Maybe the real lesson from the rise of “The Big Bang Theory” is that there are a whole lot more geeks out there than we would care to admit.
Or maybe the real lesson is that this CBS sitcom about a group of quirky, techno-savvy friends has just hit that magical, elusive sweet spot nailed by only a handful of sitcoms, the rarefied likes of “I Love Lucy,” “M*A*S*H,” “The Cosby Show” and “Seinfeld.”
Whatever the explanation, the numbers for “Big Bang Theory” say something remarkable is happening.
Last week it drew 17.4 million viewers, which means that with DVR viewing it easily passed 20 million.
With today’s splintered TV viewership, even major hits rarely dare to dream about that territory.
Certainly “Big Bang” creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady didn’t.
“I can pretty much say for sure that Chuck and Bill never imagined this kind of success,” says executive producer Steve Molaro. “No one does.”
Making the “Big Bang” explosion further intriguing, all conventional wisdom says the show shouldn’t be having anything like this kind of success.
It’s based on an ultra-niche subject. Its first four years on the air, it had four different time slots. And it’s now in season six, when TV shows are generally declining.
Instead, it’s not only growing, but soaring.
So let’s consider the possibility that what we may be seeing here is an acute case of geek chic.
Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) are Cal Tech physicists. Penny (Kaley Cuoco) lives across the hall, but visits frequently.
Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) is an aerospace engineer, and Bernadette Rostenkowski Wolowitz (Melissa Rauch) is his wife, a microbiologist.
Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) is an astrophysicist, and Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) is a neurobiologist.
They have found each other partly because — with the exception of Penny, a waitress and wanna-be actress — they are brilliant in matters technical and challenged when it comes to dealing with most of the human race.
Even so, the show has been smart, Molaro notes, not to let that become a stagnant joke.
“Their social skills are always changing,” he says. “Back in season one, Howard was completely incapable of a relationship with anyone. Now he’s married.
“Sheldon has a girlfriend. All these things are tremendous fun to write.”
Yes, they do still live in a kind of bubble, and they still speak in techno-talk. Molaro says that, perhaps against the odds, that hasn’t turned into a problem.
“I’m sure a lot of viewers don’t understand everything they’re hearing,” he says. “I don’t. But I don’t think viewers mind. I think it sounds like a kind of romance language, exotic and pleasant.”
That’s heartening. It doesn’t explain why a show that finished its first season in 68th place among all prime-time shows, averaging 8.3 million viewers, has vaulted up to the top five, more than doubling its audience.
By the end of its third season, it was up to 14 million before it dipped to 13 million in its fourth season. Then another good thing happened: reruns.
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