CBS’s popular TV series, The Big Bang Theory, crams several geeky references and jokes into every episode. While last night’s installment was a bit light on nerd-themed references (choosing instead to focus on Sigmund Freud and elephant seal jokes), we still unearthed a few geeky references that were buried throughout the episodes.
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And just a note: This column is mainly limited to “unique” references that appear in the episode at hand, while passing on background items that appear in every episode of the show.
Batman/Superman #20
Stuart, the gang’s longtime comic store owner and current houseguest of Bernadette and Howard, reads Batman/Superman #20 while Howard and his best friend Raj play video games. Batman/Superman is the latest “team-up” comic series featuring DC’s biggest characters and is one of DC’s better-selling books. It’s a pretty fun series written by Greg Pak that features some of the industry’s best artists, like Jae Lee and Ardian Syaff. Batman/Superman is currently on hiatus during DC’s Convergence event, but will return to comic book stores in July.
Zombies and Invisible Men in Pop Culture
Raj and Howard discuss the current dearth of zombie-themed TV shows and video games, leading Raj to speculate that H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man could make a resurgence in pop culture. Unlike zombies or vampires (which Howard also mentions as a recent monster craze), the Invisible Man hasn’t sustained any popularity in film and TV. However, Universal Studios did announce plans to reboot their Invisible Man property as part of a planned “Universal Monsters Cinematic Universe” unified franchise, so maybe Raj’s prediction will come true.
A personal stand-out in the Invisible Man canon is Jeff Lemire’s 2009 graphic novel The Nobody, published by Vertigo Comics. A loose adaptation of the original Invisible Man story, The Nobody features a bandaged drifter stirring unrest and chaos in a small logging town. The comic heavily homages both The Invisible Man and the TV series Twin Peaks and is a somber and subtle take on the Invisible Man story.
Of course, it doesn’t seem likely that zombies are going away. AMC is working on a spinoff of their popular Walking Dead TV series, and the CW’s new iZombie series seems set for a second season. There’s also the recently released zombie video game Dying Light, which was the best-selling game in January 2015. While the zombie craze might not be at a fever pitch anymore, there’s bound to plenty more zombie TV shows and movies released in the not too distant future.
What other geeky references did you see in last night’s episode of the Big Bang Theory? Let us know in the comments!
