Who is Bill Prady? (TAM 7 keynote speaker)

[krelnik]

For those who read the announcement of TAM 7 speakers and may not be familiar with the show The Big Bang Theory or who Bill Prady is, here are some excerpts from a panel at San Diego ComicCon that Dr. Phil Plait posted back in December. I've rigged these to zap right to the parts where Bill Prady is talking or responding to a question, so maybe you will get a sense of who he is and what kind of speaker he is. (Prady is second from left on the panel, wearing glasses).





If you've never watched the show, you might also want to read this post and this post in which I recount some dialogue from two episodes last May that had a particularly skeptical bent. On what other sitcom would you hear mention of the Forer Effect?

 

[The Bad Astronomer]

I want to add that Bill Prady is made of awesome. He is extremely funny, quick-witted, has a strong interest in science and skepticism, and I think will be another in a line of extremely dynamic keynote speakers we've had at TAM.

 

[Tamazon]

My husband and I both love, love, love The Big Bang Theory. So funny! We actually use quotes from the show in our daily coversation and have adopted Sheldon's knock. Yeah, we're big geeks.

 

[Wowbagger]

Maybe I should give the show another chance. The few times I watched it, I thought it was too thin a parody of geeks, and didn't like it that much.

Prady sounds like a hoot.

 

[UnrepentantSinner]

Maybe I should give the show another chance. The few times I watched it, I thought it was too thin a parody of geeks, and didn't like it that much.

It's actually a rich, meaty parody of nerds... and absolutely hilarious.

 

[nettiemoore]

Ooookay I will give the bloke a go but I must say when I first saw stuff about The Big Bang Theory I thought it looked like mildly offensive rubbish. Hot chicks and dorky geeks has such a horrid bad 80s sexist frat movie thing about it.

But now I find it's good? I will need to be convinced.

 

[Dunstan]

Ooookay I will give the bloke a go but I must say when I first saw stuff about The Big Bang Theory I thought it looked like mildly offensive rubbish. Hot chicks and dorky geeks has such a horrid bad 80s sexist frat movie thing about it.

But now I find it's good? I will need to be convinced.

I've watched a couple of episodes. I'd say it's ok. It's not as bad as it could be given the concept, but there's still a lot of cliched gags. It's not offensive to me or painful to watch, but it doesn't inspire me to want to watch it again.

 

[UnrepentantSinner]

Jim Parsons is awesome as Sheldon.

Penny gets addicted to gaming.

Klingon Boggle.

 

[krelnik]

I must say when I first saw stuff about The Big Bang Theory I thought it looked like mildly offensive rubbish. Hot chicks and dorky geeks has such a horrid bad 80s sexist frat movie thing about it.

I've watched a couple of episodes. I'd say it's ok. It's not as bad as it could be given the concept, but there's still a lot of cliched gags. It's not offensive to me or painful to watch, but it doesn't inspire me to want to watch it again.

If what you saw was the pilot episode or the first couple of episodes after that (or clips/publicity from same) I definitely recommend giving it a second look.

I've noticed some very distinct positive adjustments in the portrayal of Penny (the "hot chick") since the early episodes. She was a bit of a bimbo/ditz in those early stories, and yes it would have gotten really old really fast if they had continued in that vein.

But they haven't. Penny has become much more of a sarcastic commenter on the geeks' weirdness, and more of a rounded person.

Yes, the characters of Sheldon, Raj and Howard are very stereotypical nerds on some level. But Leonard (Johnny Galecki) is much more well-rounded and keeps the nerd side of the equation grounded in humanity.

 

[Tamazon]

Aside from Sheldon reaching heights of neuroticism that most others don’t, I think it’s actually a pretty accurate portrayal of geekdom taken to it’s extreme. If I knew how to speak Klingon I would totally play Klingon Boggle.

 

[nettiemoore]

Yeah, the very mention of "Klingon Boggle" breaks down my defences. Regardless of the actual show, the topic Phil said he's speaking on -- science in Hollywood etc -- is fascinating and shouyld be worth hearing.