don't know if I'd like it though as I'm one to get attached to characters and sad if they bite the dust (which I hear is a running theme in that one). Walking Dead I like so far but my favorite is Rick so we'll see if something bad happens there. PLUS with a zombie show ... you're kind of signing up for certain bad things.