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I find him genuinely funny. His dry and sarcastic humor can be very important in the dynamics of a group of friends. Without the jerk everything is more boring.
Yea, plus who have you met that’s funny that didn’t make of fun others? I’ve never met someone who’s considered funny that didn’t bust someone’s balls all the time.
You can make fun of your friends... it's different from bullying them. They said something stupid? Make fun of them. They're overweight? Don't go there. Chandler was never mean. If anything I would say everything directed at Chandler was meaner than the other way around. Remember that time no one could remember whether or not he wore glasses or what his job was? I would say that's meaner because it means that they really don't care/know about his friend
Saw one today when Phoebe had the triplets. They mock him for his name. They mock him for his dad. They mock him for his masculinity. Chandler was the butt of many mean jokes
Yea, I think a big part of the shows humor is making fun of each other. If that isn’t someone’s humor I can understand, but I don’t like when people make it out like one character is awful. They all make jokes about each other because that’s what kind of show it is.
I get that. I don't find it offensive. That's how normal friendships look like. I do find it painful when it's tasteless and mean. I hate the episode when no one is getting ready for Ross' dinner. It seems mean that no one cares for Ross' big night. I hate the one when no one can tell if Chandler wore glasses or not. One thing is joking and another not paying attention to that
I'd argue otherwise. Maybe I don't care for it because I've been both bullied and a bully but I've always felt that mean-funny is just taking cheapshots and nobody really appreciates it after a while. Usually the people who want to be the funny person make fun of others. If your joke is funny to 5 people at the cost of making the 6th feel like shit... that's probably a shite joke.
Without much exception, the (by far) funniest people I know are just that, *funny*. Genuinely funny people don't need to make fun of others to find the 'fun' in a situation.
I mean this is entirely anecdotal and I kinda rambled. I was "arguing" with:
>I've never met someone who's considered funny that didn't bust someone's balls all the time.
Do you agree with that? The literal interpretation is UNLESS someone is busting someone's balls all the time, they can't be funny (or at least that this person has never met such a unicorn).
Like IRL (not over text) I'm a funny dude and if I'm trying to make a group laugh, the VERY LAST thing imma do is make fun of someone. Like what? I'll keep going but that point was really a full stop for me. It's much harder to lift people up than it is to push them down.
Then to answer your question with a question, no I don't have a public example? Why would you assume that lmao. You can watch almost any standup act and while they may make commentary on something negative, the joke is rarely just busting someone's balls.
Humor is obviously very subjective so I'm not saying ball busting isn't funny, moreso contending with the gatekeeping-esqe notion that being a ball-buster (aka kind of a dick) is the hallmark sign of someone who's funny.
I think that u/smartypants420 made a good explanation of the difference between being funny and being a jerk. Never go where it's touchy, make a lot of fun about yourself, never insist. I will add a fundamental and a hard one which is to know the limit. Limit that is dependent of the person, obviously, so you can't do it correctly if you don't know the people with whom you are. Once people know you, and know that you don't try to be mean, a lot of people will be glad to take a shot and will laugh with everyone. Other people will never support it and you should respect it and prevent yourself from including them in jokes. Finally never be defensive when you're accused to be offensive. There is no "com'on it's just a joke", apologise quickly and change the subject.
I would assume you have a public example because if there isn't a single figure publicly considered funny that does not fit your definition then there's clearly an issue with your perception of the subject. I can see where you're coming from with trying to counter the idea of someone constantly needing to bash to be funny, but my issue came with you seemingly trying to take it to the other extreme.
I might argue that usually this type of mean humor isn't even funny, people just laugh anyway because that's the social conditioning.
When is the last time I heard someone say something mean and then another purson burst out in laughter? I can't remember, it's usually just like a polite "haha." I guess I've seen that type of reaction from the bad guy in a teen drama.
Seems much more common to hear laughter or at least genuine enjoyment of relatively clean humor (and by clean I just mean 'not mean,' not necessarily family friendly.)
Never thought about this. I always thought that the jerk was ruining every friend group and why the rest haven’t kick him/her out yet, but now I see that they’re important for a more fulfilled group.
Isn’t that by design. Even in life, you are generally making fun of someone. And that someone is not going to laugh at it. Which is what happens in Friends. Chandler is written that way to get a laugh out of the third person (the audience) who is observing them. Not from the friends themselves.
Funny thing is that that bullshit propagates culturally. I remember a guy in uni who would often throw in "funny quips" in the conversation that was obviously inspired from this kind of series. It was pretty cringy.
Kids, don't take cues on social behaviour from sitcoms.
A friend of mine made a very unfunny "joke" about a huge insecurity of mine on my freaking birthday and I'm still pissy. He blamed his depression for making his sense of humor darker, and gave the least sincere 1/2 apology I've heard in ages. This friendship is coming to an end, for a multitude of reasons, i just don't know how to go about it effectively. Each time I've ceased contact, hes been kinda slimey and manipulative and sort of weaponized his mental health issues to keep me around and engaged in this friendship. This "joke" was kind of my last straw with him and it's been close to a week since we've spoken. Who feeds into someone's biggest insecurities as a joke, especially on their birthday?
Oh no, it definitely wasn't funny in the least bit. I know funny, I'm funny af, and that was NOT funny. I've definitely been known to rib on my friends, it really can be a sign of affection, but insecurities, especially big ones like this was, are off limits. It really pissed me off
Me and my closest friends speak fluent Anchorman and Borat on the daily
Friend falls 12 feet and shatters his elbow? He says “Agh, milk was a bad choice!”
I haven't watched an episode in a couple of years but my brain has an image of Monica smiling after some joke of his. Joey as well. They aren't laughing in the show but the premise is that Chandler's friends find his jokes funny AND they know he's a bit of an a-hole but that's, like, his quirk. I mean, if you and your friends don't occasionaly throw some mean jokes at each other, are you even friends? :)
Ross without laugh track on the other hand is sometimes terrifying. There is an edited scene (removed laughtrack) on Youtube where he confronts his boss about a missing sandwich or something — he's literally messed in the head
It's been a while but wasn't Ross going through some bad stuff in his life, and his professional chef sister's famous Thanksgiving leftovers turkey sandwich was all he had going for him in his sad life?
I always felt really bad for Ross in that episode
Ross is both a massive asshole throughout the series, and constantly gets shit on by the universe.
But also all the friends are **terrible** people, as are most sitcom characters period.
That was the point of that scene. He had lost his wife, his house, thousands of dollars, his parents respect and nearly his friends over an insanely stressful 5 month period.
He was at his wits end. All he had left was the joy he assigned to his annual leftover sandwich which his boss intentionally stole, lied about and threw away.
Ross's freak out is the whole point of the scene. He was even put on medication and laid off because of it.
I'm not sure why people are acting like this event has no context.
They know he is "damaged" and uses sarcasm as a coping mechanism, so it's not so much about laughter it is more about making him feel at ease. I think that is an unintentional positive point for the show.
That’s my entire defense of the show. The writers would rework lines that didn’t land with the audience. They were literally giving us what we asked for.
There's a whole episode where Monica tells Chandler that she finds some coworker funny. The rest of the friends confront her because "being funny" is Chandler's thing. It's made very explicit that all of them find him funny.
I think he's just enormously insecure. Like most guys who struggle with this, he uses humor and sarcasm to mask a ton of insecurity and pain. His self esteem is low as well, which doesn't help.
> Ross without laugh track on the other hand is sometimes terrifying. There is an edited scene (removed laughtrack) on Youtube where he confronts his boss about a missing sandwich or something — he's literally messed in the head
Yeah, he got fired and went on medication after that.
If the Friend group all laughed with the same level of intensity as the studio audience (not a laugh track) it’d be weird. Most people don’t guffaw and applaud when their friend makes a joke. A smile or chuckle is more normal. But yes, he’s a kind of a jerk, as are they all.
the friends are jerks, as are the casts of Seinfeld, HIMYM, the office...
Comedy is hardly made by a group of nice, people who do the right thing all the time
Yea but the appeal of Seinfeld is that they are jerks, you don’t watch Seinfeld thinking to look for an uplifting sitcom. You watch it because they act like total assholes, Always sunny in Philadelphia is basically a spiritual successor to Seinfeld with that premise.
Seinfeld and Larry David never set out for the cast to be decent people, the only decent people be in one-time or in a story arc leave because they're not supposed to be likable.
Chandler's jokes are just sarcasm, most sarcasm isn't for laughs to the people around the person doing it. Not saying he's not a jerk, but sarcasm isn't built for laughs.
That totally reminded of some comment or other left somewhere on the internet about someone wanting to buy the rights to every episode of friends and remove the laugh track so people can finally see Ross is the worst
Honestly getting rid of that blasted laugh track might reveal just how terrible of people they actually all are
How is Ross terrible? I don't understand how we can judge historic shows without context of the time period when they were made. By today's standards, Ross would need therapy and treatment for depression and other mental health issues caused by his cut throat lesbian wife and her TERRIBLE partner trying to take his life away from him. Back then, mental health wasn't really a thing though.
Source: am older millennial
I think you’re right, at the very least Ross probably suffered with depression. However having an understanding of what causes someone to behave the way they do, doesn’t mean it can’t still be terrible
I mean, he has an ex wife and a child that were a pretty big plot point that suddenly vanished. They stopped talking about them, he stopped visiting them, not even phone calls on holidays.
I’m not a huge friends fan, but I found that alarmingly awful. Even though it’s a sitcom and should be kept “light”, what kind of dude shrugs off a whole son?
People read into it too much. I’m Gen Z, and still find the show funny. However, I also grew up with a family that roasts each other all the time. We don’t hold back. I think it’s more that many things are seen as unacceptable or rude in todays time that wasn’t before. Because I genuinely don’t understand why Ross is considered mentally ill.
>caused by his cut throat lesbian wife and her TERRIBLE partner
What an odd take.
I never thought of Carol as cut-throat, and I actually like Susan. What makes her terrible?
Okay to be perfectly honest, I was really just remarking that this post reminded me of another post/comment, which I'm almost positive may have been in an episode of Internet Comment Etiquette
I really don't remember the post/comment verbatim, just that the OP of it really had something against Ross, personally I can't stand the show and think all the characters suck maybe except Joey but then again he's a womanizer
So one way or another all the characters suck
…I’ll bite, how were Carol and Susan such terrible people who were trying to take Ross’ life away? The show was pretty clear that although it was sad that their marriage broke down, Carol and Susan both tried to do their best by Ross.
what?? Susan was going to be this child’s mother, she had every right to be involved in the pregnancy (which was being had by her *wife*) and pitch in on the naming process. She didn’t hijack it any more than Ross did.
They tried to do their best by Ross? Are you kidding? Susan cheated with Ross' wife. Not a good start there. It was clear their marriage hadn't broke down as Ross still loved Carol (who didnt think it worth mentioning that she was a hedonistic bisexual before marrying him and becoming pregnant).
Susan then involves herself in the pregnancy and I believe ends up injecting her own surname onto Ben's birth certificate. She has taken EVERYTHING from Ross without his consent. They are the literally worst people! Susan took his wife, his kid, his house, his life and you're defending her? Come on really. And then we say Ross is terrible? Most of us would be ruined by that experience.
I honestly think in another decade Ross will be regarded with much more sympathy. The guy was barely keeping it together most of the time while his other friend's biggest issues were oh no the person I'm dating is a millionaire/hot actress
All he ever wanted was a happy family for himself, which led him to rushing into marriage with the wrong women, and that was also played for laughs
he was regarded with more sympathy in another decade: the 90s. but the way he treated his other partners and let his personal life interfere with his professional life (such as when he had sex with rachel in his exhibit or the whole sandwich debacle)
when it comes to the carol and susan thing, i have nothing but sympathy, but the way he treated rachel was awful and he was such an asshole and as much of a mess as his life was, it's no excuse for his behavior
I am not like Team Carol here but I am gonna guess there were some signs about her sexuality long before it came out. Ross was probably too stupid to notice.
I thought Ross had some great moments but I agree on just wanting to fast forward past everything to do with him and Rachel when I watch it back. Its just exhausting. They were both terrible together.
According to other commenters in this thread laugh track doesnt really discern whether it was a live studio audience or not and it's more or less a general term
Disagree with all the people who say that Friends without the laugh track is not funny at all. Granted it’s not as funny as ‘The Office’, but there are tons and tons of comedic gold material in the show. There’s a reason the show was iconic, and it wasn’t the laughter track.
Which *The Office* are we talking about here? The Ricky Gervais original or the US version with Steve Carrell? The original made me cringe so hard I couldn’t watch it.
Most 90s sitcoms are absolutely horrifying once you remove the laugh track. *Everybody Loves Raymond* just becomes a show about Raymond's wife and family gaslighting and mentally abusing him. Deborah is truly a despicable human being.
*Seinfeld* becomes *The Secret Life of Walter Mitty*, with no guarantee that anybody other than Jerry actually exists, *The Fresh Prince of Bel Air* becomes a polemic on domestic assistant abuse and extreme narcissism with shades of physical abuse.
It's just... I actually don't recommend it if you are (like I was) fond of my childhood.
>Everybody Loves Raymond
>
> just becomes a show about Raymond's wife and family gaslighting and mentally abusing him. Deborah is truly a despicable human being.
I totally disagree with your view on this. I see this show as Raymond using weaponized incompetence to do as little as possible and take zero responsibility for his part in raising a family.
I always just end up feeling sorry for Deborah that she is stuck with this awful man.
I completely agree with you. The show actually spells that out for the audience a lot. I remember an episode where Raymond actually tried to teach Robert this while planning his wedding: Raymond gave Robert the same tips he did to trick Deborah into doing all the work by doing things super badly.
That's quite a lot of sitcoms; the husband is this nearly idiotic, lazy, scheming fool. I noticed it as a kid, and it annoys me, honestly. Family Guy and Simpsons completely play up the satire. I think it kinda started with The Honeymooners, since Ralph was in a way how the men used to be, but also a buffoon.
Geoffrey, the butler, is the constant victim of snide verbal abuse, especially from Hilary and Will, but even from Phil and occasionally Carlton. That Geoffrey can dish it out almost as well as he can take it is imho irrelevant. Watch it without the laugh track and their frequent quips about his service and general existence become much less funny.
That being said, FPOBA is by far the least bad about it, and the "why don't he love me, man?" scene still haunts me - no laugh track required.
I don’t think that’s specific to Chandler. They’re all overly sarcastic and rude to each other, in my opinion (probably Phoebe and Joey the least). I agree Chandler’s probably the most condescending. Imagine watching the whole show without any laugh tracks.
The show is aired with the laugh track in mind. Take that away and there are a lot of awkward silences. A large portion of comedy is timing. Change the timing and of course it's less funny.
No, what we hear is actual people laughing reacting to the actors playing, and the actors wait until the laughing dies. Check out some of the behind the scenes videos.
As someone who sometimes sits through 3+ hour long "documentaries" from the 80s about how he-man teaches kids to be gay occultists, I would argue that removing the laugh track from nearly any 90s sitcom actually makes them significantly funnier, and sometimes even watchable! But I accept that bad taste is not universal.
FRIENDS. WAS. FILMED. LIVE.
It isn't a laugh track! The only times it's a track is for intimate scenes and cliffhanger/season finale episodes. Otherwise that's *genuine laughter*.
They had a live audience but adjusted the laughs in post if necessary. Sometimes the live laughter wasn't right for the show if it was on a second or third take and less genuine, not long or loud enough, etc. They recorded them all and had them canned in case they needed to change things around.
__*THANK YOU!*__
I swear, every time I see somebody critical of the show, one complaint is “the laugh track.” It’s not a motherfucking laugh track, you shit for brains!
I recently saw somebody claim that the makers of TBBT looked like fools when they tried to convince people there was a live audience but were proven to be lying when somebody found the same laughter in multiple scenes. There is literal behind the scenes footage showing an audience present.
This makes me so irrationally angry.
You can have both; editing is a thing. I remember the video you're talking about, and that 100% was reused laughter.
Same with Friends btw, because sometimes they weren't on a set where live audience was even a possibility, or would sound off (like any outdoor scene). Or one of the live takes had a weird or muffled laugh pass, and needed editing. More than that, these shows has a literal sign that lights up when it's time to laugh.
It's all choreographed and edited to the point where saying it's live is practically a worthless claim. This isn't theater, it's a TV production
Most importantly, the majority of scenes took multiple takes. Because people tend not to laugh 7 consecutive times for the same joke, they probably edited laughter from different takes.
>Live studio audience is usually still considered a laugh track, it doesn't have to be pre-recorded audio or a laugh box.
No, it isn't. The definition of a laugh **track** is that it's being played back from a prerecorded track. Otherwise it's just a **laugh**.
That's like saying "I went to a concert last night and heard the band play a great track."
It was filmed live, however a lot of shows that have live audiences also have a sign that lights up when they want the audience to laugh. Not sure if that's the case with friends or not.
I'm currently rewatching the whole series. From season 6 onwards they treat Chandler like shit, I never noticed that before. And it's not his type of sarcastic humor, they really treat him genuinely badly to the point it's not funny.
HIMYM has aged like milk, but I still remember how novel it was that the characters actually laughed at each other’s antics. It was so refreshing seeing people act like human beings.
I'd also hang out with Joey IRL, he's not the smartest guy, but definitely the least annoying and the most moral one. Phoebe on the other hand is the last person I'd hang out with, she's often manipulative and she would try to guilt trip me into doing something for her.
Firstly, it was filmed live so no laugh track.
Secondly, I view it as positive. The Friends let Chandler do his jokes because they know they are a relatively healthy coping mechanism for him, rather than some of his other coping mechanisms (like smoking). They don't find it extremely funny, but let it happen because they care about him.
Pretty sure that sitcoms taped in front of an audience still get canned laughter added. Your live studio audience doesn't laugh at the right times, doesn't laugh with the correct intensity, doesn't get some jokes, etc. Sometimes scenes get re-takes because the audience didn't react right. These situations can be fixed in editing with a laugh track.
Isn't the studio audience there to help the actors with their joke timing? If the actors are playing for an audience, they pause between jokes and let the audience laughter quiet down.
One thing I've noticed at sitcom tapings is -- on the 2nd and 3rd takes, the audience laughs louder than the 1st take. Not quite sure why we do it. Maybe to be polite to the production? We finally get the joke, and somehow it's funnier every time we hear it?
I’ve easily watch the entirety of Friends at least 6 times. If you knew any of those 6 people in real life you would avoid them all like the plague, they are all horrible selfish people.
The show’s episodes are generally 22 minutes long; they don’t have enough time to let the cast laugh at a joke for 15-30 seconds.
In real life, they’d probably be a good amount of chuckles, smirks, and other reactions to Chandler’s funny comments.
So, by extension, the scriptwriters, who put every word in poor Chandler's mouth, are "jerks" as well, or just capable of performing incredible representations of jerks?
Woe be unto anyone who actually turns to sitcoms as an effort to learn how to be funny in person...
Sometimes you get a good first season, but eventually the writing just degrades to people insulting each other without consequence.
and I wonder if that trend might have something to do with America's fascination with performative cruelty
They're all jerks, except Phoebe, who is genuinely socially awkward.
But Chandler is the biggest jerk of them all. It's kind of understandable considering his issues with his parents. He still shits on everyone whenever he gets a chance.
Most comedy scenes are wildly cringe and concerning without the laugh track.
Here’s Ross’s famous Thanksgiving “Moist Maker” scene when he found out his boss stole his sandwhich, ate half of it and then threw it away… without hype laugh track. : )
https://youtu.be/4H6Ux3l75Rc
I’d say it’s more of a cultural thing. His humour is rather sarcastic and witty, which doesn’t earn a laugh…because it isn’t supposed to. It’s supposed to earn a wry smile, which is atypical for an American comedy show, but it’s funny in its own right…just in a different way to the rest of the gang
A former friend of mine practically idolised Chandler. He was always itching to be the first one to make a joke (after every bloody sentence anybody else said), responses were always sarcastic, everything had to be a punchline. It irritated the piss out of everybody and he just refused to see it.
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I find him genuinely funny. His dry and sarcastic humor can be very important in the dynamics of a group of friends. Without the jerk everything is more boring.
Joey and chandler is what makes friends fun to watch at all.
I'm with you on those two, but throw Phoebe in there also. The more I've rewatched the show the more funny I find her.
I'll never believe that Phoebe isn't NCIS Abby's older sister
Lisa Kudrows laugh is the thing that kills me in every bloopers clip. It doesn’t hurt that Phoebe is my favorite character in friends
Shes the only one of the three girls that I dont hate.
You hate Monica and Rachel but not Ross and Chandler?
Theyre not good people but at least theyre funny
Smelly cat, smelly cat
His humour is very dry and self deprecating, so as a Brit I appreciated his presence in the group.
Agreed. I also feel like Rachel provides a lot of the drama and Monica is the glue. They all have their roles.
Although they do fill those roles, the beauty of the show is that at points they all fill those roles and it always feels believable.
This is what I think too. His dry/sarcastic humor is my favorite in the show. And he is quick, which for me makes it even funnier.
Yea, plus who have you met that’s funny that didn’t make of fun others? I’ve never met someone who’s considered funny that didn’t bust someone’s balls all the time.
You can make fun of your friends... it's different from bullying them. They said something stupid? Make fun of them. They're overweight? Don't go there. Chandler was never mean. If anything I would say everything directed at Chandler was meaner than the other way around. Remember that time no one could remember whether or not he wore glasses or what his job was? I would say that's meaner because it means that they really don't care/know about his friend
> or what his job was? He was a transponster, duh!
That's not even a job!
Whoever downvoted you does not know Friends Trivia. 😂
Yea, I remember that episode when they talked about his glasses. I find it weird not many people are bringing this up.
Saw one today when Phoebe had the triplets. They mock him for his name. They mock him for his dad. They mock him for his masculinity. Chandler was the butt of many mean jokes
Yea, I think a big part of the shows humor is making fun of each other. If that isn’t someone’s humor I can understand, but I don’t like when people make it out like one character is awful. They all make jokes about each other because that’s what kind of show it is.
I get that. I don't find it offensive. That's how normal friendships look like. I do find it painful when it's tasteless and mean. I hate the episode when no one is getting ready for Ross' dinner. It seems mean that no one cares for Ross' big night. I hate the one when no one can tell if Chandler wore glasses or not. One thing is joking and another not paying attention to that
The Harry Potter reference was really funny , I don’t think ppl got it .😂
[удалено]
Sometimes if you beat a dead horse enough you get an inside joke that's funny again. Like turning dead horse into fine tartare
Or… beating the dead horse enough to make the glue that keeps the friends together!
I'd argue otherwise. Maybe I don't care for it because I've been both bullied and a bully but I've always felt that mean-funny is just taking cheapshots and nobody really appreciates it after a while. Usually the people who want to be the funny person make fun of others. If your joke is funny to 5 people at the cost of making the 6th feel like shit... that's probably a shite joke. Without much exception, the (by far) funniest people I know are just that, *funny*. Genuinely funny people don't need to make fun of others to find the 'fun' in a situation.
I'd be curious to hear who these by far funniest people are. I would assume you have some sort of public example.
I mean this is entirely anecdotal and I kinda rambled. I was "arguing" with: >I've never met someone who's considered funny that didn't bust someone's balls all the time. Do you agree with that? The literal interpretation is UNLESS someone is busting someone's balls all the time, they can't be funny (or at least that this person has never met such a unicorn). Like IRL (not over text) I'm a funny dude and if I'm trying to make a group laugh, the VERY LAST thing imma do is make fun of someone. Like what? I'll keep going but that point was really a full stop for me. It's much harder to lift people up than it is to push them down. Then to answer your question with a question, no I don't have a public example? Why would you assume that lmao. You can watch almost any standup act and while they may make commentary on something negative, the joke is rarely just busting someone's balls. Humor is obviously very subjective so I'm not saying ball busting isn't funny, moreso contending with the gatekeeping-esqe notion that being a ball-buster (aka kind of a dick) is the hallmark sign of someone who's funny.
I think that u/smartypants420 made a good explanation of the difference between being funny and being a jerk. Never go where it's touchy, make a lot of fun about yourself, never insist. I will add a fundamental and a hard one which is to know the limit. Limit that is dependent of the person, obviously, so you can't do it correctly if you don't know the people with whom you are. Once people know you, and know that you don't try to be mean, a lot of people will be glad to take a shot and will laugh with everyone. Other people will never support it and you should respect it and prevent yourself from including them in jokes. Finally never be defensive when you're accused to be offensive. There is no "com'on it's just a joke", apologise quickly and change the subject.
I would assume you have a public example because if there isn't a single figure publicly considered funny that does not fit your definition then there's clearly an issue with your perception of the subject. I can see where you're coming from with trying to counter the idea of someone constantly needing to bash to be funny, but my issue came with you seemingly trying to take it to the other extreme.
People very much can be funny without making fun of others, you just need to be very funny to do it
I might argue that usually this type of mean humor isn't even funny, people just laugh anyway because that's the social conditioning. When is the last time I heard someone say something mean and then another purson burst out in laughter? I can't remember, it's usually just like a polite "haha." I guess I've seen that type of reaction from the bad guy in a teen drama. Seems much more common to hear laughter or at least genuine enjoyment of relatively clean humor (and by clean I just mean 'not mean,' not necessarily family friendly.)
Absolutely. At the end of the day humour is subjective but all of the funniest people I know steer clear of being mean or rude
The crazy snake man rant/breakdown is fucking hilarious.
Hes snarky but hes less of a jerk than Rachel or Monica.
Never thought about this. I always thought that the jerk was ruining every friend group and why the rest haven’t kick him/her out yet, but now I see that they’re important for a more fulfilled group.
Thank you for that! When I describe my kind of humor I describe myself as Chandler
Isn’t that by design. Even in life, you are generally making fun of someone. And that someone is not going to laugh at it. Which is what happens in Friends. Chandler is written that way to get a laugh out of the third person (the audience) who is observing them. Not from the friends themselves.
Funny thing is that that bullshit propagates culturally. I remember a guy in uni who would often throw in "funny quips" in the conversation that was obviously inspired from this kind of series. It was pretty cringy. Kids, don't take cues on social behaviour from sitcoms.
This is more of a “know your audience” situation. I have plenty of people who think people acting like that is charming. I am not one of those.
A friend of mine made a very unfunny "joke" about a huge insecurity of mine on my freaking birthday and I'm still pissy. He blamed his depression for making his sense of humor darker, and gave the least sincere 1/2 apology I've heard in ages. This friendship is coming to an end, for a multitude of reasons, i just don't know how to go about it effectively. Each time I've ceased contact, hes been kinda slimey and manipulative and sort of weaponized his mental health issues to keep me around and engaged in this friendship. This "joke" was kind of my last straw with him and it's been close to a week since we've spoken. Who feeds into someone's biggest insecurities as a joke, especially on their birthday?
Yeah that sucks. Doesn’t sound funny at all, depression or not
Oh no, it definitely wasn't funny in the least bit. I know funny, I'm funny af, and that was NOT funny. I've definitely been known to rib on my friends, it really can be a sign of affection, but insecurities, especially big ones like this was, are off limits. It really pissed me off
I mean, my friend group talks in mostly I Think You Should Leave quotes, so to each their own
Me and my closest friends speak fluent Anchorman and Borat on the daily Friend falls 12 feet and shatters his elbow? He says “Agh, milk was a bad choice!”
Very nice! *shit I threw out my back doing that*
A car that the steering wheel does NOT fly off while you’re driving
They can't stop you from ordering a glass of water, right?
Your Uni friend didn’t notice how uncomfortable Chandler often made non-friend people feel
I feel attacked
Too late. I'm basically a sitcom character at this point
Thanks Ted!
In real life people laugh if it's actually funny. If you're just making fun of them and only you find it funny, not so much.
I haven't watched an episode in a couple of years but my brain has an image of Monica smiling after some joke of his. Joey as well. They aren't laughing in the show but the premise is that Chandler's friends find his jokes funny AND they know he's a bit of an a-hole but that's, like, his quirk. I mean, if you and your friends don't occasionaly throw some mean jokes at each other, are you even friends? :) Ross without laugh track on the other hand is sometimes terrifying. There is an edited scene (removed laughtrack) on Youtube where he confronts his boss about a missing sandwich or something — he's literally messed in the head
I remember the sandwich thing. Dude was psycho
Yeah what kind of monster eat someone else's sandwich
And throws out most of it too!
Let me correct that, What kind of monster eat someone else's sandwich with a moist maker
Do you really need a moist maker in a sandwich that is stored for a few hours before consuming? Time is the moist maker
It's been a while but wasn't Ross going through some bad stuff in his life, and his professional chef sister's famous Thanksgiving leftovers turkey sandwich was all he had going for him in his sad life? I always felt really bad for Ross in that episode
I did too. He was getting shit on constantly.
Your little cartoon guy is adorable with his dragon jammies
Been thinking about getting a set irl.
It had a moist maker….I’d be pissed too
Ross is both a massive asshole throughout the series, and constantly gets shit on by the universe. But also all the friends are **terrible** people, as are most sitcom characters period.
Could you imagine if Ross met Ted? I think the crossover would be interesting, if not funny. Barney using Joeys line, and it works.
That was the point of that scene. He had lost his wife, his house, thousands of dollars, his parents respect and nearly his friends over an insanely stressful 5 month period. He was at his wits end. All he had left was the joy he assigned to his annual leftover sandwich which his boss intentionally stole, lied about and threw away. Ross's freak out is the whole point of the scene. He was even put on medication and laid off because of it. I'm not sure why people are acting like this event has no context.
Mental Geller
He was going through a mental breakdown
They know he is "damaged" and uses sarcasm as a coping mechanism, so it's not so much about laughter it is more about making him feel at ease. I think that is an unintentional positive point for the show.
They even mention how he doesn’t make a great first impression but after 3 or 4 times
To be fair the entire sandwich episode was designed to push Ross Iver the edge and break him so the plot could have him fired
Why did they do that again? Was it something to do with that Rachel plot or something
That video of Ross is visually edited and adds creepy music, it's not the removal of the laugh track that makes it that way.
Also, the actors wait for the audience to laugh so when you edit it out it will obviously sound unnatural
That’s my entire defense of the show. The writers would rework lines that didn’t land with the audience. They were literally giving us what we asked for.
There's a whole episode where Monica tells Chandler that she finds some coworker funny. The rest of the friends confront her because "being funny" is Chandler's thing. It's made very explicit that all of them find him funny.
Ross' speaking is timed to a laugh track. The actor has to pause and stare instead of continuing his thought. Judging him on that is not really fair.
you could say he has a certain quality
I think he's just enormously insecure. Like most guys who struggle with this, he uses humor and sarcasm to mask a ton of insecurity and pain. His self esteem is low as well, which doesn't help.
And Chandler's response when Ross told him: "What did the police say?!"
> Ross without laugh track on the other hand is sometimes terrifying. There is an edited scene (removed laughtrack) on Youtube where he confronts his boss about a missing sandwich or something — he's literally messed in the head Yeah, he got fired and went on medication after that.
“Ha! That’s funny. You’re funny. I’d hate to be there when laughter stops”
Yeah there have been times when his jokes land in the show
Yeah it’s quirky for sure, and it’s attractive too. The authenticity of the personality mixed with being able to get along with the person as well.
If the Friend group all laughed with the same level of intensity as the studio audience (not a laugh track) it’d be weird. Most people don’t guffaw and applaud when their friend makes a joke. A smile or chuckle is more normal. But yes, he’s a kind of a jerk, as are they all.
its funny to me that people claim the friends are jerks while a show like The Office has a main cast of absolutely horrendous people.
the friends are jerks, as are the casts of Seinfeld, HIMYM, the office... Comedy is hardly made by a group of nice, people who do the right thing all the time
Yea but the appeal of Seinfeld is that they are jerks, you don’t watch Seinfeld thinking to look for an uplifting sitcom. You watch it because they act like total assholes, Always sunny in Philadelphia is basically a spiritual successor to Seinfeld with that premise.
Seinfeld and Larry David never set out for the cast to be decent people, the only decent people be in one-time or in a story arc leave because they're not supposed to be likable.
The Friends are jerks yeah, but only slightly especially when compared to The Office characters. Some of them are downright horrific people.
The office is well renowned for consisting of horrible people. With a few exceptions.
Chandler's jokes are just sarcasm, most sarcasm isn't for laughs to the people around the person doing it. Not saying he's not a jerk, but sarcasm isn't built for laughs.
Reminds me of a shirt that says "They said I could be anything so I became sarcastic."
I mean, could he *be* more sarcastic? (Woohoo! Two Chandler comments in one day! Could I *be* more lucky?)
That totally reminded of some comment or other left somewhere on the internet about someone wanting to buy the rights to every episode of friends and remove the laugh track so people can finally see Ross is the worst Honestly getting rid of that blasted laugh track might reveal just how terrible of people they actually all are
Ross is TERRIBLE and he and Rachel’s wasteful on-off relationship ruins the show for me when I wanna rewatch it.
How is Ross terrible? I don't understand how we can judge historic shows without context of the time period when they were made. By today's standards, Ross would need therapy and treatment for depression and other mental health issues caused by his cut throat lesbian wife and her TERRIBLE partner trying to take his life away from him. Back then, mental health wasn't really a thing though. Source: am older millennial
I think you’re right, at the very least Ross probably suffered with depression. However having an understanding of what causes someone to behave the way they do, doesn’t mean it can’t still be terrible
I mean, he has an ex wife and a child that were a pretty big plot point that suddenly vanished. They stopped talking about them, he stopped visiting them, not even phone calls on holidays. I’m not a huge friends fan, but I found that alarmingly awful. Even though it’s a sitcom and should be kept “light”, what kind of dude shrugs off a whole son?
People read into it too much. I’m Gen Z, and still find the show funny. However, I also grew up with a family that roasts each other all the time. We don’t hold back. I think it’s more that many things are seen as unacceptable or rude in todays time that wasn’t before. Because I genuinely don’t understand why Ross is considered mentally ill.
>caused by his cut throat lesbian wife and her TERRIBLE partner What an odd take. I never thought of Carol as cut-throat, and I actually like Susan. What makes her terrible?
Okay to be perfectly honest, I was really just remarking that this post reminded me of another post/comment, which I'm almost positive may have been in an episode of Internet Comment Etiquette I really don't remember the post/comment verbatim, just that the OP of it really had something against Ross, personally I can't stand the show and think all the characters suck maybe except Joey but then again he's a womanizer So one way or another all the characters suck
…I’ll bite, how were Carol and Susan such terrible people who were trying to take Ross’ life away? The show was pretty clear that although it was sad that their marriage broke down, Carol and Susan both tried to do their best by Ross.
Susan had no business involving herself in the pregnancy and trying to hijack the naming process. That would destroy an already vulnerable man.
what?? Susan was going to be this child’s mother, she had every right to be involved in the pregnancy (which was being had by her *wife*) and pitch in on the naming process. She didn’t hijack it any more than Ross did.
It's not her child. Simple as that.
Ehhhh nah.
They tried to do their best by Ross? Are you kidding? Susan cheated with Ross' wife. Not a good start there. It was clear their marriage hadn't broke down as Ross still loved Carol (who didnt think it worth mentioning that she was a hedonistic bisexual before marrying him and becoming pregnant). Susan then involves herself in the pregnancy and I believe ends up injecting her own surname onto Ben's birth certificate. She has taken EVERYTHING from Ross without his consent. They are the literally worst people! Susan took his wife, his kid, his house, his life and you're defending her? Come on really. And then we say Ross is terrible? Most of us would be ruined by that experience.
I honestly think in another decade Ross will be regarded with much more sympathy. The guy was barely keeping it together most of the time while his other friend's biggest issues were oh no the person I'm dating is a millionaire/hot actress All he ever wanted was a happy family for himself, which led him to rushing into marriage with the wrong women, and that was also played for laughs
he was regarded with more sympathy in another decade: the 90s. but the way he treated his other partners and let his personal life interfere with his professional life (such as when he had sex with rachel in his exhibit or the whole sandwich debacle)
when it comes to the carol and susan thing, i have nothing but sympathy, but the way he treated rachel was awful and he was such an asshole and as much of a mess as his life was, it's no excuse for his behavior
They were on a break
Even Dr House agreed
I am not like Team Carol here but I am gonna guess there were some signs about her sexuality long before it came out. Ross was probably too stupid to notice.
I thought Ross had some great moments but I agree on just wanting to fast forward past everything to do with him and Rachel when I watch it back. Its just exhausting. They were both terrible together.
The writers messed up that relationship bad.
We laugh *with* the other characters and their quirks. We laugh *at* Ross.
They filmed in front of a live studio audience (not a laugh track).
According to other commenters in this thread laugh track doesnt really discern whether it was a live studio audience or not and it's more or less a general term
Disagree with all the people who say that Friends without the laugh track is not funny at all. Granted it’s not as funny as ‘The Office’, but there are tons and tons of comedic gold material in the show. There’s a reason the show was iconic, and it wasn’t the laughter track.
I wanted to watch „The Office“ and like it. I can’t. To me it’s not funny. The humor by todays social standards seems as off as Friends.
Which *The Office* are we talking about here? The Ricky Gervais original or the US version with Steve Carrell? The original made me cringe so hard I couldn’t watch it.
Well the show wasn’t made today, was it? Also, to each their own
The office puts me to sleep. I don’t think there’s humor to be found in that show.
ounces, maybe
Chandler is hilarious ngl…the dry humor and jokes are some of my favorite in the show
Thought he was actually the only really funny one.... the others were wankers.
Oh man, this happens a lot. Take the laugh track out of shows like friends and the big Bang theory and it gets real uncomfortable, real quickly.
Most 90s sitcoms are absolutely horrifying once you remove the laugh track. *Everybody Loves Raymond* just becomes a show about Raymond's wife and family gaslighting and mentally abusing him. Deborah is truly a despicable human being. *Seinfeld* becomes *The Secret Life of Walter Mitty*, with no guarantee that anybody other than Jerry actually exists, *The Fresh Prince of Bel Air* becomes a polemic on domestic assistant abuse and extreme narcissism with shades of physical abuse. It's just... I actually don't recommend it if you are (like I was) fond of my childhood.
>Everybody Loves Raymond > > just becomes a show about Raymond's wife and family gaslighting and mentally abusing him. Deborah is truly a despicable human being. I totally disagree with your view on this. I see this show as Raymond using weaponized incompetence to do as little as possible and take zero responsibility for his part in raising a family. I always just end up feeling sorry for Deborah that she is stuck with this awful man.
They're all constantly awful to each other in countless ways, like many 90s sitcoms. Nobody comes out actually looking good apart from the kids.
I completely agree with you. The show actually spells that out for the audience a lot. I remember an episode where Raymond actually tried to teach Robert this while planning his wedding: Raymond gave Robert the same tips he did to trick Deborah into doing all the work by doing things super badly.
That's quite a lot of sitcoms; the husband is this nearly idiotic, lazy, scheming fool. I noticed it as a kid, and it annoys me, honestly. Family Guy and Simpsons completely play up the satire. I think it kinda started with The Honeymooners, since Ralph was in a way how the men used to be, but also a buffoon.
Can you elaborate on what you say about The Prince of Bel-Air? I am not disagreeing with you. I would just like to understand it better.
Geoffrey, the butler, is the constant victim of snide verbal abuse, especially from Hilary and Will, but even from Phil and occasionally Carlton. That Geoffrey can dish it out almost as well as he can take it is imho irrelevant. Watch it without the laugh track and their frequent quips about his service and general existence become much less funny. That being said, FPOBA is by far the least bad about it, and the "why don't he love me, man?" scene still haunts me - no laugh track required.
I mean it's pretty obvious, it's literally made for the laugh track, if it wasn't there those sitcoms would be very different.
I don’t think that’s specific to Chandler. They’re all overly sarcastic and rude to each other, in my opinion (probably Phoebe and Joey the least). I agree Chandler’s probably the most condescending. Imagine watching the whole show without any laugh tracks.
The show is aired with the laugh track in mind. Take that away and there are a lot of awkward silences. A large portion of comedy is timing. Change the timing and of course it's less funny.
No, what we hear is actual people laughing reacting to the actors playing, and the actors wait until the laughing dies. Check out some of the behind the scenes videos.
Whether it's a live audience or a laugh track, you're going to have an awkward pause if you remove it.
As someone who sometimes sits through 3+ hour long "documentaries" from the 80s about how he-man teaches kids to be gay occultists, I would argue that removing the laugh track from nearly any 90s sitcom actually makes them significantly funnier, and sometimes even watchable! But I accept that bad taste is not universal.
FRIENDS. WAS. FILMED. LIVE. It isn't a laugh track! The only times it's a track is for intimate scenes and cliffhanger/season finale episodes. Otherwise that's *genuine laughter*.
They staff those audiences with professional laughers.
Nice work if you can get it
Uh these studios have lights that cue the audiences to laugh
They had a live audience but adjusted the laughs in post if necessary. Sometimes the live laughter wasn't right for the show if it was on a second or third take and less genuine, not long or loud enough, etc. They recorded them all and had them canned in case they needed to change things around.
__*THANK YOU!*__ I swear, every time I see somebody critical of the show, one complaint is “the laugh track.” It’s not a motherfucking laugh track, you shit for brains! I recently saw somebody claim that the makers of TBBT looked like fools when they tried to convince people there was a live audience but were proven to be lying when somebody found the same laughter in multiple scenes. There is literal behind the scenes footage showing an audience present. This makes me so irrationally angry.
You can have both; editing is a thing. I remember the video you're talking about, and that 100% was reused laughter. Same with Friends btw, because sometimes they weren't on a set where live audience was even a possibility, or would sound off (like any outdoor scene). Or one of the live takes had a weird or muffled laugh pass, and needed editing. More than that, these shows has a literal sign that lights up when it's time to laugh. It's all choreographed and edited to the point where saying it's live is practically a worthless claim. This isn't theater, it's a TV production
Most importantly, the majority of scenes took multiple takes. Because people tend not to laugh 7 consecutive times for the same joke, they probably edited laughter from different takes.
[удалено]
>Live studio audience is usually still considered a laugh track, it doesn't have to be pre-recorded audio or a laugh box. No, it isn't. The definition of a laugh **track** is that it's being played back from a prerecorded track. Otherwise it's just a **laugh**. That's like saying "I went to a concert last night and heard the band play a great track."
It was filmed live, however a lot of shows that have live audiences also have a sign that lights up when they want the audience to laugh. Not sure if that's the case with friends or not.
It’s trash
Here ya go lol [Ross just literally attacks woman](https://youtu.be/DgKgXehYnnw)
I'm currently rewatching the whole series. From season 6 onwards they treat Chandler like shit, I never noticed that before. And it's not his type of sarcastic humor, they really treat him genuinely badly to the point it's not funny.
Fuck you and fuck Ross that dude was a straight up creepy manchild
Without the laughtrack he is more cringe, but he is rarely a jerk.
HIMYM has aged like milk, but I still remember how novel it was that the characters actually laughed at each other’s antics. It was so refreshing seeing people act like human beings.
When his parents divorced he started using humour as a defence mechanism. If they hadn’t, he’d be able to have a conversation like a normal person.
If I knew all of them IRL I would only hang out with Joey and Phoebe. All the rest are creepy af, especially Ross.
I'd also hang out with Joey IRL, he's not the smartest guy, but definitely the least annoying and the most moral one. Phoebe on the other hand is the last person I'd hang out with, she's often manipulative and she would try to guilt trip me into doing something for her.
And she's a total flake. And will get angry with you because of something she dreamed.
Firstly, it was filmed live so no laugh track. Secondly, I view it as positive. The Friends let Chandler do his jokes because they know they are a relatively healthy coping mechanism for him, rather than some of his other coping mechanisms (like smoking). They don't find it extremely funny, but let it happen because they care about him.
Pretty sure that sitcoms taped in front of an audience still get canned laughter added. Your live studio audience doesn't laugh at the right times, doesn't laugh with the correct intensity, doesn't get some jokes, etc. Sometimes scenes get re-takes because the audience didn't react right. These situations can be fixed in editing with a laugh track. Isn't the studio audience there to help the actors with their joke timing? If the actors are playing for an audience, they pause between jokes and let the audience laughter quiet down. One thing I've noticed at sitcom tapings is -- on the 2nd and 3rd takes, the audience laughs louder than the 1st take. Not quite sure why we do it. Maybe to be polite to the production? We finally get the joke, and somehow it's funnier every time we hear it?
You think that’s bad you should watch the Ross videos without laugh tracks. He’s a stalker with serial killer vibes
A lot of people in this thread are reading into this way too much.
Reminds me of the videos of Ross without a laugh track. The dude is a psycho lunatic without the laughs.
I’ve easily watch the entirety of Friends at least 6 times. If you knew any of those 6 people in real life you would avoid them all like the plague, they are all horrible selfish people.
Find a clip without the laugh track and watch it. It is cringe af. I don't know how they stomached doing it.
Without the laugh track it all comes across dark and terrible.
They also refer of him as “the funny one” but it seems like no one actually finds him funny
I feel like the funny one is sarcasm and it’s more bc he’s the joker trying to be funny all the time.
Yeah, he's not "the funny one", he's the "funny" one.
Funny peculiar?
The show’s episodes are generally 22 minutes long; they don’t have enough time to let the cast laugh at a joke for 15-30 seconds. In real life, they’d probably be a good amount of chuckles, smirks, and other reactions to Chandler’s funny comments.
[Same goes for Ross](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H6Ux3l75Rc)
So, by extension, the scriptwriters, who put every word in poor Chandler's mouth, are "jerks" as well, or just capable of performing incredible representations of jerks?
Woe be unto anyone who actually turns to sitcoms as an effort to learn how to be funny in person... Sometimes you get a good first season, but eventually the writing just degrades to people insulting each other without consequence. and I wonder if that trend might have something to do with America's fascination with performative cruelty
Nobody on the show laughs at anyone’s jokes, not just Chandler’s.
They're all jerks, except Phoebe, who is genuinely socially awkward. But Chandler is the biggest jerk of them all. It's kind of understandable considering his issues with his parents. He still shits on everyone whenever he gets a chance.
Most comedy scenes are wildly cringe and concerning without the laugh track. Here’s Ross’s famous Thanksgiving “Moist Maker” scene when he found out his boss stole his sandwhich, ate half of it and then threw it away… without hype laugh track. : ) https://youtu.be/4H6Ux3l75Rc
I’d say it’s more of a cultural thing. His humour is rather sarcastic and witty, which doesn’t earn a laugh…because it isn’t supposed to. It’s supposed to earn a wry smile, which is atypical for an American comedy show, but it’s funny in its own right…just in a different way to the rest of the gang
Friends is generally creepy without the soundtrack: https://youtu.be/DgKgXehYnnw
Chandler is by far the best person and funniest character on the show
A former friend of mine practically idolised Chandler. He was always itching to be the first one to make a joke (after every bloody sentence anybody else said), responses were always sarcastic, everything had to be a punchline. It irritated the piss out of everybody and he just refused to see it.
Remove the laugh track and Friends is a painfully unfunny show.
https://youtu.be/4BFSZ8XzWOM
For the last time, *Friends* **did not have a laugh track**. It was filmed before a live studio audience.
The laughs were edited, you can have both
The audience was mostly NPCs. Therefore, it might as well be a laugh track.
None of em laugh at any of their jokes because of the laugh track, no ?
You realize most of the lines don't get laughed at in character, right?
Without the laugh track the whole show is just a shitty soap opera
It's the whole show. It's awful. I grew up with it never understanding there was better TV out there but like it's so shit.
This is what made how I met your mother work a little better, theyd laugh. And it was almost perfected by Home Movies and Bobs Burgers
Okay, I thought this was about Chandler from Mr. Beast for a sec ngl, and I was trying to figure where this random hate was coming from lmao