My feelings toward fictional depictions of nerds, therefore, are perhaps stronger than a critic should admit. I love the show Chuck, which I think depicts a nerd hero in a way that enables Chuck Bartowski to be both relatable and admirable. He hid his awesome secret plans on the back of his Tron poster. He is smart, friendly, and socially competent while also appreciating video games, computer systems, and the finer points of science fiction trivia. Chuck is impressive and lovable. He is also a giant nerd. So on the one hand, you’ve got a fictional nerd-hero like Chuck…

Penny struggles with The Mystic Warlords of Ka'a

…and on the other, you have the show The Big Bang Theory, and I am conflicted. Granted, they are different creatures – while Chuck is an hour-long spy-comedy-action-drama-romp, The Big Bang Theory follows a traditional sitcom formula, all the way down to a setting that centers on two adjacent apartments. In one apartment there’s Sheldon and Leonard, two nerds who hang out with their friends, spaz out over comic book canonicity questions, and stare intently at blackboards covered in math. In the other apartment, you’ll be shocked to find out, there is Penny, a normal, attractive actress/waitress who means well but gets frustrated by her neighbors and their extreme, crippling nerdiness. They interact. Their different views of the world collide; canned laughter ensues. There are lots of Star Wars jokes, and yes, I laugh. But my problem with The Big Bang Theory is that the line between laughing with and laughing at the nerd characters is a very slim one. Penny’s whole purpose in the show is to be the fictional representative of a “normal” person, and so when she snorts as Sheldon’s (possibly Asperger’s related) need to always sit on the same couch cushion, we are also snorting in amused judgment. It’s not an entirely unambiguous comedy, though – as the canned laughter cues, we are also laughing at Penny as she struggles to turn on her computer.

Faceoff

The reason I’m thinking in particular about The Big Bang Theory is that it had something of a casting coup last night. Sheldon and Raj enter an RPG tournament (“Mystic Warlords of Ka’a”) at their local comic book store. Raj wants the money, but Sheldon enters only after learning that his childhood nemesis, Wil Wheaton, will be there. If that name means nothing to you, then you are not the target audience for The Big Bang Theory, but in brief, Wil Wheaton played Ensign Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation and was one of the most mocked characters of scifi television. Last night’s episode culminates in Sheldon and Raj facing down Wil Wheaton in the tournament’s championship round, and when Wil manages to best Sheldon through some dirty, manipulative tactics, the episode ends with Sheldon’s Khan-esque cry of “WHEEEAAAATTOOOONNNN!!!”

So there’s the question. The audience for the show is so clearly meant to be people like me that it’s hard to imagine why the entire premise would be to mock its audience. On the other hand, when we laugh at Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj, are we participating in self deprecation? Self loathing? Is the fact that Sheldon is most likely somewhere on the autism spectrum a problem or an admirable fictional depiction of Aspergers? Are the jokes too easy? Probably. Do I laugh anyway? Yes. Fine, The Big Bang Theory. You win.

This clip represents the show at its funniest, I think. The setup: it’s Christmas, and Sheldon understands that he has to give Penny a gift of commensurate value to whatever she gives him, but he can’t predict what her gift to him will be worth. His solution is to buy many gift baskets in a range of costs so that he can open her gift, excuse himself, and return with a gift of the appropriate value.