On TV, even smart people are dumb

Or at least that's how it goes in "The Big Bang Theory's" universe. In tonight's second-season premiere, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) has a date with Penny (Kelly Cuoco) that doesn't seem to go too well, but it doesn't go disastrously, but that's no reason that Leonard and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and their buddies and even Penny can't worry it into an utter debacle.

Next week, you'll think that there's an episode missing that almost utterly cleaves Leonard and Penny, because they're history and Sara Gilbert plays Leslie Winkle, a self-confident wonk who makes a play for Leonard and insults Sheldon mercilessly.

The insult comedy can be amusing because it's so willfully obtuse, and Parsons again reveals himself as the show's secret weapon, selling his laugh lines discreetly and making them even funnier than they actually are (and, often, they're more than funny enough) - his deadpan hangdog act is genuinely funny, even if the show's writers don't always understand that his character is plenty funny without their stuffing him in dopey costumes - in fact, doing so actually kind of tamps down his most inspired moments.

Still, and I understand this isn't necessarily the case in real life, but wouldn't genius nerds who research everything else on the planet so assiduously bother to investigate the precepts of social interactions, just a smidgen, if they're vaguely interested in scoring with women? "Big Bang Theory" has its moments, but if it really wants to win bigger audiences, it's going to have to accept its braniac characters' humanity rather than foist them off as MacBooks with flesh, bone and "Star Trek" fetishes.

- "The Big Bang Theory:" 8 tonight, CBS (Channel 2).