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

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First, it argues that it's a "chick show", as if that's inherently bad. Then, there's a statement that only men in relationships get "roped into" watching it. And this was as a critique of why the show isn't that good. Essentially, the "boom" argument is that the show appeals to women. Oh, and that it's like Friends, a wildly popular show that also appealed to women.

How is that NOT a misogynist argument?

And yes, I think Friends was a better show than Seinfeld, mainly because I think Seinfeld is an aggressively mean-spirited show. All of the main characters are horrible people who repeatedly do awful things to each other and their acquaintances. Sure, a show like Always Sunny is the same way, but the central joke is how terrible they are, and they are routinely punished for being awful people. Seinfeld glorifies their narcissism and misanthropy.

As a viewer, I found it exhausting. It's still a a good, funny show, but I actually don't enjoy it on rewatch and I was never invested in the characters. It's a show that was terrified of genuine human emotion. As I've grown older, I've drifted away from things that are mean for the sake of being mean. But I digress. To tie this back into our current discussion, I feel that BBT is also an aggressively mean-spirited show while HIMYM is not. HIMYM shares the hopeful nature of Friends while BBT shares the misanthropy of Seinfeld.

And I far prefer the show with actual characters rounding out into fully formed people.

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I've tried to pinpoint why I haven't REALLY enjoye Seinfeld when I rewatch it. I mean, I thought it was brilliant only some short years ago. Brilliant AND rewatchable, honestly. I've seen some episodes 5 and 6 times thanks to TBS. But something is different in that show and my expectations now, that's a really solid point.