The Big Bang Theory, CBS, Mondays 9:30pm
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Well, you know, as each new TV season approaches, I read the Fall preview issues of TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly. Maybe I do some research online, not just to decide if I want to check out a new show, but if I should put a link for the series premiere on my website's calendar. This is a show, the description of which didn't interest me. It seemed kind of stupid, like a typical show about geeks who want a hot chick they can't have, or whatever. Now that I've seen a bit of the show, I don't recall if maybe I misread the previews, or something, but I'm kind of sorry I didn't tune in sooner. In fact I only started watching partway through season two, because my dad likes the show, and thought I'd like it. (But hey, he hasn't really got any channel to watch other than CBS.)

Well... it doesn't bug me that much that I missed more than a season, because, unlike alot of the shows I watch, each episode is pretty self-contained. It may have some ongoing threads, or reference some things from previous episodes I haven't seen, but even then, I'm not lost at all. It really is the perfect show to just jump into at any point, and not worry if you miss an episode. I usually like to watch shows that I feel are pretty pointless to watch unless you watch every episode, in order, from the beginning. But it's kind of nice to watch something more episodic than serial, something I don't really care about particularly, but that I thoroughly enjoy when I do watch it.

So, here's the plot: there are these two roommates, Leonard Hofstadter, a geeky physicist who seems to be the most socially functional of his group of friends; and Sheldon Cooper, a theoretical physicist and colleague of Leonard's, I guess. Sheldon is the least socially functional of the group, with stuff like OCD and maybe like some kind of high functioning Autism. I dunno. He seems very supercilious and punctilious, though fairly lacking in empathy or an understanding of how others think or feel. (As far as I can tell, btw, he doesn't have any interest in sex or dating or anything, unlike his friends.) Anyway, Leonard and Sheldon both have an interest in typically geeky things like science fiction and comic books, as do their friends, Howard Wolowitz (an engineer) and Rajesh Koothrappali (an astrophysicist). I guess all four of them work at Caltech, though they mostly seem to hang out at Leonard and Sheldon's apartment. Also, Leonard and Sheldon have a neighbor named Penny (who we kinda like), who seems to be friends with Leonard, and even dated him at one point (before I started watching). So she spends some time with the guys, in spite of not having much in common with them. And I don't think she particularly likes any of them besides Leonard. Sheldon doesn't seem to like her. Howard apparently likes her because she's hot, and he's, you know, interested in hot women. Not that they're interested in him.

What else to say? I dunno. I mean, that's the basic premise. A hot girl and four geeky, socially awkward guys. It doesn't sound like much, but the important thing to note is that's not really what the show is about. I mean, it's not about geeks trying to hook up with a hot girl. Anyway, it really can be incredibly funny, especially if, like me, you happen to be a socially awkward, geeky guy, who's interested in alot of the same stuff the characters are. (I'd say I fall somewhere in between Leonard and Sheldon, in my socially awkward geekiness, leaning somewhat towards Sheldon's Autisticness.) I like the geek culture references on the show, and you can't help but love Sheldon's lines and delivery (he reminds me slightly of David Hyde Pierce on Frasier), even if the character isn't trying to be funny and wouldn't likely understand why anyone finds him funny if you tried to explain it to him. And Leonard's reaction to Sheldon's... Sheldonness... is also pretty amusing. All the characters can be amusing, though. And the amazing thing is, I never really feel like the humor is at any of the characters' expense, exactly, in spite of the fact that their geekiness (or varying degrees of PDD) is the derivation of that humor. And I guess that's all I can think to say.