The "Big Bang Theory" Offers Small Laughs

Next time you're in Las Vegas and you've grown tired of the sex, booze and gambling take a trip to Television City located in the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. Past the food court and hidden in the back of the building Television City offers people the opportunity to serve on focus groups for upcoming television shows on CBS, The CW, MTV and other cable channels.

On a recent trip I was given the chance to preview the new Fall comedy "The Big Bang Theory". From Chuck Lorre, the man being the popular "Two and a Half Men", the new series revolves around the lives of a pair of science nerds and roommates as they get into various socially awkward situations. I'll admit that I don't have love for the traditional three camera sitcom and prefer the single camera approach. My TiVo is filled with things like 30 Rock and The Office which are both a far cry from the laugh track style humor of "Bang". That being said I did find myself enjoying the relationship between the main characters played by Johnny Galecki (Roseanne) and Jim Parsons as they shared banter over such well trod nerd territory like Star Wars collectables and Klingon Scrabble parties. As someone who has spent a lot of time with many different geeky guys I enjoyed the banter between them and found it ringing very true to people I'm familiar with in my own life. And if the series just focused on these two and the rest of their geek friends I could see myself watching it weekly. There is a lot of comedy to be had from fanboys fighting over midnight screenings and trying to avoid spoilers. Unfortunately, Lorre has decided that what the series really needs is a sexy girl, and so we are introduced to one of the more unbelievable and annoying love stories in recent memory.