Fucking bazinga: In which I rant
I've realized that I just really hate comedy television. The Awkward Moment Scenes that EVERY comedy show uses absolutely ruins television for me. I prefer the unexpected surprises that lead to humor. Like when the boss in IT Crowd walked out of the window. That was pretty funny. However, for my occasional television intake, I enjoy dramas for the most part. I love period pieces and anything that deals with the British peerage. So, a lot of Masterpiece Classic, actually. The only comedy television I enjoy is:
1) News comedy shows -- The Daily Show and The Colbert Report do not need to utilize awkward moments to get laughs (except occasionally during interviews). Politics is so ridiculous that forced humor is unnecessary.
2) Animated comedy shows -- You can do things via animation that you CANNOT do in real life. This give you more options for comedy. It's also harder to identify and empathize with animated characters, so Zapf Brannigan or Homor Simpson's lack of pants at a formal dinner is not a cringe worthy as a live action character.
3) Scrubs and Louie- Scrubs and Louie are both part comedy / part drama. It makes them tolerable. They are both also single camera shows.
And that's about it.
I hate The Office, Modern Family and HIMYM. I watched them briefly and I thought, yeah these are funny. But they all quickly grated on my nerves and now I hate them with a fiery passion.
Nerdy shows tend to massively get on my nerves. Exceptions include web series: Hey Ash Watcha Playing?, The Guild and The Legend of Neil. The IT Crowd tends to find more humor in social situations rather than making pure nerd jokes which leads to many Awkward Moment scenes. They do have a running nerdy joke that I enjoy: When they answer the phone they say "Hello, IT. Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Every time, that's how they answer the phone. And usually, it solves the problem. That's priceless, because it actually works for many devices and it's something that help desk employees will ask you. But other than that, I hate the show. And that's okay.
The Big Bang Theory just screams LOOK AT WHAT A NERD I AM. (cue audience laughter)
LOOOLLL they are playing magic. MY LITTLE BROTHER PLAYS MAGIC! Sooo nerdy. (cue audience laughter)
HA! Sheldon got his PhD when he was 16! And he has a white board where he's trying to solve STRING THEORY! Physicists are SUCH NERDS* (cue audience laughter)
I have heard people describe the show as "A show about smart people, made for dumb people." I don't know if it's because nerd chic is so in right now that people want to get jokes and they want to be part of that crowd (if I see another nrrrd grrrl post a picture of herself in a green outfit with the line "WHAT IF ZELDA WERE A GIRL*" I might have to choke a bitch.) but it's just a little annoying.
I could totally see the girl in Big Bang Theory showing up dressed as Link for Halloween or something and announcing that she is dressed as a girl Zelda. Then the boys correcting her. And it would be SO FUNNY. And it would be to some people. But, I realize that the closer the show is what you do, the less likely you are to find it funny. Mostly because the jokes are old. You might as well just watch Tosh.0. And the characters are an exaggerated caricature of real life. Most biology undergrads I know LOVE House. Most doctors I know hate it.
I'm not saying I'm some awesome nerd in this awesome nerd universe who gets all these awesome nerd jokes. I'm not. I have to ask K-Swiss to explain a lot of computer jokes. I look things up online. But wearing glasses and a tee-shirt with a tri-force does not make you some super hip awesome nerd girl. And I don't go around trying to look nerdy. Actually most people think I'm more likely to geek out about Rodarte and Jason Wu than Dungeons of Dredmor and Fallout. And they would be half right.
And in the end, I really don't know why I care. Except I'm tired of people insisting that I would LOVE Big Bang Theory because I'm a nerd. At this point, I would honestly rather have you insist I settle down and get married. That is actually less annoying.
*I don't know if any of that is accurate. I know that someone on the show got his PhD when he was very young and there are white boards in their living room. Someone said something about string theory and about that time I stabbed myself in they eye.
1) News comedy shows -- The Daily Show and The Colbert Report do not need to utilize awkward moments to get laughs (except occasionally during interviews). Politics is so ridiculous that forced humor is unnecessary.
2) Animated comedy shows -- You can do things via animation that you CANNOT do in real life. This give you more options for comedy. It's also harder to identify and empathize with animated characters, so Zapf Brannigan or Homor Simpson's lack of pants at a formal dinner is not a cringe worthy as a live action character.
3) Scrubs and Louie- Scrubs and Louie are both part comedy / part drama. It makes them tolerable. They are both also single camera shows.
And that's about it.
I hate The Office, Modern Family and HIMYM. I watched them briefly and I thought, yeah these are funny. But they all quickly grated on my nerves and now I hate them with a fiery passion.
Nerdy shows tend to massively get on my nerves. Exceptions include web series: Hey Ash Watcha Playing?, The Guild and The Legend of Neil. The IT Crowd tends to find more humor in social situations rather than making pure nerd jokes which leads to many Awkward Moment scenes. They do have a running nerdy joke that I enjoy: When they answer the phone they say "Hello, IT. Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Every time, that's how they answer the phone. And usually, it solves the problem. That's priceless, because it actually works for many devices and it's something that help desk employees will ask you. But other than that, I hate the show. And that's okay.
The Big Bang Theory just screams LOOK AT WHAT A NERD I AM. (cue audience laughter)
LOOOLLL they are playing magic. MY LITTLE BROTHER PLAYS MAGIC! Sooo nerdy. (cue audience laughter)
HA! Sheldon got his PhD when he was 16! And he has a white board where he's trying to solve STRING THEORY! Physicists are SUCH NERDS* (cue audience laughter)
I have heard people describe the show as "A show about smart people, made for dumb people." I don't know if it's because nerd chic is so in right now that people want to get jokes and they want to be part of that crowd (if I see another nrrrd grrrl post a picture of herself in a green outfit with the line "WHAT IF ZELDA WERE A GIRL*" I might have to choke a bitch.) but it's just a little annoying.
NO!
And in the end, I really don't know why I care. Except I'm tired of people insisting that I would LOVE Big Bang Theory because I'm a nerd. At this point, I would honestly rather have you insist I settle down and get married. That is actually less annoying.
*I don't know if any of that is accurate. I know that someone on the show got his PhD when he was very young and there are white boards in their living room. Someone said something about string theory and about that time I stabbed myself in they eye.
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