Big Bang Theory

(One of our top 10 notable shows to watch this fall.)

A super hot chick named Penny (Kaley Cuoco) moves in next to two geeky scientists named Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki). As you might imagine, she coaxes them out of their shells while they teach her about quantum indeterminacy principles. Or something like that.

When It’s On	Mondays at 8:30 PT/ET, CBS
When It Starts	Monday, September 24
What It’s Up Against	Dancing with the Stars (ABC), Chuck (NBC), Prison Break (Fox), Aliens in America (CW)
Starring...	Kaley Cuoco, Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki
Cliche-o-Meter	Geeks I'm Not Wearing Pants Guys named Chuck
Fandom Factor	Cold

Full Review

It's not hard to see why the sitcom is in such dire shape. Everything about the form seems stuck in another era: the pacing of jokes unchanged from the 1940s; the insistence in some cases on adding laughter to the audio track; and above all, the contrived attempts at community seen in the proponderance of apartments, workplaces, and bars where the same six or seven people meet and interact constantly. Nobody bowls alone on sitcoms, and while this could be seen as a form of escapism, aesthetically it's seem as a sign of creative torpor. To survive in an age when reality shows (though no less contrived) seem fresher and funnier than comedies done by script, a sitcom needs a couple of special ingredients. "The Big Bang Theory" has one that most sitcoms can only dream of: a cherished "hammock" time slot between two established hits on the last bona fide night of sitcoms on any broadcast network. CBS just keeps reloading its Monday night schedule with promising, if not terribly exciting, sitcom ideas. Another is the presence of a guy, Chuck Lorre, who knows how to churn out scripts for CBS, dating back to his years on the "Cybill" sitcom. As author of sitcomedy's biggest hit this decade, "Two and a Half Men" (which follows "Big Bang Theory" at 9), Lorre brings life to what is already looking like a shopworn idea: nerdy guys come into close proximity with hot chick. The show isn't to stop traffic, but thanks to its time slot it's likely to experience a lot of traffic. And given the relative strength of the pilot and the people involved (notably Kaley Cuoco as the good-natured, if oddly un-self-conscious, blonde bombshell), this show has a chance of prolonging the sitcom's funeral by a few years.--A.B.

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