The Hipster Conundrum with The Big Bang Theory

Amy and Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory

        When The Big Bang Theory debuted in 2007, it was not an immediate success.  It took years for it to build its following, but is now easily one of the biggest comedies in the country.  Based on the friendships between a pack of socially unique geeks and nerds and their neighbor Penny, the show has a clear standout  in the brilliant but ridiculous Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons).  Often playing with comedy in pop culture, geek culture, and science, the show has its lovers, and of course its haters.  Google "The Big Bang theory is..." and the first four suggestions are "not funny, terrible, stupid, and bad."  Rather harsh google.
      I enjoy The Big Bang Theory for the most part.  Is it the funniest show on television?  Certainly not, but it doesn't deserve backlash and hatred for its success.  Good for the show for reaching a broader audience.  I may miss episodes now days and not watch it like I used to when it was a little less successful, but I still enjoyed the most recent finale when the group gathered around to watch one of their own go into space.  The show has successfully added more female characters and even bravely allowed characters to change.  Sheldon's relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) cannot be called anything less than original and fun love story for the audience.
      With five seasons down and no end in sight, The Big Bang Theory is going strong, despite all the hipsters who don't like it because it is...horror above horrors...popular.  The new season debuts September 27.  Hipster glasses for viewing the show are optional.

Happy Endings: An Underdog with Bite

      
             The best shows are not always the shows with the most attention, advertisement, and hype.  Instead, sometimes shows grow in popularity from good old fashioned word of mouth.  Happy Endings, an abc comedy that debut in 2011 is such a show.  The first episode set the show around a group of six friends in Chicago dealing with the aftermath of a failed wedding between two of them (played by Elisha Cuthbert and Zachary Knighton).  After a few episodes of awkwardness, the show evolved into a more modern Friends comedy.  Fresher and zanier than most of its comedy competition, Happy Endings is made of true characters, each one with their own set of quirks and flaws.  This past May, the second season ended with the characters come together amidst a male Madonna tribute band.  In one memorable first season episode, Penny (Casey Wilson), a hilarious serial dater tries her very best to date a man with the unfortunate name of a former dictator and all around evil man.  The characters and craziness of the show make you want to be a part of their lives, which is all any good comedy in a post-Friends T.V. world should do.  Still a bit of an underdog compared to the Modern Family and Big Bang Theory television comedies, Happy Endings may be an underdog, but it's no purse dog.  It's an underdog with a lot of bite.

Moss: The Brit's Sheldon

        
         The It Crowd, a British import about the misadventures of Moss (Richard Ayoade of The Watch), Roy (Chris O'Dowd of Bridesmaids), and their relations manager Jen (Katherine Parkinson) who all work in the lowly It department of a large company.  Moss and Roy are fantastic at telling people to turn their computers off and on again, but not so good with anything else.  Jen, on the other hand, thinks the internet is a giant brick but knows her way around a party.  The show creates hilarious caricatures of people and situations in the British office. Mocking everything from musicals to Windows Vista, The It Crowd was almost Americanized.   The U.S. tried and failed to remake it for a U.S. audience with Joel McHale as Roy.  As much as I love McHale, it is an insult to the American audience to think we can't appreciate the original version.  It is remarkably and absurdly hilarious, particularly because of Moss, a character with as much awkwardness as The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon and a lot of heart.  His delivery of every single line is a lesson in comedic timing.  Watch a few episodes on Instant Netflix, and I dare you to not end up marathoning the series and wishing for a cross over with Moss and Sheldon.