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FRIENDS

This show was such shit. Why was it ever so popular?

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by Anonymousreply 305January 20, 2019 11:58 AM

Better question: why are Brits obsessed with this fucking show??!

by Anonymousreply 1December 13, 2018 2:00 PM

It was a sanitized fantasy version of life in NYC for Middle America. If bore no relation whatsoever to the reality of living in NYC.

by Anonymousreply 2December 13, 2018 2:03 PM

fucking stupid cunts

by Anonymousreply 3December 13, 2018 2:03 PM

I have never watched a full episode but it was so popular you could not, and cannot, escape seeing clips of it. I feel like I watched the whole show. I think in part it was popular because the actors were good looking and young viewers identified with them as idealized selves.

by Anonymousreply 4December 13, 2018 2:04 PM

Don't you mean "WHITE was it so popular?"

by Anonymousreply 5December 13, 2018 2:06 PM

It was a ripoff of Living Single. Use the same type of setup, but throw in white people and boom, huge hit.

With that said, the show just worked. The cast played well of each other and the light physical comedy was good for a laugh. Unlike the drudge that was Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends was always sort of positive.

Sort of like Law and Order SVU, you can just fall into a Friends episode. Not something I’d regularly watch but I get the attraction.

by Anonymousreply 6December 13, 2018 2:07 PM

I live near the building that they used for the Friends apartment exterior shots. So many tourists flock around that building taking selfies.

by Anonymousreply 7December 13, 2018 2:08 PM

[quote]Don't you mean "WHITE was it so popular?"

Monica, Ross and Rachel were Jewish. Jewish people don't consider themselves WASP.

by Anonymousreply 8December 13, 2018 2:11 PM

Proof that before there were vapid, annoying millennials in NYC, there were vapid, annoying Gen Xers.

by Anonymousreply 9December 13, 2018 2:13 PM

I never got it myself. I just didn't find it that appealing. I thought Aniston, Kudrow and Perry were good actors and serviced their roles well. I wasn't so crazy about the rest of them and actually could not stand the character of Monica. To me she just seemed a massive bitch and not worth the trouble for people to put up with her. But then I never really saw a whole lot of the show so maybe she had good things about her that made her worth the trouble.

It was massively popular though, so many others saw charm and humor where I did not.

by Anonymousreply 10December 13, 2018 2:14 PM

Warner Bros.-owned “Friends” was the No. 3 most-viewed show on Netflix for November 2018. Its ongoing popularity helps explain why Netflix was motivated to ink a one-year renewal for the ’90s-era sitcom, in a deal reportedly worth $100 million.

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by Anonymousreply 11December 13, 2018 2:18 PM

[quote]Monica, Ross and Rachel were Jewish. Jewish people don't consider themselves WASP.

So Italian and Irish-Americans aren't white?

by Anonymousreply 12December 13, 2018 2:25 PM

[quote]Warner Bros.-owned “Friends” was the No. 3 most-viewed show on Netflix for November 2018. Its ongoing popularity helps explain why Netflix was motivated to ink a one-year renewal for the ’90s-era sitcom, in a deal reportedly worth $100 million.

#1 in the UK.

by Anonymousreply 13December 13, 2018 2:26 PM

[quote]Better question: why are Brits obsessed with this fucking show??!

Because Helen Baxendale is in it.

by Anonymousreply 14December 13, 2018 2:29 PM

I liked it then and I still watch it every once in a while.

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by Anonymousreply 15December 13, 2018 2:35 PM

[quote]So Italian and Irish-Americans aren't white?

Not according to true White Anglo Saxon Protestants.

Friends was popular because the characters, while fantasy, were relatable. They were the people that the audience wanted as thier friends - supportive, always there, fun, loyal. They lived the lives people wanted for their twenties - just enough poor cliche to be humorous anecdotes later, but not enough to actually be depressing. Even attractive people have a tough time with life and love.

Today, these things still exist, but like so much of what drives nostalgia, people also yearn for a simpler time when the problems weren't as complex.

by Anonymousreply 16December 13, 2018 2:41 PM

I followed the first few episodes of season 2 because Chandler was supposed to come out. At least it was a rumor in France back then. But then he didn't.

by Anonymousreply 17December 13, 2018 2:44 PM

Agrred: It was sanitized and idealized: no serious mental illnesses or nervous breakdowns, no drug addiction, no unexpected deaths of parents or loved ones, no job lossed or evictions leading to homelessness, no defaulting on crushing student loan debt, no sexual assault or harassment, no sexually transmitted infections, no HIV/AIDS, and no resorting to sex work to makes ends meet.

Yet everyone had *plenty* of affordable living space, some had more disposable income than others, and Ross's divorce(s) and Rachel's unintended pregnancy all worked out! Ta-da!

by Anonymousreply 18December 13, 2018 3:04 PM

The first year it was really good, the it turned into the Rachel and Ross show for the next year.

Rachel and Ross were never believable. Like Rachel would suddenly fall for an uggo, because she couldn't believe he liked her for years and she didn't know.

Somewhat oddly, the show was going way down in the ratings till the 9-11 attacks, which spiked interest in NYC shows and the ratings shot right back up then.

by Anonymousreply 19December 13, 2018 3:05 PM

I never watched the show, but even I associate that Enya song with that particular season, R19.

by Anonymousreply 20December 13, 2018 3:08 PM

[quote]Yet everyone had *plenty* of affordable living space

Yeah, that was always a problem that they tried to explain, yet never really did. I've lived in Greenwich Village for 30 years and I've never seen a floorplan in a Greenwich Village building like they had with that huge open space living room in the middle of the apartment. Most apartments I've seen were very boxed in.

I think in the show, they explained that Monica's apartment had originally been her grandmother's. So if it were rent stabilized, Monica could be living there cheaply. But as the poster above points out, there were never any troubles in "Friends" land, no landlords trying to evict them and raise the rent like I've had to deal with.

by Anonymousreply 21December 13, 2018 3:16 PM

It was ridiculous. Even Jack, Janet, and Chrissy were always struggling to make rent in Santa Monica 20 years prior.

by Anonymousreply 22December 13, 2018 3:18 PM

But they try, r8, they try

by Anonymousreply 23December 13, 2018 3:20 PM

r18 It dealt with homosexuality a little bit, and trans, these things are much more serious than a lot of what you mentioned.

by Anonymousreply 24December 13, 2018 3:22 PM

[quote]It was sanitized and idealized: no serious mental illnesses or nervous breakdowns, no drug addiction, no unexpected deaths of parents or loved ones, no job losses or evictions leading to homelessness, no defaulting on crushing student loan debt, no sexual assault or harassment, no sexually transmitted infections, no HIV/AIDS, and no resorting to sex work to makes ends meet.

I think you don't have a clear understanding of what a sitcom is supposed to be.

by Anonymousreply 25December 13, 2018 3:37 PM

R18, they lost jobs an loved ones. Monica lived off her savings for quite some time after she got fired for taking gifts form a supplier and she and Ross lost their grandmother. They acknowledged that anyone with a brain would assume Chandler was gay. Phoebe was sexually "me too"-ed by Paolo. Phoebe's sister did porn. The main apartment was explained away as rent control and that Monica was subletting from an aunt. Chander's dad is Gay and a drag queen. Ross made out with Chandler's mom. Phoebe was homeless in her youth and mugged people, most notably Ross when he was a kid.

by Anonymousreply 26December 13, 2018 3:42 PM

I've watched a couple of episodes on Netflix recently and I was shocked how skinny Aniston and Cox were. I'm glad the women on the BBT and other shows look more healthy and normal now. I mean Penny is HUGE compared to Cox and Aniston's characters. I remember all female colleagues and college friends were obsessed with Aniston's body, clothes and haircut. She was the biggest role model for women back then.

by Anonymousreply 27December 13, 2018 3:46 PM

I couldn't stand that show. There's nothing less interesting than mediocre white heterosexuals.

by Anonymousreply 28December 13, 2018 3:47 PM

[quote]So Italian and Irish-Americans aren't white?

No. No they're not.

by Anonymousreply 29December 13, 2018 3:50 PM

That fucking apartment. Please. If that was a rent-controlled space and they were paying what amounted to peanuts to live there IRL the landlord would've had them all killed so he could get market rent.

by Anonymousreply 30December 13, 2018 3:53 PM

To me Friends was a response to These Friends Of Mine (aka Ellen). They even stole that turn off the lamp while sitting on the sofa bit in the opening credits.

by Anonymousreply 31December 13, 2018 3:53 PM

I've always enjoyed it. I liked most of the characters, but Ross and Monica were fucking chores. Who'd want to be in a relationship with them? Jesus!

It sorta lived in this weird space between realistic and fantasyland. Some episodes were realistic and dealt with real issues and others were ridiculous and would have never happened in real life. It never made NYC a true character in the show like Sex and the City did (probably due to being shot in L.A. on a soundstage with some stuff on the backlot). I'd genuinely believe the creators and writers had never spent a day of their lives in New York.

by Anonymousreply 32December 13, 2018 3:55 PM

I was too young and fabulous and snotty to watch it when it was on. Then, later, I used it to teach Swiss college kids. They had all grown up really liking the archetypical Americanness. I quickly realized how effective and tight the show was, like well prepared fast food that people adore. each episode had 3 story arcs - main, side, and mini. Each arc has 3 acts. So, almost every show has 9 acts. its very comforting and addicting in a way. Its funny, silly, brightly lit with attractive actors and the writing is good enough. Finally, what's not to like. Big Bang is the only thing that came close.

by Anonymousreply 33December 13, 2018 3:56 PM

I only watched few episodes and I hated it and it wasn't funny at all

by Anonymousreply 34December 13, 2018 4:01 PM

Rachel treated Julie like shit. So did Ross.

by Anonymousreply 35December 13, 2018 4:02 PM

[quote]Monica, Ross and Rachel were Jewish. Jewish people don't consider themselves WASP.

Nobody said anything about WASPs. You can be white without being a WASP. And, yes, Friends was an ultra-white show.

by Anonymousreply 36December 13, 2018 4:02 PM

[quote]Nobody said anything about WASPs. You can be white without being a WASP. And, yes, Friends was an ultra-white show.

Friends was a WASP show written for WASPs. In real life, Monica, Ross and Rachel would have been celebrating Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover. All New York Jews do. Their skin may have been white, they acted like they were white, but Jews do not consider themselves "white".

by Anonymousreply 37December 13, 2018 4:11 PM

R19, your statement that the show was going "way down in the ratings till the 9-11 attacks" is not at all accurate. The show's lowest rating was for its first season where it finished #8 in the Nielsen ratings. In the first season, the show's popularity started off a bit slowly, but then picked up by the end of the season as NBC's Thursday schedule became "Must See TV." The rest of its run, it never fell out of the top 5. That's a remarkable run for any show, but particularly one that went 10 seasons. You are correct that there was a spike in popularity after 9-11, but there was also a spike in better stories that year. The two combined to give Friends its only year as the #1 show. The prior two years, though, it was #5 each season, so hardly some huge jump in the ratings.

I liked it in its original run. I had just graduated from college, we all had shitty jobs and were struggling like the characters were at first, and we all saw our friends as our second family like the characters did. It had a lot of Gen X references. R33 describes it best. Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry were the funny ones in the first couple seasons. David Schwimmer as Ross was actually very good in the first season, but I agree he became a chore as the show wore on. It's funny to think the show was going to elevate him as the star after Season 1, but the actors stuck together to make it a true ensemble and made sure they were always paid the same salary. Jennifer Aniston as Rachel really surprised me and became the consistently funny one in later seasons, as did Matt LeBlanc as dumb Joey.

Like most shows, it went on too long. They should have ended it in the 2002-2003 season, but its jump to #1 in the 2001-2002 season guaranteed that NBC was going to milk that cash cow for as long as it could.

by Anonymousreply 38December 13, 2018 4:12 PM

Will & Grace was better (only two main characters and two sidekicks to keep up with) although they didn't use the NYC setting as well as they could have either. Sex & The City was truly the only show that used NYC to full effect.

by Anonymousreply 39December 13, 2018 4:18 PM

[quote] Sex & The City was truly the only show that used NYC to full effect.

To the City's and American culture's determent...

by Anonymousreply 40December 13, 2018 4:20 PM

How great was it when Sean Penn gave an interview back in the day talking about how senseless entertainment was taking over the film and tv industry and that the medium was too important for mindless stuff to be shoved down our throats as popular fare .... and then a year later did Friends!

by Anonymousreply 41December 13, 2018 4:24 PM

Was there ever a gay porn parody of Friends?

by Anonymousreply 42December 13, 2018 5:57 PM

They were a paragon of white, middle class mediocrity.

by Anonymousreply 43December 13, 2018 5:57 PM

Actually, now that I think of it, the Rockland Brothers did a gay porn parody of Friends.

by Anonymousreply 44December 13, 2018 6:08 PM

Chandler became an insta ad exec like I did!

by Anonymousreply 45December 13, 2018 6:11 PM

I was mistaken. The Rockland Brothers did the gay porn parody of the Golden Girls.

by Anonymousreply 46December 13, 2018 6:13 PM

It was a great show, not as funny after so many years in re-runs, though.

by Anonymousreply 47December 13, 2018 6:21 PM

FRIENDS generally stayed away from the topics of religion and politics, so it's not surprising that the Jewish characters (Monica, Ross and Rachel) weren't shown celebrating Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover. Similarly, Joey didn't go to Church or pray the rosary, either.

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by Anonymousreply 48December 13, 2018 6:33 PM

How about, The One with the Holiday Armadillo?

by Anonymousreply 49December 13, 2018 6:49 PM

If you were white and privileged and around the same age as the characters (which I was) and yearned to be in NYC and to have "the glamorous life," the show resonated. Many demographics were put off by it, though. Zero black people and gays were pretty much punchlines or were treated with 90's homophobic attitudes. Not much diversity going on there. The actors were quite good, though.

by Anonymousreply 50December 13, 2018 6:56 PM

There was the very special episode where Joey found out that his tailor was a pervert.

by Anonymousreply 51December 13, 2018 6:58 PM

OP: "This show was such shit."

Joey: "this is all a moo point ..... it's like a cow's opinion. It just doesn't matter. It's moo."

by Anonymousreply 52December 13, 2018 6:59 PM

I always found it fun. There were a few stupid articles last year or the year before talking about how young kids who just started watching it on Netflix were SO offended by it. They called it fatphobic, transphobic, homophobic...you name it, they called the show out for it. They were super mad that Chandler wasn't instantly accepting of his trans father. I actually thought that was one of the nicer storylines where Chandler realizes that his father might have embarrassed him, but he was always there for him and that's what counts. I thought it was very sweet. Also, it gave us the delicious pairing of Kathleen Turner and Morgan Fairchild as husband and wife. They worked surprisingly well together.

by Anonymousreply 53December 13, 2018 7:36 PM

I loved the stuff with Chandler's dad. There's no way that would fly today.

"Aren't you a little old to be wearing a dress like that?"

"Don't you have a little too much penis to be wearing a dress like that?"

by Anonymousreply 54December 13, 2018 7:40 PM

Can you imagine if it were made today? Three of them would be Chinese and the other two would be non-binary queer-identified and the last one would probably be in a wheelchair but gets the most sex.

by Anonymousreply 55December 13, 2018 7:45 PM

R25 I'm so sorry, I should have been clearer!

I was answering the OP's question as to *why* it was so popular: it idealized NYC GenX life by whitewashing all the realities detailed in my post.

by Anonymousreply 56December 13, 2018 11:04 PM

Agree OP I have watched a lot of shit but could never stand Friends.

by Anonymousreply 57December 13, 2018 11:06 PM

I'm not sure why it's necessary to point out that all the characters are white. There are shows where the main characters are black (Blackish, many older shows like Girlfriends, Cosby, 227, The Parkers, Good Times, etc.) or Asian (Fresh off the Boat, Dr. Ken). They all portray different little slices of life and I don't think a show be assigned a negative connotation simply because of the race or ethnicity of the main characters.

by Anonymousreply 58December 13, 2018 11:23 PM

Chandler had OG Aunt Viv as one of his bosses.

by Anonymousreply 59December 13, 2018 11:27 PM

If Friends were made today, no way would all six of them be white.

by Anonymousreply 60December 13, 2018 11:29 PM

Friends wanted to add black characters, but the fans threatened them. The best the producers could do was that story arc with the white black scientist gal.

by Anonymousreply 61December 13, 2018 11:32 PM

R60 do you think that if the show Girlfriends were made today, there's no way all of the main characters would be black? Or maybe the show Living Single? Would those be more diverse now?

by Anonymousreply 62December 14, 2018 12:04 AM

r62 you're just being a shit-stirrer.

by Anonymousreply 63December 14, 2018 12:10 AM

R62 here....FYI I like all these different little slices of life (I like all kinds of different people) and there's diversity just in the fact that there ARE shows where the predominant racial makeup of the characters is different. I'm a white male and used to LOVE watching Girlfriends (all main characters were black women). There's a show I can't remember the name of at the moment that had primarily Asian characters and loved it....I related to some of the characters because I has some close co-workers who were Asian women and learned a lot about their culture from that experience. There's diversity just in the fact that there are all different types of shows that show different little pieces of life. Not every show needs to be forcibly diverse within the show itself. Just my opinion.

by Anonymousreply 64December 14, 2018 12:13 AM

[quote] Why was it ever so popular?

Aniston carried the show. The other stars should pay her a percentage of their residuals because she was there for them.

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by Anonymousreply 65December 14, 2018 12:13 AM

No R63, I was asking a question to stimulate thought process. Read my post at R64.

by Anonymousreply 66December 14, 2018 12:14 AM

I was so meh about it. But it might be the most popular sitcom of all time. It's harmless.

by Anonymousreply 67December 14, 2018 12:18 AM

I think I've seen maybe a grand total of three complete episodes of Friends in all these years. I wasn't all that impressed.

by Anonymousreply 68December 14, 2018 12:50 AM

David Schwimmer was the most talented on the show. Matt Leblanc was the most appealing. Aniston is lucky beyond belief. A friend at CAA said that the two luckiest people in Show Business were Aniston and Ben Stiller.

by Anonymousreply 69December 14, 2018 12:53 AM

Both Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld have said that "Friends" was a rip-off of "Seinfeld" but with a younger, cuter cast.

Seinfeld also incorporated NYC--and Judaism--as a character, possibly even better than SATC did. The cast wasn't cute, so the writing HAD to be good. Could you imagine a show going on the air today starring people in their 30s/40s, and no one is good looking? (Elaine was cute, though.)

by Anonymousreply 70December 14, 2018 2:13 AM

Movie Stars today are much younger. Even someone hot like Edgar Ramirez will be a character actor in his 40's, not a leading man.

by Anonymousreply 71December 14, 2018 2:16 AM

I remember the hype about the finale. The network was running a commercial with the phrase: "BEST. SITCOM. EVER." Some people got upset, and one of the network guys had to do an interview and walk back the claim. He cited that when they wrote that slogan, they hadn't thought about Seinfeld, All in the Family, etc.

by Anonymousreply 72December 14, 2018 2:21 AM

Friends does not even crack the top 50 of best sitcoms ever.

by Anonymousreply 73December 14, 2018 2:29 AM

Everyone is entitled to their opinions.

by Anonymousreply 74December 14, 2018 2:32 AM

R69, no way. KUDROW is the most talented one on the show. She has the best comedic timing by far out of all the members of the main cast.

by Anonymousreply 75December 14, 2018 2:34 AM

Friends started the trend of obnoxious, mediocre, straight whites invading Manhattan, trying to live some type of gilded life. Mediocrity at its worst.

by Anonymousreply 76December 14, 2018 2:35 AM

IMHO, Lisa Kudrow is the most talented. It wasn't until she played Valerie Cherish that I realized how brilliant she is.

by Anonymousreply 77December 14, 2018 2:35 AM

Phoebe's pussy STINKS!

by Anonymousreply 78December 14, 2018 2:36 AM

Truthfully, I don't think it was any worse than say, Modern Family. In fact I think modern family will be looked at as the equivalent of friends in 20 years time.

by Anonymousreply 79December 14, 2018 2:39 AM

[quote]Could you imagine a show going on the air today starring people in their 30s/40s, and no one is good looking?

No, I can't. It's unfortunate how Hollywood has changed. Every actor and actress has to have a superhuman gym body and look like a Ford model, with very rare exceptions. Certainly the entire cast of a tv show would not be stocked with regular-looking actors like Seinfeld and so many others were in the past.

Imagine, for example, the Mary Tyler Moore show in 2018. Everybody would be super-hot and under 40.

by Anonymousreply 80December 14, 2018 2:40 AM

Lisa Kudlow was excellent in The Opposite of Sex.

by Anonymousreply 81December 14, 2018 2:40 AM

R77 She was also quite good as the tightly wound Ex wife in The Other Woman.

by Anonymousreply 82December 14, 2018 2:40 AM

[quote] Friends started the trend of obnoxious, mediocre, straight whites invading Manhattan, trying to live some type of gilded life.

Yep. First was Friends, then came Chelsea Clinton.

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by Anonymousreply 83December 14, 2018 2:45 AM

British humor is sarcastic and mean. American sitcoms aren't, but they are usually painfully unfunny or catch the didactic bug. Friends didn't. It was clever enough for Brits, but nice enough for Americans. That was its power over there.

by Anonymousreply 84December 14, 2018 2:45 AM

Some Brits do Thanksgiving now because of Friends.

by Anonymousreply 85December 14, 2018 2:49 AM

R85 No they don't.

by Anonymousreply 86December 14, 2018 3:06 AM

Where is the idea that it was popular in the UK coming from? The ratings when the show as at its height were around 3m, which is firmly average for a show on Channel 4, and had dropped to just over 2m by the end of the series. It never even made the Channel 4 top ten.

by Anonymousreply 87December 14, 2018 3:14 AM

It was a harmless show that had its moments and some sort of significance in US pop culture history. I don't mind it...then again I grew up with it.

by Anonymousreply 88December 14, 2018 3:26 AM

The only one I could tolerate was Kudrow. I guess the show just didn't resonate with me.

by Anonymousreply 89December 14, 2018 4:54 AM

It doesn't hold up.

by Anonymousreply 90December 14, 2018 4:57 AM

[quote] Where is the idea that it was popular in the UK coming from?

Are you fucking kidding??! They’re obsessed with it. They work that fucking show into every discussion known to man. It’s referenced in nearly every British show. They opened the Friends fucking cafe in London!

by Anonymousreply 91December 14, 2018 5:05 AM

Friends is the UK's most popular subscription streaming show

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by Anonymousreply 92December 14, 2018 5:06 AM

Friendsfest in the UK.

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by Anonymousreply 93December 14, 2018 5:06 AM

Then the Brits went all woke on their favorite show and the reaction became comedy gold for Tracey Ullman.

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by Anonymousreply 94December 14, 2018 5:09 AM

Yes they do, r86.

by Anonymousreply 95December 14, 2018 5:10 AM

I can't believe some are defending this shitfest as if it were some great masterpiece. It was a piece of crap!

by Anonymousreply 96December 14, 2018 5:22 AM

Worst theme song ever.

by Anonymousreply 97December 14, 2018 5:31 AM

[quote] Worst theme song ever.

Very true. I did watch the show but I ALWAYS muted the intro song.

by Anonymousreply 98December 14, 2018 5:39 AM

I loved the theme song.

by Anonymousreply 99December 14, 2018 6:39 AM

I don’t know, r1, because COUPLING was much, much better than FRIENDS.

by Anonymousreply 100December 14, 2018 7:59 AM

They all seemed like LA people, not New York people.

by Anonymousreply 101December 14, 2018 9:06 AM

I don't think any of the guys on Friends have more than 5.6 inches.

by Anonymousreply 102December 14, 2018 9:11 AM

[quote] I don't think any of the guys on Friends have more than 5.6 inches.

On Episodes Joey pretty much triples that estimate for himself.

by Anonymousreply 103December 14, 2018 9:20 AM

We could, all of us, relate to at least one of them. I am gay, like Chandler, but closeted and why they didn't just let Chandler an Joey (his true love) be a couple is so stupid.

by Anonymousreply 104December 14, 2018 9:21 AM

Like the Swiss guy above, I watched it to make my English fluent and may have used it to teach it also. Cannot remember. It was harmless and comforting, like chocolate. It was very frau-ish in a way. It seemed gay-friendly for a mainstream show, which was pretty huge then.

by Anonymousreply 105December 14, 2018 9:43 AM

Most people really have bad taste in everything including tv.

by Anonymousreply 106December 14, 2018 9:48 AM

I agree with posters saying Kudrow was the best actor. But she was always the black sheep. Yes, I'm aware she was supposed to be. But from the episodes I saw it always seemed they were mocking her, and that they really didn't like her.

I feel like Law and Order does a wonderful job making NYC a prominent character. It never struck me as true that those 6 people were New Yorkers. And I'm an Aussie who has never been to the US.

by Anonymousreply 107December 14, 2018 10:04 AM

Didn't Teri Garr say Lisa Kudrow stole her schtick? Perhaps after they cast Teri as Phoebe's mother.

by Anonymousreply 108December 14, 2018 10:11 AM

R8 exactly not to mention, LIVING SINGLE, the FAR superior show which I have every episode of on DVD that Friends ripped off, was an ALL Black cast andno one brings that up as a negative

Some folks have to bring race into EVERYTHING

But yes Friends IS shit!

by Anonymousreply 109December 14, 2018 10:46 AM

R19 Ross wasn't bad looking at least back THEN

by Anonymousreply 110December 14, 2018 10:49 AM

During the time of its original airings, I staunchly resisted the show, mainly because, as a poster up-thread noted, "Frirends" seemed like a rip off of "Living Single" which, I felt, didn't receive the accolades it should have.

Fast-forward to a couple years ago and for reasons I won't go into, I found myself living and working in a city with no family members close by and zero close friends, and a chance selection of "Friends" on Netflix hooked me immediately. Now, having perpetually watched all seasons of the show countless of times (with no end in sight), "Friends" episodes bring me a sense of peace, comfort and "companionship" like no other syndicated television show ever has. In fact, it carried me through 19 months of unemployment. As the rejection emails clogged my in-box, I could always count on Ross, Rachel, Pheobe, et al., to cheer me up.

Finally, as an aging baby boomer who would LOVE an opportunity for a do-over of my twenties, my favorite feature is the ability to click away from the depressing final "Friends" episode and revert to Season 1, Episode 1, "The one where Monica gets a new roommate."

by Anonymousreply 111December 14, 2018 12:00 PM

I always enjoy these threads for the posters who have an overwhelming, frothing-at-the-mouth hatred for Friends. It's just so...DL.

by Anonymousreply 112December 14, 2018 12:08 PM

[quote]Both Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld have said that "Friends" was a rip-off of "Seinfeld" but with a younger, cuter cast.

The first season’s a disaster for a lot of reasons but largely because Schwimmer was doing a Borscht Belt version of Jerry.

by Anonymousreply 113December 14, 2018 12:10 PM

It was about as realistic representation of young Gen-Xer's living in NYC as the The Brady Bunch was of a step family with 6 kids living in Los Angeles in the early 1970's.

In other words, not very realistic at all.

by Anonymousreply 114December 14, 2018 12:23 PM

[quote]Can you imagine if it were made today? Three of them would be Chinese

Heavens! Three?!

by Anonymousreply 115December 14, 2018 12:45 PM

Ill admit I liked Chandler the best in all his self deprecating, neurotic glory. He and Joey were in love and would've made a much better couple than Chandler and Monica.

by Anonymousreply 116December 14, 2018 12:59 PM

The reality is, Friends and Sex and the City were realistic in showing how middle class white people only have middle class white friends. Even if you added in people of color into the groups, they would complain that it was forced and that black people wouldn't be caught dead hanging out with them.

by Anonymousreply 117December 14, 2018 1:08 PM

R117 the middle class black people of Living Single didn't have non Black friends

Your point

by Anonymousreply 118December 14, 2018 1:15 PM

"Could you imagine a show going on the air today starring people in their 30s/40s, and no one is good looking? (Elaine was cute, though.)"

What about Big Bang? The characters are all fugly nerds and weirdos and besides Penny, they have never had any pretty characters. I think if the writing is great, it doesn't really matter if the actors are hot.

by Anonymousreply 119December 14, 2018 1:18 PM

[quote] why they didn't just let Chandler an Joey (his true love) be a couple is so stupid.

In one episode Chandler walked into Joey's bedroom to speak of some problem and found Joey sleeping naked. 𝑪𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒖𝒑! or words to that effect was his response. If Joey was his true love he'd have taken his time looking.

Now Phoebe on the other hand was unmistakably into Ross' beautiful cousin.

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by Anonymousreply 120December 14, 2018 1:27 PM

r118 whites are expected to have a multi-racial group of friends or they are horrible racists. Do try to keep up with American society in the modern age.

by Anonymousreply 121December 14, 2018 1:27 PM

Other than how they could afford their rents, what annoyed me most about the apartments were the layouts - these were pre-war apartments, they wouldn’t have had an open floor plan or doors to the bedrooms right off the living room. Actually, I thought Ross’ apartment (that was fat naked guy’s) was the most like an actual NYC apartment - separate kitchen, hallway to bedrooms and bath, moderate comfortable size.

The other bits I found irksome were:

• Rachel going from barista to assistant at Bloomingdale’s to executive at Ralph Lauren in just a few years. Then she’s offered this dream job in Paris and she bails on it, for Ross!

• They were all young and single but they never went to a bar, they only ever hung out in that coffee shop.

• The stunt casting of Kathleen Turner as Chandler’s father. There are plenty of real and talented drag queens that should have been considered. Personally, I think Charles Busch would have been fantastic as Chandler’s drag queen father. Plus, news flash, drag queens are only in drag when working - Charles would be convincing as both a man and drag queen while Kathleen Turner was not as either.

by Anonymousreply 122December 14, 2018 1:27 PM

Six people in their twenties in NYC who aren't hooking up with random strangers, getting shitfaced in bars and no cocaine. SO true to life!

by Anonymousreply 123December 14, 2018 1:29 PM

r122 Charles Busch would've been a great choice, but he would've been too extreme for the flyover audience who were Friends' main demographic.

by Anonymousreply 124December 14, 2018 1:30 PM

What did the 20 somethings of the 90s in NYC think of it?

by Anonymousreply 125December 14, 2018 1:33 PM

For some reason, I just don't enjoy it. I always hated Pheabes.

by Anonymousreply 126December 14, 2018 1:34 PM

We thought it was a load of shit. We had no idea why they set that stupid show in NYC because there was nothing NYC about it.

by Anonymousreply 127December 14, 2018 1:35 PM

The only think that really bugged me was Joey shooting Days in NYC. Nope.

Other than that is was mildly entertaining, some episodes not very funny, some made me laugh out loud

by Anonymousreply 128December 14, 2018 1:44 PM

In the early years, Friends and Ellen (These Friends of Mine) were sparring to be top show. They used the same stories and the same couch motif -- each show did an episode where they kill a neighbor, and a episode that takes place in a cemetery. Each show had an episode where one of the young women is mislead by a cad....

by Anonymousreply 129December 14, 2018 2:27 PM

I remember the first season was a big enough deal for Murder She Wrote to comment...

by Anonymousreply 130December 14, 2018 2:34 PM

Yummy

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by Anonymousreply 131December 14, 2018 2:46 PM

The reruns were filler for me while I surfed the web. They were all so fucking obnoxious. But even worse than that were the fans...at least once a month some frau or frau in training would waltz into the office with the “Rachel” cut...most of them looked ridiculous! My boss was in the middle of giving me my evaluations when her secretary burst into the office blurting out, “what do you all think about my Rachel?”. “Janice, NOT NOW!”, my boss roared...Janice, frau in training, slinked away, mortified. I found out that later she called Janice back and really chewed her out for interrupting a performance evaluation! She also didn’t have the right face shape or hair texture for the Rachel either. Eventually she went back to her dated spiral perm and pinwheel bangs.

I hated FRIENDS.

by Anonymousreply 132December 14, 2018 3:13 PM

If Joey had been on Another World instead of Days, it would have made sense because that shot in Brooklyn and was also on NBC. It fucking sucked that the show refused to promo Another World which was cancelled around the same time. It would have done a wonder for their ratings if they had tied Joey into the show... I mean think of all the Linda Dano cameos on Friends for god's sake.

by Anonymousreply 133December 14, 2018 3:50 PM

I never watched much, but Lisa Kudrow was brilliant in The Comeback. One of the best shows ever made.

by Anonymousreply 134December 14, 2018 4:09 PM

Was it ever decided if Chandler's dad had the full transition or was he just a drag queen? If he was trans, it'd make sense to hire Turner, but if he was just a drag queen, it would make more sense to cast it with a man, right? Still, I thought Turner was a hoot. I love when she does comedy.

by Anonymousreply 135December 14, 2018 5:27 PM

I always thought he was in the process of transitioning. Was I not watching close enough?

by Anonymousreply 136December 14, 2018 5:32 PM

I honestly don't think they ever said. Morgan Fairchild's character mentions that Turner still has "a little too much penis to be wearing a dress like that", so I assume he might just be a drag queen. These days, who knows? I think this is why a lot of trans people seem to hate drag queens. It confuses everyone and makes people think that, unless they've had the surgery, they too are drag queens.

by Anonymousreply 137December 14, 2018 5:38 PM

I thought Ross was hot. He was well built, he had a great chest and shoulders and Jewish good looks.

by Anonymousreply 138December 14, 2018 5:39 PM

It was like eating potatoes. A bad idea, but not the end of the world.

by Anonymousreply 139December 14, 2018 5:47 PM

It was comfort food TV with a generally appealing cast and pretty good writing. There have been far more egregious examples of lousy sitcoms. Of course it wasn't realistic. What sitcom is?

by Anonymousreply 140December 14, 2018 5:49 PM

Though the poster upthread who mentioned The Comeback? That was a great show.

by Anonymousreply 141December 14, 2018 5:49 PM

Is it on Netflix or something? Like the other eldergay above, I now want to watch it. (Although I didn't watch it the first time around.)

by Anonymousreply 142December 14, 2018 6:01 PM

Ross also had a great, big ass. A shame Schwimmer's never done a nude scene. If he does, he better hurry.

by Anonymousreply 143December 14, 2018 6:09 PM

Agree with R143.

by Anonymousreply 144December 14, 2018 6:11 PM

Beats me. I tried it a couple times and found dull and as unrealistic as any 50s sitcom. At least the 50s sitcoms had an almost self conscious sense of their bullshit that now comes off as kitsch.

by Anonymousreply 145December 14, 2018 6:19 PM

Every day hundreds stand at Bedford and Grove to take selfies of the building used for the exterior of their apartment. Some of them think it was filmed inside.

by Anonymousreply 146December 14, 2018 6:27 PM

[quote] Not according to true White Anglo Saxon Protestants.

What about non-white Anglo Saxons?

by Anonymousreply 147December 14, 2018 6:29 PM

Flyovers who come to NYC think Central Perk is a real place.

by Anonymousreply 148December 14, 2018 6:29 PM

R111 sums it up pretty well. It is comfort food, and many people need comfort food at times when their lives aren't so great. And for some, a show like Friends will be the only good thing about their lives. Not everyone leads interesting lives with interesting people.

by Anonymousreply 149December 14, 2018 6:49 PM

I agree with those who say it's like comfort food. I feel the same about Friends that I do about The Golden Girls, Married With Children, Will and Grace, etc. They just make me happy when I'm having a bad day. I don't want gritty realism when I'm settling into bed at the end of a long, awful day. Give me something funny.

I remember one time a few years ago when I was having crippling anxiety for a few months and the only things that got me through it were sitcoms and my favorite movies from my childhood. There's such power in these things. I can't explain it.

by Anonymousreply 150December 14, 2018 6:51 PM

Remember the episode entitled "The One When Ross sat on Joey's Face" ?

by Anonymousreply 151December 14, 2018 6:59 PM

People like crap.

by Anonymousreply 152December 14, 2018 7:00 PM

Friends bloopers on YT are fun. Although my favorite bloopers on YT are from Everybody Loves Raymond. Ray turns every mess up into a mini monologue and the subject is often that Brad Garrett's private parts are not commensurate with his height. Seinfeld bloopers are surprisingly unfunny and I don't get a warm and fuzzy vibe amongst the cast. Big Bang Theory bloopers are cute too and the cast seems to enjoy each other.

by Anonymousreply 153December 14, 2018 7:22 PM

[quote]Unlike the drudge that was Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends was always sort of positive.

HUH??

Everybody Loves Raymond was a very funny and subversive sit-com, in my opinion. Under the guise of your typical family-based, suburban show was a hilarious, multi-layered family dynamic which was revealed for maximum comic effect! I think it's the last great sit-com after the original run of Roseanne.

by Anonymousreply 154December 14, 2018 7:50 PM

Kudrow was great on “The Comeback” and on “Web Therapy.”

by Anonymousreply 155December 14, 2018 8:16 PM

R96, it was absolute crap, but it was also fun, and easy to watch. It can be both.

I enjoyed it. It doesn’t have to be a fucking masterpiece in order for it to work, and it did.

by Anonymousreply 156December 14, 2018 8:40 PM

It was never shit. Well written and well acted. Shallow with irritating characters though. But spare me the unrealistic jibe. It’s not a fucking documentary.

by Anonymousreply 157December 14, 2018 8:47 PM

It was awful. I hated it back then and it holds up even more poorly now.

by Anonymousreply 158December 14, 2018 9:09 PM

Aisha Tyler was given nothing funny to say. She may as well have been on SNL.

by Anonymousreply 159December 14, 2018 9:16 PM

Horrible show that only succeeded because of what one industry wag told me when they were selling it:

Skinny girls with big tits in tight sweaters.

by Anonymousreply 160December 14, 2018 9:20 PM

Amazing that they had NO minority friends. It wasn’t until the show was called out on that that it brought in the black comedienne

by Anonymousreply 161December 14, 2018 11:53 PM

Was there ever a gay character?

by Anonymousreply 162December 14, 2018 11:53 PM

Winona, possibly, with a crush on Rachel.

by Anonymousreply 163December 15, 2018 12:13 AM

r161, one of the reasons I disliked the show. It was set in NYC and there were almost never any black people to be found. Really? In NYC? no minorities. GMAFB. It was a white person's fantasy of what they wish NYC was like, not anywhere close to reality.

Same with Seinfeld. No minorities in the cast, unless you count Jews, but they were still white Jews. And it also supposedly took place in NYC. Yeah right.

Same with Woody Allen movies. Ever see a black person even in one much less have a significant role in one? According to Woody NYC is only filled with non Jewish white people and Jewish white people.

by Anonymousreply 164December 15, 2018 12:21 AM

Statistically, 12.1% of the US population is black (source: Wikipedia, so consider this an estimate!). So of 6 main characters, that means statistically 0.72 of 1 person should have been black. Maybe they just rounded down instead of up.

by Anonymousreply 165December 15, 2018 12:25 AM

Chandler would probably be gay if Friends were on today.

by Anonymousreply 166December 15, 2018 12:29 AM

It's not racist if you tend to be friendly with people of similar backgrounds or ethnicities. That's who you tend to meet growing up unless you live in the city. Friendships develop for a lot of reasons, usually circumstantial. I have several friends from Asia. The one form Hong Kong said I have more Asian friends than he does because he hates the competition that is ingrained on Asian children by their Mothers. I told him if said that, he would call me a racist. He said probably. Yet he laughs when I make abacus jokes.

by Anonymousreply 167December 15, 2018 12:41 AM

It would seem Joey would have male gay friends since he was an actor, and hot, and supposed to be such a sex pig. But we never met them.

by Anonymousreply 168December 15, 2018 12:45 AM

Steve Zahn was the first husband of Phoebe who pretended to be gay.

by Anonymousreply 169December 15, 2018 12:47 AM

Oh thank God we have you SJWS to save us from a show that’s been off the air longer than you’ve been alive.

I am quivering with anticipation at your trenchant analysis of the current relevance of the Jack Parr show and his fucking monkey sidekick.

by Anonymousreply 170December 15, 2018 1:24 AM

It was realistic that none of the Friends would be black people. They were all of a certain privileged ilk and those kind of white people aren't street enough to associate with black folks and the black people who DO move in those circles tend not to try and emulate their white peers to fit in, effectively neutering themselves.

by Anonymousreply 171December 15, 2018 1:28 AM

A steaming pile of shit!!!

These same fans of the show liked crap like Happy Gilmore and Tommy Boy. Nuff said!

by Anonymousreply 172December 15, 2018 1:28 AM

David Schwimmer was, by far, the hottest of the male leads. Are there any nudes of him online?

by Anonymousreply 173December 15, 2018 1:43 AM

R173, He is doing a great job on Will & Grace as Grace's love interest. And he looks great, better than when he was younger.

by Anonymousreply 174December 15, 2018 2:17 AM

The networks have been trying in vain to have another Friends, but that time has passed. A network show becoming a huge hit like that can't happen anymore.

by Anonymousreply 175December 15, 2018 2:31 AM

I saw David at a deli in Santa Monica back in the Friends days. He was much more handsome in person.

by Anonymousreply 176December 15, 2018 3:05 AM

I never managed to watch more than the first 5 episodes. It's insipid.

by Anonymousreply 177December 15, 2018 3:11 AM

R175 HIMYM is another Friends and it went on nine seasons.

by Anonymousreply 178December 15, 2018 3:12 AM

Carol and Susan were two lesbians and they even had a wedding episode, so yeah - there was gay representation. Chandler was always thought to be gay (they should have really just gone for it and made him gay.)

For a 90's show pre-Will and Grace it was VERY progressive. I seem to remember there being Bible Belt controversy over that aspect of the show in particular. They thought they were trying to "normalize sin."

by Anonymousreply 179December 15, 2018 3:12 AM

R173 = David Schwimmer

by Anonymousreply 180December 15, 2018 3:17 AM

I never liked Rachel and don't like Jennifer Aniston, either. Hard to belief she's worth an estimated $200M.

by Anonymousreply 181December 15, 2018 3:19 AM

Like the above poster said, Jennifer Aniston is one of the luckiest people ever.

by Anonymousreply 182December 15, 2018 3:45 AM

She's Hollywood royalty but has earned her own place in the heavens.

by Anonymousreply 183December 15, 2018 6:28 AM

R181 poor dear has been around since the early 99s and us only worth $200 million...

Haha

by Anonymousreply 184December 15, 2018 7:29 AM

R184, yes but Jennifer has good taste and doesn't look like a washed-up whore.

by Anonymousreply 185December 15, 2018 7:51 AM

R185 judging from her recent films performances at the box office , you might want to rethink that washed up comment about Jen

by Anonymousreply 186December 15, 2018 8:27 AM

No-one has mentioned that the language and inflection of the actresses was something new and widely copied. It really hit a nerve with young women. It's still around today but has morphed into Kardashian-speak/intonation.

by Anonymousreply 187December 15, 2018 8:37 AM

It had that cool opening theme that made people believe life has no worries.

by Anonymousreply 188December 15, 2018 8:46 AM

Friends was "controversial" in that sense that it was a family (friendly) show without an actual family set up (unless you count Ross and Monica being brother and sister). It celebrated having a support system beyond the family, you were born in, and Church. Sex And The City went even further by completely cutting out parents from appearing on the show.

by Anonymousreply 189December 15, 2018 8:59 AM

[quote] Sex And The City went even further by completely cutting out parents from appearing on the show.

My apologies. With that I meant the parents of the leading cast. Of course parents of guest stars (like Trey's mom being a pain in the ass for Charlotte) were featured.

by Anonymousreply 190December 15, 2018 9:02 AM

I caught the occasional episode, I wasn’t home very much back then, and I liked it.

Now I have no idea why I ever sat through a single episode. Atrocious. It was so badly written. The Monica/Chandler storyline was sickening. No wonder Matthew Perry was on drugs, you’d have to be to recite all that tripe. And Rachel would have to be one of the most unlikeable characters ever. How Jennifer Aniston ended up the biggest star is a complete mystery.

by Anonymousreply 191December 15, 2018 9:08 AM

R14: Comedy Central UK has been nothing but wall-to-wall 'Friends' for years. It seems to make up about 70 percent of their programming.

I've only seen a handful of 'Friends' episodes and find it so dated now as to be unwatchable, much more so than, say, 'Frasier' from roughly the same era.

Were there ever any references to contemporary culture, pop culture, or politics on the show?

by Anonymousreply 192December 15, 2018 9:25 AM

I liked the show pretty well when it was in its initial run but then it started to come out how hateful and obnoxious the cast was to anyone that dared guest star on the show and I started to really dislike it and all of them.

by Anonymousreply 193December 15, 2018 9:28 AM

[quote] I've only seen a handful of 'Friends' episodes and find it so dated now as to be unwatchable...Were there ever any references to contemporary culture, pop culture, or politics on the show?

What the hell makes you say it is dated if you don't even know if it makes any reference to culture or politics of the day?

A bunch of people with sticks up their butts on this thread...

by Anonymousreply 194December 15, 2018 10:20 AM

Google alerts is a bitch, isn’t it r194?

by Anonymousreply 195December 15, 2018 11:00 AM

Amen, R150!

by Anonymousreply 196December 15, 2018 12:35 PM

I think hey started hating their guest stars after the producers used Reese Witherspoon to threaten Jennifer's job during a salary negotiation.

by Anonymousreply 197December 15, 2018 12:58 PM

[quote][R118] whites are expected to have a multi-racial group of friends or they are horrible racists. Do try to keep up with American society in the modern age.

It's not true to life. People hang out with people who are like themselves. That's the way people are. Yes, race...money, success levels, age, looks, politics. It's just how people, in general, ARE.

It's the same with DL, except we can't see each other, so the looks thing obviously doesn't count. But by and large, DLers are all pretty much alike and when they're not, they get bullied off the site. If you have views that people don't like, even if it's starting a thread about not liking EMMA fucking Thompson, you'll get FF'd and blocked.

Even on here, we all end up sounding exactly alike.

by Anonymousreply 198December 15, 2018 1:07 PM

It was a great show. It lasted 10 seasons and was in the top 10 every year. It was number 1 in season eight.

by Anonymousreply 199December 15, 2018 1:16 PM

They added many terms to the lexicon, the most famous being, "We were on a BREAK!"

by Anonymousreply 200December 15, 2018 1:18 PM

I think too many people over-analyze tv sitcoms.

by Anonymousreply 201December 15, 2018 2:14 PM

R198 sorry but I know many white guys that have non whites as friends. Not all white people only stick with white People, as not all white People are the same.

I personally always had more respect for people who are friends with people they connect with in a personal way vs a physical one. If your reason for being someone’s friend is that they’re hot and white, there’s something wrong with you.

by Anonymousreply 202December 15, 2018 3:22 PM

The show is very much a false representation of NYC and why NYC is in the condition it’s in now with a bunch of white out of towners moving here and trying to sanitize everything. They’ve done it successfully.

Minorities and gays are being priced out but who cares? They’re hot and white. All that matters.

Friends is also why there is a fucking Cafe on every damn block now. Brooklyn has cafes everywhere now. It’s ridicous.

My friend said by her they opened a cafe recently. She lives in a run down part of Brooklyn. You know what that means... more minorities on the streets so whites can pay $3000 a month for a shoebox.

The show was controversial with Christians since it premiered and with minorities and gays as the show went on. Aisha Tyler was the only black love interest on the show, minus that one episode where Ross and Joey are both trying to win over Gabrielle Union only to chase her away.

I remember when the Gabrielle Union episode was announced and she got interviews and press for being the shows first black character. She was even saddened how a show set in NYC has no people of color, not even as secondary characters.

White People were a huge minority in NYC in the 90s.

by Anonymousreply 203December 15, 2018 3:30 PM

Also, FRIENDS is the most successful TV show of all time. It plays all over the world non stop. There is not an hour to a day that the show is not on TV somewhere.

The cast still makes $20million each a year from royalties.

Also, How I Met Your Mother is number 2.

by Anonymousreply 204December 15, 2018 3:41 PM

R204 Dallas is the most successful TV show of all time, it was shown in more countries than any TV show in history and it's 80-81 is the most watched season of a single TV show in history

by Anonymousreply 205December 15, 2018 3:52 PM

R205 does Dallas bring in $20 million per cast member a year 14 years after it ended?

by Anonymousreply 206December 15, 2018 3:54 PM

Friends is still massively popular, who watches reruns of Dallas?

by Anonymousreply 207December 15, 2018 3:55 PM

R207 that’s why Friends is the most successful series ever. 14 years later and it’s still one of the most watched show. Dallas died after it ended.

by Anonymousreply 208December 15, 2018 3:59 PM

Friends invented the C-storyline. Every comedy does it now.

by Anonymousreply 209December 15, 2018 4:09 PM

Friends fans should be taken to Guantanamo and waterboarded.

by Anonymousreply 210December 15, 2018 4:41 PM

because fraus are infinitely obsessed with anniston, pitt, and jolie

by Anonymousreply 211December 15, 2018 5:58 PM

Why was Rachel unlikable? I thought she was pretty likable. I thought she had a great arc by going from spoiled princess who had everything laid out for her to wanting to live life on her own terms and making her own choices. I really loved her and found Aniston pretty winning in the role. She's not always perfect and doesn't always do the right thing, but you know she's trying as opposed to later seasons Carrie Bradshaw who turned from semi-charming anti-heroine into crazed, selfish, narcissist bitch.

by Anonymousreply 212December 15, 2018 6:15 PM

I hated her hair, R212.

by Anonymousreply 213December 15, 2018 6:16 PM

The saddest thing about Aniston is how safe she's always been when it comes to picking her movie projects. She's like Barbra Streisand or Resse Witherspoon in that way. They all started off as genuinely interesting, quirky comediennes and then fucked up their movie careers by choosing cheesy rom coms and idiotic vanity projects instead of going after interesting roles. They've become jokes for the most part. If they're in a movie, there's a good chance it'll probably be awful. I guess every quirky character actor/actress really wants to be a leading man/lady.

That said, I loved Aniston in Horrible Bosses. That was a fun, weird role for her and she hit it out of the park.

by Anonymousreply 214December 15, 2018 6:19 PM

To those bitching about their apartments being unrealistic...you do know those are sets, right? It's not like the show could film in a nine by eleven box.

by Anonymousreply 215December 15, 2018 6:32 PM

[Quote] The saddest thing about Aniston is how safe she's always been when it comes to picking her movie projects.

So Cake was a dud??

by Anonymousreply 216December 15, 2018 6:36 PM

Cake was an admirable attempt as trying something out of the box for Aniston, but the script just wasn't terribly interesting. The Good Girl was a much better experiment. I thought she was great in that.

by Anonymousreply 217December 15, 2018 6:39 PM

"The One Where Everybody Finds Out" is still one of the best written sitcom episodes ever. The storyline where Joey fell for Rachel was the worst.

by Anonymousreply 218December 15, 2018 6:42 PM

Is that the one where Phoebe and Rachel see Chandler and Monica having sex across the street from Ross' apartment? That was genuinely hilarious.

by Anonymousreply 219December 15, 2018 6:44 PM

It was as vapid as the mainstream American public, a perfect fit. I never watched it regularly, but would see it in syndication occasionally, and don't remember it making me laugh once. I do like Lisa Kudrow, though, for Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion and The Comeback.

by Anonymousreply 220December 15, 2018 7:04 PM

When I saw Matt Le Blanc on Episodes I realised he could act. He’s fantastic in that. He was on friends for 10 years and he was never given anything to do that showed any range.

I think they gave Phoebe a bit more to do than Joey but Lisa Kudrow was so great in the Comeback, it emphasised just how almost one dimensional all of the friends characters were.

by Anonymousreply 221December 15, 2018 7:16 PM

Lisa Kudrow has shown every emotion on the show. She showed ranged early on. By mid series they changed her character from nutty hippie to fashionable bitchy nutty friend who was more of a loner than anything.

A lot of times it seemed like Phoebe was not even into her friends.

Joey is a one dimensional character who got dumber with time. And sorry, but LeBlanc was miscast if we are supposed to believe he’s this gorgeous man who oozes so much sex appeal women can’t resist.

He’s cute. Nothing more.

by Anonymousreply 222December 15, 2018 7:19 PM

In a way they all were one dimensional characters, just that certain actors were able to give these one dimensional characters some depth through their comedy performance.

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by Anonymousreply 223December 15, 2018 7:23 PM

I liked Aniston in Cake, Picture Perfect, and The Object of My Affection. Anything else I’ve seen her in was pretty crappy.

by Anonymousreply 224December 15, 2018 7:35 PM

Aniston was good in Cake and got award nominations for it up until the Oscar and Bafta

by Anonymousreply 225December 15, 2018 7:36 PM

Like virtually ALL sitcoms, they are one-dimensional characters, especially as the show wore on. All the complaints about Friends are basically because it was a huge hit and is still around 25 years after it started, therefore it's an easy target. It's no different from something like The Golden Girls or Sex and the City or Big Bang Theory where you know where most of the plots are going, and how each character will respond. Friends was formulaic but it threw a few curve balls such as the Monica/Chandler relationship and Rachel's pregnancy. Yet something like the Golden Girls is revered here even though I think the writing was just as simplistic. Both shows had their stock characters that the writers went to for whatever joke they wanted to set up and deliver. The appeal that both shows had for their fans is a loyalty and warmth between the characters but if you have a diataste for it, you won't see it.

by Anonymousreply 226December 15, 2018 9:04 PM

Yeah I feel like all sitcoms are like this. That's why they're comforting. They're something you can put on while you eat your dinner and don't have to worry about heavy drama or heads being blown off or gritty depictions of drug addiction. They're silly and escapism at its best. You could ask why The Golden Girls and Three's Company were so white, too. You could say they're problematic with many of their storylines, too.

Times change and art usually adapts with it. If these shows were on the air today, they'd be different. 20 years from now, the shows that are on right now will be called out for not featuring enough pansexual and non-binary representation and, if we have any sense of humor left, we'll laugh those complaints off, too.

by Anonymousreply 227December 15, 2018 9:11 PM

HATED IT.

by Anonymousreply 228December 15, 2018 9:12 PM

R227 Threes Company was in the 70s. So no one asks.

Golden Girls had black people as guest stars etc. Friends almost never did. In the 90s and 00s.

by Anonymousreply 229December 15, 2018 9:13 PM

R222 I think it’s easier to see why women may have liked Joey in his pre friends life. He was handsome in the coke ad and on married with children. He porked up pretty quickly on friends and combined with the awful wardrobe they gave him (even at the time I used to wonder why they dressed him like a middle aged man with no taste) he lost his appeal pretty quickly. I think he looks better now actually.

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by Anonymousreply 230December 15, 2018 9:30 PM

R165, but the issue people have is that it is a show about people in NYC where the demographics are far different than what they are in America, as a whole. There are more minoriites than white people.

by Anonymousreply 231December 15, 2018 9:32 PM

The way Rachel played with her hair (like Barbra!) was annoying.

by Anonymousreply 232December 16, 2018 12:58 AM

I like the show now better than I liked it during its original run. However, what I despised most was the cutesy way the producers named all the episodes, "The One with ...."

by Anonymousreply 233December 16, 2018 3:10 AM

i especially liked Ross in The One With Biggest Dick.

by Anonymousreply 234December 17, 2018 5:38 PM

I never knew anyone that liked Friends, until the other night. The tv was randomly on, and I was giving this 24 year old black guy a blowjob. I was going slow, and he's getting harder, then he loses momentum, and he starts laughing, I'm like what's going on. He says, oh this is one of my favorite episodes. I'm like, bruh. Needless to say I turned off the tv and we continued about our business

by Anonymousreply 235December 17, 2018 5:50 PM

I [bold]NEVER[/bold] watched it. I’ve accudentally seen partial episodes when it’s been playing at someone’s home. It is utter tripe - it’s [italic]not[/italic] by any means even remotely amusing (and hey, I do toilet humour, base jokes can raise some mirth). There was [bold]NOTHING[/bold] at all realistic about it - I’ve never been to NYC, however even I was incredulous that an unemployed actor, and a line chef could afford such spacious apartments right in the CBD. It was just fake, fake, fakety, fake.

by Anonymousreply 236December 17, 2018 5:55 PM

Canned as corn.

by Anonymousreply 237December 17, 2018 6:08 PM

R53, as mentioned above, I’ve never watched a full episode, however it [italic]was[/italic] fat phobic - those jokes and flashbacks to Courtney Cox in a fat suit were horrid.

I also recall an episode I watched in part that was on the TV at my sister in laws. Brad Pitt was in it as a former fatty who was bullied mercilessly by Jennifer Aniston’s character, who attracted her attention after weight loss, was just sad.

As another poster mentioned, at the time, Courtney and Jennifer seemed to have pretty low BMI’s in the show. I remember my older female cousins being OBSESSED with their hair, their figures and their clothes.

It’s amusing now to see just how hideous the fashion was at the time. The floppy hair on the males, the horrid, tizzy tops with bumster jeans on the women. At a stretch, I’d say the most interesting character was Phoebe (even I’m familiar with ‘Smelly Cat’), although she was a parody of what Hollywood thought a hippy was)

by Anonymousreply 238December 17, 2018 6:10 PM

Fatphobic? Well, even a stopped. clock...

by Anonymousreply 239December 17, 2018 6:12 PM

I think it holds up for its tight, repetitive structure. Its quite pure that way.

by Anonymousreply 240December 17, 2018 6:16 PM

R83 - leave my little gal outta this!

by Anonymousreply 241December 17, 2018 6:18 PM

R97 and R98 - yeah, tell me about it *rolls eyes*

Back in the ‘olden days’, the show didn’t debut in Australia immediately. I can’t actually remember when it started being shown here, however I know there was a delay. That fucking theme song went straight to the charts here, months (or was it years, even?) after it was in the US charts. Crappy song.

Here’s an interesting article I just found when I tried to google when it actually made its Australian debut (came up with nada).

Apparently REM’s Shiny Happy People was supposed to be the theme. (Glad it wasn’t - would have ruined a perfectly good song, just purely through association)

Also in the article is mention that Courtney was cast in jennifer’s role, that Chandler was originally written as being gay, that Jon Cryer was cast as Chandler, and Ellen as Phoebe (ew. Hate Ellen).

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by Anonymousreply 242December 17, 2018 6:27 PM

R100 - Coupling [bold]SHITS[/bold] all over Friends.

by Anonymousreply 243December 17, 2018 6:29 PM

Fatphobic?

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by Anonymousreply 244December 17, 2018 6:31 PM

R117 - good point. Something I did notice about what I have seen of Friends, is that it was realistic in portraying people who didn’t have a massive entourage of friends in their social orbit. However, it also seems (in hindsight) to be very insular and almost incestuous. Even the relationships within the core group - Ross and Rachel, Chandler and Monica. Is it true that Joey and Rachel has a romantic thing? Did Monica mess with Joey? Or Phoebe with any of them?

I’m Gen Y, not Gen X, however I’m more akin to X, than Y (not my chromosomes). I’ve observed the contrast between the Facebook generation, where you (are expected to) have a million friends, and the group depicted in Friends, Sex and the City, and Seinfeld, who don’t socialise outside their immediate friends, whom you can count on one hand.

by Anonymousreply 245December 17, 2018 7:10 PM

Matthew was pleasantly plump, R244!

by Anonymousreply 246December 17, 2018 7:11 PM

R245 Monica and Ross are siblings.

Ross and Rachel dated.

Monica and Chandler get married.

Ross and Phoebe almost have sex.

Monica has a crush on Joey when he first moved in next door.

Rachel and Joey end up having a fling but ultimately can’t go through with having sex.

They’ve all swapped spit. I bet if Ross wasn’t related to Monica he would try fucking her too.

by Anonymousreply 247December 17, 2018 7:15 PM

R146 - that sucks. It’s like people who travel over there (I’m in Australia), and simply [italic]must[/italic] have their picture taken outside the exterior from Full House.

A former cunt of a boss, and mega churchy, evil fat frau and her daughter travelled to NY a few years back (‘14 or ‘15?) to visit the pop up Central Perk cafe. Blurgh. So desperate. Pictures all over Facebook of that, and their picture taken at the restaurant featured in Seinfeld.

Never mind the Metropolitan Muesum of Art; the NY public library; MOMA; Nuyorican Poets Café; Mueseum of Modern History; Metropolitan Opera House; the Explorers Club; the location of CBGB’s ... I actually inquired if they’d visited any of these places. Nope.

I mean, they didn’t even visit Katz’s Deli, which floored me. At least that cafe is recognized as an institution, isn’t it?

by Anonymousreply 248December 17, 2018 7:29 PM

R178 - now there’s a show I absolutely [italic]loathe[/italic]. That needs a hate thread all of its own. I ducked detested the main character - self absorbed, whiny [bold]little BITCH![/bold]

by Anonymousreply 249December 17, 2018 7:36 PM

*fucking, not ducked.

by Anonymousreply 250December 17, 2018 7:36 PM

Thanks R247 for the breakdown. So they all kind of messed around together. It’s fine to be realistic and present characters who don’t have a shitload of friends, however, as some posters have observed, they spent all their time at Central Perk (not bars), they never seemed to interact (apart from the characters they were fucking) with anyone aside from each other.

It sounds like processed takeaway food. No substance, nor nutritional/intellectual value. Consumed, without question, by the masses, and likely to make you fat (if you spend hours on end on your posterior, bingeing episodes).

Just not my cup of tea, really.

by Anonymousreply 251December 17, 2018 7:50 PM

I love it for what it is. It’s feel good. It’s one of those shows you sometimes keep on just for background noise even cause it’s never something that you’re gonna hear something that will depress you etc.

However, I hate the lack of people of color and even more so Hate how they always spent every damn moment with each other. It’s almost like they never worked either. They literally are in Monica’s apartment or at Central Perk all day with each other.

Who spends every damn day with their best friends for years on end? Idk about you all but I need alone time.

And why is it that on sitcoms people just walk into each other’s apartments and open the fridge etc? I would never do that, even to my closest friends.

by Anonymousreply 252December 17, 2018 7:56 PM

The fans of this show lived vicariously through it. They imagined themselves living the life of a group of young, good looking (except for Ross), carefree New Yorkers. It all seemed so very glamorous and desirable!

I watched a few times. It was tedious. That Ross/Rachel thing was sheer torture. And the ending where they all live happily ever after...yech! But the viewers got what they wanted. They wanted a happy, fairy tale ending and they got one.

I cannot believe that at one time Jennifer Aniston was considered this incredibly hot, sexy babe that every man desired. The beady eyes, the knobby chin, the good sized nose...how on earth did she become a sex symbol? Does she even act anymore? She's aged out of romcom territory and and she's no dramatic actress. I guess she's just living off her $200 million now.

by Anonymousreply 253December 17, 2018 8:12 PM

[Quote] Does she even act anymore?

Lol is this a serious question?? I take it you didn't watch Dumplin.

by Anonymousreply 254December 17, 2018 8:13 PM

R252 - that’s something that my husband (who [italic]has[/italic] watched the show - actual episodes, but not many) pointed out - who the fuck walks into someone else’s home, heads straight for the fridge, and helps themselves? My husband does that at his parents, goes to the fridge, when we’re out of town and staying there. However, he will stick his head out and ask his mother first, before helping himself to ANYTHING. I don’t do this in their home, nor at my parent’s place, and I would [italic]never[/italic] do it at a friend’s home. Ever.

I just assumed it may be an American social aberrance.

by Anonymousreply 255December 17, 2018 8:21 PM

R255 nope. I ask at my mothers also when I visit. I can’t imagine feeling so comfortable you just take whatever you want.

by Anonymousreply 256December 17, 2018 8:25 PM

There is a % of Americans who do help themselves to their friends fridges. Sorry, not sorry.

When I was in grad school I had a little money and my roommate was a poor undergrad. All the beautiful poor dramarama art fags would come over and regularly drain my fridge and hard liquor as well. Needless to say I stopped buying the really good stuff, but who would begrudge a kid a drink or a cheese sandwich?

by Anonymousreply 257December 17, 2018 8:27 PM

There should have been a Seinfeld Friends crossover.

by Anonymousreply 258December 17, 2018 8:29 PM

"Lol is this a serious question?? I take it you didn't watch Dumplin."

What the hell is "Dumplin?"

by Anonymousreply 259December 17, 2018 8:30 PM

R257 - I would never begrudge any of my visitors anything whilst in my home. However, it’s rude and entitled to behave in such a manner.

I also noticed that it happened in episodes of Seinfeld, where someone would turn up and just help themselves to his shit (mainly Kramer, if I remember correctly?)

I always make sure that guests are provided with more than ample food and drinks. I have no issue with them asking for anything (within reason)

We had many moochers when I was growing up, who would just help themselves. There was one arsehole who would walk in and literally hoover anything and everything edible in the house. He would walk in, and for example, went straight to the oven (having already consumed a plate full of leftovers from that evening’s dinner) and took my dad’s plate of food which had been set aside as his evening meal when he got home from work. Downed the lot, then went to the fridge and proceeded to pull out all the contents for him to rifle through and eat.

And no, he wasn’t fat. Just a fucking user and scab.

by Anonymousreply 260December 17, 2018 8:35 PM

Monica's fridge is stocked for guests because that is who Monica is. There is an episode where this is directly addressed after the apartment swap. Monica tries to insist that the boys should play the host now and keep their fridge stocked for everyone, but eventually realizes she lives to be the mom.

by Anonymousreply 261December 17, 2018 8:38 PM

It still doesn’t make it right, or proper, R261.

by Anonymousreply 262December 17, 2018 8:39 PM

Exactly R262

You can be the “mom” of the group and always have your fridge stocked for when I BARGE IN daily and eat/drink everything... only I would never do that.

by Anonymousreply 263December 17, 2018 8:41 PM

They were up each others asses 24/7 I think there was an open invite to share food, otherwise it would have stopped.

by Anonymousreply 264December 17, 2018 8:44 PM

[quote] It still doesn’t make it right, or proper

You should see about having that giant stick removed from up your ass.

by Anonymousreply 265December 17, 2018 8:45 PM

I LOVED it, still do. R189 hit the nail on the head - at the time Friends was considered popular because it reflected new lifestyles of 20-somethings who no longer lived so close to their own families but created their own family relationships among their friends.

And it was radical on issues of sexuality and gender. Back in the mid-90s it was unheard of to have a non-stereotypical same-sex couple who were clearly in love, married and raising a kid together on TV, let alone primetime TV, let alone the most popular show in the world.

The younger millennials and teens today might think it's dated and find the way the guys say "that's gay" homophobic, but it was actually ridiculing the discomfort of many straight men towards male homosexuality.

During the decade in which it aired, social attitudes changed and Friends reflected that. In the 90s there was less of a demand for diversity in representations and less social interaction between white and black people than today. As the show got into the 2000s it was felt that you can't really have an all-white cast anymore so Ross acquired a black girlfriend.

Aside from that, it was cute and funny and very relatable - it was about friends, relationships, families, the shit you have to deal with as a young person in terms of career, working out what you're doing with your life, just funny stuff like what you're going to wear, day-to-day stuff that everyone deals with in their lives.

by Anonymousreply 266December 17, 2018 9:01 PM

Would the others still be friends with Monica if she put a lock on her fridge and lock her door so they couldn't hang out there at any time? If she was the "mom" she raised some very spoiled children who would have killed her for a free smoothie.

by Anonymousreply 267December 17, 2018 9:06 PM

Exactly r261, it fitted with Monica's personality and she was in fact a chef. She was like the mom, crazy about being tidy, slightly anal. Her apartment was like the heart of the group of friends, who were more like a family to each other.

Another place they all hung out at was the café Central Perk. It was a cute, cosy and fun show.

by Anonymousreply 268December 17, 2018 9:07 PM

R268 = r266.

by Anonymousreply 269December 17, 2018 9:09 PM

R268. Wow OK, they all hung out at a cute, cosy café called Central Perk? And they were like, friends and everything?

by Anonymousreply 270December 17, 2018 9:14 PM

Yeah r270, and Joey had some cool acting tricks. Like, if you want to appear as though you're thinking something deeply then imagine someone farted and you're trying to work out who but without anyone noticing it. He also got an acting job as Al Pacino's butt cheek, but his scenes were cut out in the end.

And how could we ever forget Smelly Cat?

by Anonymousreply 271December 17, 2018 11:45 PM

I miss when there were hardly fags on Tv

by Anonymousreply 272December 18, 2018 12:10 AM

For its time, it was actually very progressive, but it does look a bit quaint now. It's hard to believe how much has changed in just 25 years. I feel like it did make Middle America more accepting of gays and tolerant of different ideas in their own way. They looked up to these characters and wanted to be like them, so if that meant they had to be cool with gays and Jews to do that, they'd go along with it and become more tolerant.

I think a lot of shows help in their own ways. Some shows helped enlighten Middle America on race or different religions or Jewish people or the elderly. They're not always nuanced, but sometimes that translates better to the masses.

I don't think every show has to be the voice for every demographic and age and gender and sexuality. Some shows are going to speak more to a sophisticated, urban audience and some shows are going to speak to mostly black people, and some shows are going to speak mostly to Latina single mothers, etc.

by Anonymousreply 273December 18, 2018 3:02 AM

Imagine believing that throughout the Midwest people are just so loving and accepting of gays now because of FRIENDS?! Come on.

Homophobia is still rampant.

by Anonymousreply 274December 18, 2018 6:23 PM

R273 “urban” audiences would be the blacks and Latinas you mention.

Whites aren’t “urban”

by Anonymousreply 275December 18, 2018 6:24 PM

I could never understand why Rachel was considered the hot one. I thought Monica and Phoebe were both way prettier than Rachel, with her wide jaw and nose.

by Anonymousreply 276December 18, 2018 6:39 PM

Rachel is way hotter than Monica. Especially as the show progressed.

by Anonymousreply 277December 18, 2018 6:44 PM

I never got people‘s love for the Phoebe character. And I‘m not saying that Lisa Kudrow isn’t talented, but I always found Phoebe rather exhausting. There wasn’t much more to her than “she’s sooo quirky”.

It also never made any kind of sense for her to be friends with the rest of the group, much less that close friends.

by Anonymousreply 278December 18, 2018 7:16 PM

R278 why doesn’t it make sense?

by Anonymousreply 279December 18, 2018 8:45 PM

Was there an episode that explained how Phoebe met the others?

by Anonymousreply 280December 18, 2018 10:43 PM

There's a reason that Netflix paid so much money to continue showing it. I think it has some hysterically funny sometimes and awful sometimes. I have to fall asleep with the TV on, so I start Netflix and fall asleep to Friends, Schitt's Creek or Frasier. I've watched them all multiple times, so I'm not interested in what's happening. But I have to say that in a drowsy state, Friends makes me laugh the most.

by Anonymousreply 281December 18, 2018 11:02 PM

Phoebe was Monica's roommate before Rachel. I don't think there ever was a story about how Phoebe became Monica's roommate. Phoebe moved out because she couldn't stand Monica's fussiness right before Rachel's aborted wedding.

Monica and Ross are siblings and knew Rachel in high school.

Ross and Chandler were best friends in college.

Monica lived in her grandmother's apartment and she had Phoebe and then Rachel as roommates.

Monica and Ross helped Chandler get his apartment (presumably).

Joey responded to a roommate ad.

by Anonymousreply 282December 19, 2018 3:57 PM

I hate you OP....you got us started rewatching this crap again!

by Anonymousreply 283December 19, 2018 4:19 PM

The all-white cast would have Twitter and Tumblr apoplectic today. It would be the most racist thing since slavery.

by Anonymousreply 284December 19, 2018 4:26 PM

R284 there are numerous posts on the internet over the years about Friends whitewashing NYC and it’s homophobic tendencies etc.

by Anonymousreply 285December 19, 2018 6:56 PM

Jeezaz christ, handwringing Debbie Downers. It's a funny successful sitcom that entertained hundreds of millions of people for years.

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by Anonymousreply 286December 19, 2018 7:51 PM

[quote] Friends whitewashing

That's not how I remember it

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by Anonymousreply 287December 19, 2018 7:54 PM

I liked it at first but they kept making them be quirkier and wackier until I ended up hating all of them but Phoebe and I honestly can't say why I didn't end up hating her too. Finding out they were all pretty terrible people kind of ruined it for me as well.

by Anonymousreply 288December 20, 2018 7:02 AM

R258 That could've been fun.

R259 A netflix movie that just came out.

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by Anonymousreply 289December 20, 2018 10:33 AM

Homophobic Friends.

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by Anonymousreply 290December 20, 2018 12:40 PM

R247 Ross and Monica did make out when they were teenagers. He thought she was a pile of coats and Ross was her first kiss ever. 🤢

by Anonymousreply 291December 21, 2018 11:30 PM

None of the six were hot

by Anonymousreply 292December 21, 2018 11:33 PM

Chandler was clearly gay, they ruined him completely by putting him with Monica. He paid for every single thing for Joey and Joey never paid him back? You don't do that for someone who is just a friend. You do it for someone youre hopelessly in love with...

by Anonymousreply 293December 21, 2018 11:34 PM

Aniston was pretty but Cox was beautiful.

by Anonymousreply 294January 19, 2019 9:57 PM

Cox was not beautiful post season 1.

Aniston was FARRRRR hotter as the show progressed.

by Anonymousreply 295January 19, 2019 10:00 PM

R295,I don’t know who was hotter. I don’t like women in that way. I’m saying who was beautiful. It’s not the same thing.

by Anonymousreply 296January 19, 2019 10:15 PM

R293 lives in a sick delusional world where everyone is gay. Fuck off. We are only 3% of the pop.

by Anonymousreply 297January 19, 2019 10:41 PM

r290, that's how I remember this unfunny, crap show. The atmosphere behind the scenes was supposed to be quite homophobic too, according to reports. God, the audience laughs way too loud, every 5 secs, so annoying. Thank god old timey formula sitcoms like this are dead and buried now.

by Anonymousreply 298January 20, 2019 12:15 AM

Most environments are homophobic lmao

by Anonymousreply 299January 20, 2019 12:29 AM

Friends should have ended at the Monica/Chandler wedding. Swap out the pregnancy cliffhanger for a Ross and Rachel reunion and you have a perfect ending. Everything after it was stale and unnecessary.

by Anonymousreply 300January 20, 2019 6:32 AM

Chandler was a quintessential neurotic and self-deprecating straight character. There are plenty of them in fiction, and particularly associated with New York City. The only one who could have been (but wasn't) construed as gay was Joey, and just because he was a slutty actor.

I first saw Schwimmer in The Wonder Years, where he played the boyfriend of the hippy sister. I thought he was hot, even then.

by Anonymousreply 301January 20, 2019 7:25 AM

How did they afford those apartments in NYC?

by Anonymousreply 302January 20, 2019 8:02 AM

R302 rent control

by Anonymousreply 303January 20, 2019 10:50 AM

12 WASPs are white anglo saxon protestants

by Anonymousreply 304January 20, 2019 11:48 AM

Many of you expect waaaaaaay too much realism from television.

by Anonymousreply 305January 20, 2019 11:58 AM
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