Academic paper by the Science Fiction Research Association:
"THE BIG BANG THEORY portrays scientists who iden -tify closely with characters and the lifestyle portrayed in Star Trek (ST). The latter is in turn used to highlight their nerdism...Conversely, a blonde female waitress constitutes the representative non-scientist viewing public, an overt observer and a surrogate judge of the antics that our eccentric scientists indulge in. This paper will also demonstrate that there is bidirectional flow of information, with our waitress gaining knowledge from her friends since they seem to inspire her to achieve a higher level of education, while she encourages them to cope realistically with life. ST is thus utilised to provide both textual and visual cues about character and stereotype."
