Individually, I think all the stars of Friends are more or less appealing, especially the women (although what the hell is up with Matthew Perry gaining and losing weight like a woman? get it together, pud), but collectively and in character on the show, I have found them well nigh insufferable since about the third season. It's very arch and twee and insular, and ... in a word, ick.
So anyway, the show is finally going away after ten years and trying to avoid the Seinfeld trap:
- Since its Sept. 22, 1994, debut, "The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate" (every episode title starts "The One"), "Friends" has ranked consistently among the top 10 shows on U.S. television, becoming an integral element of pop culture in the process.
But now, after 236 episodes, the show about six friends who share space in one another's apartments and meet for coffee at "Central Perk," a mythical Manhattan cafe, will conclude its 10-season run with a one-hour retrospective and one-hour final episode on May 6.
"It's clearly going to be remembered as one of the great sitcoms of all time," said Bruce Fretts, a senior correspondent at TV Guide magazine. "The stars all aligned on this show. The perfect cast, the perfect time slot, the perfect time in our culture to have a show about friends as our family."
Be it Jennifer Aniston's hairdo — which became known simply as the "Rachel" adorning heads in many countries — or Matt LeBlanc's much-imitated pickup line "How you doin,"' as Joey, the show became part of the national psyche.
....More than that, though, it became a linchpin of NBC's schedule and enriched its stars - Aniston (Rachel), Courteney Cox Arquette (Monica), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe), LeBlanc (Joey), Matthew Perry (Chandler) and David Schwimmer (Ross).
For creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, the final show was in some ways as much for them as for the viewers.
"We didn't want people to be disappointed of course, but we're pretty tough on ourselves, so I think mainly what we wanted to do was make ourselves happy," Kauffman said on a recent conference call with reporters.
Article comments
1 - jadester
i dunno, for all it's flaws, Friends has alot of relevance to many people, even if we don't like to admit it. Although the group of six close friends i'm with don't exactly match up to the Friends characters.
i dunno, maybe it's actually that Friends causes us to get into some similar situations (tho thankfully, none of us is pregnant yet =+)
2 - NC
... white. Made by caucasians for caucasians. The show's always given me the creeps.
3 - Eric Olsen
creepy caucasians
4 - duane
Made by caucasians for caucasians.
Yeah, I'm sick of shows about white people. Especially American white people. What a crazy concept, anyway. Why can't American TV produce something that we can relate to, like, say, a sitcom based on the day to day antics of six young members of the Tukuna tribe of the Amazonian rain forest? Episode 1: Chimidyue is stalked by a British anthroplogist as she searches for poison for her blowgun. She darts the interloper and carries him home to the gang. Hilarity ensues after Intimyduaya falls for the uptight scientist, much to the chagrin of the jealous Byudakanui.
5 - Franky
Good Lord,
Crusing through the article, I was stunned to see the complete seasons available on DVD. I pitch this question forward in to the internet: what type of cretin buys Friends on DVDs?
6 - ClubhouseCancer
Re: Friends DVDs
I think any way this cruelly underrated series can reach a wider audience is just great. Those of us with esoteric tastes are used to searching high and low for the stuff we love, but it's not always possible for everyone to uncover what I call "hidden gems" like Friends.
What if someone's cable service doesn't, for instance offer any ... channels?
7 - Eric Olsen
Keen observation CC - our cable company, Adelphia - the one with the officers under indictment and various other minor issues like bankruptcy hanging over its collective head - has no channels whatsoever showing on a semi-regular basis, and on those occasions Friends is routinely nowhere to be found.
8 - Tom Johnson
Congrats and best of luck in the future for all involved. Now go away.
Ah, come on, you can't tell me you aren't eagerly looking forward to the first episode of "Joey," can you? I bet it's just going to rule. A whole show around Joey! Just Joey! It'll probably be as great as those Laverne & Shirley episodes in LA where Shirley no longer exists. Man, those were great.
9 - Rodney Welch
People get so pissed off at anything wildly successful; admitting you like it or that it's funny seems to make you a member of the common denominator. Well, so what. I love the show, think it's very frequently hilarious, and -- as was true of other James L. Brooks shows like "Taxi," "Mary Tyler Moore," "Cheers" and the soon-to-be-gone "Frasier" -- I'll miss seeing all the characters. Does that make me a vulgarian? Fine. I learned long ago that widespread disdain is an exceedingly tiny price to pay for enjoyment. The show's a classic that will survive forever in reruns; your grandchildren will look at you strangely when you try to convince them it's bad.
10 - TDavid
Friends was good the first five or six seasons but the whole Ross/Rachel thing went on way too long, IMO. They also did the same thing with Monica's wedding which spanned all of season 7. Suspense? Not really. More like: get to the point.
But funny, yes, many times Friends was funny.
11 - jadester
ah, but in my experience anyway, there're plenty of people out there who are so stupid and self-absorbed that such things as a "will-they-won't-they" relationship really can drag on for seemingly ever.
Anwyay, it's a moot point now. I must admit i'm glad they didn't drag it out to loads more series.
An example of a show that, on the other hand, is still going from strength to strength after more episodes than friends (i think, because although only in season 6, it has about 20 episodes a season), is That 70s Show. I hear it's big in the US, but for some criminal reason, here in the UK i haven't even seen mention of it (e.g. in interviews with Ashton Kutcher)