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Here’s why.
In September 2007, CBS debuted a new primetime comedy about four nerds navigating their way through a world that just didn’t understand them. You had a couple of genius young physicists, jokes about Star Trek, painful wardrobe choices, and a group of friends that all had their own special way of being bad with the ladies.
On paper, it looked like the kind of show I might like. “Hey, I’m those things!” I guess I’m not a genius per se, but I like a bit of Trek and I’ve been known to be pretty awkward around the opposite sex. Episode after episode, more nerd culture was introduced- comic books, Dungeons & Dragons, cosplay and more. This had all the ingredients to catch a guy like me hook, line, and sinker. Except… it wasn’t funny.
Yes all those things I love are now on TV in primetime and that seems great, but they’re not the story- they’re the punchline. Most of the “funniest” moments of the show are jokes built around just how weird these types of people are. So really just a bit more nerd-bashing. Cool.
What It Could Have Been
I understand that TV shows have to have a premise. Someone had the idea to make a “show about nerds,” which isn’t a problem in and of itself. Plenty of shows have pulled this off brilliantly. Freaks and Geeks had some characters that were unapologetically weirdos and we (the nerds) ate it up. The IT crowd tapped into geek comedy and made the characters seem lovable and socially inept. Later on, Stranger Things would give the most realistic on-screen depiction of Dungeons & Dragons I’ve ever seen.
So it can be done. They just didn’t.
The show was by all accounts a huge success, running for 12 seasons and clocking in at an astonishing 279 episodes. Critics seemed ok with it, as it pulled in 55 (!) awards during its twelve-year run. At its peak, it was pulling over 20 million viewers, which is absolutely astonishing.
But I never got it.
I had plenty of friends that enjoyed it, and I’m glad it brought them joy, but these were overwhelmingly the friends of mine who had never played Dungeons & Dragons. These were overwhelmingly the friends who hadn’t read a comic book since they were a kid. I don’t mean to paint any group with too broad a stroke, but these were not nerds.
So what’s the harm if people liked it?
Admittedly not much. After all, it’s a TV show and it’s just having fun. It’s not responsible for the great evils that plague the world today. But we the nerds had a chance to put ourselves out in the spotlight and share our passions and hobbies with the world- and we blew it. By and large, viewers laughed along with a laughtrack for 30 minutes every Thursday and went back to their regular lives immediately thereafter. They weren’t rushing out to buy a Dungeon Master’s Guide or an omnibus of old X-Men comics, they laughed at us and they were done.
How To Lift Nerds Up
Years later, Netflix would release Stranger Things, a show about five kids who play Dungeons & Dragons in a basement. It’s different kind of show, with larger-than-life action, supernatural phenomena, and all the trappings of the best government coverup fiction. The kids get wrapped up in all of this and, much like their heroes on the D&D grid at the beginning, they have to work together to survive. Later on, their knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons is one of the key tools to their survival.
This is how nerd culture is appreciated. The show has done various promotions with Dungeons & Dragons and gotten a lot of new players into the game, as well as driven fans to comic shops to try out other Stranger Things branded games and comics. The most recent season even inspired a 600% increase in Google searches for Dungeons & Dragons.
From the start, we like these kids. We get them. And they’re never the punchlines.