Friends is the dopiest, most basic show

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s easy. It’s a lot of good looking people and it really was funny. Back in the day at least. I’m not sure how clever you want a comedy to be? It’s a show anyone with friends can identify with. They also stayed together for the series which usually does not happen.

None of the characters were relatable or even believable as legitimate friends. Oh yes, my circle includes a guy with a romance novelist mom, a ditzy masseur, a chef who somehow seems to never work, a barista with a bottomless budget, and a soap actor. Oh yes. Def.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s easy. It’s a lot of good looking people and it really was funny. Back in the day at least. I’m not sure how clever you want a comedy to be? It’s a show anyone with friends can identify with. They also stayed together for the series which usually does not happen.

None of the characters were relatable or even believable as legitimate friends. Oh yes, my circle includes a guy with a romance novelist mom, a ditzy masseur, a chef who somehow seems to never work, a barista with a bottomless budget, and a soap actor. Oh yes. Def.

Monica and Ross were siblings. It is believable they would be friends.

Ross and Chandler were college roommates and both have professional, white collar jobs. It makes sense that they would still be friends and that Chandler would wind up in Monica's apartment building (that's how post-college networks often work).

Rachel was Monica's best friend growing up. They grew apart during college (which was culinary school for Monica) but in the first episode, Rachel has just stood up her fiancé at the altar and winds up in a coffee shop where Monica and Ross are (I can't remember if this is intentional or an accident -- it's intended to be over the top ridiculous so I will grant them this license). Monica and Ross (who holds a candle for Rachel dating to high school) both help her because they know her and feel bad for her. Monica has a spare room (she lives in her grandmother's rent controlled apartment) and offers to let her stay until she's on her feet. None of those relationships are crazy.

Joey and Phoebe are the wildcards. Joey is easily explained though -- Chandler needed a roommate (NYC rents) and Joey is an actor in need of a cheap apartment. They become friends because they are roommates, and they become friends with Monica and then Rachel because they are similarly aged neighbors and are connected via Ross.

Phoebe is the biggest outlier, but it is explained that she previously lived with Monica. As a chef in NYC (working in restaurants at night creates some weird relationships), and as a bit of an odd duck herself despite growing up on Long Island, it's not that weird to me that Monica would have collected Phoebe as a friend, either by renting a room to her or through random people she met in her industry. It is weird that Phoebe would focus her social life around Monica and the others, but again, it's a TV show. It can take some artistic liberties. She is there to stir the pot and enhance the humor. Like Urkel on Family Matters or Kramer on Seinfeld. It's a common comedy trope -- the weird interloper who does nutty things and then all the more standard characters react.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s easy. It’s a lot of good looking people and it really was funny. Back in the day at least. I’m not sure how clever you want a comedy to be? It’s a show anyone with friends can identify with. They also stayed together for the series which usually does not happen.

None of the characters were relatable or even believable as legitimate friends. Oh yes, my circle includes a guy with a romance novelist mom, a ditzy masseur, a chef who somehow seems to never work, a barista with a bottomless budget, and a soap actor. Oh yes. Def.

Monica and Ross were siblings. It is believable they would be friends.

Ross and Chandler were college roommates and both have professional, white collar jobs. It makes sense that they would still be friends and that Chandler would wind up in Monica's apartment building (that's how post-college networks often work).

Rachel was Monica's best friend growing up. They grew apart during college (which was culinary school for Monica) but in the first episode, Rachel has just stood up her fiancé at the altar and winds up in a coffee shop where Monica and Ross are (I can't remember if this is intentional or an accident -- it's intended to be over the top ridiculous so I will grant them this license). Monica and Ross (who holds a candle for Rachel dating to high school) both help her because they know her and feel bad for her. Monica has a spare room (she lives in her grandmother's rent controlled apartment) and offers to let her stay until she's on her feet. None of those relationships are crazy.

Joey and Phoebe are the wildcards. Joey is easily explained though -- Chandler needed a roommate (NYC rents) and Joey is an actor in need of a cheap apartment. They become friends because they are roommates, and they become friends with Monica and then Rachel because they are similarly aged neighbors and are connected via Ross.

Phoebe is the biggest outlier, but it is explained that she previously lived with Monica. As a chef in NYC (working in restaurants at night creates some weird relationships), and as a bit of an odd duck herself despite growing up on Long Island, it's not that weird to me that Monica would have collected Phoebe as a friend, either by renting a room to her or through random people she met in her industry. It is weird that Phoebe would focus her social life around Monica and the others, but again, it's a TV show. It can take some artistic liberties. She is there to stir the pot and enhance the humor. Like Urkel on Family Matters or Kramer on Seinfeld. It's a common comedy trope -- the weird interloper who does nutty things and then all the more standard characters react.

Oh and Rachel only becomes a waitress because she needs money after leaving her fiancé -- she was supposed to marry rich (dentist) and then become a SAHM on Long Island. Instead she gets the first job she can find waiting tables and then pursues a dream of working in fashion, starting with some very menial jobs as a personal shopper and a buyer's assistant in a department store, believable jobs for the daughter of a wealthy doctor who grew up in the NYC area at the time.

[Anonymous]

How old are you, OP? What other TV shows are you aware from that era?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the Chandler and Phoebe characters.
As a research scientist, I find Ross SO ANNOYING. He gives all academics a bad name! Ugh! Can’t stand that character.

Could he BE any more annoying? (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After season 5 I stopped watching it except for the big storylines. I never likes Mondler getting married or staying together. First part of relationship was funny but that was it. Chandler wasn’t as funny once with Monica.

Didn’t like Ross dating a student. Added nothing to the show. Nor Charlie’s storyline.

Friends was supposed to end season 8. Pretty sure Rachel have the baby and Ross and her get married. Season 9 and 10 were not that good. Too many forced storylines. But who could say no to the money?

And in Big Bang could get their couples together and stay together and still be funny, why couldn’t Friends do the same for Ross and Rachel? Jen and David’s on screen chemistry was outstanding.

Big Bang? Never funny. Just a mean hearted show and I’m a trekkie lovin nerd.

[Anonymous]

Was I supposed to be looking for relatability or believability in my sitcoms? I was there for the laughs. It’s ok that we don’t find the same things funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s easy. It’s a lot of good looking people and it really was funny. Back in the day at least. I’m not sure how clever you want a comedy to be? It’s a show anyone with friends can identify with. They also stayed together for the series which usually does not happen.

None of the characters were relatable or even believable as legitimate friends. Oh yes, my circle includes a guy with a romance novelist mom, a ditzy masseur, a chef who somehow seems to never work, a barista with a bottomless budget, and a soap actor. Oh yes. Def.

Where did you live in your 20s and who were your friends? When I lived in NY after college, my close friends were my college friends and included a bartender, a trust fund baby who worked "in fashion", a finance bro, and an aspiring writer (worked at a now defunct magazine). I worked for a consulting company, and did not go back to NY after grad school. All of those people are still good friends in our 40s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After season 5 I stopped watching it except for the big storylines. I never likes Mondler getting married or staying together. First part of relationship was funny but that was it. Chandler wasn’t as funny once with Monica.

Didn’t like Ross dating a student. Added nothing to the show. Nor Charlie’s storyline.

Friends was supposed to end season 8. Pretty sure Rachel have the baby and Ross and her get married. Season 9 and 10 were not that good. Too many forced storylines. But who could say no to the money?

And in Big Bang could get their couples together and stay together and still be funny, why couldn’t Friends do the same for Ross and Rachel? Jen and David’s on screen chemistry was outstanding.

Big Bang? Never funny. Just a mean hearted show and I’m a trekkie lovin nerd.

Yeah, I really could not get into Big Bang Theory - those characters got on my nerves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After season 5 I stopped watching it except for the big storylines. I never likes Mondler getting married or staying together. First part of relationship was funny but that was it. Chandler wasn’t as funny once with Monica.

Didn’t like Ross dating a student. Added nothing to the show. Nor Charlie’s storyline.

Friends was supposed to end season 8. Pretty sure Rachel have the baby and Ross and her get married. Season 9 and 10 were not that good. Too many forced storylines. But who could say no to the money?

And in Big Bang could get their couples together and stay together and still be funny, why couldn’t Friends do the same for Ross and Rachel? Jen and David’s on screen chemistry was outstanding.

Big Bang? Never funny. Just a mean hearted show and I’m a trekkie lovin nerd.

Yeah, I really could not get into Big Bang Theory - those characters got on my nerves.

I don’t mean to hijack the thread but csn either of you say more. Why are they mean? I have never watched but was considering it.

I agree Matthew Perry was the funniest cast member of Friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was before "prestige TV." Before Sopranos and Arrested Development and Mad Men and Veep and all of it. Television used to be called the boob tube. You didn't stream it, you couldn't even record it unless you have a VCR and many people didn't, or didn't know how to program them, or couldn't be bothered to buy the blank tapes to record shows.

So you just sat down to watch TV at the appointed time listed in the newspaper or TV guid (yes, newspapers used to print weekly or nightly TV schedules). There were four broadcast networks, so you had 4 choices.

Shows that came on in the first hour of prime time (8pm EST, 7pm Mtn and Pacific) had to be palatable to an entire family, from a 5 year old to an 80 year old. So you got a lot of family sitcoms this way -- Family Matters, Cosby, Growing Pains, etc. After that, the youngest would often go to bed, so then you could put on shows like Friends or Seinfeld, with more adult themes (people had sex, though not on camera, they had more caustic humor, but never used bad words). It was actually controversial and there would be debates about whether these shows were appropriate even for teenagers because they shows things like premarital sexual relationships, people drinking and smoking cigarettes, people being rude to strangers or even breaking the law. Seinfeld was particularly controversial in this regard. Then the final hours of television would be given to more adult programming, but the sitcoms would give way to 1 hour dramas like ER or thirtysomething.

Fox upended a lot of this. It put a show like the Simpsons, which was billed as a family show but had a lot of more adult and transgressive themes, on at 7pm. A lot of it's dramas were aimed at HS students, like Beverly Hills 90210 and Dawson's Creek (Melrose Place was also very controversial). Fox had a reputation for pushing the limits and what themes you could put on evening television and there was a LOT of hand wringing about it.

In that context, Friends was actually pretty sophisticated for the era. It showed young people dating and having sex outside of marriage, pursuing various careers in sometimes non-traditional ways (like Phoebe being a masseuse or Chandler leaving his corporate job to go into advertising -- things people did in real life but that were considered outside the norm by middle America). And it did this in a comedy sitcom, not a "serious" drama. So Friends actually felt really fresh and cutting edge at the time. It had more DNA in common with Laverne & Shirley, Taxi, or Mary Tyler Moore than with the family sitcoms that populated most of 80s television. Even though it was filmed on a soundstage in LA, merely setting it in downtown Manhattan felt gritty in comparison. Similar with Seinfeld, also not filmed in NYC.

Friends is not a 2023 sitcom. Of course it feels old-fashioned and silly to you now. Things change.

Are you a film studies professor? Because that makes so much sense. Thanks for explain the context/appeal of friends. I never watched it but I know it is very important culturally.

[Anonymous]

A few years ago when Netflix added Frasier, that became my favorite 90s sitcom. David Hyde Pierce is just incredible. John Mahoney is also great. As a nerd, I love the literary, musical and other various cultural references and jokes. The endless social climbing and rivalry between Frasier and Niles kills ne. And then Martin or Roz putting them in their place to provide balance.

Friends hasn’t been the same for me since.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few years ago when Netflix added Frasier, that became my favorite 90s sitcom. David Hyde Pierce is just incredible. John Mahoney is also great. As a nerd, I love the literary, musical and other various cultural references and jokes. The endless social climbing and rivalry between Frasier and Niles kills ne. And then Martin or Roz putting them in their place to provide balance.

Friends hasn’t been the same for me since.

Cheers and Frasier set a high bar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few years ago when Netflix added Frasier, that became my favorite 90s sitcom. David Hyde Pierce is just incredible. John Mahoney is also great. As a nerd, I love the literary, musical and other various cultural references and jokes. The endless social climbing and rivalry between Frasier and Niles kills ne. And then Martin or Roz putting them in their place to provide balance.

Friends hasn’t been the same for me since.

Frasier was so clever and it poked fun at the protagonist regularly. It made someone who could have been an annoying blowhard into a blowhard you could appreciate and like. Same with Niles. They were flawed but didn't see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After season 5 I stopped watching it except for the big storylines. I never likes Mondler getting married or staying together. First part of relationship was funny but that was it. Chandler wasn’t as funny once with Monica.

Didn’t like Ross dating a student. Added nothing to the show. Nor Charlie’s storyline.

Friends was supposed to end season 8. Pretty sure Rachel have the baby and Ross and her get married. Season 9 and 10 were not that good. Too many forced storylines. But who could say no to the money?

And in Big Bang could get their couples together and stay together and still be funny, why couldn’t Friends do the same for Ross and Rachel? Jen and David’s on screen chemistry was outstanding.

Big Bang? Never funny. Just a mean hearted show and I’m a trekkie lovin nerd.

Yeah, I really could not get into Big Bang Theory - those characters got on my nerves.

I don’t mean to hijack the thread but csn either of you say more. Why are they mean? I have never watched but was considering it.

I agree Matthew Perry was the funniest cast member of Friends.

They were all fairly cruel to each other all the time, with out downs and disdain and each full of “im a scientist” ego.

It was billed as “for nerds” but it took the things nerds loved and then very stealthily mocked them. I think this is why it was so popular — all the anti-science middle America loved to see the nerds going at it