I am – Hercules!!


Truly we have stumbled into an Age of Nerdly, with the premiere of NBC’s “Chuck” (featuring an actual member of a big box store’s “Nerd Herd”) taking on the premiere of CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory.” The latter is a sitcom version of “Beauty and the Geek,” from “Two and a Half Men” mastermind Chuck Lorre, about a pair of young and socially awkward Caltech mathletes who befriend the hot but vulnerable waitress who just moved in next door.

It’s watchable, with likeable leads, but it yields fewer chuckles than that other network sitcom freshman, Fox’s “Back To You.” “Bang” writers are respectfully advised to pay closer attention to “Beauty and the Geek”; Real nerds are funnier than these sitcom constructs, and clearly no longer too strange for general consumption.

Newsweek says:

… done with an anti-intellectual malice that feels stale and unsympathetic. … Maybe it’s Judd Apatow’s fault, but no one likes one-dimensional dorks to play target practice with. “The Big Bang Theory” might have worked on paper, but not in practice.

USA Today gives “The Big Bang Theory” three stars and says:

… as you'd hope for a show about smart people, Bang makes a host of smart decisions … This may not be the sitcom breakthrough for which we've all been hoping, but Lorre has produced a first episode that leaves you eager to try the second. …

The New York Times says:

… When Leonard suggests that they invite their pretty new neighbor, Penny (Kaley Cuoco), to lunch, Sheldon replies that they already have a commitment: watching Season 2 of “Battlestar Galactica.” Leonard notes that they have both seen it before. Sheldon, who is somewhere on the spectrum between set in his ways and obsessive-compulsive, replies, “Not with commentary.” …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… It's just the same joke endlessly repeated -- the everyday translated into geek-speak, and the obscure and difficult treated as if it were common knowledge ("It's just some quantum mechanics with a little string theory doodling around the edges"). It's not a bad joke -- it's like calling a swimming pool "a cement pond," and "The Beverly Hillbillies" got 274 episodes out of that -- but these are perilous times for sitcoms, and Lorre & Co. may want to think up another. Meanwhile, there's some good work being done here …

The Washington Post says:

… the funniest new sitcom of the season.
Laugh-packed though the series pilot (tonight on CBS) is, the show also suffers from a kind of conceptual claustrophobia that could limit its appeal and its life span. Although the funky-clunky pairing of the two characters and the actors who play them is deft, the universe they inhabit is awfully narrow. It would be gratifying and certainly entertaining to see Lorre prove that theory wrong in the weeks and maybe months ahead.…

The Orlando Sentinel says:

… On the plus side, Parsons is hilarious. James Burrows directs smoothly. As supporting nerds to the star geeks, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar are utterly zany. CBS viewers probably will prefer the season premiere of ABC's Dancing With the Stars. The sporadically amusing Big Bang Theory needs some fancier moves.…

The Boston Herald says:

… There’s little appealing about these guys. Leonard and Sheldon bicker like an old married gay couple. The actors invest their all into their parts . . . which is sad, honestly. You might be able to find worse ways to spend your Monday nights. Yeah, I give up, I can’t think of any worse ways. …

The Boston Globe says:

… one of those laugh-track sitcoms that has exactly one comedy routine and just keeps hammering it home until, at last, you shut down and run for cover. …

Variety says:

… doesn't conjure up many big laughs, but its colliding elements do generate enough little ones to become another promising addition to CBS' Monday sitcom lineup. … It's hard not to root for a sitcom that employs a "science consultant" and whose heroes are named Sheldon (Parsons) and Leonard (Galecki), who watch the "Battlestar Galactica" DVD commentary, play "Klingon Boggle" and talk bluntly about "masturbating for money," having just visited a sperm bank for high-IQ donors. … a welcome reminder that even in the troubled world of TV comedy, good writing and well-defined characters don't require gimmicks or "very special episodes." …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… a nice combination of brains and belly laughs … loaded with great lines and humor that is nearly as smart as the characters. The four geeks are played with pride and a touch of vulnerability, which adds heart to the humor. Cuoco's Penny is faintly aware of the impact she has on these geeks, but she doesn't flaunt it. That combination of empathy and restraint makes Penny hard to resist. Same with the show, for that matter.

8:30 p.m. Monday. CBS.

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