Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory is this terrible wednesday night filler sitcom on CTV channel 8 in Toronto. I'm not exactly sure of its syndication status right now in the US, but well...iunno. Let me quote the description by the CTV website.

"Leonard and Sheldon are brilliant theoretical physicists, the kind of guys who understand the nuts and bolts of how the universe is put together.

But none of that genius helps them deal with people--especially women. When a free-spirited beauty, Penny, moves in next door, sensitive Leonard realizes that she could represent his best chance to live in the real world.

Even Leonard's pragmatic roommate, Sheldon, whose idea of meaningful social interaction is gathering "friends" on MySpace and playing Klingon Boggle until 1:00 a.m., can see that Penny might just change both of their lives.

This comedy was created by Chuck Lorre ("Two and a Half Men," "Dharma & Greg") & Bill Prady ("Gilmore Girls," "Dharma & Greg")."


So yeah, 2 nerdy guys and a total babe. Except that the two nerdy guys are terrible nerds, and the babe is, well, okay, she's pretty hot. The characterization of the former two is overly stereotypical.

Why is this worth mentioning on the blog? Well, the latest episode tonight features Penny dealing with unemployment and general life failures by playing an MMO played by Leonard. Guess which one?

Nope. Not WoW. Age of Conan.

And boy, if success of an MMO is reflected by its promotion by mainstream media, then this fits the bill quite well. Where WoW has gotten exposure by the big boys in South Park, all AoC can muster is a terrible produced episode in the BBT.

Some points to consider:
- better usage of MMO-lingo by the writers of South Park. For writers supposedly trying to characterize geekwads in Leonard and Sheldon, they do a piss-poor job of being leet haxxors, using the word noob ONCE, and Leonard not knowing what "OIC" stands for. blah.
- in-game production values are superior in South Park's "Make Love, Not Warcraft." In-game was represented by actual WoW machinema, while AoC was represented in TBBT simply terribly.
- Still watching just now, I notice that Penny is using the same Logitech headset that I use, except with the red-colored plates for the earphones rather than my blue ones. I'm all of a sudden much more attracted to her, haha!

Extra Content: What I've been doing lately in WoW, all in one Screenshot!

In the screenshot:
-Hallowed Helm
-Sinister Squashling
-Magic Broom
-Tabard of the Argent Dawn
-Argent War Horn
-Argent Dawn Banner
-(Not Included, but worth mentioning that I currently own): Gloves of Undead Cleansing

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

a friend introduced me to them on youtube - and they rock.
I've checked and theres no dvd in oz for them.. ( not that i could find.. ) but I would so buy it..

Anonymous said...

I actually like the big bang theory, i stay in Scotland (granted i have SKY).

Cosmos said...

Sadly, it's the only sitcom on TV that I have ever enjoyed.

Still.

AoC. /facepalm

krizzlybear said...

@puggy, esdras, basil:

i surely hope you're not offended by my unfair bashing of them. Indeed, I've only seen one or two episodes. It takes a bit of time for me to be won over by a sitcom or television show, but I'll need some time to get over the nerdrage that I get when seeing Leonard and co.

I'll admit that I really like Penny, and she's pretty much the only reason why I don't switch channels once So You Think You Can Dance Canada is over (don't ask).

Pike said...

Stuff about nerdy guys and hot chicks bug me. Like there was this reality show called something like "Beauty and the Geek" about nerdy guys trying to win over hot chicks. Us girls can be geeks too! Don't leave us out of the fun, TV! /sob

Anonymous said...

Your bashing of it isn't unfair. It's a sitcom that none of its fans would watch if the subject matter wasn't flat-out pandering to them.

Of course, this is an era when Two and a Half Men is the top-rated comedy in America, so the public's ability to discern what constitutes a funny sitcom has gone out the window. (Which Aliens in America got canceled.)

Anonymous said...

I love this invasion, it's frost mage love for sure. I take out 6/7 of those damn zombie monsters with every pull. Nothing more satisfying to see all those large numbers fly when I blizzard up.

As for Big Bang Theory, it's just ok. Better then some other trivial crap. Though my favorite geek comedy is called THE IT CROWD, it's from England. Check it out on You tube, as you can't get it in the States, not sure about Canada.

Spicytuna said...

I actually like the show, and if you watched any of the first season, you can see them playing and making reference to WoW (Sheldon ninjas the Sword of Azeroth on his Night Elf Rogue).

It was my cousin who introduced me to this tv series, and he gave me all of season 1 to watch. I think I ended up watching the entire season in 2-3 days.

I haven't seen any of this season yet. Guess I'll have to add this show to my list of TV Shows to *cough*download*cough*.

Anonymous said...

Look, I live in finland and it's very hard to actually get here any good comedies from that side of Atlantic ocean, so I'm really IN LOVE with the Big Bang Theory. actually, i'm making the characters and the house right now in my sims2 neighbourhood. Does anyone know how the building they live in looks from outside the house? >. <'

Oh and The fresh prince is also my fafourite show, though i'm a youngster teenager girl born at -90. (and nerd who does not look like one actually).

Enjoy the show while it's available :)