Friends (spoilers page 2 onwards, probably)

[The Perineum Falcon]

I think the last line is what made it for me.

[SHAFTR]

And anyone who dismisses Friends as a "10-year-long romantic comedy," or hates it for any other oft-cited or arbitrary reason probably hasn't given it enough of a chance to judge it.  The show is much more than that.

.

I've seen well over a dozen episodes...how many more do I need to give it?

[RegularKarate]

I'm so glad this show is over now.

I was forced to watch it because I got sucked in when it was still a good show.

What a boring, predictable and pandering way to end the series... you could tell towards the end of the last season that they weren't quite sure what was going to happen, once they were positive it was the last season it was all about making sure they give the dipshits exactly what they want.  snnnnnnooooorrrre

had some funny parts though... wasn't any better than just an hour long episode.  

And Kudrow is far from the worst of the cast... so far from the worst that I'd say she's the best.

[Bethie]

I'm so glad this show is over now.

I was forced to watch it because I got sucked in when it was still a good show.

Same here. It seems as if Friends has been on forever. I tease people I know that still watch it, say things like, "ohh yeah, it was good until season 802."

I'm sure the reruns will never die.


*Oh yeah, how about that Pearl Jam song (Yellow Ledbetter) playing while Rachel exits to get on the plane? That was a nice surprise. It made my day.

[ono]

I've seen well over a dozen episodes...how many more do I need to give it?

Watch the first season, which is still just classic now.  That's twenty-four episodes right there, so that'll give you a better idea of what the show is about, what its roots are, why it's so great, or why you hate it with a fiery passion.  Or something.  Or watch season three and four when it really started to peak and grow in popularity and quality.  Those were probably the best episodes overall, though all seasons had their great moments.  A dozen episodes out of 230+ isn't really enough to judge.  And the more familiar you are with the history of the show, the more the jokes will resonate.  Maybe you'll say you still hate it, and that's fine.  But you don't watch ten random minutes of a film and write off the whole thing.  The whole, in this case, is greater than the sum of its parts.

[cine]

I guess I'll chime in here and it'll probably piss off Onomato. I never gave Friends a chance nor did I ever care to. The last view seasons, based on the commercials I've had to see, have led me to believe that the writers were consistently switching up partners and such. Sure, anyone could argue that people do that. They grow up, they fall in love, they want to get married, etc. But I was never interested in what the ads were implying was a Friends soap opera. Blech. These are friends I don't care to know.... ever.

[ono]

Not pissed off really.  To each his own.  But that's the problem with judging a show from the commercials.  The good thing about Friends is that everyone had a character arc that spanned throughout every season.  The show wasn't nearly as "incestuous" as the ads may have made it seem (one thing a lot of people have against it), nor were minorities lacking in the show either (another nitpick I grow tired of hearing, because usually people zero on this as a reason to hate on the show, when it's entirely unfounded).  Also, there's the matter of the "great apartment" that they have.  "They" being Monica and whoever lived with her.  Subletted from her grandmother, whatever, blah, blah, blah.  Explanations for all the gripes people have, as it is with every show.  Chanoey's apartment was always shit, but it was a home.  That's New York for you.

The show is an acquired taste.  You have to appreciate where these people are coming from to understand the humor, which, I guess, is the case with most shows.  And the later seasons aren't nearly as strong as the first, which is why they may turn off some people.  But like I said, great moments all throughout, even this year, and up until the final episode.  I'll give you one thing about the ads, though - they were horrible.  The Enya crap they played a couple years ago did make it seem soapish, and so did some of the "final countdown" ads.  But they were trying to appeal to a sentimentality in their loyal fanbase rather than reel in new viewers with the comedic side of things.  Perhaps a mistake, but then again, what do I know?  The show's still incredibly popular, and it will go down in the annals of TV with M*A*S*H (a show I never even really cared for), Cheers, Full House (the older episodes of this show are still priceless -- the later years, yep, horrible), Seinfeld (consistently great throughout -- that happens with a lot of shows, especially ones that run for eight or more years), and The Simpsons.

[cron]

The show is an acquired taste.  

Red Wine is an acquired taste. Root Beer is an acquired taste. An uninspired american TV show isn't.    

[ono]

The show is an acquired taste.  

Red Wine is an acquired taste. Root Beer is an acquired taste. An uninspired american TV show isn't.    

But Friends is inspired.  ;)

[Alethia]

pretty much everything from season 1 to season 5 is inspired

[Raikus]

I've seen well over a dozen episodes...how many more do I need to give it?

Watch the first season, which is still just classic now.  That's twenty-four episodes right there, so that'll give you a better idea of what the show is about, what its roots are, why it's so great, or why you hate it with a fiery passion.  Or something.  Or watch season three and four when it really started to peak and grow in popularity and quality.  Those were probably the best episodes overall, though all seasons had their great moments.  A dozen episodes out of 230+ isn't really enough to judge.  And the more familiar you are with the history of the show, the more the jokes will resonate.  Maybe you'll say you still hate it, and that's fine.  But you don't watch ten random minutes of a film and write off the whole thing.  The whole, in this case, is greater than the sum of its parts.

I watched Friends from the beginning through the whole Ross' bald girlfriend/beach house episode. I think that's more than enough to judge it by and I found it very cheap, uninspired humor. It was cookie cutter every episode and the actors became really grating (especially Ross). How anyone could watch this show for 10 seasons only confirms my theory that NBC uses an airborne form of cocaine/heroin/ecstasy that is emitted through a television's speakers on their hit shows.

I'm glad it's done. Now Joey can fail in a season and maybe NBC will replace the slot with reruns of Scrubs.

[cron]

All good things must come to an end, as the saying goes, and sitcoms are no exception. After nine incredibly successful seasons, it was time for NBC's FRIENDS to say farewell. In the series finale, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) spot Chandler (Matthew Perry) leaving the city with a mysterious woman, so they trail him to a house in the suburbs. When they get back, they break the news to Monica (Courtney Cox), only to discover that the woman was a real estate agent and that the pair are finally calling it quits on the city. This sparks a series of tender reminiscences, featuring clips from previous episodes, providing viewers with a deeply emotional conclusion to a decade-long relationship. Also included are the series pilot and a version with previously unseen footage.

[Ravi]

I hadn't seen an episode of Friends until it started its syndication run.  I was hooked after the first episode.  

The past few seasons unfortunately turned to the Will and Grace tactic of having a celebrity play an oddball character in an episode just to be able to say "Reese Witherspoon guest stars" in the ads.

Chandler and Monica hooking up was the beginning of the end of the show, and their getting married solidified that.  Sometime later there seemed to be an increase in the silly humor, such as Monica thinking Chandler was masturbating to shark footage or Ross getting the extra dark tan.  I didn't like that they gave Rachel a baby, because that isn't a particularly interesting way to inject emotion into a show these days.  In the past two years or so I didn't care if I missed an episode.

[The Perineum Falcon]

Chandler and Monica hooking up was the beginning of the end of the show, and their getting married solidified that.  Sometime later there seemed to be an increase in the silly humor, such as Monica thinking Chandler was masturbating to shark footage or Ross getting the extra dark tan.  I didn't like that they gave Rachel a baby, because that isn't a particularly interesting way to inject emotion into a show these days.  In the past two years or so I didn't care if I missed an episode.

I can't quite decide when the quality began to decline to me. It was either the season after Chandler proposed or after they get married. I think it was the former. Up until that point the show was great and at the top of its game. But the last two seasons seemed rushed, like they were trying to get years of material crammed into 2 seasons. The humor was off (and I hated Chandler's 'fart' joke in the 2nd to last episode. WTF is that?) and it never really caught up to what it was before.

Perry's the greatest on the show and he was one of the reasons I started watching it.

And, like most, I give Joey, maybe, a season. And that's being nice. It won't be the same without the 5 other people. And besides, I think as Joey gets closer to 40, his stupidity will only be sad not funny. I mean, who wants to watch a 45 year old failing, half-retarded actor?

[cine]

*IMPORTANT*

This is a heads up guys.. if you're going to refer to the ending of the series in another topic, place a Spoiler Warning before you do!

I'm saying this in advance since Crono posted the news about Ryan Adams closing the site and it could get out of hand with somebody spoiling things for others out of the blue. So be considerate and don't spoil anything for others in other threads. Keep it here!

That is all.