Now that episodes of The Big Bang Theory are in syndication, I’ve been trying to get into it to see what all the fuss is about.
And .. I kind of hate the show.
My distaste makes no sense to me – it’s a show about nerds, doing nerdy things, starring nerds that I’ve had a crush on since Roseanne. The theme song is sung by nerds, and .. you know, nerds. Everywhere. And yet, I hate it all over the place.
I really wanted to like it, and I gave it a bunch of solid tries before I threw in the towel. It’s not that it’s not funny – we watched last night’s episode to see Wil Wheaton’s cameo, and I laughed out loud at Mayim Bialik‘s lines a few times – but the rest of the show leaves me seriously cold, and I’ve thought at length as to why.
It’s the laugh track.
The laugh track tries SO HARD to make sure you know that SOMETHING FUNNY IS BEING SAID AND NOW YOU SHOULD LAUGH that it seriously turns me off. I’m a nerd; I KNOW this stuff is funny. It’s right up my alley. The laugh track is so forced though that the entire thing feels like pandering; like the audience is being talked down to. It makes me really uncomfortable, and that’s why I don’t enjoy the show.
I know the core audience isn’t nerds – it’s people who like Two and a Half Men and stuck around to see what else is on – but that doesn’t mean the laugh track has to be so pointed and obvious. It takes the funny situation or exchange and turns it into slapstick for dumb people, and I can’t handle it. I don’t like being pandered to, and the show is nothing but.
It’s too bad – I could really get into it if not for that really loud, jarring noise every time someone opens their mouth.
NERDS! THEY’RE JUST LIKE YOU AND ME! HAHAH!
delicious juice dot com 
One of the worst and most overrated shows on TV. It would be better if it was more subtle humour and didn’t have the laugh track. As well, I never understood how my fellow geeks thought it was awesome as it is just playing stereotypes.
Also, I want to punch the Leonard character in the face.
laugh tracks kill me. there are episodes of m*a*s*h (a guilty pleasure … i have a weird crush on alan alda) with a laugh track … which makes me stabby since the show was definitely not filmed in front of a live studio audience. it’s the same with subtitles … in the states, if anyone on television has the slightest accident, they get subtitled … the audience is too lazy to actually listen, or know when to laugh. :S
i should be more specific … my weird crush is actually on hawkeye pierce … i blame my dad for making me watch all those reruns. ;)
Oh my god, me too. I thought I was the only one. <3 <3 <3
Someone already proved that without the laugh track, the show is very unfunny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmLQaTcViOA
See, actually, that wasn’t bad…
Actually, yeah, it totally was.
Oh my god I KNOW. I tried to like it also, I mean, clearly I am a nerd for space especially and now I am sad because I named my blog before I even knew about this show but having seen it once or twice, I now spend a lot of time hoping people don’t think I actually like this show just because my blog sounds like it could almost be related. Sad day.
Oh god, I hate laugh tracks anywhere. You should be able to turn that shit off or on at your own whim like you can with the closed captioning.
I have a visceral hate reaction to anything with a laugh track! Like someone else said, I get all stabby.
That’s why I like The Office. No laugh track. I hate being told what to do!
I hated Big Bang Theory when we first started watching it but for some reason, Kate had this total and complete devotion to it and after being made to watch it over and over again, I have come to love it, despite the laugh track. Not only do we own Seasons 1 and 2, but I just bought Kate Season 3 for her birthday. It ISN’T really that funny and yet…I don’t know. Maybe my love for it is a form of Stockholm syndrome.