A Big Bang For Your Television

What does it take for a sitcom to reach a television milestone? Apparently it takes two physicists, an aerospace engineer, a microbiologist, an astrophysicist and a neurobiologist. Don’t believe me? Check out the comical sitcom, “The Big Bang Theory,” that drew 20 million viewers last week alone, a number that even television’s biggest hits strive to reach.
Even though critics have been predicting the death of the sitcom for years, “The Big Bang Theory” is pulling numbers not seen since the days of MASH and Dallas. The show wasn’t a hit right out of the gate, though. “The Big Bang Theory” finished its first season not in first, second or third place but in 68th place with 8.3 million viewers. Since then it has worked its way up to a lucky number five. Part of this can be attributed to the fact that by the end of the third season, the sitcom gained popularity through beginning to show reruns, adding at least 3 million viewers to their fan-base. Another part of the show’s success is how accessible it is, especially for a show about nerds. The quirky jokes, hilarious awkwardness, the cozy house setting and the fact that it’s family friendly, are all reasons that America has come to love this show. And who knows, maybe we are all just a little bit nerdier than we would like to admit.