‘Big Bang’s’ success: It’s not rocket science

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The cast and creative forces behind CBS’ breakout comedy know the geek squad won’t get the girl, but it gets the laughs.

It makes absolute sense that the folks at the Apple store Genius Bar would freak out at the sight of the cast of “The Big Bang Theory.” Or that thousands of fans would fill a room to spend time with them at Comic-Con last summer. But when the paparazzi of Mexico City went so berserk over the five actors during a promotional visit in December that they required an armed bodyguard, the young cast knew their little sitcom was turning into a sensation.

Statistically, ‘Big Bang’ is defying all kinds of odds, most notably in that it’s thriving at a time when the multi-camera format has been declared dead and network television as a whole is struggling. In its sophomore season, the buddy comedy has registered 20% more viewers, reaching the 10 million mark, and building enough confidence at CBS that it’s been renewed for two more years.

At its core, ‘Big Bang’ is a show about brainy best friends, genius nerds and social misfits who for the first time on TV are the source of the joke, not the butt of it. But on a deeper level, it’s also about love, loyalty, friendship and the frailties of the human spirit mixed in with quantum physics and superhero fanboydom. Think ‘Weird Science’ meets ‘Friends.’

Read the entire article: ‘Big Bang’s’ success: It’s not rocket science

-- Marie Elena Fernandez

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