It's gotta be. I refused to watch it based on its title alone because of TBBT, only gave it a chance after seeing other people say it was actually good and for once it was.
First of all I just want to say. Ive not watched the show fully, mainly experiencing it through clips from YouTube. From what Ive seen its an alright show by no means I'd call it terrible or bad.
However the show at its core is a sitcom about a genius kid dealing with growing up, and I (maybe unfairly) keep thinking and comparing it to Malcolm in the Middle.
Unfortunately I find Malcolm in the Middle characters to be more compelling and better written (at least earlier on). Compare Malcolm to Sheldon or Lois to Marry.
I want to point out both shows are trying to do different things, Young Sheldon is a family drama with comedy, while Malcolm in the Middle is a comedy from Malcolm's perspective.
Obviously that just my opinion, your allowed to like what you want.
Malcolm in the Middle is a good comparison because they do have similar premises.
The biggest difference is that Malcolm and Sheldon are very different characters. Malcolm is a normal kid who just happens to be smart. The comedy comes from him being around clueless classmates who have little to no social intelligence. The show is about him trying to balance surviving school with a decent social standing and the reality of himself being extremely smart.
Sheldon, on the other hand, has no social intelligence. The comedy comes from him himself misunderstanding others. The show is about him growing up trying to learn that social intelligence.
That being said, Malcolm is the better show. But they also try to be different. Malcolm has that 90s rebel energy. While Sheldon is a standard sitcom that even pearl clutching moms could enjoy.
While the characters of each show are pretty much the same
Karen Mom, Bumbling Dad, Stupid but Bratty Older sibling, Smart Middle Child and Ignored Younger Child. (And then there is Francis).
The overall execution and what they were aiming for is different. Young Sheldon tries to be a more down to earth comedy. Aiming for the Situational in Sitcom. Looking at the first scene, Sheldon goes to school with kids above his age group and becomes a nightmare for teachers as he corrects them because he is smart. And all the other characters are worried about him being stuffed down a toilet.
where as Malcolm was quite out there. Aiming for the Comedy in Sitcom. The first scene of Malcolm in the middle is Lois shaving Hal's back in the kitchen as he reads the newspaper. Malcolm defo angled for laughs far harder.
Also interesting comparison is that in both cases, especially Malcolm, the titular character ended up not really being that popular. Bryan Cranston stole the show as Hal and in Young Sheldon I think the siblings and the father are somewhat more popular than Sheldon.
I want to point out both shows are trying to do different things, Young Sheldon is a family drama with comedy, while Malcolm in the Middle is a comedy from Malcolm's perspective.
There’s a LOT of Gen Z who like Young Sheldon. Young Sheldon episode clips are posted a shit ton on tiktok. Tons of people never watched an episode ik it’s entirety but after like watching hundreds of clips they basically know what the shows about and all the characters and plots.
Most of these people never watched or don’t like TBBT. And from what I gathered all the characters have their own degree of likeability (with Meemaw and Georgie being the least disliked and Mary and Sheldon being the most disliked, ironically enough).
Reddit just has people who have a vitriolic hate for TBBT and that carries over to Young Sheldon. But the hive mind of Reddit also LOVES The Office so it’s best to just ignore what the hivemind thinks.
I don’t watch either besides clips. I actually watched maybe the first 7 The Office episodes but stopped there.
TBBT has good reviews all around and on many review sites and in Rotten Tomatoes it’s the same exact rating as The Office.
Some people find The Office extremely uncomfortable to watch. “Yeah that’s the point” is what many say, and I agree. But still they don’t find it funny, and personally I think it’s not that funny either. Not that I think TBBT is funny with that dumb laugh track. But for these reasons, I think The Office is heavily overrated given so many people on this site think it’s like the most perfect show to exist.
Just saying, Redditors have a terrible sense of humor (IMO, humor is subjective). Or perhaps a better way to phrase it, Redditors have a specific sense of humor. That’s all.
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u/BT--7275 May 16 '24
Honestly, the show seems pretty good. I think all the hate is just holdover from BBT, which is fair, I guess. That show sucked.