No, the show is aimed at geeks and nerds for the biggest part, the science is really a sideline thing, the show is not at all mainly about science and they get a lot of geek/nerd stuff wrong.
Like?
I'd be willing to be they get a lot more right than they get wrong.
The laughter might be genuine but that doesn't mean what was said was funny.
http://youtu.be/QKZUg-bTOak
Now I can sort of see the 3rd line being somewhat funny, i don't know what the backstory is with the guy but i'll give him that, but the first 2 lines were not at all funny, so why are they laughing, it boggles my mind
It's funny when you like the character, know the personality of character, and can anticipate what joke they are about to set up...
Jim Parson also happens to be a brilliant comedic actor with impeccable timing, adding deliberate pauses to enable the audience to buy into the joke at various stages as this is an example of. And most people don't even realise they are being comically manipulated.
And often it's not necessarily what's said that's funny, but the way it's delivered, and the mannerisms etc, or a combination of things. And that generally comes from knowing and liking a character.
And your interpretation of that clip is
precisely what the average person would think who watched that clip that either didn't have any background on the character, and/or didn't like the character and think they were funny. But that doesn't mean it's not funny to those who have bought into it. I laugh at those exact same points in the scene, because I understand and have bought into the character. You don't find it funny, because you obviously haven't.
I could no doubt say the exact same about about a clip of a show/character you thought was funny, but I have no previous buy-in into.
And it's like any stand-up comedy. You could have a dozen comedians deliver the same joke, but not all of them are going to make it funny. And you could have your favourite comedian deliver the joke poorly, yet still find it funny, because you aren't laughing at the joke, you are laughing the comedian you know and love.
Take for example one of my favourite comedians, Ross Noble, who is a master of the very difficult art of stream-of-conciousness comedy. If you know the character and love him, then you are laughing your arse off at every second word he delivers, yet he might only tell maybe one or two actual jokes per show.
How about you give us an example of a TV sitcom sketch that you do find funny?
I shall list a number of shows that are generally popular: big brother, dancing programs, singing programs, celebrity dancing programs, Jersey Shore, those child pageant shows, "reality" shows, there are probably more I missed but you get the point.
I do, and knew you would mention those types of shows.
But my point still stands, a lot of people liked them and thought they were good at the time, otherwise they would not have been successful, and that's the point. You and I get a very small say in it.
You can't make a general call about a show being good or bad based on your own personal observational bias, it's the community as whole that dictates it.
FWIT, I agree with you about some of those shows, I personally don't like many of them either.
And there has been much talk about such shows that now have a bad stigma (like Big Brother for example), that with retrospect, seemingly few people will admit to having liked. But the numbers don't lie at the time.
Dave.