Big Bang Theory

[NicholasTeakozy]

I've only recently started watching this on the recommendation of my DCs. Oh my, it's hilarious! :o

Love love love the painting Epi

I love the way Berni feels the need to explain Howards 'jokes' while showing him she won't tolerate any nonsense.

That's it, I'm up working so I'm going to stick BBT DVD on

What series shall I watch?

Three.

No, four.

No, no, right first time. Three.

MrsWembley You actually made me just laugh out loud.

Ok, series 3 it is

"I thought it was a hoot and a half"

"Soft Kitty is for when I'm sick, I'm sad, sad is not sick. I don't have a sad song, I'm not a child" Great choice MrsWembley

I want BBT dvds

You can watch them online here

'I know, it's not enough is it!'

Yaaay, its on e4+1

I've just put that on too, my DVD player's making funny noises

It's a well early one

When Frasier came out I bought each series individually. Then the last one came and so did a box set...

I really want TBBT on DVD but a big part of me needs to wait for the box set.

Only problem is this means waiting for it to end. I don't want it to end, ever.

I am tempted to get this but may get it for DS1 for his birthday as an excuse.

We love it. DH maintains that if it had been around when he was a teenager it would have been cool to be a geek. It is not sexist and none of the women are portrayed as stupid - Penny beats Sheldon at chess the first time he shows her the rules. she also bowls ( and shoots) better than any of the boys, of course...

I just bought DS1 this t-shirt and he was overjoyed. He is already shaping up to be a science geek (and has been diagnosed ASD, although I know the makers of the show are at pains to point out Sheldon is not) We watch is as a family and roar (although DH and I both have science based degrees so we too get all the jokes )

Watched the arranged marriage one last night where Raj has his first alcoholic drink and talks to Penny, was wonderful.

I did get a bit annoyed when they went through a phase of making the intelligent women socially inept and signposting it by making them be very forthcoming with information about their need to go to the loo though

I love this series, did have slight concerns at the start about it being a bit sexist (dumb pretty girl, clever geeky men etc) but actually it's been

As others have said, Penny isn't stupid - OK she's not a scientist/academic type like the others, but that doesn't make her thick. Bernadette is pretty and also a working scientist with a doctorate, Priya (Raj's sister) was gorgeous and elegant, and a successful lawyer and Oxford graduate.

It's a shame we don't see more of Leslie Winkle in later series, she was a fab character (and definitely not unattractive!)

oops, meant to say - actually it's been much better as it's gone on and the characters have become more developed.

I laugh at it sometimes, and I agree they have tried quite hard with the female characters, but agree with those who've identified a gender issue here.

Penny has 'common sense' and is practical and socially adept -mainly there to show how a 'popular girl' would behave and respond.
Bernadette - what the FUCK is with that voice? Can't bear it!
Amy FF is a frustrated lesbian, repeatedly shown to be ridiculous and risible - although as geeky and clever as the men, she has no peer group which supports that, and just wants to hang around Penny and copy her more apparently 'valid' lifestyle.
Lesley - best fermale character, definitely!
Howard's mum, stereotypical Jewish mother shrieking all the time and never seen.
Sheldon's mum - an idiot

There's a community of geekiness that the male characters share and provide, which is not there for the women, who are either sexual, sexually frustrated, or sexually negligible.

"There's a community of geekiness that the male characters share and provide, which is not there for the women,"

Maybe yes, but unfortunately this tends to be the case in real life as well! Being a female geek can be a bit of a lonely and isolating experience :(

I don't think Amy is supposed to be a lesbian, though she's clearly a bit in love with Penny - she's obviously keen to take things further with Sheldon, and remember when she met Zack (hoo!)

Yes, true, but would a real Sheldon be so indulged by his friends either?

And no, maybe not a lesbian, but I think they're using Frustrated Lesbian as a kind of lazy model for her friendship with Penny.

Anyway - the rest of my family roll their eyes and tell me to shut up when I say things like this about TBBT, so it's quite fun to discuss it here!

TheOriginal

Quite.

I get told to pipe down when I analyse popular culture like this. There is a gender / feminist theme here and it's not a good one. And it's just not enough to say Penny is "the most sensible, most normal one".

But then I also get cross with the opening credits which are hopeless. About a fifth of the credits depict prehistory then 4/5ths shiws human history.

It is a good programme but not a brilliant one and it is certainky not as clever as it thinks it is.

No I agree, it's not perfect when it comes to portrayals of gender/women, and I'm not trying to tell anyone they shouldn't analyse this sort of thing!

It's pretty good though in that respect, when you compare with a lot of other portrayals on TV and in popular culture (maybe that says something about how poor the average is of course!), and smarter and funnier than much of the rest.

We can definitely talk about the problems though. Personally I cringe a bit at the portrayal of Raj's parents - and Howard's mother too, something seems a little 'off' there to me. Actually I think the parents are much more crude stereotypes than the younger characters - of course they only make minor appearances so less opportunity to make them complex/rounded people, but still...