Big Bang Theory

Ok this assignment was actually a challenge for me not because I don't love television but because I don't watch it like most people.  I am that person that cannot really sit down and focus on the brain drain.  I have to be engaged in other activities and I really just use the television as background noise.  Sometimes I actually just put it on the music stations  or Pandora and listen .  


The first part of this assignment required me to watch a television program I don't usually watch with the sound off.  I chose Big Bang Theory because it seems as though this show is on 24 hours a day on every station and I just don't get it but to be fair I had never watched the show before.

Right away I realized that the guys in the show were good friends.  At least 2 of them were roommates but I wasn't sure if they were in college or not.  Later in the show more of the group was introduced so there are at least four guys in their inner circle and girls but I could not discern if they were friends or girlfriends in the nonverbal viewing.  The plot seemed to revolve on the guys in two groups, the roommates and the other two friends had a subplot.  Everyone actually looked kinda sad in the show, there was a lot of verbal communication but the show looked a little monotonous.  Looking at their behavior they sat at a respectful distance from each other, there was little eye contact and a lot of eating scenes.  I could tell that there as some tension between the guys that were roommates and that everyone else pretty much stayed out it.  There were a lot of downward head scene as the characters rarely looked at each other face to face and when they were eating the conversation seemed a secondary action.

Now with the sound on I was correct in assuming the guys were friends. Sheldon and Leonard were the roommates and their plot revolved around the rules of their friendships.  While the other two guys, whose names I don't remember hearing were just friends.  I had assumed from watching the show with no sound that it was monotonous and I was correct in this assumption.  There was very little excitement in the show, even in the character's interaction with each other.  Although the characters all seemed like they were familiar with each other I would actually classify them as acquaintances rather than friends.  It was a fairly simple show to watch but I know that it would have been easier had I watched a show that I was familiar with.  I would have known the characters and been able to guess more about the plot of the episode.  Overall, I do understand the importance of both nonverbal and verbal communication but in this instance little changed in viewing the show with sound and without.