Much of TV is now a geek's dream, we look at the shows loved by both geeks and the wider mainstream.
Geeks: once the deeply awkward and much-maligned members of society- ridiculed by Jocks and long stereotyped on TV and film as socially inept weaklings with a love of bow ties, thick-rimmed glasses and high-waisted slacks. But oh how things have changed. Ever since Adam Brody’s intensely loveable Seth Cohen appeared on screens in the mid noughties as the lonely, quick-witted, Death Cab For Cutie loving geek on The O.C, the tables have been well and truly turned. ‘Geek Chic’ prevails, the once laughable clothing choices of society’s most brainy and introverted have been re-appropriated by the masses. Everyone is falling over themselves to replicate a look that twenty years ago would have posited the wearer of such garments as a human punch-bag for meat-headed bullies.
Adam Brody has been credited with helping makes geeks cool through his O.C character Seth Cohen
In the world of TV, sci-fi shows such as Star Trek and Stargate are geek staples but the recent role reversal of geeks as the cultural vanguard posits fantastical shows that would have more likely been derided several years ago as universally acclaimed hits. Game Of Thrones is arguably the biggest TV show in the world whilst The Big Bang Theory, which maintains the long-held geek stereotypes has made veritable superstars of its cast. Here then, is a list of those geeky TV shows that we just can’t get enough of.
Game Of Thrones
George R.R Martin has captures the imagination of geeks and the mainstream public.
George R.R Martin’s monolithic novels have spawned one of the most monumentally successfully TV series of recent times. Now in its third season, the show has transcended its originally geek-centred audience to garner mainstream acceptance through a liberal amount of ultra-graphic violence, gratuitous nudity from both sexes and a healthy dose of expletives. Essentially, the show is a warriors and dragons orgy of sex and violence but the web of manipulation and power grabbing from the show’s multifarious warring factions means the show is a rather more three dimensional affair than it would first appear. Despite its fantastical nature, the wonderful characterisation and extensive array of players has drawn greater and greater viewers to the show to the point where the premiere of season 4 drew HBO’s second biggest number of viewers in the network’s existence, second only to the finale of The Sopranos. Thanks to Game Of Thrones, no longer will geeks be mocked for their adoration of dungeons & dragons fiction.
More: Meet The Stars Of Game Of Thrones Series 5
The IT Crowd
Chris O'Dowd has evolved from the Irish nerd, Roy, to a bonafide Hollywood hunk.
From the genius minds of Graham Linehan, a man responsible for a host of provocative British comedic gems including Father Ted, Brass Eye and Black Books, came the adored British sitcom The IT Crowd. Linehan’s show allowed him to unleash his inner geek and the show was peppered with references to obscure internet jokes and memes that only a few of the internet community could fully appreciate. Yet the series was far from exclusionary and the British public fell in love with the side-splitting happenings and occurrences of the nation’s favourite IT department, alleviating the phrase “have you tried turning it off and on again?” to a ubiquitous catchphrase. Moss and Roy, the shows two central characters and ultra-nerds provided much of the laughs in their struggles with members of the opposite sex and daily social interactions with a revolving door of equally odd characters. Each of the show’s characters would go on to greater success with Richard Ayoade, who played the intensely awkward Maurice Moss- a man who always carried around a small spray can of water in case he got a “hot ear”, now a well-respected film director. Meanwhile Chris O’Dowd, who played Roy, is now widely regarded as a Hollywood hunk.
More: After Three Bafta's, We Remember The IT Crowd
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