Gaffer Tape said:

Hey! I love The Big Bang Theory!

I can't stand it. I find it generally shallow and obnoxious. It is "nerd" culture as perceived by and mocked by non nerds. It's laughing at these types, not with them. It makes me cringe seeing the quantity of Big Bang Theory merchandise on sites like thinkgeek.com.

Sheldon and Leonard are akin to the Mr. Yunioshi and Black Sambo cultural stereotypes. Much like Yunioshi and Sambo, they are endearing characters that people love, but are also exaggerated and disparaging representations of that stereotype.