Get it? He was using the robot arm to masturbate.
As expected, “Big Bang Theory’s” move to Thursdays was a success for CBS, as it pulled in almost three times as many viewers as NBC’s brilliant “Community.” Here’s the breakdown of the overnights:
“Big Bang” delivered 14 million viewers and a 4.8 preliminary adults 18-49 rating, that’s actually up a tenth of a point from its cozy position in CBS’ Monday comedy block last year.
NBC’s rival “Community” (5 million, 2.2) fell 42% from last year’s debut. But don’t go blaming “Big Bang” just yet. Last year, “Community” aired at 9:30 p.m. and benefited from an “Office” lead-in. Last night’s “Community” is on par with the show’s usual 8 p.m. performance last season, and improved upon last fall’s “Saturday Night Live” special in the time period. [THR]
Here’s my beef with CBS comedies like “The Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men.” It’s not that they’re bad; it’s that they don’t try. The acting is solid, and many of the jokes are funny. But they never try to serve anything more than the lowest common denominator. Jokes are telegraphed from miles away, and the humor is lowbrow without being edgy. They have no intention to surprise intelligent viewers or break new ground, and that bores me.
“Community,” on the other hand, rewards viewers who pay attention. It winks at pop culture enthusiasts without being too obvious or cloying (like Troy waking up in a Spider-Man t-shirt after a summer in which fans tried to get Donald Glover the role in the rebooted movie franchise). Other treats from last night’s episode:
Very... "Season 1."
For those of you who can’t view Hulu, you can watch the video here. GIFs via Community Things, avadakedeborah, and Someone to Blame, respectively.
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Son of a bitch. Now that Zucker’s gone, hopefully someone with brains at NBC will throw Outsourced under the bus and switch timeslots w/ community. If BBT kills Community, there’s gonna be some nerd-whompin’ to do.
i will stab the first columnist to make a phd versus AA joke
Hahaha so they used Betty White? That’s so timely and original.
NBC should put Community on at 9pm and The Office on at 8pm, or better yet just let CBS have The Office at this point.
Hang on… Community didn’t air after The Office last season. It aired at 8pm. 9:30pm was 30 Rock.
“and without each other, we’ll go extinct. and thats a fact.”
“a gay fact…”
community >>>>> bbt
Hang on… Community didn’t air after The Office last season. It aired at 8pm. 9:30pm was 30 Rock.
Community’s first episode debuted in the 9:30 slot, then it moved to 8:00.
Changs Smeagol Gollum bit was hilarious, everything Chevy chase said was gold
Why does this matter? Record one, watch the other, murder a hooker, then watch the other one.
Oh boy. Yet another reason for me to hate Big Bang Theory.
Community is the best thing ever. The Pierce Twitter was especially gold.
Gotcha.
BBT basically took the 80′s movie boiler-plate “nerd” character and turned it into a 30 minute unfunny piece of shit. As usual I blame the fly-over states for this unfortunate development.
Community was great last night- in addition to the scenes called out above I was dying when Britta and Jeff were doing the escalating I love you’s while Shirley and Annie were screaming at the same pitch but from completely different emotions.
I find it funny that CBS’s “smart” comedy isn’t at all different from any of their others except for the fact that it’s about smart people. I think they have some kind of spreadsheet or MadLibs tear-out
One about fat people, one about smart people, one about a man slut, one about couples, one about young singles.
There’s one thing about BBT that makes you HAVE to watch it live: it’s like the only show that you can’t stream online, watch OnDemand, etc. Community has a huge online following and is always a top-viewed on Hulu. That has to count for something, right? Right??
Fuck knows when any programme buyers in the UK are going to get hold of this show, so I just picked a random episode from a streaming site – the playing pool in shorts one – and it was excellent. Only 21 minutes and 8 seconds long too. Might be able to squeeze a few more in.
I’ve never seen Big Bang Theory and never plan to, but it can’t be any worse than The Office. Jenna Fischer needs to go away. One of the rare occurences of TITS AND GTFO.
Comparing Big Bang Theory and Community is like comparing penis’ to vaginas. Yes they are both genitals but that’s where the similarities end. Big Bang is a classic, family oriented show that’s filmed in front of a live studio audience. Close to something you would have found on the old TGIF. Community is a modern comedy with quick, witty, off the wall characters. It has no laugh track and no in studio audience. It’s a type of comedy on television that is relatively knew and fresh. However, I think both are funny, just in different ways.
agreed jenna fischer is terrible
Tried to watch BBT when Summer Glau was on.
Holy shit the actors are annoying and make me angry rather than laughy.
You guys just don’t get it. Sheldon is SO funny! He takes everything literally and is so unemotional! HAHAHAHAHA!!! That’s so original and hilarious! Emmy!!!!
I have unfortunately seen 2 episodes of TBBT and refuse to ever watch another episode. I even caught what I read to be one of the funnier episodes. BAZINGA!! How in anyway someone can find this funny baffles me. The “smart” part of this show is often in the background and in no way effects the plot. If people don’t get the pop culture references of Community I don’t understand how they understand the nerd/sci-fi references of TBBT. People must just laugh because of the laugh track. The scene with Abed trying to set-up Jeff and Britta’s wedding was funnier than anything TBBT will ever come up with.
Wow…was “The Office” ever funny? I remember enjoying seasons 1-3, I think. I kept switching over to it last night during the commercials of “Fringe” (laugh at me for that if you want), and it was like watching a train wreck. (Which is what I imagine is the same experience of watching BBT.) No wonder Carrell is leaving.
Community last night was so, so awesome though. “And we’re back.”
The robot-arm-stuck-on-a-guys-dick bit would have been funny on any show but the Big Bang Theory. This show’s totally bot-jerked the nerd.
If there’s one thing I hate about TBBT, it’s how gimmicky it is. It feels like on every episode, the writers say “Nerds like Star Wars, right? Let’s make a joke about that!”. It’s not ‘nerdy’, it’s pretentious. The show is like a guy who dresses like a nerd and looks up Wikipedia for Lord Of The Rings references because he thinks nerds are cool. It’s basically Seinfeld, but with ‘nerdy subjects’ tacked on its surface, without any of it touching the core.
Community, on the other hand, makes less references to nerdy subjects because it doesn’t need to. It doesn’t need to blurt out obvious, publicly-accessible Star Trek references to the audience, as if saying “Hey, look at me! I’m referencing Spock! You guys know Spock, right?”. No, when Community makes a reference to pop-culture, it is done with subtlety, and to be funny, not to stick to a gimmick. Also, its reference to the fact that one of the first things people ask their friends after the long holiday was “Did you see Toy Story 3?” was priceless.
I’ll admit, I enjoyed the first two seasons of TBBT. But after watching season 3, I’ve realized how formulaic it is. And I just hope Community doesn’t end up as yet another Better Of Ted.
PS: Why all the Office hate? I thought the new episode was fine.
BBT is meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Just leave it be. It’s easy, comfortable and makes me want to put on sweatpants.
You may now return to your regularly scheduled TV Elitist (pardon the oxymoron)internet circle jerk. I hope that Arrested Development movie finally comes together for you all!
@AEVC – Living and Virgin are currently in talks about getting the rights to Community over here. FX may also be a runner, which is good because they are doing shows in HD.
Download them all, they are brilliant.
BBT is horrible. Absolutely horrible. At no point in this rambling, incoherent look at nerds were they even close to anything that could be considered a comedic moment. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having watched it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
I’d say the best joke on the show was the shot at S#%! My Dad Says when Jeff is lying on the stretcher. That is the kind of comedy that you will never find on CBS, something that you have to have an IQ to catch and pay attention to the entire episode.
@ Smegga. It looks like I may have to. I’ve been through the episode lists of two streaming sites and only a few random episodes remained available. I’m hooked.
The small amount of people that expect more from tv and comedy in general is so goddamn depressing it ruffles my taint’s feathers. Just intelligent and sarcastic people, we aren’t offered much nowadays and it sucks. I blame Fox News.
I work nights, so I don’t watch either, but I saw some of the promo material for “big bang theory” and was horribly not impressed. Well, I thought it was crap. Not surprised that it is a hit. Hell, I was surprised that TAAHM was still on the air. I thought it died years ago except for syndication (ok, to be honest, I thought all CBS did was variations of CSI). One of the reasons I started reading this was to see what passed for tv shows on the old channels. I’ll stick to cartoons, science shows, the military channel, G4, and BBC. Especially BBC – many shows are too offbeat for my tastes, but when they are good, they are gold (the original Coupling, for instance).
Really? “rewarding viewers that pay attention”. THIS is what people want of network TV? If anyone here wants an intellectual challenge from a TV comedy show then you are all MORONS! Read a book. Visit a museum. Hear a lecture. The arrogance of some of these posts is astounding.
I only watch TV shows that are smart and challenging. This apparently means that I am a moron.
Boy, that’s some Fox News logic right there.
Guess I should lay up on the couch with a bowl of Fruit Loops on my belly watching Reba so people won’t think I don’t know how to watch TV right.
I would watch Community over BBT any day but fortunately I have a dvr – which, incidentally I watch both on – but for you fucktards that automatically blame “middle america” for everything that’s wrong with what does or does not get cancelled, I’d like to give you a big “Fuck you”. Somehow I fail to believe that middle America is responsible for the decline of smart television if nearly half the population of the U.S. lives within 50 miles of coastline ([www.wisteme.com]). If in fact people on the coast are not tuning in to tv shows that are smart and funny because they choose otherwise or, for goodness sake they’re hipsters that claim to not own tv’s, then I hope they share as much blame as “them flyover country folks”.
I own a DVR. I watch both. And why the fuck are there so many British in here?
@ On a rant “Really? “rewarding viewers that pay attention”. THIS is what people want of network TV? If anyone here wants an intellectual challenge from a TV comedy show then you are all MORONS! Read a book. Visit a museum. Hear a lecture. The arrogance of some of these posts is astounding.”
Isn’t it possible for me to do all those things you mentioned and still enjoy clever television? I submit that you sir are the real Moron.
“Did you notice how I said television and not TV because TV is a nickname and nicknames are for friends and Television is no friend of mine.” Thats from another clever television show called MR Show. You should look into it. Ace.
Paying attention and catching references is an intellectual challenge, best left to people who read books and visit museums.
yea what about all the shows that bailed from thursday to friday and killed the ghost whisperer, well not entirely that kreepey kid and husband steeling bodies last season. but suddenly going toe to toe with house and smallville the only thing that could of saved ghost whisperer facing those guns is if they brought back her black friend from the grave and they both decided theyd like to experiment with hot ghosts and each other.
“If anyone here wants an intellectual challenge from a TV comedy show then you are all MORONS! Read a book. Visit a museum. Hear a lecture. The arrogance of some of these posts is astounding.”
GAAAAAAAY!
I don’t hate everything on CBS, I enjoy football and How I Met Your Mother. But Community is so many light years ahead of BBT that it’s embarrassing.
I think the only people who enjoy BBT are those who don’t understand the jokes. They hear a big word, have no idea what it means, and laugh along with the laugh track because big words are funny to them. I understand the big words and references, and they are in no way funny. Community is hilarious because it’s actually comedy, not just a string of generic formulaic garbage with some big words delivered by ‘nerds’. I doubt any actual nerds watch the show.
“Community” would be a lot funnier if they would incorporate humor from time to time.
@SHough610
“But Community is so many light years ahead of BBT that it’s embarrassing.” You could say it’s . . . streets . . . ahead of ‘BBT.’
@tredlow
My feelings exactly. While the first (and maybe second) season of the bbt felt fresh, the third – and especially the first two episodes of the fourth – just seem cheap and formulaic. Community on the other hand, seems to improve and try to step on new ground (almost) every episode.
Here’s to hoping it won’t get canned…
people who find bbt unfunny are just not smart enough. period.