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[–] 197 points 3 months ago (39 children)

My face watching Big Bang Theory

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  • [–] 136 points 3 months ago* (5 children)

    The worst part of Big Bang Theory is how bad it makes you feel when people you know recommend it to you.

    "What kind of person do you think I am, exactly? And who do you think this show is for?"

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  • [–] 45 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Anytime someone told me I "reminded them of Sheldon" I cut that person out of my life.

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  • [–] 11 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    If this happens to you often, then you might actually be like Sheldon...

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago

    It's happened to me a couple times, I think folks use it instead of the term quirky or autistic because because the only thing I share in common is autism. In contrast I am a violent misanthropic redneck who radiates trauma and depression in ambient enough quantities that I can instantly pack bond with veterans and Slavs.

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  • [–] 23 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    friends, big bang theory, two and a half men then you switch the channel to find reskin 3737267 of the same old boring ass police show

    stuff like this running all the time is why i stopped watching tv ages ago

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  • [–] 70 points 3 months ago (23 children)

    You don't like watching nerdface performances played for derisive laughter?!

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  • [–] 63 points 3 months ago* (18 children)

    But I actually do like that - it just needs to be IT Crowd or Office Space or Silicon Valley or literally anything is fucking better than BBT gah.

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  • [–] 15 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    There's a difference between made for nerds and nerdface.

    You can tell BBT was not made for nerds, because all the supposed nerd in-jokes get trampled into ground in the service of explaining them to normies.

    The one episode I saw had them refer to The One Ring as "a Lord of the Rings ring", and then had them quote the inscription in English rather than the original Black Speech... you can almost hear some dickhead in the writers' room saying "I don't think the audience are going to know what that is, you need to make it clear". You don't see the IT Crowd explaining to the audience why Windows Vista is bad or what any of the posters in the set mean.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    IT crowd did have that one gag where the character said he's putting this fire with the rest of the fire when that should be a self-explanatory step when sorting out a fire. You have to sort it before you can out it (for any lost non-nerds that somehow ended up in here).

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  • [–] 15 points 3 months ago* (10 children)

    I want to watch IT Crowd but anything with laugh tracks loses me immediately :/

    Is there a tool for removing laugh tracks on shows that are good but need to tell you when they did a funny?

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  • [–] 21 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Like most British TV comedy series, it was recorded with a live studio audience, rather than a "laugh track" added later - so there's probably no versions that exist without it.

    There's a chance that it's a 5:1 mix rather than stereo, and might have the audience on a different channel to the main dialogue - which would then be fairly easily to remove in something like Audacity.

    Otherwise your options are turning the sound off and reading text subtitles, or using an "llm-powered" vocal remover.

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  • [–] 17 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Not to mention how awkward laugh track comedies usually are when you get rid of the laughter, with everyone just standing in silence for a few seconds any time something funny happens.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago

    That's why you get about twenty retirees and sit them in front of your tv. Then you tickle them with a feather duster when you want them to laugh, that way you have your own live studio audience. Just remember to press record on the camera you're filming the tv with

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  • [–] 10 points 3 months ago

    Can't recommend anything I'm afraid. But I will warn - I've seen edits that remove the laughing from I think it was Friends? It really ratchets the awkwardness to 200% with all the actors pausing for silence, I'm not sure what's worse.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago

    I'm about to blow your mind: the IT Crowd has a live studio audience. One of the specials goes over each cast member and shows bloopers and such, and you can see them in several shots. I believe they also talk briefly about the audience, though it's been a while. If I remember right, they would take the audience reactions of two takes and sort of merge them together.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    I don't understand the struggle some people have with laugh tracks. You can just use your own judgement and decide for yourself if you find the things funny or not.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago

    Not sure about others, but for me if the comedy is largely unfunny I find the laugh track to reflect an overscaled and nonsensical appreciation of this comedy which is somewhat grating. It makes the whole scene dumber to a varying degree.

    On the other hand, if the comedy is good I can very easily overlook a laugh track as it paces the laughter more closely which seems to bother me far less.

    [audience murmurs]

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I love all 3 of those - any more similar recommendations?

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Hm, only other coming to mind is Mythic Quest, maybe. I don't think it reaches the same heights of funny but still balances around nerd culture. I also have a sweet spot for Superstore but that might just stem from my time in retail.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I know nerds who love the show. Well, they're people who made being a nerdconsuming pop culture their whole personality. Not terribly great at analyzing said media though.

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  • [–] 14 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Ungh I had some professor give me a bad grade on a paper for ripping to shreds the portrayal of specific characters (it was entirely appropriate for the class). They were like “maybe you just don't understand, its supposed to be kinda offensive, but these are great representations of (thing)!”

    BBT, turns out, was prof’s favorite show, like you said, their personality.

    No. Absolutely no. In fact, quite the opposite of good portrayals. I lost all respect for their opinions or teaching credentials, as both are clearly worthless.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    What's annoying about the ones I know is that they're holier than thou "woke" types that like to remind you about how problematic your media is, but have huge blind spots for the things they like. How do they not pick up on the issues with BBT?

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    The fun things about losing respect for one teacher's credentials is it also casts doubt on every teacher's credentials. It was pretty depressing to learn that academia is driven more by ego than by knowledge and education.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    ugh I really like that show, it's one of my comfort shows, and I really like the extended Big Bang Universe. It's sad the show gets such a bad rap but it's also not entirely unwarranted. The characters do feel really fleshed out, like they're actual people who are the result of their life experiences. But if you can't stand the way that Sheldon is, or the laugh track, or any combination thereof, the show really is impenetrable.
    And annoyingly Young Sheldon goes on to be a really amazing prequel, but you need to watch and enjoy BBT first to get the most out of YS.
    Honestly I hated BBT for the longest time too. Only a few years ago could I actually get into it.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Hating on big bang theory is how you signal your superiority online, it's the same on lemmy as it was on reddit. Liking big bang (or friends, or...) is for normies, and sheep, and people here are /r/verysmart.

    For what it's worth I also enjoyed it, and sometimes put on a random episode (just like with friends). Haven't seen young Sheldon tho, I don't like prequels for some reason (same as better call Saul).

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    Fair. YS really is to BBT what BCS is to BB. So if you already don’t like BCS then YS is a hard sell.
    Do keep an eye out for Stuart Fails to Save the Universe tho. Sci-fi sequel to BBT, sadly weekly episodes but quite enjoyable from the 2 episodes I’ve watched.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    I didn't watch The Big Bang Theory but I'll recommend Young Sheldon, funny and good story.

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  • [–] 114 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I liked Friends. It hasn’t aged particularly well, it’s not without its flaws, but it was popular for a reason.

    More importantly, its success meant NBC continued to invest heavily in comedies, which gave us a golden age of much better shows. A golden age that eventually included Scrubs, 30 Rock, The Office, My Name is Earl, Parks and Rec, Community, etc.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Yeah exactly this. A lot of the humour feels very dated today, even occasionally crossing the line into offensive, but at the time it was essential viewing. There's a reason they were the most highly paid actors in TV comedy for a while (or TV in general?), later to be pipped by the cast of Frasier IIRC.

    Speaking of Frasier, unlike its star, that has aged pretty well IMO, and I would still recommend it.

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  • [–] 63 points 3 months ago (15 children)

    Me with Big Bang Theory.

    I genuinely don't understand why anyone likes it. Every moment is pure torture to me. Humor is subjective, sure. But I just don't get it.

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  • [–] 25 points 3 months ago (8 children)

    Anything with a laugh track in it is poison to my mind.

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  • [–] 16 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    You remove the laugh track and it turns out it's all verbal abuse.

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  • [–] 20 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    The tv show "Kevin can F**k himself" makes fun of this exact thing. Highly recommend it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJB6VQ0his4

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  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Then you should like friends. They played to live audience.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago

    That's why I miss shows with a live studio audience. It always made it a little more enjoyable when lines hit so well the audience is laughing so much the actor is clearly pausing a little longer than they thought or stuttering a bit so they can have a clear moment to say their lines

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  • [–] 11 points 3 months ago*

    I don't know about others, but I can tell you the main reason why I like it.
    I've had to work with not one, but two guys who were exactly like Sheldon Cooper from the show, in terms of intelligence and character. They also quite looked like him. That was in different cities and different jobs. Both were absolutely self-righteous and 100% full of themselves. One of them seemed to think of himself as second only to God himself. It was brutal.
    So, watching the series provided me with a lot of comic relief.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    What, you don’t think it’s peak comedy when the joke is “this guy isn’t white”?

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  • [–] 22 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    @titty_wizard I didn't like Friends when it was on the air, and I've never liked it. There are millions of people who like it, and that's fine. But I don't relate to the characters, and the plot lines for the episodes sounded dumb to me.When I watched Friends, though, I didn't think that I looked like Imhotep.

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  • [–] 22 points 3 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 20 points 3 months ago

    How you doing?

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  • [–] 15 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Huh. I kind of liked it. I've only seen a few episodes, I don't watch a lot of TV, but Phoebe particularly cracked me up.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Phoebe is without a doubt the best part of FRIENDS. And one of the few characters who didn't punch down at some point as I recall. I feel like Joey probably comes second there, he's just horny.

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  • [–] 36 points 3 months ago (4 children)
  • [–] -2 points 3 months ago

    I don't like any of the US talk show comedy things, they're all just really weird. I don't understand this tendency to go off on a random tangent that has nothing to do with the main talking point, and then to just slam back to the main talking point once they've made their unfunny joke.

    John Oliver does it all the time.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    Me with American Dad et al. They're just soul-crushingly mean-spirited.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I've noticed that with Family Guy in particular, the writers of that really have it in for women.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Wait, WHAT. I thought the likes of Seth MacFarlane were pretty progressive. But I also live a sheltered life. ELI5 please lol

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Louis Griffin in particular is pretty bad, but the female characters are very one dimensional, and often portrayed as being very shallow and annoying, whereas the male characters are much more fleshed out and three dimensional.

    I'd bet money Seth Mcfarlane doesn't have a good relationship with his mother.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    I mean if you understand that they're satire, then they can be funny.

    That being said American dad past season 9 and Family Guy past season 7 have severely declined in quality to the point where they're not funny to me anymore.

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  • [–] 11 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Look, no one TOLD you life was gonna be this way...

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  • [–] 11 points 3 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago

    It was sorta funny back then, at the time we didn't have nearly as much selection of niche stuff as we do now. If you stayed up late you could catch Beavis and Butthead and that was about it.

    It was the thing you watched with your parents.

    Now it just comes across like it's a cleaned up comment section of a mainstream social media site. The stuff they hope to portray themselves as.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    It's one of those shows that you have to watch when it first came out.

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  • [–] 15 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    My face when someone asks if I have watched Game Of Thrones (which hearing about it is the extend of the knowledge I have).

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago* (3 children)

    I'm not a fantasy person, but I had a gf who was a HUGE GoT fan. She whined enough to the point I watched it with her.

    I still don't like it.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    Same experience here, my wife was obsessed with it and badgered me mercilessly until I finally sat down and watched... I lasted about 5 minutes before I welped and slapped both my thighs as I got up to play games

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