THE HOLOGRAPHIC EXCITATION

The Big Bang Theory

Season 6 (2012)

There are several ongoing culture wars that rage throughout our apartment.  Buffy versus Charmed.  Star Trek versus Everything.  And one of the newest and fiercest conflicts revolves around The Big Bang Theory.  Nick loves it.  I hate it, despite being a fanboy firmly in their target demographic.  Up until now I’d watched just one episode (a Christmas one—surprise!) and it was enough to turn me off the show for good.  Now that Nick is a devotee I’ve caught plenty of snippets and learned more about it.  I’m glad Mayim Bialik is getting work and it’s nice that Jim Parsons came out but I’m digging my heels in on this whole “hating The Big Bang Theory” thing.

Raggedy Ann & Raggedy C-3P0

I am always lured by the siren song of a holiday episode, however, and in watching “The Holographic Excitation” I was also offering an olive branch to Nick.  He probably now wishes I had just eaten some olives instead since the experience of watching this episode has only added to my list of reasons to actively dislike this show.

In this episode the gang of nerds are preparing for an upcoming Halloween party held at their local comic book shop.  Sheldon and his girlfriend, played by the aforementioned Mayim Bialik, can’t agree on a couple’s costume (he wants science; she wants romance).  Another character (I won’t dignify them with names) is obsessed with referencing his recent trip to space.  And finally, the main couple keep having sex every time the guy talks about science.  Really.

Nice try but not even the Smurfs can save this mess.

I made a few notes while watching this episode.  They were as follows: Sex, Sex Tape, Sex Robot, Hickeys, Porn.  Those were the punch lines of the jokes—and that was just the first half of the episode.  By the end we also get slut, sexy cop, the word Smurf used as a euphemism for vagina and a couple having sex in a bathroom.  A bathroom shaped like a TARDIS.  Because: nerds!  In other words this episode trades on the cheapest and sex-obsessed humor possible.  And don’t get me wrong, I’m no prude but I am frustrated by shows like this that I feel feed on people’s basest instincts.  It’s not just sex; I also take umbrage at the portrayal of nerds, smart versus dumb, women versus men.  To me this show is just a bundle of unfunny stereotypes smothered in jokes about guys building sex robots (one character tried to have sex with her but the cord didn’t stretch far enough.  Har de har har.).

Oh yeah, Buzz Aldrin has a cameo.  Science!

Now let me step off my soapbox and briefly touch on the Halloween elements, which were relatively scarce.  There was one funny scene about the naming of normal foods with “spooky” Halloween names (Night of the Living Garlic Bread, etc.).  And I liked one of the couples’ Smurf costumes.  But that was about the extent of it and certainly Halloween wasn’t the focus.  I think I established what the focus was.  Don’t make me type it again.

Sex Robots.

Happy?!

Recurring Themes: Don’t ask me why but TV writers freaking love Rag Doll Costumes.  In this case we get a Raggedy Ann and a Raggedy C-3P0 when Sheldon and his girlfriend “compromise” on a couples’ costume.

Halloween Quotient: 1

See It, Skip It, Own It?

If you read just one word of any of the above you can guess my feelings on this.  Let’s give it a skip and a “kill it with fire.”