Poll: The worst offender of "geek" themed entertainment.

[GonzoGamer]

After looking at the remarks on the one episode return of IT Crowd (one of the few good examples of geek themed tv) I realize most geeks don't like geek themed entertainment. No surprise, most of it is stupid, vacuous, and sometimes even offensive.

What do you think is the worst offender?

And (be honest) don't you watch them sometimes anyway?

 

[Calibanbutcher]

I'll out myself as a fan of "The Big Bang Theory" right now and deal with the hatred this outing brings with it...

No, really, I like TBBT. I like the cast, I like the jokes, I don't think that the "geek" jokes are offensive or making fun of geeks, especially seeing as I know some people who are similar to these guys and I don't really mind the laughing track, because I manage to completely ignore it.


On topic:
Except for TBBT and "the IT Crowd", I haven't really watched any geek themed shows, so I don't feel qualified to comment on any of the other shows.

The one thing I disliked most however was the strippers-playing-D&D-show on the escapist. I don't know why, but that just seemed so very wrong in so many ways.

 

[shrekfan246]

I'll out myself as a fan of "The Big Bang Theory" right now and deal with the hatred this outing brings with it...

No, really, I like TBBT. I like the cast, I like the jokes, I don't think that the "geek" jokes are offensive or making fun of geeks, especially seeing as I know some people who are similar to these guys and I don't really mind the laughing track, because I manage to completely ignore it.

Agreed.

I think the writing was a lot more clever during the first two or three seasons, but I've never gotten the impression that any of the jokes are played for laughing at the expense of nerds, like most of the detractors seem to believe. It gives me the feeling that the people haven't actually watched the show, or that some of the jokes hit a little too close to home for them...

Though like Caliban up there, I haven't actually watched any of the other famously deigned "geek-themed" shows, because I don't watch much TV in general. If I were to call for something I found most offensive to me personally, it'd probably some random show or movie from back in the 90's back when it was still actually a legitimate insult to call somebody a "nerd". Now it's like being a nerd is just a different style of "cool" from being a jock, for a different group of people.

 

[JoJo]

I agree with Calibanbutcher and Shrekfan as another fan of the Big Bang Theory, yes it's characters are stereotypical and exaggerated, just as Simpsons or Family Guy characters tend to be stereotypes e.g. dumb main characters, fat and lazy police officers, evil bosses, mean bullies, cynical teachers, close-minded religious people etc.

TBBT isn't exactly high-brow but it's good for a laugh and I'd hope most of my fellow geeks would be secure enough in themselves to poke fun at their own group. Heck, Penny and the other non-geek characters get ragged on just as much in their own way.

I haven't seen any of those other shows or films so I won't comment on those.

 

[Dangit2019]

Ooo Ooo, I've got one!

The Tester.

Just hours and hours of Sony's self-promotional bullshit shoved into a game show with the grand prize being a shit entry level testing gig.

Also, they kicked Egoraptor off for B.S. reasons, so there's that as well.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The Big Bang Theory tries so hard at being geek it just comes across more silly then anything else. But hey, it's not a sitcom for nothing. Unlike Genshiken which is practically the same concept (geeks and a hot girl), but is actually really fucking good. Well, the manga is... Stay away from the anime, seriously.

The worst geek offense I've ever experienced was BBC 2's The Review Show discussing Modern Warfare 2. And for those of you who don't know, this is a program that generally reviews books and plays. So yeah, you can image how that went.

 

[GonzoGamer]

The worst geek offense I've ever experienced was BBC 2's The Review Show discussing Modern Warfare 2. And for those of you who don't know, this is a program that generally reviews books and plays. So yeah, you can image how that went.

Is that on youtube? Sounds hilarious.

 

[Goofguy]

The Big Bang Theory. It's pretty damn lame. The characters are boring and the jokes fall flat everytime. Maybe if it wasn't a sitcom, it'd be better but since that isn't the case, it gets my vote.

At least Attack of the Show was good pre-Bailey era. And it wasn't cancelled because it was apparently bad "geek themed entertainment", it was canned alongside X-Play to pave the network's transformation in to the soon to be Esquire channel. Big difference.

 

[Andy Shandy]

My only problem with TBBT is the audience that sounds like a laugh track. After it was pointed out to me, as silly as this sounds, I couldn't really watch it any more without getting irritated by it to the point it wasn't enjoyable.

Never watched any of the others.

 

[doggy go 7]

The worst geek offense I've ever experienced was BBC 2's The Review Show discussing Modern Warfare 2. And for those of you who don't know, this is a program that generally reviews books and plays. So yeah, you can image how that went.

having seen the Review show, and the kind of people that usually come on it, I can imagine how that went, but in numerous ways, each more pretencious than the last (Did they assert that it was the sign of the moral degredation of society, or praise it for being high art underappricated, and the symbol of society's liberation from ancient standards?)

OT: Eh, haven't seen most of them, and always distrustful of mainstream TV that says it's subverting what it means to be cool





[small]I like the big bang theory too[/small]

 

[DoPo]

Look, I've got no clue what the problem with Hackers is - it's an absolute blast, one of my favourite movies. I'm also doing a compsci degree, for the record. Yeah, 3D hacking but whatever, it's just awesome, man. I love watching it, I'll go watch it right now, in fact...well, if I could. Maybe I'll postpone until I can actually say and do that.

Other than that, I've seen, like, 10 minutes in total of Big Bang Theory and I've only heard of Revenge of the Nerds (mostly the name), so I don't really know.

 

[hazabaza1]

I don't know much about geek themed stuff but I know for a fact that BBT is absolute fucking shit.
So that's a thing.

 

[Aesir23]

I'll have to say the Big Bang Theory. It's fine as a sitcom but every single geek character in the show seems to have a one-size-fits all sort of thing. Aside from certain quirks you can pretty much predict what every character that is classified as a "geek" will be like. It just gets very boring and stale over time.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I'll out myself as a fan of "The Big Bang Theory" right now and deal with the hatred this outing brings with it...

No, really, I like TBBT. I like the cast, I like the jokes, I don't think that the "geek" jokes are offensive or making fun of geeks, especially seeing as I know some people who are similar to these guys and I don't really mind the laughing track, because I manage to completely ignore it.


On topic:
Except for TBBT and "the IT Crowd", I haven't really watched any geek themed shows, so I don't feel qualified to comment on any of the other shows.

The one thing I disliked most however was the strippers-playing-D&D-show on the escapist. I don't know why, but that just seemed so very wrong in so many ways.

I agree with Calibanbutcher and Shrekfan as another fan of the Big Bang Theory, yes it's characters are stereotypical and exaggerated, just as Simpsons or Family Guy characters tend to be stereotypes e.g. dumb main characters, fat and lazy police officers, evil bosses, mean bullies, cynical teachers, close-minded religious people etc.

TBBT isn't exactly high-brow but it's good for a laugh and I'd hope most of my fellow geeks would be secure enough in themselves to poke fun at their own group. Heck, Penny and the other non-geek characters get ragged on just as much in their own way.

I haven't seen any of those other shows or films so I won't comment on those.

yup this, the only time (in real life) that i've had someone complain about the big bang theory (as in, go out of their way to scrutinize it) is because they were being a bit butthurt over the jokes. Most of the jokes are not "HAHA LOOK AT THIS GEEK BEING A NERD. LAUGH AT HIM.", so i'm not sure why people can't laugh at their own habits every once in a while. (generalized and sometimes factually wrong as they are.)

 

[Vausch]

I don't get TBBT hate to be honest. I like the show, I can relate to many of the characters (honestly I'm a watered down Sheldon in real life), and while I do think the writing has gone more traditional sitcom and less affectionate prodding at geek culture while also glorifying the better parts of it I still find it fun.

Though some of the worst offences might go to certain episodes of NCIS. I love the show and often their references are accurate but sometimes you feel like asking if the writers are intentionally getting it wrong.


To be fair, I half understand what he means by "high score" if you assume the MMOs have player ranking systems but still.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Well, of those I think I've only seen TBBT. One episode to see what it was like, and then the odd bits afterwards.

IMHO, it's not really a geek thing. It's just another pathetically unfunny sitcom that just happens to have bad depictions of geeks in it as a gimmick. Really, it could be any embarrassingly bad sitcom, nothing particularly geeky about it.

OTOH, the fans saying "you should watch this, it's about geeks"...those annoy me.

 

[Gatx]

I love BBT. I usually hear about the laughing with them vs. laughing at them test to judge whether or not it's offensive or exploitative, but what sitcom exists where you're not laughing at the expense of at least one character? I find the characters, their behaviors and problems and so forth, very relatable.

 

[lemonadeader]

The one thing I disliked most however was the strippers-playing-D&D-show on the escapist. I don't know why, but that just seemed so very wrong in so many ways.

Fairly sure only one of them was a stripper- the rest were 'adult actors.'

Actually after checking it says 'Join adult film performers Kimberly Kane, Zak Sabbath, Mandy Morbid, and Satine Phoenix, a stripper named Connie, and a hairdresser named Frankie for some hardcore, old school D&D action. Sasha Grey guest stars.

So yeh - did also make me fell awkward- watched 5mins and then stopped. (Maybe i'm just a prude .)

The thing that really annoys me is fake gamer girls..... (jokes! > )

OT: TBBT i kind of like- i have Aspergers, though not as bad as those guys, but i understand both where the characters are coming from and the jokes, best of both worlds really

 

[Newtonyd]

Every CSI-esque show where the victim or murderer was a gamer or geek makes me groan the instant that episode's theme is clear. These shows consistently feel like they were written about some preconceived notion of geeks and nerds formed in the 90's, somehow unaltered over the decades. Pretty much the entire show is spent spreading misinformation to the viewing audience, or simply patronizing the shit out of people deemed to be living 'childish fantasies'.

Shows like that are why I cut my cable TV a long time ago.