I'm with Matt, Alex. I think you're over thinking it.
It's a sad day when any person or group of people cannot laugh at themselves, or see themselves as above humour. Sense of humour failure is sadly becoming a more common thing as people take themselves all too seriously. Life is too short for that IMHO!
But I will say 2 things about this show:
My eldest son is a computer scientist who works designing embeded computer hardware and software in a pretty hi-tech company in Sydney. I thought he'd love the show, and he did until he started working there. He reckons its just too close to what his work is really like to enjoy it any more... think about that!
My partner doesn't have the slightest interest in science, but loves the show... and its getting in (like liquid into chalk
)... she now understands Schrodinger's Cat, The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and The Big Bang Theory quite well, and Inflation, String/M Theory, Dark Matter and Dark Energy to a lesser extent (don't we all?). Any show that can make learning so much fun that you don't realise your are learning, is doing something right!
Al.