Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a warm show about people who care about each other where the drama comes from social misunderstandings. The initial pilot featured a more conniving Penny played by a different actress. The focus group feedback was "Someone keep that mean girl away from those sweet boys". Think of it as a show for moms / grandmothers / aunts of nerdy men. They want to see them get up so some shenanigans but generally be OK. It's…
Warm show? I admittedly haven’t watched many episodes, but they all seem somewhat casually cruel to one another, and not in a loving way you may tease a friend. I always felt the stereotypes were truly making fun of geek/nerds, and somehow fooled folks into thinking they were in on the joke. Warm is a word I have a hard time using.
So you're saying it's the same as just about any other sitcom?
Besides joking at one another's expense, a super common trope in US sitcoms is the lie to avoid embarrassment which builds up tension throughout the show, inevitably leads to exposure/confrontation and then resolution (forgiveness) near the end.
So many situations would be resolved quickly if the characters just 'fessed up immediately instead of trying to deceive the others to save face.
But then, there'd be no show with cheap laughs.