re: Why does "How I met.." get love, but "The Big Bang..." gets hate?

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Big Bang Targets 40+.

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I don't get it either.

I guess it must be all of the Flash and Spiderman references as well as the theoretical physics talk.

HIMYM has some good characters but it's kind of a shitty show overall. BBT is a dumb comedy masquerading as some smart piece of television because they use the occasional big word.

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I'll say this, I know plenty of 40+ people who love the show. I think they are the ones who are "laughing at" the characters to the point where it's malicious like others have said. I also know plenty of young people who love the show, too. I personally don't think it's targeted to 40+. I just think you might have a lot of 40+ watching, but that's mainly because like 20 million people watch the show. You probably have a bunch of all age groups because that many people watch.

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Ok. I'll revise to be more clear.

While the content and setting SEEM to be targeted at kids, or at least, twenty-somethings, the shows structure and comedy is clearly targeted at middle america 35+. I'm saying that the content doesn't match its audience. And that's precisely why it's a fairly standard sitcom wrapped in the trappings of supposed geek comedy. And that none of the jokes really have anything to do with nerds, being nerdy, or geekdom when you actually look at them closely.

Just because you are talking about Star Wars does not mean you are talking about Star Wars. A joke about Penny dressing up as Leia has everything to with Sex and Bikins and nothing to do with Star Wars.

A joke about Nerds, because they are in a comic book store, has nothing to do with being nerd, but people being outcasts because they are nerds. It's not "nerdy humor," It's mean humor with nerdy content.

Take away the college stuff (because in the grand scheme of the show the school setting often is of no consequence), the content is comic books, star wars, computers and social media, etc. that's, for the most part, kid fare. But that's just CONTENT.

Content-wise, sure it has almost nothing to do with the 35+ age group. But Stylistically speaking, the comedy, punchline, writing structure, and characters are written to appeal to an older audience, not a young one. Therefore, as per the original statement, they do not target the same audience as HIMYM.

Big Bang has become my favorite comedy on network tv.

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so b/c it follows the traditional sitcom formula is targeted at an older audience?

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No. I never said that.

I'm saying that it's content doesn't point to its audience and it's not a "Nerd Comedy."

Whereas everything in HIMYM has everything to do with being an a young, urban adult, from content to story structure to characters, it is targeted at a very specific audience (of course SOME people watch it who are not targets, that goes for everything), in BBT while the content is nerd in nature, it doesn't really celebrate it or structure itself to use that wisely. It takes nerd content, puts it into formulaic sitcom fare and creates a show that is targeted to a much wider, and older than its content, group.

Shows that are ACTUALLY targeted at Geeks, Community and Futurama, reflect that in everything they do. BBT isn't on the same level.

That's nothing against it, but BBT is not targeting young adult Geeks.

You realize, I like and can enjoy (sometimes) BBT? I just want people to not let "nerd content," get in the way of what the show is actually doing.

I stand by this statement:

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The nerds and the comic book stuff are just window dressing on what is mostly banal humor and normal 35+ sitcom fare.

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And I'll change the age slightly to reflect Middle America, its primary audience.

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I never claimed they did target the same audience.

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Then check the OP. My response, the one that started this small conversation, is a response to the OP saying they target the same audience.

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I also agree with someone else in saying just because there are standard sitcom practices, that doesn't mean it's geared towards 35-40+.

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See above for a better explanation.

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I still stand by it. I've seen nothing that makes me think it's geared towards 40+. Just a lot of hullabaloo that it's mean and not really nerdy which really has nothing to do with age.

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As I said, I edited. BBT targets Middle America (and succeeds quite well), HIMYM doesn't.

And your response earlier was:

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Yeah. All the Star Wars and Avengers references really target the 40+ market.

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Which, if your other quote is correct, has nothing to do with who it targets either. So just because it has random Star Wars and Avengers references does not mean it is targeted at Star Wars and Avengers geeks. It's targeted squarely at Middle America because those references are of no consequence to getting the comedy in the show.

The issue with BBT is that the characters are static. Sheldon is a genius savant, who displays obvious characteristics of Asberger's syndrome. Chuck Lorre wouldn't actually expose Sheldon's social issues in an episode, because Middle America would feel terrible about laughing at an autistic person. People who suffer from Autism and Asberger's are well aware of their struggles to adapt to social conventions. We are led to believe that Sheldon is one of the smartest people in the world, but somehow doesn't understand his social awkwardness. Oh it's just funny, because smart people don't talk normal with us regular folk. It's not like smart people have normal conversations with people of their intellect or, shudder, with less intelligent people.

Abed on Community is actively autistic. He knows it. His friends know it. The audience knows it. His character can develop because we're all aware of his quirks.

The rest of the characters have different ways of expressing the obsessions with sex. Raj displays sexually ambiguous attributes, despite being a obsessed with heterosexual sex. Walowitz is a sexual pervert, who somehow gets married without actually developing past his obsession with sex. Leonard is supposed to be the normal guy who wants a relationship, but also likes sex. Yet, he just comes off as completely uninteresting.