Geeks Rule

The latest craze is geekdom. Yes, there was a time if you were a geek you were shunned by society, looked on as something to be ignored, and the pretty girls or handsome guys would run from you faster than Roadrunner evading Wiley Coyote. But, those days are over. Now it’s good to be geek and nerd is the new cool.

How do we know all this? Because the television networks say so, and they afterall, regulate what is considered the IN thing. And let’s be honest for once. Without us geeks and nerds there would be no space program, no HD television, no 3-D interactive video games, no marvelous advances in medicine, and on and on and on. If your life is on the line at a prestigious hospital who do you want in charge? — the deer-in-the headlights beauty pagent queen, the local, to-die-for looking football jock or the guy or gal with the skewed glasses, medical degree and IQ of 185? Let me guess!

Now to the TV case in point: NBC’s “Chuck,” CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” and, oh yeah, those really cool MAC commercials. Now ABC has jumped aboard the geek bandwagon with its own nerd-driven show called “Foobar,” which will be a hour-long show about a bunch of pocket-protecting wearing nerds working at a software company. By-the-way, ask your military friend or dad what the real meaning of “foobar” or “FUBAR” is.

“It’s a show about a lot of very smart, highly verbal people who are relationship retards running one of the most admired companies in the world,” said its creator, Alice Wu.

Hmmmm, did someone say the “M” word? Maybe not directly, but Wu, director of the critically praised film “Saving Face,” is an ex-employee of the Microsoft Corporation with a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Stanford, and she used to help develop Billy’s nefarious software products.

“Foobar” is currently in development and could end up in ABC’s mid-season lineup next year.