The Big Bang Theory: 10 Things That Annoyed Fans | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

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The Big Bang Theory is a modern sitcom featuring a group of lovable geeks and their misadventures in the realms of romance and pop culture, from awkward first dates to Star Wars MMO mayhem, and everything in between. This show did a lot of things right, but some aspects of this show got rather annoying.

"Annoying" may be subjective, but some elements to The Big Bang Theory almost definitely wore out their appeal for most fans, or were downright unpleasant from the very start. Sometimes, the characters' faults are taken too far, or the show overplays its hand with certain running jokes or storylines. Which elements of The Big Bang Theory alienated dedicated and casual fans alike?

10 The Excessive Laugh Track

Laugh tracks have been around since the days of black and white television, but even in the late 2000s, let alone today, the idea was becoming distinctly dated, and laugh tracks end up sounding intrusive rather than complementary to a show's humor. Some canned laugh tracks have been in use since the 1950s, in fact.

The Big Bang Theory uses a live audience for its laugh track, and many fans agree that these audience members laugh too often, and too loudly, at too many jokes. This slows down the show's scenes considerably and makes them feel choppy and awkward.

9 Leonard Tries Too Hard To Impress Girls

To a degree, it's vital that the four male leads in TBBT are bad at romance; it gives them something to improve upon. However, Leonard Hofstadter pushes himself to ludicrous extremes to impress girls, and he comes off as a try-hard especially in early seasons when he had the most to gain.

Leonard is often downright petty and insecure about it, fretting over the tiniest things and overthinking his budding relationships to the point of annoying everyone, from the date in question to his roommate Sheldon to the audience. He doesn't have to be this insecure around Penny or other girls.

8 Bernadette Lost Her Charm

Bernadette underwent some major changes in The Big Bang Theory, and not all of them were for the better. At first, she was well-balanced between her shy side, her assertive side, her sense of humor, and her dedication to her microbiology career. But not for long.

The joke is that Bernadette morphed into Howard Wolowitz's mother in spirit, but she lost everything that made her appealing in the process. After a point, all she did was fuss at Howard and talk down to him, and there seemed to be zero romance or chemistry between them any longer. She became quite unlikable.

7 Mrs. Wolowitz Wasn't Deepened Enough

Mrs. Wolowitz with Raj and the actress who voiced her, Carol Ann Susi

Mrs. Wolowitz never fully appeared in person, but some aspects of her character were developed through dialogue alone, such as her enjoying a handful of suitors in her youth and her hidden insecurity about her appearance. But her character arc didn't go very far.

Even a gag character like Mrs. Wolowitz should have more to do than yell "HOWARD!" across the house or cook bizarre meals for everyone. Tragically, her actress died partway through the show, and Mrs. Wolowitz followed suit, without any resolution or satisfying conclusions to her character arc. It's such a shame.

6 Stuart Was Always A Punching Bag

Near the end of The Big Bang Theory, Stuart Bloom, the comic shop owner, finally found love with his girlfriend, Denise, but the show spent far too much time picking on Stuart for having a weak personal life. He was even more frustrated than Leonard, which is saying something.

At first, it was amusing how Stuart was a meek fellow who couldn't get a date. But this plot thread kept marching on, and poor Stuart was downright pitiable, and the show seemed mean-spirited for denying him happiness for so long. His comic book shop even burned down at one point.

5 Almost Everything About Bert Kibbler's Character

Brian Posehn as Bert Kibbler in The Big Bang Theory

Bert Kibbler appeared partway through the show as an older man who echoed the four main characters earlier in the series: awkward, petty, and unassertive. Bert is a geologist, and while Sheldon can't stand geology, Bert managed to annoy viewers in other ways.

To begin with, there wasn't much compelling about his character, and he came off as a tiresome person rather than someone sympathetic. The few times he is excited and happy, he expresses it poorly, such as shouting "Rock show! Rock show!" en route to an exhibition.

4 Barry Kripke Was Just A Punk

Barry Kripke, a fellow physicist at CalTech, had a few noble moments but was a bully more than anything, and he got carried away at times. Barry never failed to make petty, snide remarks about Sheldon and Leonard, and he even uploaded inappropriate pictures of his body to the Internet with no shame.

Barry knows that he's a pretty lousy person, but he did nothing to change that, and The Big Bang Theory made him downright hatable with his unsavory behavior and lack of redeeming qualities. He could have, and should have, been more than a cartoony bully like that.

3 Raj Had Terrible Luck In Love

Rajesh Koothrappali was in a similar position as Stuart: he was treated badly by the script and given a terrible love life for far too long. Raj is the most wholesome of the four male leads, and while he has his personal faults, he arguably deserved a girlfriend that loved him much more than his three best friends.

But the script said otherwise. Raj, despite his earnest efforts and romantic aspirations, was forced to stay single to the point of getting a dog as a substitute, and this felt downright unfair to Raj's character. It seemed mean-spirited, the same as with Stuart's case.

2 Generic Soap Opera Drama Eventually Took Over

Even sitcoms need some drama, to give the characters personal stakes and put them through challenges so they can grow as people, and The Big Bang Theory knows that. At first, the drama was fairly amusing and was closely intertwined with the "geek life" theme, but that later changed.

Later on, the show kept using conventional and generic soap opera drama, and the characters seemed to be going in circles. The show lost its unique voice along the way, becoming a typical daytime soap whose characters happen to be scientists.

1 The Imaginative Visuals Went On A Decline

This show never completely lost its "geek life" element, but later season definitely scaled it back in favor of adult life soap opera drama. This is a shame since earlier seasons were packed with lavish sets and special effects to make the four guys' geek fantasies come true.

Sheldon once dreamed that he used a prop time machine to visit the swamps of the future, surrounded by Morlocks. In another episode, Sheldon looks at his reflection in the mirror, only to realize that he had become Gollum in a The Flash t-shirt. Later episodes rarely had this kind of imagination.

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Louis Kemner (2818 Articles Published)

Louis Kemner has been a fan of Japanese animation since 1997, when he discovered Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z in elementary school. Now he's a bigger anime/manga fan than ever, and is ready to share what he knows with readers worldwide. He graduated high school in 2009 and received his Bachelor's in creative writing from UMKC in 2013, then put his skills to work in 2019 with CBR.com. He's always looking for a wonderful new anime to watch or manga series to read. You can reach him at lkemner2000@yahoo.com.