Hey, I did the same thing. I heard lots about it, so I tuned in for one episode. Thought it was lame, and gave up on it. Then awhile later I decided to give it a shot from the beginning, and I fell in love!
It's not the best show ever, but it's great 22 minutes of easy breezy entertainment.
And I like Raj! I hope they give him a love interest soon.
I thought Penny/Leonard was weird and I'm glad that's over. Leonard is probably my least favorite character.