Before the " Big Bang" we had friends, Will and Grace, Frazier, and the Simpsons But in my opinion " The Big Bang Theory" was unique, it made being a nerd cool. and suddenly kids every where didn't have to be Rebels, in leather jackets to be hip with the girls.
Thanks to the big bank theory, a guy was no longer judged by the car he drove, nor the cigarettes he smoked, instead the " chicks" we're more interested if the guy could answer Einsteins special theory of relativity, with special reference to the constant 3x/c.
The Rebel, who actually was in all truth, and always will be more of a nerd than a rebel.