I’m a purposeful television watcher. That means that I actually turn on the television to watch a particular program and then turn it off when the show is over. Or I turn it to a 24-hour news show and listen to the infotainment while I’m on the computer. So if it wasn’t for my best friend, I might have missed the series The Big Bang Theory (TBBT) completely. My friend Jane knows that I’m a Warcraft gamer and there was an episode of TBBT that focused on that game. She told me about it, I watched the episode and was hooked and the show immediately became my favorite. I’ve now seen every episode at least twice.
TBBT is easily one of the smartest and funniest sitcoms to ever be written. It’s a great deal like Seinfeld in that it pokes fun at modern life and the way many people choose to experience it. The show focuses on 5 friends, 3 who are physicists, an engineer and a waitress.
One of the lead characters, Johnny Galecki was recently nominated for a 2011 Golden Globe for his role as Leonard Hofstadter in the series while co-star Jim Parsons who plays Sheldon Cooper won the award last year. For fans of the series Rosanne, the series Galecki was most famous for prior to TBBT, several other Rosanne cast members also make an appearance. Both Sara Gilbert and Laurie Metcalfe are frequent guest cast members. On TBBT, Gilbert plays an occasional love interest and college while Metcalfe plays the ultra-religious mother of atheist Sheldon Cooper. Rosanne fans will remember Metcalf for her role as Rosanne’s sister, Jackie and Gilbert for her role as Darlene Conner. Blossom fans will delight at the appearance of Mayim Bialik on the show. For fans of these actors seeing them in another role is a treat.
There are several expressions from The Big Bang Theory that have entered into the pop culture lexicon. A quick internet search will find both “Soft Kitty” and “Bazinga” on shirts, bumper stickers and magnets. The geek utopia company Think Geek has gotten into the fun as well by mass producing many TBBT items.
The bottom line is that the show is fun. There is no deep message, no real cultural relevance. As with Seinfeld, it’s a show about nothing. Sometimes nothing can be everything. This show is a break from the reality of life for a few minutes; a quick laugh and smile. It’s definitely worth watching.