I haven't watched Community, but that is a long form version of my description to others (when asked) of why I don't watch The Big Bang Theory. I gave it a few episodes, I caught more when others watched it. It never clicked for me why I would be considered a part of the target audience when you often don't laugh with the characters, but at them. Thanks for the link.

That guy went way overboard. I share some of the "nerds" hobbies and I don't mind the jokes at all

I completely agree with the expressed sentiments, both regarding TBBT and Community, which is a fantastic show.

The purpose of TBBT is not to entertain nerds, it's to acclimatize everyone else to the new normal where nerds hold a form of status. In 2013 nerds can be very rich, their fields can be very influential, and their intelligence can be useful to normals.

Normals, however, don't understand how to relate to nerds in a post-high school environment. Their previous social training has been to simply ostracize and bully. TBBT teaches normals a new way of relating to nerds: tolerate them, make friends with them, turn a blind eye to their social awkwardness and weirdness, and trade your cultural capital for the nerd's intellectual and financial capital.

Nerds can be useful to normals. Nerds can be good friends if you understand how to handle and bracket their awkwardness. They can even be good boyfriends if you understand how to handle them--Leonard can benefit Penny with his intelligence, devotion, and wealth even if he isn't cool.

TBBT isn't aimed at nerds, it's a primetime mainstream TV show.

The author is right that the public is laughing at the nerds not with them. However TBBT still represents a sea change in the public representation of nerds--now nerds are not to be ostracized, rather they are to be tolerated.

The word nerd doesn't mean nowadays what it meant 20 or 30 yrs ago. It's been appropriated by business sorts as a label so they can pass themselves off as creators of genuine stuff as part of their sales routine. Look at most of the nerds nowadays and ask if these people are really "persons of above average intelligence who don't care about their appearance"? Real nerds tend to use the aspie label nowadays.

>Real nerds tend to use the aspie label nowadays.

What...? That's idiotic... You don't have autism just because you're a "nerd".

Aspie is short for Asperger's, which is only a very mild form of autism, not that people calling themselves aspies necessarily have Asperger's syndrone, though some do. Many aspies have appropriated the term, however, because they know the business sorts calling themselves nerds will be repulsed by the term, and won't want to steal it from real aspies anytime soon.

Calling it a "mild form of autism" is not really accurate.

The Portlandia Nerd PSA hits on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir3v5yDk9Ws

Didn't know about this show. Like the line "I'm a real nerd. I actually use these glasses to see!"

The nerds on TBBT really are real nerds. All of them. They are different flavors of nerd. Sheldon is the aspie pervert creep. Raj and Howard are creepy manchildren. Leonard is the low self-esteem self-conscious self-hating type.

Pervert? You may be projecting your nerd hate a bit.

Howard is the only pervert.

> laughing at the nerds not with them

I think there is quite a lot laughing at normals going on in TBBT, too.

But is the laughter at those properties that MAKE them normals, or is it at those everyday abnormal things that particular normals have?

Honest question... i'm not sure

>They can even be good boyfriends if you understand how to handle them--Leonard can benefit Penny with his intelligence, devotion, and wealth even if he isn't cool.

You seem to be implying there are many fewer nerd-couples than I've actually seen.