Thursday, December 11, 2008

Going off with a Bang


If you manage to turn on the TV and not see Charlie Sheen's grinning mug, you may just catch a sort-of new show called The Big Bang Theory. It premiered last summer but was taken off due to poor ratings. Now, Nine, keen to find another Sitcom hit, has brought it back.

It stars Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons as Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper respectively, who are two braniac physicits, who find themselves living across from a TOTALLY HOT lady, Penny, played by Kaley Cuoco (who you will recognise from "8 simple rules"). Of course, awkard situations and geeky banter ensue. Penny is portrayed as a simple, but strong-willed woman, in contrast to the intelligent, but incredibly annoying Sheldon. Of course, there's the unresolved sexual tension between Leonard and Penny... which is interesting to watch, if not a bit sad to see this "nerdy" guy drool over waitress Penny.
The secondary guys include an Indian stereotype called Rajesh, who mutters things about curry and Bollywood (ie. his naming of a planetary object, PlanetBollywood) and my favourite character, Howard Wolowitz, who fancies himself as a ladies man, but of course is anything but.

It doesn't matter that most of the cast is relatively unknown, as they portray their characters very well, and all of the characters are unique in their own way. Many people have mentioned the fact that you can see the jokes coming a mile away, which is true, but the jokes aren't too bad... well, at least not as bad as Two and a Half's juvenile humour.
Even though I don't understand half of the scientific babble coming out of their mounths half the time it is amusing to watch them interact with an often confused Penny.

The set is small and pathetic but you are forced to get used to it.

The latest ratings in Australia haven't been fantastic, but they have been OK, hovering around the 1m mark sometimes, which Nine should be reasonably happy with, considering it is summer, at it is an improvement on last summer. Here they are;

(Earliest-Latest)

Wedesday- 983,000 (3rd in timeslot)
Wednesday- 1,008,000 (3rd in timeslot)
Sunday- 1,046,000 (2nd in timeslot)
Monday-970,000 (2nd in timeslot)
Sunday- 912,000 (1st in timeslot)
Monday- 816,000 (3rd in timeslot)

The Big Bang Theory can be seen on Nine at 8:00 on Sunday and Monday.

No comments: