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The Big Bang Theory Discussion

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While the show uses some coarse humor, the basic living rooms and lab areas are pretty benign. A Lego version of Leonard and Sheldon's great room would have plenty of visual interest, and the characters in Lego should have some great details.

As a regular fan, I have to say that the show does not denigrate the type of people the actors are portraying. It is merely a show that puts the viewer squarely into the world of the intelligent and the awkward. It is a situation comedy, so a good deal of the humor comes from these personalities dealing with exaggerated circumstances. I am watching the show on FOX right now (syndicated episodes).

I agree. I think some nerds who haven't really given the show a chance might look at it as being a joke on them - it's really not. Proud nerd for over 30 years (I started playing with computers around 1979, and never looked back)... there's never going to be a show everybody likes, though. The number one show on TV right now is hated by a lot of people (no, not referring to TBBT).

I have to say I was a reluctant watcher of the Big Bang Theory due to the nerdy, geekiness. At first like some people here I also thought the writers were just making fun of the characters in a bullying way.

But as I watched more episodes I began to find that this was not true.

However it is a tightrope they walk for each episode and sometimes I find myself thinking that was too far or too much.

Fair enough... I agree with both parts... it's simply not true they're just making fun of the characters... if anything, they make a lot of points about how bad non-nerds are to nerds, like Penny's ex-boyfriends, they even had the episode with the old school bully... who looks like the real #@$@# by the end of the episode?

Still, as a middling fan of the show (I used to like it a lot more... it may have run it's course, IMO), I don't get why this was so popular. It's just a living room. There's nothing exciting or interesting about it except you get the characters from the show. That might be enough for some, but it's not really enough for me. I don't need a Sheldon or Leonard figure... I have no idea what I'd do with them. Might be a decent display set for work... but even with my geeky/nerdy co-workers, the Ghost Busters seems like a much bigger hit.

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Still, as a middling fan of the show (I used to like it a lot more... it may have run it's course, IMO), I don't get why this was so popular. It's just a living room. There's nothing exciting or interesting about it except you get the characters from the show. That might be enough for some, but it's not really enough for me. I don't need a Sheldon or Leonard figure... I have no idea what I'd do with them. Might be a decent display set for work... but even with my geeky/nerdy co-workers, the Ghost Busters seems like a much bigger hit.

After the luke-warm reception of the BTTF set, Lego should be suspicious of LEGO Ideas entries where fan may be voting for the license and not voting for the design. Maybe entries should have two voting scales: one for concept and one for design. So if an entry is not selected, a high concept rating with a low design rating will encourage others to create better designs based on the same concept.

Since this will be a licensed set, the minifigures will not be yellow, which is unfortunate for those of us just interested in the parts. I hope they at least keep the skin-color off the rest of the body so those parts can be re-used easily.

And a sure way LEGO can kill much of the buzz over this set: stickers. :)

Edited by badbob001

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I was caught completely off-guard by this announcement, I must admit. I was sure this project wouldn't pass review, and said so. Obviously I was wrong.

I have kind of an odd relationship with the show. I don't really care for the writing in general, or for the rather cliched way it portrays geeks, but I do like the basic characters, and the performers who play them. Of course, any LEGO set is something in which I might be interested regardless of how I feel about the source inspiration, so I can't wait to see the final set.

(I will just add that as long as LEGO is open to doing sets based on non-fantasy/sci-fi sitcoms aimed at adults, I'd dearly love ones based on Cheers and especially its spinoff Frasier, which is not to say I'd ever expect one in a million years, of course...)

I know next to nothing about TBBT, but I'm positive that Lego will not include 7 figures in what will probably be a $35 set. I'd say four at the most. Maybe it'll be $50, but even then definitely not 7.

Perhaps. The Ghostbusters set cost that much, of course. It also has "only" four minifigures, but then it also has a car that's probably a much more complex build than we might expect from the apartment living room that will probably constitute the meat of the build in this set. Note also that while the torso prints for this set will undoubtedly be new ones for the most part, they should mostly have at least some potential for being reused later on, in City sets and the like (assuming they don't put the characters in the licensed shirts and such that they frequently wear on the show). I could see TLG making a relatively simple build with up to seven minifigures and listing it for $50 US (well... $49.99).

Edited by Blondie-Wan

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I wouldnt be surprised if this ends up being 65 EUR. I still will buy it though, as I tend to buy at least 1 set per liscensed theme.

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I am really not happy about this choice. I think The Big Bang Theory is a terrible show and a really boring idea for an Ideas project.

There's a really unusual and special point about capitalism - if you don't like it, don't buy it.

Complaining that something exists that you don't like and therefore that makes you unhappy must lead you to have a pretty miserable life!

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I think I know why I have a bad feeling about this.

Kids watch the Simpsons. I know I did, and many others too. It may not be clean (at least not always, it can be) but kids do watch it.

Do kids watch the Big Bang Theory? I don't think so. It isn't really something I would be okay letting a kid watch. It's a show geared more towards adults.

LEGO has always been a "family" company, licensing products that parents and kids could enjoy together (and a few things that were just for kids, like Spongebob), but this is a step towards being an "everyone" company. Products that mostly just adults will like. And, while fine for most companies, is not fine for LEGO. They are a family. This is a shift away from that.

And I guess that just makes me uncomfortable since that is a very slippery slope. If they start targeting just the adult market, what sorts of things will they make next? Breaking Bad? Game of Thrones? Walking Dead? Yes, all significantly worse than this, but do not forget that this is much worse than anything they would have made ten years ago. Who is to say that what they make in ten years won't be much worse than this? The slope is potentially slippery...

But

Heh... I can already see them giving Sheldon a very Sheldon dilemma about choosing between two similar Lego Ideas sets to support of a particular science-based set or pop-culture-based set, or even deciding between a science-based set or a pop-culture set (like, say, a Firefly/Serenity set), with Leonard or one of the others saying "Why not support both?" with Sheldon dismissing it thru some silly but perfectly logical (for him) argument... and his anxiety over which set to support leads to one of his strange dreams--in LEGO! Using the models of the actual BBT Lego minifigs, animated in a Lego Movie style. I'd get a kick out of that...

Yes, that NEEDS to happen. Maybe he sees two projects based on the same source, (ie, two USS Enterprises) and can't decide which one is better. Yes, I would like that very much.

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I don't know, I always thought Star Wars and Indiana Jones were more aimed at adults as they're both violent and do have sex references, and obviously those themes started years ago. I don't think one Ideas set will change the ethos of the company.

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They're still in the realm of family entertainment, though, while The Big Bang Theory isn't really. The violence and sexual content of Star Wars, Indiana Jones and so on isn't really the focus of those series in the same way that the adult content of The Big Bang Theory is the focus of much of that show.

Mind you, I don't view it as a betrayal or anything like that that TLG is doing the set; I'm just (really) surprised, that's all (especially after the Firefly / Serenity project was declined over brand fit considerations). But I do also get the point others have made over the ways in which The Big Bang Theory actually does complement the brand, what with the interests of the characters as portrayed on the show. Presumably that was indeed a factor.

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Mind you, I don't view it as a betrayal or anything like that that TLG is doing the set; I'm just (really) surprised, that's all (especially after the Firefly / Serenity project was declined over brand fit considerations). But I do also get the point others have made over the ways in which The Big Bang Theory actually does complement the brand, what with the interests of the characters as portrayed on the show. Presumably that was indeed a factor.

To be fair, Firefly features a prostitute as one of the main characters...

Idk, I'm okay with Lego doing it, but like others have said, it is surprising. The difference between BBT and Star Wars and whatnot is that the sex jokes are much more prominent and fairly common on the show, I believe (haven't watched much). Still, for just one Ideas set, I really don't feel like LEGO is violating their standards- which they definitely still have. Didn't anyone but me read that employee manual thingy that went up on Brickset a while back? Explaining the core values and their focus on kids and creativity and stuff?

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There's a really unusual and special point about capitalism - if you don't like it, don't buy it.

Complaining that something exists that you don't like and therefore that makes you unhappy must lead you to have a pretty miserable life!

I have no intention of buying it. I'm just not happy that it was chosen instead of a project I would have preferred..

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I have no intention of buying it. I'm just not happy that it was chosen instead of a project I would have preferred..

Because of the way IDEAS work, this may not have been chosen instead of the project you preferred. Your project may have other difficulties that prevented it being chosen this time around regardless of whether any project was chosen to be made.

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I have no intention of buying it. I'm just not happy that it was chosen instead of a project I would have preferred..

Which project is that?

Note that one project's passage doesn't necessarily have any bearing on whether another one passes or fails. Remember, The Big Bang Theory isn't even the only project from this batch to pass - the Birds project was also approved at the same time, and the Doctor Who projects are still under consideration.

It's true there's a limited number of production slots available each year for Ideas sets, but given the number of times a set has been held for continued review when a review batch's results are announced, I'm not sure they ever decline a project solely because they approve some other project. As far as I can tell, every declined project has been rejected for some other reason(s). If The Big Bang Theory had been declined, whatever other project you wanted probably still wouldn't have made it; it would just be the case that the Birds set would be the only one that got announced, most likely.

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Can anyone please explain why they enjoy the "Big Bang theory", and more specifically, why there needs to be a LEGO set besides the huge amount of money it'll bring? No flaming please, I have watched the show a couple times, and I'll be straight, it's not funny. I saw two episodes that were slightly funny, but they looked older, so I'm guessing they were from the first or second season. Since then it's been nothing but coitus jokes and the same thing over and over and over again. It's gets real old, real quick. 'Community' however... that could be a LEGO set... :D

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Can anyone please explain why they enjoy the "Big Bang theory", and more specifically, why there needs to be a LEGO set besides the huge amount of money it'll bring? No flaming please, I have watched the show a couple times, and I'll be straight, it's not funny. I saw two episodes that were slightly funny, but they looked older, so I'm guessing they were from the first or second season. Since then it's been nothing but coitus jokes and the same thing over and over and over again. It's gets real old, real quick. 'Community' however... that could be a LEGO set... :D

I like it cause i can relate to it, Nerdyness and such.

And i think Sheldon is pretty hilarious actually!

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I like it cause i can relate to it, Nerdyness and such.

And i think Sheldon is pretty hilarious actually!

Agreed... hilarious and endlessly infuriating. Watching enough of the show, it's easy to see why Parsons has won Emmys for his performance. His reaction to getting Penny's Christmas gift of a linen napkin signed and used by Leonard Nimoy is priceless.

I would totally buy a Lego "Community" set, too, as it's the truly nerdy show of the two. Only an uber-nerdy show would spread a Beetlejuice gag over multiple seasons, and have it pay off with a blink-and-miss cameo of someone dressed as Beetlejuice walking by in the background, viewed thru a window... and the Halloween episode, come on! Nerdapalooza. TBBT is mostly 'mainstream' nerdity compared to Community, but still fun.

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To be honest, I have only ever seen two episodes of Community, and those were on a transatlantic flight, and they didn't encourage me to watch more, here, according to Wikipedia, it is broadcast on an obscure subscription digital channel I doubt many would have heard of, whereas TBBT is on one of the four big major terrestrial broadcasters.

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To be honest, I have only ever seen two episodes of Community, and those were on a transatlantic flight, and they didn't encourage me to watch more, here, according to Wikipedia, it is broadcast on an obscure subscription digital channel I doubt many would have heard of, whereas TBBT is on one of the four big major terrestrial broadcasters.

I'd never even heard of Community until this thread. TBBT is on CBS, and syndicated on Fox and TBS here. You can watch it online as well.

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Community was on NBC, usually directly opposite TBBT's timeslot. While its characters weren't the nerdy stereotypes of TBBT, there was so much pop culture nerdiness on display in Community, and particularly thru Abed, the one real nerd they had... Community turned its D&D episodes into pretty epic things, whole TBBT's was only okay, but with a couple good jokes, and dredged up the tired old "girls don't play D&D" stereotype. Community's paintball episodes were also great... Many of their theme episodes were fantastic in their ridiculousness. It's got a lot more layers, rewarding viewers with an eye for detail and/or repeated viewings, plus there were anime scenes, a stop-motion Christmas episode, an 8-bit video game episode, and a GIJoe animated episode among other fun stuff. Definitely worth checking out! A Lego Ideas set based on it might be even more "boring" than TBBT's living room (the Study Room doesn't have nearly as much geeky things going on in the decor, usually), but official minifigs of the group would be amazing!

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Can anyone please explain why they enjoy the "Big Bang theory", and more specifically, why there needs to be a LEGO set besides the huge amount of money it'll bring? No flaming please, I have watched the show a couple times, and I'll be straight, it's not funny. I saw two episodes that were slightly funny, but they looked older, so I'm guessing they were from the first or second season. Since then it's been nothing but coitus jokes and the same thing over and over and over again. It's gets real old, real quick. 'Community' however... that could be a LEGO set... :D

Your personal opinion, and projection of the fact you have a different sense of humour.

I find it funny and quite entertaining.

I liked watching it from series 1, and watching how the characters grew throughout the various series. I liked to see the challenges they faced (as happens in real life, not just as portrayed in the show as some might think/are making out) and I really do not see the problem with it being done.

So what if it is 'aimed at adults'...

Who are the ones that buy their children Lego, or give them money to buy Lego?

Adults.

The fact that they are doing this is actually pretty clever as it is aiming a new theme which may appeal to adults that wouldn't have necessarily bought Lego for themselves previously. And in doing so, are perhaps starting them off on a new lease of Lego enjoyment that may spread further than just this one set.

I don't like the birds set that was chosen as it appears very boring and too simple with nothing really special about it. But I can see its appeal to others who may like them.

If we are going to talk about slippery slopes and etc... I don't recall anyone bringing up the issue of the cat/mouse set (not ideas, but creator). Cats in real life will 95% of the time go chase a mouse down and kill it for 'fun'. Is that really a thing that should be promoted to children, to make his Lego cat hunt down a Lego mouse and torment/torture/cause pain?

There are bad points about everything... doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done.

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I like the Big Bang Theory because, as many others have said above, I find it very funny, at times incredibly hilarious, I relate to it (as you may have guessed), It has damn good writing, fantastic actresses/actors, entertaining, and overall, it's a fantastic show (all my opinion, or course).

Why does there need to be a Lego set?

10,000 people voted for it, and it passed the review stage, hence the existence of the forthcoming set.

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TBBT is an incredibly popular and successful show- its built on relatable, amiable characters, and well acted and written. Its played a major part in both normalising and popularising 'nerd' culture. Naturally, whether or not you enjoy it, is of course, a matter of taste. (I understand Modern Family is very popular- didn't enjoy it myself).

Sure, the core premise of TBBT was the culture clash between the cool girl and the nerdy guys and a certain amount of stereotype based humour ensued (not just 'targeting' the nerds- there's plenty aimed at the 'prom queen') but to a certain extent its her assimilation, both culturally and romantically, into the nerdy group that drives the relationships- and reflects cultural shifts in real life.

For what its worth, I had never heard of Community until this thread- currently watching the pilot. So far I've found it unrelatable (could be a UK/US divide thing) and unpleasant with about one funny joke in 14.5 minutes and dislikable characters. Maybe it gets better- I personally wont be finding out (unless the next 10 minutes is amazing (update: it wasn't)). Its notable that despite critical acclaim (I totally get why it hits the critic sweet spot) its viewing figures are way behind TBBT and its been cancelled from one network already. Its way more 'cult' than TBBT- and good as 'cult' can be, mainstream is far more marketable.

In terms of Lego sets- there's already plenty of themes that are adult focussed. As an avid DC comics fan, the new 52 (which I love) is utterly, demonstrably unsuitable for children, as is Dark Knight and the Dark Knight Rises- yet we have Lego based on all 3. In that context making a one shot Lego set, that 10,000 people voted for, on an intensely popular show seems like a winner to me.

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TBBT is an incredibly popular and successful show- its built on relatable, amiable characters, and well acted and written. Its played a major part in both normalising and popularising 'nerd' culture. Naturally, whether or not you enjoy it, is of course, a matter of taste. (I understand Modern Family is very popular- didn't enjoy it myself).

Sure, the core premise of TBBT was the culture clash between the cool girl and the nerdy guys and a certain amount of stereotype based humour ensued (not just 'targeting' the nerds- there's plenty aimed at the 'prom queen') but to a certain extent its her assimilation, both culturally and romantically, into the nerdy group that drives the relationships- and reflects cultural shifts in real life.

For what its worth, I had never heard of Community until this thread- currently watching the pilot. So far I've found it unrelatable (could be a UK/US divide thing) and unpleasant with about one funny joke in 14.5 minutes and dislikable characters. Maybe it gets better- I personally wont be finding out (unless the next 10 minutes is amazing (update: it wasn't)). Its notable that despite critical acclaim (I totally get why it hits the critic sweet spot) its viewing figures are way behind TBBT and its been cancelled from one network already. Its way more 'cult' than TBBT- and good as 'cult' can be, mainstream is far more marketable.

In terms of Lego sets- there's already plenty of themes that are adult focussed. As an avid DC comics fan, the new 52 (which I love) is utterly, demonstrably unsuitable for children, as is Dark Knight and the Dark Knight Rises- yet we have Lego based on all 3. In that context making a one shot Lego set, that 10,000 people voted for, on an intensely popular show seems like a winner to me.

I kinda like Modern Family

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Exactly Ideas sets are like UCS sets for other themes they are not aimed for young children, so stop saying it isn't suitable for children folks. Heath Ledgers Joker made pencils disappear using peoples heads and he got a minifigure and that is far more inappropriate than anything in tBBT so stop moaning about its worthiness as a set it is coming the best way to tell Lego you don't like it is by not buying it.

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