Anybody Else Really Glad Friends is GONE???

taz · Post by **taz** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:29 am

I know we'll still be doused in reruns but I swear that show and everybody talking about it for the last six months has been driving me crazy...

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:32 am

Friends is the most unfunny, homophobic show I've ever seen.

David Schwimmer... you can just tell that guy is the biggest asshole you could ever meet (His appearance on Curb Your Enthusiasm may have helped me make that decision).

Post by **BlueChair** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:33 am

It's called acting, wehitandrun.

I could go either way about Friends. I don't hate it, but I certainly don't love it. I agree that it's about time it finished, but we're going to be plagued with reruns for a very long time, so it doesn't make a huge difference.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:36 am

all the hubbub about the End of Friends--if I were ARL, I'd said Bush was behind it.

taz · Post by **taz** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:45 am

I guess I always had a bias against it because it was so obviously derivative of Seinfeld (as Larry David has said repeatedly, going so far as to take a shot at the show in his - very unfunny - movie Sour Grapes)...

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:57 am

i haven't seen an episode of this show this century. i'm amazed at the fascination w/ this stuff and "reality" shows, zero of which i have ever seen either. course, i guess many folks find it stupid to go to ballgames, or to drive 300 miles to see elvis, so leave people alone i guess. nothing you can do about the dumbing-down of america; we're unstoppable.

Post by **BlueChair** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:59 am

Come on, there's a huge difference between sitcoms and 'reality shows.' That's really the only thing that's kind of sad about Friends going off the air. It's one of the few sitcoms left that anybody actually watches, except Everybody Loves Raymond which I think is the worst show on television.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Fri May 07, 2004 10:06 am

BlueChair wrote:...Everybody Loves Raymond which I think is the worst show on television.

You should come and watch some of the UK's "comedy" shows...

And there is a British fascination with any type of programme that takes off.

If a makeover programme is successful then dozens of the same type are then commissioned. Similarly reality programmes, The Top 100 whatever, ...From Hell programmes etc.

I quite like Friends to sit and watch with Mrs VG to while away half an hour. I would never sit and watch it on my own. Why would I anyway when there are Simpsons and MASH DVDs to watch?

Friends will be one of those programmes that will always be on.

The One With No End In Sight.

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Fri May 07, 2004 10:11 am

SPACED and THE OFFICE!

Hah, sorry, I love those shows.

Blue, I know what acting is... and David Schwimmer is bad at it.

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Fri May 07, 2004 10:24 am

Friends was a smart, funny, well-acted and fairly addictive show. I was no great fan but I always enjoyed catching the occassional episode. That said, I completely agree that the way the series finale was shoved down everyone's throat could make someone pull a Charles Whitman.

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Fri May 07, 2004 11:16 am

Friends was Smart, El Vez? I don't know about that.

Watching the lead up the series finale, I counted over 15 homosexual jokes, with around 4 in a row. Now, not to say that homosexual jokes can't be smart- we all know they can flat out genious... just not with the sitcom twist(and the laughtrack).

I can't stand sit-com laughtracks. The audience watching at home really needs those, so they can know when they're supposed to laugh.

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Fri May 07, 2004 11:16 am

I honestly don't know where some people find the free time to become so wrapped up in a television show. I think I watched Friends the first season it was on the air because I had just had my second child, was broke, and didn't ever leave the house much. The first season was okay, but episodes I have managed to pick up over the years through scattered reruns or catching an occasional new episode once a season (or less) made me realize that it just wasn't even as good as that first season.

If anyone saw the Daily Show last night, you had to laugh as John Stewart said, "You know, "Friends" the show may be over, but you can actually go out and get friends of your own - just like the show."

RedShoes · Post by **RedShoes** » Fri May 07, 2004 11:28 am

Friends was a show I tried pretty hard to not like. I didn't like it at all when it first came out (I was in 6th grade at the time) and almost never watched it until I came to university. My roommate 2nd year was obsessed with it - so it became a weekly activity to watch together and I reluctantly became hooked. I was never one to plan my nights around TV the schedule, but if it was on I'd likely watch. The show itself I think is pretty good, however the hype surrounding it is pretty obnoxious. It's a <i>tv show</i> for goodness sake...I don't particuarly feel some great bond with Ross or Chandler or Monica or Rachel....they're just characters on a TV show. I guess I just think it's pretty sad when people invest so much emotional energy on whether or not Ross & Rachel end up together. That said, I was happy they did.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Fri May 07, 2004 11:37 am

Incredibly overrated show. Couldn't wait for the hype to end. Good riddance.

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Fri May 07, 2004 2:32 pm

I've never even seen one episode, it didn't appeal.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Fri May 07, 2004 8:01 pm

Yeah, shoulda gone 5 years+ ago. All that production line bollocks with absurd wage demands. There's some fantastic comedy on the telly over here, stuff with more edge. I've waxed in other threads. Black Books, Nighty Night, Little Britain, The Office. All very good. Have heard Curb Your Enthusiasm's great. Must try and find it. Anyone know any UK cable channels running it?

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:48 pm

Otis Westinghouse wrote:Yeah, shoulda gone 5 years+ ago. All that production line bollocks with absurd wage demands. There's some fantastic comedy on the telly over here, stuff with more edge. I've waxed in other threads. Black Books, Nighty Night, Little Britain, The Office. All very good. Have heard Curb Your Enthusiasm's great. Must try and find it. Anyone know any UK cable channels running it?

Otis:

I've fallen in love with "The Office". Great show. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is superb.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Fri May 07, 2004 10:31 pm

I've always sort of disliked "Friends" on principal, there's some sort of creepily complacent about the whole thing -- with the exception that Matthew Perry is actually a moderately funny guy and Lisa Kudrow is a minor comic genius -- though not neccessarily on "Friends." Nevertheless, the show is done very, very professionally well (which is a lot different that actually being good) and it has gotten me too laugh hysterically at least twice -- a bit involving a jellyfish sting and its unpleasant cure, as well as the entire episode which introduced the character of Lisa Kudrow's half brother, played by Giovanni Ribisi.

That being said, I really hate the characters. And I actually kind of agree a little with Wehit about Schwimmer. There's something about the guy -- he has some talent, but he always seems to be about to sort of fall in love with himself as "the ugly guy that women actually find cute" or something. He was funny on the final episode (all of seen) of "Curb" from this year -- but I once was on a flight sitting about five rows behind him and -- while I can't possibly justify this opinion -- he really did seem "that way." And, actually, a lot of acting is being yourself (in a way) anyhow.

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Sat May 08, 2004 8:18 am

Otis - Curb.... turns up on BBC4 every now and then. The best recent comedy over here imo was Grass.

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Sat May 08, 2004 10:22 am

See, Bobster, we of the Whedon/Elvis axis can see through these people. Schwimmer is an asshole, and that's that.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun May 09, 2004 3:41 pm

Saw a bit of Grass, and chuckled, but not mowed down. Should have watched some more of it to get more into it, you often need to with good stuff. What's really crap is the ITV Thurs 9pm or something show that has an incredible all-star line-up of new (Coogan, Vic and Bob, loads more) and old (Ronnie Corbett, George of george and Mildred, etc.), and it's almost laugh free. Very poor material.

Poppet · Post by **Poppet** » Mon May 10, 2004 9:33 am

never cared for Friends.

nor, Seinfeld. just don't get it at all, and don't care to.

i expect to eventually own all of Buffy on DVD. i'll rent Angel (since i haven't loved it like i did Buffy) and see if i want to own it. Likewise Firefly.

and, My So-Called Life. been catching snippets on Nog-N (Nickelodeon's teen channel, which runs late nights), and i like it. Not love, but like.

and movies! I saw part of The Penalty, w/ Lon Chaney, last night. He tucked his legs behind him and had them strapped w/ leather to play the part of the double-amputee. Okay, yes, it is weird, it is a silent movie from like 1920, but my GOD, what an amazing thing to do for a role.

SoLikeCandy · Post by **SoLikeCandy** » Mon May 10, 2004 10:49 am

I thought the Friends finale was way over-hyped. It was like they expected the nation to mourn with the cast. Sure--I watched Friends--but only because it came on before Will and Grace, to which I am hopelessly and shamelessly addicted.

Friends bothered me on several levels. First, it had the Woody Allen Factor--the fact that there were NO black people on the show. Like, ever. Until Aisha Tyler was on for a few episodes (during which the fact that she was black was completely ignored--perhaps to show the audience that the Manhattan of Friends is color-blind?), only the occasional Asian showed up--usually someone sleeping with Ross. I'm not saying there was some conspiracy, but how is it that these six people can live in Manhattan and NEVER deal with Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, blacks, and/or Asians more often?

There was also the very strange situation of all of these un- and semi-employed people who were able to pay rent on kick ass NYC apartments, as well as Joey's superhuman stupidity.

Still, I watched and enjoyed the show. It's fantasy--a chance to get away from real life for 23 minutes and commercials. That's what TV is about, right?

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Mon May 10, 2004 1:26 pm

I'd just rather spend my 23 minutes watching Undeclared.