DEFER YOUR ENTHUSIASM (9)
By:
May 2, 2025
One in a series of enthusiastic posts, contributed by 25 HILOBROW friends and regulars, analyzing and celebrating our favorite… late-breaking obsessions, avoided discoveries, and devotions delayed! Series edited by Adam McGovern.
Despite persistent recommendations from my husband and close friends, I avoided watching The Big Bang Theory for nearly three years. By the time I finally decided to check it out, Sheldon and the gang were already a cultural phenomenon — spawning everything from catchphrases to branded merchandise. So, what took me so long? Frankly, the brief glimpses I’d caught of the show weren’t appealing: grown men in superhero T-shirts, obsessing over computers and takeout food. It didn’t help that I had recently finished The IT Crowd, which I thought was unbeatable when it came to portraying loveable losers. For my sense of humor, British comedy almost always outshines American.
I didn’t even consciously decide to start watching TBBT. It happened during a cold Christmas break at a friend’s house in Madrid, where we ended up bingeing the series. And I was immediately hooked.
This group of misfits — “misfits” being a kind word to describe Howard Wolowitz’s cringey original character — felt fresh and different, even years after the show had premiered. Watching them reminded me of the nerdy background characters in every 1980s teen movie. These people were them as adults! As someone passionate about cultural analysis and semiotics, I love making connections between different cultural moments, and this was an unexpected pleasure.
One of my favorite discoveries came early on in the series, in one of the first episodes. Sheldon asks his actress-wannabe neighbour, Penny, a question that that I identified with in a way I also never expected: He needed help with “a matter of semiotics.” Yes, he actually said the word!
The scene plays out with Sheldon standing in front of a tie hanging from Leonard’s doorknob, signaling that the room was occupied. Perplexed, and with no awareness of the implied social rule, Sheldon asks Penny: “What does it mean?” Glorious. In that moment, he distilled what semioticians have been trying to communicate to the mainstream for years, what semiotics is about: deeply asking “What does it mean?” It’s a brilliant clip (you can watch it here), and one part of the series I still make sure the students I teach have seen too.
DEFER YOUR ENTHUSIASM: INTRODUCTION by Adam McGovern | Mandy Keifetz on FAITH | Heather Quinlan on THE GRATEFUL DEAD | Carlo Rotella on SMOOTHER GROOVES | Art Wallace on MICHIGAN | Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons on TAYLOR SWIFT | Josh Glenn on ART | James Scott Maloy on BE-BOP DELUXE | Jake Zucker on LIGHT SLEEPER | Gabriela Pedranti on THE BIG BANG THEORY | Adam McGovern on DOGS | Tana Sirois on COLLABORATIVE EVOLUTION | Rani Som on LED ZEP | Holly Interlandi on HOT SAUCE | Jeff Lewonczyk on TWIN PEAKS | Nikhil Singh on PRE-TEEN DAVID LYNCH PROBLEMS | Christopher Rashee Stevenson on O’NEILL & THE SEA | Fran Pado on SHARKS | Juan Recondo on BEN GRIMM’S INNER LIFE | Miranda Mellis on KARL OVE KNAUSGAARD | Mimi Lipson on SOBRIETY | William Nericcio on ELYSIUM | Crockett Doob on SLEATER-KINNEY | Marlon Stern Lopez on PAT THE BUNNY | …and more!
JACK KIRBY PANELS | CAPTAIN KIRK SCENES | OLD-SCHOOL HIP HOP | TYPEFACES | NEW WAVE | SQUADS | PUNK | NEO-NOIR MOVIES | COMICS | SCI-FI MOVIES | SIDEKICKS | CARTOONS | TV DEATHS | COUNTRY | PROTO-PUNK | METAL | & more enthusiasms!