I like how everyone says BBT is not funny, yet doesn't give any reasons why. Sure, the live audience / laughing might deter from one overall enjoying the comedy, but it is still hilarious. Community, so far, hasn't been really funny this season.
Big Bang Theory doesn't suck so much as it can be completely repellant to even marginally discerning younger adults. The entire show is based on broad regional and social stereotypes that ultimately appeal to an audience about 15 - 20 years older than the cast. The dialogue and acting is all fine, though. CBS is gunning hard for that youth and/or male market, now I see why New Adventures/Old Christine was shuttered (while Rules of Attraction lives on).
I seriously have never understood the love for Parks and Recreation. It's tolerable now and yes, Aziz Ansari is funny, but the show is so overrated. Community is just ok too. Never though it was all that funny. I think 30 Rock is better than both of them. And Big Bang Theory absolutely rocks. Just because a show has a laugh track these days doesn't automatically make it bad. As long as it's not overused.
5 seasons and Raj still can't even talk to Penny??? That is just one reason, but it is the problem with this show in a nutshell. It's supposed to be this show that celebrates geek culture, but basically sh**s all over it and the characters are just horrible representations of geeks, it's basically a nerd minstrel show. The plots are also pretty stupid and cliched, it's always fish out of water. Either the guys end up in a social situation that seems alien to them and they approach it with science and make references to physics or comic books and gain some understanding but still ultimately make fools of themselves, or Penny hangs out with them in some geek situation and applies her hot chick experience to better understand what's going on. Penny: Hey guys, what's going on? Nerds: We're starting a new guild in World of Warcraft, but we're arguing over who should be the leader. Penny: Oh, this is just like picking Cheer Captain. Sheldon: Certainly not, blah blah blah, physics, Schrodinger's Cat, Bazinga. Laugh Track*: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA *The show is filmed in front of an audience, but if a take is messed up and done again and again, after a while, the crowd loses steam and isn't going to laugh the way the showrunner wants. There are some pretty distinct laughs that are heard again and again on these shows because it helps the jokes. If you watch enough tv, you start to notice, especially on CBS with so many standard sitcoms, that they use the exact same laugh track between all the shows.
I can't get through one episode of BBT. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PmLQaTcViOA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
As far as laugh tracks go I remember watching either a Seinfeld special or the Seinfeld season from Curb Your Enthusiasm and it said that the show was done in front of an audience for rehearsal but with just the cast and crew for the actual taping that would air. They then used the recordings from the rehearsal and played those along with the episode that would air. This was done so the audience wouldn't be there for all the starting and stopping that goes on for the actual taping of the show. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v3rhQc666Sg?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I couldn't disagree more, but sadly, if you want to go by ratings, there are about 3-4 times as many people who are like you than people like most of the others in this thread. By and large, it's not because of the laugh track that Big Bang Theory is not a really good show anymore. The GOAT sitcom, Seinfeld, definitely wasn't held back by their use of a laugh track. The reason why the Big Bang Theory can't hold a candle to Community is that it is one of the most lazy, risk-averse shows on television. Status-quo is re-established after every episode, the characters have shown pretty much zero growth after they hooked up Leonard and Penny, and they somehow managed to take the one interesting premise of the show, the "fish out of water/nerds vs hotties", and completely abandoned it. Now all the guys can seemingly get a date whenever they want with very attractive women, generally know how to behave and interact with non-intellectuals, can go on successful dates...meanwhile, Penny somehow lost the ability to make friends on her own or lead a life that doesn't involve drinking wine/eating takeout in sweatpants while waiting for Sheldon or Amy to knock on her door. In comparison, Community takes a ton of risks when they start doing their high concept episodes (Paintball, Chicken Fingers, Zombies, Dinner with Abed, D&D, "Bottle Episode", "Fake-Flashbacks", the Documentary, Claymation Christmas) and for the most part, knocks them out of the park, and even when they fail, I respect them for the effort (Apollo 13, Abed's Religious Meta-film). But through all of this, the characters are still moving forward, and for the most part develop over time. With all the zaniness, you still see the group growing together, and when you get a "normal" episode that puts everything together like "Mixology Certification (2.10)", that payoff is infinitely sweeter than anything BBT will ever be able to accomplish. Can you even name 1 memorable episode of the Big Bang Theory that didn't involve a guest star? Maybe the Soft Kitty episode? BBT is like a fake p***y; you can stick your D in it and you're pretty much guaranteed to get off every single time, but it'll pretty much always be the same.It's always available, and always reliable, but not very memorable. You know what you're going to get. Community is the crazy girl with whom you start a relationship. She's going to disappoint you, flake on you, make you sit through boring crap. Many times when all you need is some good loving, she's not going to give it to you. So why do you put up with all of it? Because when you do finally get it, it's far sweeter and mind-blowing than anything else, making it all worth it.
Ok first you say the characters have shown zero growth, yet your gold standard, Seinfeld, didn't either. Then you seem to contradict yourself when you say they abandoned the original concept of fish out of water nerds to nerds who are fairly competent in social situations now. Is it possible that their relationship with Penny has given them more confidence in those situations? Regardless, I don't watch Big Bang regularly and only got into when I was watching reruns of it last summer. But you know what, sometimes safe is good. Sometimes safe is exactly what you need. And safe can be plenty funny. Safe is Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens and yeah Big Bang. And for the record, I like shows that try to be different too...shows like Malcolm in the Middle, My Name is Earl, Office, etc. I just don't care for Community and Parks all that much. They're watchable, but not as nearly as funny as people here claim.
I agree with Hi Mana on most of the points about BBT, but it's still my favorite show on TV. Community is also one of my favorite shows. How do I reconcile that?!?!? No doubt BBT has lost most of its fish-out-of-water feel, but the nerdy references are still entertaining. It's definitely more mainstream now with all the added female cast members. In many ways, its turning into HIMYM. Just substitute "sitcom based around romantic life of Ted, the straight man of the group" with "sitcom based around romantic life of Leonard, the straight man of the group". Yet even still, I watch it because go figure I happen to like HIMYM too.
Yup I just did. And you know, I actually find myself watching those shows over Seinfeld now, because even though Seinfeld has many, many, many more classic moments, the characters just aren't all that likeable.
Of the shows you listed, the only one that made me laugh was King of Queens (and that was mostly because Jerry Stiller is a hilarious person).
i honestly had never heard of the big bang theory, although i was aware that the kid from roseanne was in a show on cbs. all these shows that have started popping up in syndication over the last few years...2 1/2 men, king of queens, everybody loves raymond, big bang theory, new adventures of old christine - shows what a sorry state american sitcoms are in if this is the only stuff worthy of syndication. ive never watched a full episode of any of the above, but ive watched enough of each to know that i have zero interest in them and that none of them can do anything to make me laugh. when i was a kid we got rereuns of i love lucy, good times, andy griffith show, threes company, brady bunch, munsters, adams family, cheers, cosby show, bewitched, ect.
Community seems like a puncher in a boxing match that's down on the cards and really need to let its hands go. It really seems like they're pulling their punches thus far, and lost that experimental nature that they carried all through season 2. The show has always gotten better over the course of a season, but this was definitely not a memorable episode. I thought the "bring the outsider into the group" story had been done much better before with Fat Neil, and the internal conflict bubbling below the surface seemed a bit rushed. Maybe it was just because the one-liners this week just weren't quite up to snuff as before. I thought Annie producing a terrarium "it's like a diorama!", and her subsequent fall after being told they failed were quite good however. I have to say, I'm amazingly disappointed in Michael K Williams' character thus far; It seems like he's supposed to be a straight laced character in the increasingly cartoony world of Greendale. I don't think it's working, and the Lego joke really fell flat; but I do admit, its probably because all I want is more Omar. I think this might be the last gasp for Chang as more than a one note character; he's morphed from evil with a side of crazy, to pitiful/crazy, to just crazy. Giving him a place of power (and more importantly, power over the dean), might just be the way to salvage the character.
Hey, I keep BBT on rotation along with Community; I agree that safe can definitely be good; hell, sometimes you want the certainty of a good wank over the uncertainty of trying to hook up with a skank at the club. Characters don't necessarily have to change in order for a show to be good. I love Always Sunny, and I hope that the Gang has an appropriately horrible fate coming to them. Criticizing Seinfeld for not having character growth is like criticizing Hakeem for not being able to dominate outside of a specific 1 in 4 out offense; when you're outstanding doing it a certain way, keep doing what you're doing. Yet to me, Big Bang Theory is Vince Carter; at one time I really thought he was the future of the league, and he was able to pull of things that no one else could, the same way Big Bang Theory was able to effortlessly pull off its unique combination of genuine geeky awkwardness and nerd cred. Over time, Vince added a lethal jump shot, and his ascendancy was complete, the same way Big Bang Theory added in the romance with Penny, Bernadette, Amy and Priya, and everyone rejoiced, thinking the show was now unstoppable. We all know how this ends, though. Vince fell in love with his jumper, which was far easier to get than trying to drive, and stopped taking chances and doing the things that made him great. Oh, occasionally he'd still wow us with a monster dunk, the same way we can get a decent Sheldon storyline from BBT, but that guy who had so much potential is gone, the same way that the early painfully geeky storylines were replaced with harmless romantic quibbles. I can buy that the boys are getting more socialized due to Penny, and she's rejecting the popular crowd because they are too stupid for her, but in my opinion, it has not helped the show to converge the two groups together. The first few seasons when Leonard was chasing Penny, there was genuine tension, and you felt sorry for every time that his overly nerdy tendencies completely blew his chance, or publicly humiliated him and the rest of the group. Now? How am I supposed to empathize with them, or feel sorry for their awkwardness? They're all dating attractive women who accept their hobbies like wives and girlfriends accept their significant other's obsession with Fantasy Football, with a sigh and a shoulder shrug. What do I know though? The show kills Community every week in ratings, and is destined to run for 10+ years like every Chuck Lorre show. Safe is good. Safe makes money.
one is Joel McHale's ass crack, the other is Allison Brie's cleavage. Can you figure out which is which: Spoiler
