A few weeks ago, a friend of mine posted a status on Facebook that was a joke on the cliche nature of “The Big Bang Theory”.  Mere minutes later, the floodgates themselves opened and people came to spout their opinions on “The Big Bang Theory”, including yours truly.  This created a gigantic discussion that got me thinking; why is it that this show, that’s both sexist and cruel also winds up being so insanely watchable?

Saying it is watchable, great at times in fact, seem like a horrid miscalculation considering how horribly the writers of this show treat one of the programs major focal points; it’s handling of the nerd community. First of all, shame on you guys for creating an episode where, brace yourself boys this is gonna get heavy, women go to a comic book store.

 Yes I know, because women enjoying or being a part of nerd culture is some kind of shocker in the 21st century, but like most of the jokes on this show, the writers seemed to go for only the most obvious and dated stereotypes that aren’t just unfunny, but also really offensive to the female characters on the show, who now just reinforce old and hurtful stereotypes instead of actually having depth or personality.

Now, “The Big Bang Theory” has never treated it’s female characters with any sense of decency (Penny is little more than fodder for relationship drama most of the time and Amy seems to have nothing to do on the show now) but this kind of enforcement of stereotypes is beyond offensive and seems to show that, despite their delusional belief that they are the ultimate nerd TV program, they have very little understanding of the actual nerd community they claim to be a part of.

The worst part of all that? It’s not even that funny! My rule when it comes to comedy is that any insult can be done in comedy, so long as it’s actually funny and these guys always seem to miss spectacularly. To give another example, their major joke when it comes to Dungeon and Dragons? That no one’s ever played the game with a woman before. Superb wit guys, but I think an Archie comic from the 60’s made a similar gag.

And yet, why do I keep watching a show that degrades everything I love? Because when it’s not bullying nerds, insulting the socially awkward, sexist or making dated references to pop culture (in 2011, they finally got around to making a joke about how George Lucas changes the Star Wars movies on a continuous basis) the show is actually astounding in how well it develops it’s male characters, specifically when it comes to Howard Wolowitz. This man has transformed from a wannabe ladies man into an astronaut, a husband and the kind of guy who just wants to do right. This kind of metamorphosis is riveting to watch, and makes it one of the few reasons to still watch the show (plus, Sheldon is admittedly hilarious at times)