i hate to trivialize the complete and utter blight on american culture and racial awareness that was "black face," but when it comes to "the big bang theory" it's a rather apt comparison -- big bang theory's whole appeal lies in portraying nerds as heavily stereotyped alien others that are only approachable through laughing at (and occasionally with) their disconnect from the monocultural majority, and of course they require a sympathetic culturally straight white person to mediate for them. unfortunately, many nerds i know like the show because they laugh at the equivalent of "fried chicken" and "kumbayah" gags: references to obscure pieces of sci-fi trivia or scientific accomplishments, BECAUSE IT'S SOOO TRUE HAN SHOT FIRST, ISN'T QUANTUM MECHANICS AWESOME!!!! AH HURRRRRR.