Friends

It was a different time. I know Friends may still feel kind of recent, but it started 25 years ago.

White heterosexual middle-class values = Hegemony

I love how there were 30-something actors playing 20-something characters. No one ever had to work, and they had rent-controlled apartments.

Well I'm just asking, eldergay.

It had a lesbian couple with a kid throughout, didn't you notice that?

No OP it was a White heterosexual JEWISH thing

But, you see, everyone thought Chandler - stay with me here - seemed gay, and it was just so hilarious. Because being gay was super funny in the ‘90s.

The three creators of the show are all Jewish.

It's weird to re-watch all those 90s and 00s shows and realise how much things have changed. It was actually mainstream to portray homosexuality as at best embarrassing and at worst disgusting. Even Frasier, which was less homophobic than many of its contemporaries (possibly because so many gay men worked on the show!) features an early episode in which a woman tells Frasier she thought he was gay, and he replies with a sarcastic "Thank you!"

What's the deal with Matthew Perry? Why so many health problems at a (relatively) young age?

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

So what happened to him R10? Why do they all say he never lived up to his promise?

Unfunny show. Ridiculously unrealistic from an all white cast to the apartment sizes. It was Mid-America's idea of how living in NYC was.

Drugs R10. Just say no.

The NY apartments were ridiculous, even for a sitcom.

I don't know why they even bothered to set the show in NY, because those characters were all so fucking LA.

They weren't 30-something playing 20-something. They were all in their 20s, when it started. Lisa Kudrow was the oldest, and she played the oldest on the show.

By the way, they all had jobs, and they were often seen working at their jobs.

The apartments were designed for multiple camera setups, with no fourth wall (where the live audience sat). They seem big, but it's a TV show, waddya want?

[quote]Unfunny show. Ridiculously unrealistic from an all white cast to the apartment sizes. It was Mid-America's idea of how living in NYC was.

Um, the casting was actually realistic. And still is. Even in NYC the races tend to stick together. Of course, there are exceptions.

You know what's unrealistic? The modern shows/movies that feature multiracial friends/co-workers/neighbors/family. In this day and age, it's taboo to portray life as is. Instead, we get an idealized version.

Are you writing from 2004, or something?

Yes, "Friends" was a show that left the airwaves a generation ago that featured a lot of straight white people.

R16 - Was Phoebe the oldest? Also, Courtney was olde than David, even though she played the younger sibling.

I always thought it was a wee bit unrealistic that no one, but them, always had access to that couch in Central Perk.

♥ the all white cast

It was just a bit of fun.

R16/R17 = Bright, Kaufman & Crane

Did they have a 9/11 episode?

R23 = SJW who pretends that we live in a multicultural utopia.

And mediocre white people at that. No wonder it was so popular.

It’s frautastic!

I watched for Joey!

Pretty people with pretty people problems. Hated that show.

Ross' ex-wife was a lesbian. Chandler's father was trans. I think the only gay male on the show was a Canadian figure skater who married Phoebe to get a green card but was actually straight.

The spoof they did on the Nickelodeon show "Game Shakers" was funnier than the entire "Friends" series.

Friends had a problem with gay men and was homophobic towards gay men during its entire run, it’s only upon rewatching years later I realized how bad it was. They had Carol and Susan so they were definitely better towards the lesbians. I don’t recall a single gay male character in the shows run? (At least not one with any significance to the story.)

Chandler should have been gay and Joey, his boyfriend.

He looks gaunt. But fat at the same time. How?

Perry is what all stars look like when they go out without any makeup on, R33.

Well Joy did have a line where he thought all tailors need to measure you by holding your package. Hinting that his tailor had been molesting him for years without him realizing it.

Thanks fucked up homophobic producers.

There were so many gays - Gunther, Chandler’s dad, Ross’s wives, Ben, Richard, Mike.

Those were all minor charters R36.

Most of the creative staff were ugly straight Jews, whose understanding of sex is minor at best. Most couldn't get laid until they had media salaries, so the jealousy towards the more sexually confident gays (on one hand) is fanned by their confusion about their not getting girls meaning they must like men.

So basically, they were ugly AND stupid, and if that black woman writer is to believed, very anti-social and mean.

No wonder people didn't want men like that in their country clubs. (There is also that thing where they must ejaculate all over everything and everybody.) we shouldn't be allowing them to set the tone for our culture, either.

It's so stupid to DEMAND that main vharacters must be of a certain color/race or sexuality. People write abput what yhey want to writte, and you dont have to wtch it if you fon'

It's so stupid to DEMAND that main vharacters must be of a certain color/race or sexuality. People write abput what yhey want to writte, and you dont have to wtch it if you fon'

Ooops, hit the wrong button. Anyway,

It's so stupid to DEMAND that main characters must be of a certain color/race or sexuality. People write about what they want to writte, and you dont have to watch it if you don't want.

SIMPLE as that.

These FRIENDS love to screw.

It's a sitcom. I think it's funny, and it seemed very modern (at the time).

People really take Froends seriously these days. It’s a sitcom. I have a hard time taking it so seriously as to rewatch and dissect the episodes.

Froends - now there's the black version of Friends.

"They had Carol and Susan so they were definitely better towards the lesbians." Are you sure about that?

Ross is in Carol's apartment. He picks up a framed photo from the table and looks at it.

Ross: "Oh, I didn't know that you met Huey Lewis!"

Carol: "That's my friend Nancy"

(audience erupts in laughter)

R46 what's wrong with that?

"No OP it was a White heterosexual JEWISH thing"

"The three creators of the show are all Jewish."

"Most of the creative staff were ugly straight Jews, whose understanding of sex is minor at best."

I'm confused by the significance of identifying their religion and what role it plays.

[quote]The NY apartments were ridiculous, even for a sitcom.

Even [italic]Three’s Company[/italic], set in the similarly expensive Santa Monica, was more believable in this respect: they looked like they were always hurting for money.

Heard that Aniston and the rest of the cast would be open for a reunion. What do you guys think this would be like in 2019?

Phoebe had her coming out and is now married to a woman. They have adopted a black child. Monica and Chandler are still together and have a bunch of new neighbors: a black family, two gay couples and a Chinese family. They live in an upper middle class NY suburb. Chandler's best friend is the black father from next door. Rachel is now a single mum with two kids and has a Latino boyfriend. She has no college degree but is the CEO of some fashion label now. Ross married a black woman and they're happily raising their multi-racial family together. Ross's son is gay and lives with his husband close to Ross. They just had their first child via surrogacy. Joey married an actress and they just found out their eldest child is transsexual. They're very happy about this all their friends and family support them. All of the original "Friends" see each other at reunions, but they mostly spend their time with their new friends now. Of course at least 50 percent of them are black, Latino, gay or belong to some other minority. They all only make politically correct jokes with their old and new friends.

Did I miss anything or is this enough diversity for 2019?

No, "Friends" was just a copy of "Seinfeld." So was "Drew Carey" and "Ellen," and a host of many others.

[quote] No, "Friends" was just a copy of "Seinfeld." So was "Drew Carey" and "Ellen," and a host of many others.

Yes, because Seinfeld invented the notion of a sitcom of friends hanging out. It had never been done in the history of TV.

[Quote] Heard that Aniston and the rest of the cast would be open for a reunion.

Saw a blind item saying Aniston is actually against it and keeps blocking any chance of a reunion. The again, i've seen that get said about every actor from this show.

R53 Thought I read somewhere that she was just on Ellen and said that. But I haven't seen the actual interview just read about it.

Aniston should be ready to praise Friends at every chance. She’s hardly talented. Her fame always mystified me. There is a very real reason everyone was talking about her haircut and not her “talent.”

On the bloopers for We're The Millers, they play the Friends theme song and Jennifer looks like she's ready to kill someone lol

Is Friends the reason all the flyovers started moving to Manhattan?

Matthew Perry was basically the Ben Affleck of Friends, correct?

R58, I don't follow...

Jennifer Anniston acting is like watching a manniquin or a block of styrofoam with hair.

Jennifer is perfectly good, funny, and pretty. I don't know what you are all seeing that I'm not.

Jennifer has good comedic timing.

Our newspaper always claims Friends was the most successful TV show in the 90s. Is this true? I always thought Seinfeld was the most successful.

Friends went many years longer.

r48 You should ask Jews why being Jewish is a such a big part of their identity- even when/if they don't practice the religion

R38, I didn’t realize they had Internet in Ruby Ridge

"You should ask Jews why being Jewish is a such a big part of their identity- even when/if they don't practice the religion"

What on Earth has this subject got to do with the liking or disliking of "Friends"...???

I didn’t understand Seinfeld. I’ve neber laughed at a single episode. It might as well be in a whole other language. Still don’t get it.

They would have never gotten away with the tranny jokes they told and also an actual woman playing the tranny, they probably would have gotten canceled if that was today.

R68. You must be really young. I am an older millennia and I love seinfeld. Friends not so much.

The only ones interested in the Hanukkah Armadillo were the writers.

I would seriously like to know who in the regular fuck said "Hey, we need to do a show about six, white, straight, rich attractive people in NYC". That person needs to be tracked down and punched in the face HARD.

The show sucked because it was unbelievable that anyone would put with Ross.

As a gay man myself, I never found it homophobic and certainly not transphobic. Wasn't the whole concept of the episode with Chandler's "Dad" that he finally comes to terms with his/her identity and forgives him for, apparently, embarrassing him as a kid? That's actually progressive. These days, everything's just supposed to be peachy keen and you should leap for joy when your family member comes out as gay or trans. Has anyone been to the Bible Belt? That's not usually how it goes.

Say what you want about the writing or if things were offensive (anything older than a few years is probably going to offend someone these days, since we've forgotten how to see things within the context of the time period in which they were conceived), but the chemistry between the cast was off the charts and I think that's what really created that magic. You can tell they all really liked each other and played off of one another. Plus, each cast member brought their own personality and quirks that was very appealing to watch. It's one of the best examples of ensemble casting I've ever seen. I don't think there was a weak link in the bunch. They all did what they were supposed to do and served their own purpose.

Sex and the City has aged in a similar way. Some episodes are still wonderful and some are cringe-worthy, but the casting was spot on and the chemistry was great.

We also have to remember that, at that time, both shows were VERY progressive and I remember a lot of groups wanting them taken off the air due to how "risqué" they were. Now that we can show nudity and drop f-bombs on basic cable, it's easy to see how this can all seem quaint.

I’m the poster who didn’t get Seinfeld and I’m not really you g. I just turned 42. Seinfeld was popular when I was steeped in pop culture. Still didn’t understand it.

Loved the show. I never once thought well I walked about it that this was anti-gay. How ridiculous!

As another post says, the most unbelievable thing on the show was how the group always got the couch and best seating in the the coffee shop.

The brilliance of Seinfeld was that it was constantly portraying real, everyday, trivial problems -- not unlike what we gripe about here.

Too many shows only feature "rich persons problems", in other words, problems everyday Americans will never experience. That's why shows like Roseanne became popular. People identified with them.

Whether it was Elaine stuck in traffic or George agonizing over a candy bar stuck in the candy machine, you could look at it and say "Yep, that happened to me."

R78 well said. I also found George constanza relatable because he sometimes acted like a guy I once dated. Neurotic and a paranoid mess sometimes. R72 use your meds.

I’m not white and I never had a problem with friends or sex and the city or even threes company being white because whites are the majority in America. Or they were.

What always puzzled me about friends and Seinfeld though they were obviously shows about Jews nobody ever came out and said they were Jewish did they?? it’s like they were ashamed to be Jewish??

R59 they are both addicts, neither has aged well. Minimal talent.

Transphobia wasn't really called out much back in 1995. We were young, and ignorant back then.

[quote] it’s like they were ashamed to be Jewish??

It seemed they (and the writers were -- none of them had Jewish mothers so they could get around being considered Jews, but they themselves identified too strongly with being Jews, enough in their shame to ignore it...

We remember when Friends debuted in '95. Suddenly it was safe to walk through the city at night again. Friends made the city safe.

How exactly, R84?

I think it was the other way around, r84 -- the streets were safe to walk again, so Friends debuted.

Jews are white?

There is an episode where Joey shares an audition story (to some acting students of his) where he and some other guy audition for a role and he tricks the other one to play the character as gay in his audition (thinking the casting agent would hate it) and the guy gets cast. Joey almost cries at one point when he reveals that his plan backfired.

Remember that nasty bit about the foreskin Monica made for Joey from meat?

Did Iowa really want to hear about that?

I found the gay actor audition thing to be funny and it says more about what Joey thought the casting directors would think than what he thought about gay people.

I do believe there was an episode where the gang enters the coffee shop and there are already people at their spot. So, it did happen once. Should have happened more often.

So a sitcom isn't actually always real? GET OVER YOURSELVES.

r90. It was one of the few moments on the show where homosexuality was mentioned and it was in a way where it was supposed to be a disadvantage but turned out to be an actual advantage that cost scheming Joey the role. So, in a way, Joey fucked himself thanks to his own prejudice.

R93 joey wasn’t prejudiced but he thought the casting directors would be.

[quote]We remember when Friends debuted in '95. Suddenly it was safe to walk through the city at night again. Friends made the city safe.

And since then, NYC has become whiter and straighter. So maybe Friends was ahead of it's time.

The most unrealistic thing is a cafe like that having a waitress. Why didn’t they just order at the counter?

Why does DL allow these race bait threads?

[quote]You should ask Jews why being Jewish is a such a big part of their identity- even when/if they don't practice the religion

Why is that? Not trying to be racist but until I moved to LA I had only met one other Jewish person. I don't introduce my self at a party with my name and then fallow up with my religion. Jews seem to do that all the time in LA.

I always hear about the persecution, I get that but being only 1% of the worlds population, why is Judaism so prevalent in so many movies for example? Why does my new digital stove have a setting for Sabbath? It doesn't have a setting for Ramadan or good Friday. Why is it even in there?

You can tell a good show from the humor and the writing. 60 years later I love Lucy still makes people laugh. Friends on the other hand is dead in the water a decade later. Didn't hold up well at all.

the first two season did hold up. And there are many kids that watch it on Netflix. Grey's and Friends are popular with teens because they binge watch them on Netflix.

I met Swimmer at an event that happened long after Friends ended. Surprising, I thought he was very sexy

2 out of 10 is not a great record R100. I dont know anyone under 50 that watches that show unless you are talking about teens in which case it says a lot about the low IQ audience they draw.

Really shitty show that has not aged well at all.

Jews were prevented from farming or owning land. They were forced into money lending (Christians outlawed it for themselves) They valued education and responded to murderous anti-Semitism by helping one another. Showbiz was thought to be scummy and they thrived there. Maybe if we'd let them farm and hadn't killed them, they wouldn't have the power that makes you so uncomfortable. Antisemites are so mentally ill.

Oh, it's boo-hoo time.

And usually boo-hoo time is very one-sided

Did no one point out that one of the creators is gay???

[quote]Showbiz was thought to be scummy and they thrived there. Maybe if we'd let them farm and hadn't killed them.

Wow, that's a stretch of 2000 years of justification. Maybe a scummy business attracts scummy people. Or maybe if they had ethics it wouldn't be a scummy business, ever think of that?

[quote] [R93] joey wasn’t prejudiced but he thought the casting directors would be.

That his true. He thought the plan would work, but it didn't.

On another thread someone claimed that Courteney Cox, who is from Alabama, was racist and made some racist remarks on the set of Family Ties. Anyone know the story?

Oh do shut up, R99. No-one is watching I love Lucy while Friends is Netflix's most popular show across all age groups.

[quote]You can tell a good show from the humor and the writing. 60 years later I love Lucy still makes people laugh. Friends on the other hand is dead in the water a decade later. Didn't hold up well at all.

How clueless are you? Friends is more popular now than ever.

R111 right it has aged well for a 90’s show and their target audience is young adults it was never meant to be grandmas like r99

Both it and MASH were the most unfunny shows of their time.

I'm not American and modern American tv shows especially comedies confuse me in the way race isn't considered a factor or ever mentioned when choosing friends or marital partners. Everyone has equal validity and differences are apparently never considered. How true is that in American life including in the most progressive areas?

I also do not understand the Kardashians who reject any partner with a white middle class background similar to their own. They aren't choosing black doctors or lawyers either. They choose black athletes and rappers from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Side question how long can MeTV keep playing MASH?

I think they’ve played it nightly for 10 years.

Mash and the cosby show are the most overated of all time. R115 because the dinasaurs that grew up on that crap show are still walking on earth.

Hate to burst your bubble but I love Lucy was and is the most watched TV show of all times. Friends is half way down the list.

[quote]I also do not understand the Kardashians who reject any partner with a white middle class background similar to their own. They aren't choosing black doctors or lawyers either. They choose black athletes and rappers from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Trash attracts Trash. Simple as that.

MASH for better or worse lasted longer that the real war they were supposed to be in.

>>>>I don't introduce my self at a party with my name and then fallow up with my religion. Jews seem to do that all the time in LA.

How does that work? Do they immediately say which synagogue they belong to?

My favourite sitcom is Curb Your Enthusiasm and it is by far the funniest show I have ever seen. All of the main characters are wealthy Jews. However, I don't always get the humour.

There was one episode where Larry discovers his birth parents are Gentiles and so he is not himself Jewish. He suddenly starts doing things that Jews typically do not do, eg hunting, fishing, fixing cars and eating meat with dairy products. All this had to be explained to me.

If you must know R12, they say something like my name is _____. Then a few sentences later, "not doing bad for a Jew" or some other reference to Jews. It always comes up out of their own admonition yet no one asked. Even worse are the ones that make side comments about "goyim".

I actually when I was young, I had a guy try to hit on me in a gay bar and reference himself as a Sephardic Jew. I didn't even know what that was. Why would you mention that to someone you just met?

Maybe so you don't accidentally say something antisemitic? Look how it infested a thread about the whitest show ever made. If racists shoved rants about spaghetti or even dick into conversation like they do race, they'd maybe realize how fucking weird they are.

People mention in conversations that's important to them in some way. May that be religious or political affiliation. Or HIV status, social status, that they own the latest model of an Apple gadget, that they traveled to some exotic place, New Age philosophies, work-out routine or wonder nutrient supplement, etc.

I imagine that Jewism can be a good way, one of many, for social networking.

[quote]People mention in conversations that's important to them in some way. I imagine that Jewism can be a good way, one of many, for social networking.

Well that's what I am saying, but its odd that Jews seem to want to brig it up so soon and frequently as compared to other people of other religions. I never hear Muslim, Catholics, Buddhist boast about their religious affiliation so relentlessly in public. Usually I have to ask people what their religious view is if any. Jews on the other hand make it perfect clear whether people want to know it or not.

[quote] Well that's what I am saying, but its odd that Jews seem to want to brig it up so soon and frequently as compared to other people of other religions.

That it's still odd for you says more about you than you think.

Its not about me R126, it's an observation that many people can confirm. Every group be it religious, race or affiliation have some unique characteristics that define them. To point them out does not make one racist, sexist or whatever you are trying to imply.

[quote] it's an observation that many people can confirm.

Do they find it as odd as you do? Do they find it so odd that they have to make each other remember how odd it is?

"You should ask Jews why being Jewish is a such a big part of their identity- even when/if they don't practice the religion"

What on Earth has this subject got to do with the liking or disliking of "Friends"...???

Why is there this conversation about Jewish people here?

What purpose does it serve?

Why is there one person who keeps bringing it up?

R129 Monica, Rachel and Ross were all jewish?

Yes, R130.

R129. I always found that interesting. As yes, Monica, Ross and Rachel were all Jewish yet the writers/creators (who were also Jewish) never created any key storylines featuring it, until the Christmas armadillo episode, where Ross suddenly starts going all Rabbi on his son.

Also, Chandler was created as a closeted gay character. There’s a fascinating bit of insight given by Lisa Kudrow on a TVemmylegends interview.

Apparently, as far as jobs went Friends was set to be a major TV project and a lot of now ‘name’ actors were up for each role. The only exception was the Monica role which was between Nancy McKeon and Courtney Cox (both of whom were well known at the time). Cox was cast first, the other actors had to go through prolonged audition processes.

Kudrow said that each character was incredibly drawn prior to the auditions. So the creators knew exactly how that character had to be. The actors were all auditioned on the Warner theatre stage, which Kudrow said was the killer for a lot of these auditioning actors, as they’d never done theatre work. Therefore when they went on the stage to audition, they fell to bits.

Kudrow said once cast, there was prolonged processes of costumes and look etc, with even this being decided already and the actor having little input. The cast never actually met until the first read through.

Kudrow then said at the read through, that Matthew Perry amazed her. As she said he did something in this table read which “turned this clearly gay character” straight. So it’s evident from this statement, and the vast amount of time spend in the process (leading up to that first read through) that Chandler was being referred to as ‘the gay one’.

After the way Perry played the character in the pilot, the writers would have started giving him more heterosexual lines (eg referring to woman etc). But had Perry not played against what was written on the page, they would have turned Chandler into a stereotypical gay character.

Friends heavily played up to stereotypes (look at Joey as an Italian or Phoebe as a vegetarian). Can you imagine if they had continued with Chandler being gay? This wasn’t Will & Grace where you had the Will character to counteract the Jack one.

[quote]What on Earth has this subject got to do with the liking or disliking of "Friends"...???

It demonstrates how Hollywood power brokers who are mostly Jewish exert their religion onto mainstream entertainment in an attempt to normalize them as part of society. However, since they are such a tiny percent of the worlds population, 1% or less, they are vastly over represented compared to the 1 billion Muslims in the world who never seem to be written into characters backgrounds like Jews.

^^^ You need to stay away from society.

Joey: Ross, if homo sapiens actually were HOMO sapiens, is that why they're extinct?!

Ross: Joey, homo sapiens are people.

Joey: Hey, I'm not judging!

[quote] Hate to burst your bubble but I love Lucy was and is the most watched TV show of all times. Friends is half way down the list.

That webpage you link to says nothing about which is most watched.

"For this list, we’re taking a look at 10 such television series that remain fixtures of the small screen, despite the fact that nearly all of them have long vacated the airwaves."

So...no.

In that case, R118, you must live at the local refuse dump along with all the other pig-ignorant racist filth.

I think most of Friends has held up fairly well. Some good jokes in there and, as noted, the chemistry between the actors goes a long way. Some of the fashions are a bit dated and some storylines might have to be tweaked if they were on the air now, but one could say the same thing about I Love Lucy.

What was the story with Chandler's parents? Wasn't his father played by Kathleen Turner as a gay female impersonator or something?

I could never understand how the other four could be close friends with the Joey and Phoebe characters. They were so one note; Joey - stupid, and Phoebe - flaky. Chandler's jokes became tiresome and lame to me as well.

[quote]I could never understand how the other four could be close friends with the Joey and Phoebe characters. They were so one note; Joey - stupid, and Phoebe - flaky. Chandler's jokes became tiresome and lame to me as well.

Plus, the others had a long history -- Joey and Phoebe were just roommates -come-lately.

It made no sense that Phoebe was friends with the rest and the show eventually acknowledged it. In the later seasons she did nothing but insult everyone around her and it was a mystery why she was still friends with them.

In the early 90s, right before Friends, was a show called Living Single starring Queen Latifah. It was about a group of black friends living in Brooklyn. They had no real white friends except for an occasional guest star and it focused heavily on black culture. I enjoyed the show (I am white) and thought it was entirely believable that black people didn't have a bunch of white friends; the same is true of Friends. It actually is still believable today. I think people just naturally gravitate toward the familiar even though black and white may be friendlier and socialize more with each other. I think the token black or white friend on a TV show is ridiculous since they are never shown being friends with member of their own race which is more unbelievable.

[Quote] Some of the fashions are a bit dated

90s fashion is in right now.

The kind of person still obsessed with "Friends." This is sad, so sad.

"Friends addicts here. Really. 3 couples, we all have our designated characters. I’m Phoebe. Our house is Monica’s apartment. The lions club is our central park. Dont care about the haters. This was sent in our “Friends” chat. Already planning a trip from Gettysburg Pa.to find a pottery barn. Will they have Jennifer Aniston’s dog? So want one."

I used to watch it when I needed to zone out. Pleasant diversion.

I think the clannishness of the six is the reason for the appeal with people like the Gettysburg PA frau. It's for people who never moved out of Gettysburg and still have the same friends they did in high school. The Golden Girls and Sex & the City were different because there was always that external tension, dating outside the group, the "other", while Friends avoided that because it paired off four of the six into couples. That's why the "Joey" spinoff failed, because the fans didn't care what happened to Joey when he ventured outside the clan.

Friends is by far the most overrated and unfunny sitcom in TV history. It's success to this day baffles me, but doesn't surprise me at all. Same audience elected Trump, so there's that. The only good thing about Friends is Lisa Kudrow.

Seinfeld is the only "straight-washed" sitcom I can bare to watch, because it was that innovative and funny. It could have been even more daring if it had at least a recurring gay character.

It was a very silly show, and no, I don't mean by that that it was humorous. It was ludicrous.

I was the exact age and demographic that this show was targeted to and ostensibly about. You had these supposedly struggling twenty-somethings living in enormous NY apartments brimming with overstuffed sofas and quirky flea market finds, when in reality my friends and I lived in sparse, bare-walled apartments with, maybe, an actual (used, crappy, likely stained and ripped) sofa and not a futon, or maybe a bedframe and not a mattress on the floor. TV Friends had trendy and clearly expensive haircuts (one become an actual cultural phenomenon); my real friends were lucky to find a job cutting hair.

If you want to do a show about rich kids, do a show about rich kids. Don't do a show about supposedly struggling kids and present them as having all the trappings of rich kids. It's insulting.

It was just stupid. And it does NOT age well. Their treatment of LGBT folks was pretty bad in retrospect.

I agree there is something Trumpian about contemporary Friends-watchers. Can't put my foot in it but it's there.

[quote] I get that but being only 1% of the worlds population, why is Judaism so prevalent in so many movies for example?

Are you sure you live in LA or know the history of who founded Hollywood to begin with? I'm starting to think we got some deplorable amongst us. I'm half-Jewish on my moms side, so technically a full jew and no one in my Jewish family even talks about religion or practices anything.

This business was created by Jews and still manages to employ a majority of jews, so it stands to reason it would be presented in the shows. What is amazing to me as someone who works in this business is how underrepresented gays and bisexuals are, since we're the majority of the creative force in cinema and tv.

I remember when the show was criticised for being too white, so they brought in Charlie - a beautiful, intelligent, successful (but extremely bland) black woman. It was such blatant tokenism.

Even 25 years ago, their lily-white New York experience was highly suspect. 6 young people living and working in NYC and not one of them is Latino, black or Asian?

[quote]I agree there is something Trumpian about contemporary Friends-watchers. Can't put my foot in it but it's there.

It's what I wrote about. Watching Friends in 2019 is #MAGA to the core; MAGA = Make Sitcoms Whites-only Again.