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Big Bang Theory is a depiction of what idiots think intelligent people are like. Those characters do not exist in real life. IMHO UK's IT crowd is a much bette

Big Bang Theory is a depiction of what idiots think intelligent people are like. Those characters do not exist in real life. IMHO UK's IT crowd is a much better and funnier depiction of geeks (albeit Moss is a bit exaggerated too).

pmelendez 13y ago
Well they are exaggerations which is the fundament of comedy. Moss is my favorite character of IT Crowd. And now that you mention the show, you would see that IT Crowd is the other side of the venue, they tend to laugh at non tech savvy people (i.e internet in a box, typing google inside google, etc)
Cthulhu_ 13y ago
I would say "Have you tried turning it off and on again" accurately represents 90% of IT service calls, :p.
riquito 13y ago
"Moss is just a bit exaggerated" :-) 0118 999 881 999 119 725... 3
- chippy 13y ago
  That joke is mainly not about Moss or the IT Nerds - but rather the world outside that the audience inhabits. The Moss joke is that he is the only person able to actually memorise that (useful emergency) number, which shows he is better than the outside, that the normal world is the object to laugh at.
  - Dewie 13y ago
    I thought it was more of a savant thing; the very weird and maladjusted person who has some extreme mental gift, like being able to memorize a whole phone book (or in this case, a nonsensically long emergency number).
davidw 13y ago
> Those characters do not exist in real life. Unlike other popular TV shows like Friends, which are a very realistic depiction of what it's like for young people to live in the big city?
pferde 13y ago
Yes, IT Crowd was perfectly, until Denholm's son was introduced, and completely ruined the whole series' theme with crass, juvenile sex jokes.
tzs 13y ago
> Big Bang Theory is a depiction of what idiots think intelligent people are like. Those characters do not exist in real life. I've known people in real life similar to all the main characters of BBT. The BBT characters are more concentrated, so I'd have to use maybe 7 or 8 people to span the characteristics of Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Raj, but I don't think that invalidates the point. In fact, I knew such people at Caltech, which is where BBT is set. As a Caltech graduate, I see no problem with their portrayal of Caltech people. It is the portrayal of the facilities that bugs me. They have geologists in the same building as theoretical physicists! The "likes BBT" (x axis) vs "viewer intelligence" (y axis) curve seems to be, as far as I can see, convex.
- tzs 13y ago
  Oops. Axislexia.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    Wait, now I have absolutely no idea what you think the correlation is between BBT appreciation and intelligence.
    - tzs 13y ago
      The intent was to say that ordinary people and extremely smart people seem to like BBT [1], with the dislike coming from those in between. Among BBT fans are George Smoot, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Stephen Hawking--they aren't doing speaking cameos on it to boost their resume for a career switch to acting. :-) I probably should have just went with the original quip I had, which was "People you consider idiots like it, and people who consider you an idiot like it", but that seemed a little insulting so I dropped it. [1] or at least ordinary people and extremely smart people who do not like it do not seem to complain about the show online.
      - tlarkworthy 13y ago
        Sorry, your attempt at condescending me does not work. I am a smart person with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics. While I am no Hawkins, I do have first hand of experience of these levels of genius. I have met three nobel prize winners. I have never met anyone as dysfunctional as Sheldon. From what I have read, even Erdos had a sense of humour.

pmelendez 13y ago

Well they are exaggerations which is the fundament of comedy. Moss is my favorite character of IT Crowd. And now that you mention the show, you would see that IT Crowd is the other side of the venue, they tend to laugh at non tech savvy people (i.e internet in a box, typing google inside google, etc)

Cthulhu_ 13y ago

I would say "Have you tried turning it off and on again" accurately represents 90% of IT service calls, :p.

riquito 13y ago

"Moss is just a bit exaggerated" :-) 0118 999 881 999 119 725... 3

chippy 13y ago
That joke is mainly not about Moss or the IT Nerds - but rather the world outside that the audience inhabits. The Moss joke is that he is the only person able to actually memorise that (useful emergency) number, which shows he is better than the outside, that the normal world is the object to laugh at.
- Dewie 13y ago
  I thought it was more of a savant thing; the very weird and maladjusted person who has some extreme mental gift, like being able to memorize a whole phone book (or in this case, a nonsensically long emergency number).

davidw 13y ago

> Those characters do not exist in real life. Unlike other popular TV shows like Friends, which are a very realistic depiction of what it's like for young people to live in the big city?

pferde 13y ago

Yes, IT Crowd was perfectly, until Denholm's son was introduced, and completely ruined the whole series' theme with crass, juvenile sex jokes.

tzs 13y ago

> Big Bang Theory is a depiction of what idiots think intelligent people are like. Those characters do not exist in real life. I've known people in real life similar to all the main characters of BBT. The BBT characters are more concentrated, so I'd have to use maybe 7 or 8 people to span the characteristics of Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Raj, but I don't think that invalidates the point. In fact, I knew such people at Caltech, which is where BBT is set. As a Caltech graduate, I see no problem with their portrayal of Caltech people. It is the portrayal of the facilities that bugs me. They have geologists in the same building as theoretical physicists! The "likes BBT" (x axis) vs "viewer intelligence" (y axis) curve seems to be, as far as I can see, convex.

tzs 13y ago
Oops. Axislexia.
- tptacek 13y ago
  Wait, now I have absolutely no idea what you think the correlation is between BBT appreciation and intelligence.
  - tzs 13y ago
    The intent was to say that ordinary people and extremely smart people seem to like BBT [1], with the dislike coming from those in between. Among BBT fans are George Smoot, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Stephen Hawking--they aren't doing speaking cameos on it to boost their resume for a career switch to acting. :-) I probably should have just went with the original quip I had, which was "People you consider idiots like it, and people who consider you an idiot like it", but that seemed a little insulting so I dropped it. [1] or at least ordinary people and extremely smart people who do not like it do not seem to complain about the show online.
    - tlarkworthy 13y ago
      Sorry, your attempt at condescending me does not work. I am a smart person with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics. While I am no Hawkins, I do have first hand of experience of these levels of genius. I have met three nobel prize winners. I have never met anyone as dysfunctional as Sheldon. From what I have read, even Erdos had a sense of humour.