Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory (Mondays, 9:30 ET, CBS, DISH 107) was justly tapped for an Emmy nomination this week. As King Geek of the four geeks on The Big Bang Theory, his tightly controlled Dr. Sheldon Cooper quickly became the sitcom’s breakout character.
Much of the appeal of the series is its gentle satire of geek culture–scenes are rife with Klingon Boggle, quotes from Yoda, and a general deification of Stan Lee. An entire episode was a spoof of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And then there’s the box kite flying, the Wii bowling league, and the robot fighting.
The officially licensed Boggle set and the fascination with time machines, I’ll buy. But…to carry an eschatological level obsession for all of it? All four characters? All the time?
Well. They are geniuses. But they’re also human, and the stereotype is ripe for a pullback. Consider the historical animosity between fans of Star Trek and Star Wars (and yes, I’m outing myself as geeky for even knowing this.) It’s rare to find that the four male leads would find an agreeable middle ground.
Obsessions require time and emotional bandwith. Me, I can barely juggle the triad of torches I bear for Star Wars, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and all things NASA. To have the depth of excitement all four characters display for every possible geeky thing stretches credibility. In fact, a little geek-on-geek warring might be nice to see.
Perhaps, however, the generalization is already finding some complexity. One of this season’s episodes showed Leonard recounting how he became Sheldon’s roommate; it included a scene involving a distinct Battlestar Galactica-based disagreement. And any one of us would cry foul if we suddenly learned that, for example, Howard was a football prodigy in a former life. But… oh, for a deep discussion on Han Solo’s hand-to-hand combat skills rather than another Firefly toss-off line.
