Big Bang Theory

Lately, nerdy physicists victimized by obsessive-compulsive disorders and a phobia of speaking to women have dominated my television set. With sarcasm, obscure ideas and outrageous behavior, CBS’s “Big Bang Theory” has captured my attention and I’m loving it.

Currently airing its third season, “Big Bang Theory” features brilliant but socially dysfunctional physicists, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons). Along with their friends, Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar), the scientists are perfectly content in their nerdy, womanless, comic book world until Penny (Kaley Cuoco) moves next door. Beautiful and carefree, Penny offers them a challenge of understanding the opposite sex and confronting “normal” social interactions. These adventures, along with Leonard’s persistent love for Penny, offer continually refreshing episodes filled with well-written script and hilarious acting.

The last episode I watched was entitled, “The Gothowitz Deviation.” Walowitz and Koothrappali visit a Goth club and try to attract gothic women by displaying their dark side and faking tattoos. Meanwhile, Leonard and Penny are finally dating, and Sheldon tries to use positive reinforcement to train Penny to behave the way he would like. At one point, Leonard objects this by saying, “Sheldon, you can’t train my girlfriend like a lab rat!” Sheldon replies, “Actually, it turns out I can.”

It is scenarios such as this that make the show so entertaining. These nerdy characters have such vibrant, quirky personalities with their sole reliance on science, Sheldon’s need for consistency, and Wolowitz’s misguided obsession with finding a girlfriend..
Jim Parsons is particularly talented. Playing the most intelligent and aloof geek of the bunch, Parson’s delivers his lines with straight-faced wit. It’s almost as if he becomes this Spock-obsessed character and truly cannot sense sarcasm, must organize his cereal by fiber content, and has to sit in the same spot on the couch every time he sits down.
It’s amazing Parsons doesn’t laugh when delivering his lines, but perhaps it is the seriousness of Sheldon that makes him so funny to viewers. His character’s insanity is wildly entertaining (although Sheldon would argue differently: “I’m not insane, my mother had me tested.”)

The only character that doesn’t have me bursting with laughter is Penny. While there is nothing particularly wrong with her character or Cuoco’s acting, Penny is written too stereotypically. A gorgeous, ditzy blonde who works as a waitress while aspiring to become an actress seems too standard for the typically witty writing of “Big Bang Theory.” It seems as though Penny’s primary role on the show is playing a normal, mediocre person to contrast these genius, extreme personalities of the four men.

“Big Bang Theory” has an appeal for all audiences. Everyone possesses quirks and nerd-qualities to some extent, and to see them played up to an extreme is wonderfully entertaining. It is truly the show’s characters that form the appealing foundation of the show, and clever writing simply adds to it. “Big Bang Theory” is worth taking the time to watch and will leave you chuckling and wanting to find some physicist buddies.