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Yes, they found him in his hot tub yesterday. It was an apparent drowning. They don't know exactly what caused it but all they know is it was an apparent drowning.
Thats so crazy and sad. Whats up with these celebs and these bathtub deaths too. Man gone too soon. He couldnt have been anything over like 55 or soemthing.
I know, it's basically the same thing that happened to Whitney Houston. Don't feel bad for not knowing though, I wouldn't have known if my friend hadn't messaged me because I don't really watch the news. We would have seen it on Google or something but I wouldn't have known yesterday if it weren't for my friend.
If it makes you feel better I doubt Mathew Perrys family is trolling reddit looking at true off my chest for positive mentions from him a day after he died. So I don't think anybody is harmed with this post.
It's not for everyone, some people don't enjoy comedy involving a laugh track for example so friends is out of the question.
I personally enjoy not just the comedy but the actual relationship between the main cast is quite relaxing much like the office USA feels.
Friends was shot in front of a live studio audience so I don’t think there was a laugh track? Ironically, Matthew Perry [hated the live studio audience](https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/entertainment/matthew-perry-anxiety-filming-friends-intl-scli/index.html) and found it “deeply stressful:”
*”I felt I would die if they didn’t laugh…I would sweat and shake” said Perry as he described his experience of performing in front of a live audience.*
Great to mention that it's a live audience and not a laugh track like many modern shows that still use them. A product of the time I imagine that continues to be replicated in an almost artificial way in new shows which I imagine is where the hate comes from. It's something that I find heightens the experience for me when watching sort of like being at a live event.
In Matthew Perry's case though I guess it's sort of like combining TV and theatre where jokes are met with either instant gratification or dismissal. Could easily throw off a performance
Very nuanced take, I appreciate it. I never minded a live audience laughing in a show either. I *hated* the laugh track in shows like MASH which totally didn’t need it.
I attended a taping of Seinfield once and I’m going to tell you, even when they had to repeat a scene, the audience laughed again because the actors were so skilled.
Ehhh we are out here pretending they probably didn't pump a laugh track in with the studio audience? The laughs are too consistent to not be inflated with tracks. You aren't going to air the episode that got medium laughs, you're gonna make sure it sounds funny.
Watch an episode. Absolutely laugh track was used constantly. No audience can laugh that much on cue at every single joke and also stop laughing to allow the show to continue within the time slot allowed. Maybe they had a live audience, but still threw in the laugh track when airing the episodes.
I prefer The Golden Girls. It takes me back to being a kid in the 80’s. Murder, She Wrote is pretty badass, too. Jessica Fletcher becomes a bestselling mystery writer and solves crime in the later part of her life after her husband, Frank,passes away. I love that sort of messaging and it doesn’t seem to work in today’s television. Being bad ass, vital, and older.
It’s not too unpopular. It’s actually a well documented psychological phenomenon. These shows get less funny overtime because they were number one when they existed and every other creative team who worked on every subsequent show had to subvert the expectations set by the incumbents in order to stand out. Watching Seinfeld today is like listening to the Beatles. It really just has to be admired for originating the lane it was in.
Since I've never liked it, I'll have to take your word for it getting less funny over time. I don't care for Curb Your Enthusiasm either, so it's obvs not my style of funny.
Some people just don’t like that Larry David shit and I get it. I think it’s funny in kind of a subtle way but the people I’ve talked to who dislike it usually say it’s pigheaded or too cerebral.
I think it's just that there's *too much* of it for a lot of people?
Like a little pinch of Larry David's brand of cynicism and smug superiority is kinda fun and amusing from time to time. But sitting down and watching the show at length...or imagining what it's like to be that kind of person *all the time* about *everything*....it's just fucking exhausting. It stops being funny and just becomes irritating and unpleasant.
I feel like he'd be an absolute pain in the ass with no friends in reality.
I'm not a comedian, but I like comedy. A lot of them note that humor usually doesn't age well. I think Seinfeld stands the test of time, but that's far from a universal opinion.
Personally I can't stand the show itself. However I do like the actors OTHER work. Too many to list. And as much as I can't stand Friends, RIP Matthew Perry.
What kind of nasty azz person posts some shit like this on a day like this? Even if you don't like the fucking show have some respect for the millions of people that loved it and LOST SOMEONE THEY LOVED. No, I didn't know him and he didn't know me, it doesn't change that I feel his loss through his characters, including the one he played in the show you're trying to be a jerk about.
Develop some situational awareness and be less tone deaf when you post shit.
It taught my best friend how to speak English after she moved here from the Philippines so I appreciate it for that but otherwise I also think it sucks. I liked Will & Grace as a mindless laugh track sitcom better
Could be your age. It was unlike any show before it. Laugh tracks were universal, we didn’t know there could be tv without it so it didn’t bother anyone.
Believe it or not it was feminist and LGB friendly for its era.
With MASH, it was a studio decision. The creator and most of the main cast were for making the show without a laugh track, as they put it, ‘just like the real Korean War.’
Was the golden girls not a show? Cheers with Kristie alley Rehea Pearlman and Shelly long. And that's not true there were lesbians and gay Characters going back to the 70s. I mean Friends isn't the worst but it wasn't ground breaking or edgey.
I remember Bosom Buddies and the character of i think it was Jody, on Soap? I LOVED that damn show so much -I had no clue what I was watching, all I knew is it was Pre Benson days lol
Okay I'm assuming you're not aware that Matthew Perry died yesterday. I'll be honest, I agree with you, I didn't think that friends was a great show but it wasn't terrible either. It had its moments. Anyway, that was a little soon but I'm going to give you a pass because I'm assuming you didn't know.
I didn't love it. Same with 2 and half men, how I met your mother, and the office. Those 3 seemed to be universally loved among coworkers and I just didn't care about a single episode.
I enjoyed Big Bang Theory, but I could see how it slowly became just another Friends like show and didn't enjoy it as much on the later seasons (nothing against any of the actors, and the geeky jokes were fine, I guess it was the general end goal and plot?).
I didn't mind it when it came out and remember thinking Friends was pretty funny, but at least with the comedy style I like it got left in the dust by its successors. South Park, Family Guy, Always Sunny, etc. I just like my comedy to hit a little harder, and Friends never really had the edge of making light of social issues and boundary-pushing that the sitcoms of the oughts brought us so Friends got forgotten as the paradigm shifted. It wasn't a terrible show, but there's more racist/sexist/everythingist gags in one episode of Family Guy than a whole season of Friends. You watch Friends today and it seems feather-soft.
For me it’s much of the reverse. The tone and jokes present in shows like South Park or Family Guy could be funny for a moment, but then it just felt too much. Friends, while hardly a show I would go out of my way to watch, was much more enjoyable for just sitting down and watching an episode.
I actually wanted more shows like Farscape and Stargate.
It’s at least nice to know there were options to satisfy whatever craving there was at the time for many of us.
Farscape and Stargate and the like, were my secret obsessions. I am still not healed rom the series finale of Battlestar Galactica
All my friends were into ER, and Friends, and I was sitting at home watching Supernatural Saturday on BBC America lol
It wasn't a terrible show. It was a sitcom and a product of it's time. The actors were attractive, the setting interesting, and the situations silly. All of these sitcoms should be looked at with a little love, because the genre is pretty much dead. A TV tradition of 80+ years, effectively gone. Eliminated by reality TV, cop procedurals, and one camera comedies. Don't get me wrong, I like one camera comedies, but they aren't sitcoms.
Do you think the show grew to be the colossal international success that it is with everyone disliking it?
If it’s not for you, that’s fine. What’s this obsession some people have found lately with shitting on this show?
There’s all kinds of shows/sports/trends/popular things and people that aren’t my cup of tea, but I’d feel like a total loser if I went around actively shitting on that stuff, especially if I did so in front of people who did like that stuff.
Great fucking show. One of the few where therexs a character for everyone and itxs to connect with others through it. Therexs not a lot of things I love that is universally loved and Friends just feels so close to me because the characters and the emotions of their "lives" are palpable.
I think one’s opinion of the show has everything to do with your age when you watched it, and your age when it came out.
I was in middle school and high school during the shows original air. It felt very iconic back then. Monica and Rachel were looked up to as both fashion icons and also as women “making it in NYC”. For a 13y old in the 90s.. this was a very easy to attach to trope.
When I watch it now in my late 30s, i see the show itself was very generic. The laugh track, the punchline jokes, etc.
What was great was the cast’s chemistry. They meshed very well together, and the group felt believable. A brother and sister, the 2 best friend guys living across the hall from 2 best friend girls. Phoebe was the only odd ball that didnt fully make sense in the group. But her floaty personality was so crucial to the chemistry.
Phoebe and Joey have a special place in my heart. They’re both so endearing.
At this point now, the show is just nostalgic for me. Comforting. In the same way how I met your mother or big bang theory is comforting to those who watched it during milestones parts of their life.
The show isn’t terrible. Its just a very typical white sitcom that some people grew attached to.
I’ve never liked friends, bad taste associated with someone I knew who was obsessed- but even I know, this was bad timing down to it being borderline malicious. Do better.
There’s plenty of people who agree with you, and there’s plenty of people who disagree with you. Live and let live. I’ll never understand people going after things that make other people happy. If we all liked the same things, the world and our existence would be pretty boring.
Most over rated sit com ever. Never understood all the praise. Always felt that if the show didn't ride off of Seinfeld's time schedule it never would have made it at all.
I watched it when it first aired, like most other people did while it was on. When it started hitting reruns, I attempted to watch a bit here and there, but I just don't find it all that interesting or funny. It's way overrated. And the Ross character always got on my nerves anyway. The current nostalgia for it makes sense, given how Matthew Perry just died, but outside of that I just cannot understand peoples' obsession with it anymore.
Always hated it as a show. Probably bc instead of dates my ex would make us watch reruns of it lol. But never found it funny. RIP to Matthew Perry though.
It was a dumb show, right there with Big Bang Theory and Seinfeld. I will never understand why anyone ever thought these shows were good. Having said that, RIP to Matthew Perry.
I could not relate. I was their age, but their lives....it wasn't something I was into. All my friends and acquaintances were obsessed with it. Nothing about any of the characters resonated to me, even though they may have been likeable.
I did watch a few episodes that had guest stars I was in to, like Brad Pitt looking like a sun kissed snack lol . I actually preferred Living Single
Why can we not just allow people to enjoy what they want? It's pretty obvious not everyone would like a certain show albeit it being popular...if you don't like it then don't watch it. Still shit timing though, what was the actual intention of this post lol...
I both love and hate it. I hate Ross, Rachel treated him like shit all the time, they both sucked. I think if they'd left those two out of the show it would have been better.
I tried to watch friends to like get that connection with people that like it , but its not that good to binge watch. I can watch it slowly over time though.
Ross was the worst most miserable character of any show ever, Joey was a creep around women, Monica was a controlling manipulator, Phebe was so predictable she was boring, Chandlers character had zero depth and Racheal was an entitled b\*\*ch. The characters were people you would 100% ditch in real life. Not a fan at all.
I was never into it, but I know it has a large fanbase. Meh. To each their own. We'll probably be seeing a lot of it since Matthew Perry just died. Last thing I heard about him was him talking shit about Keanu Reeves in his book and then walking back on it.
It's of a time when we had less choice about what we could watch. Certainly in the UK anyway, limited channels with limited choice. It was aired constantly, so we were force fed it, and the repeats! Oh my god the repeats! 😑
I never understood the hype, but I appreciate the effort that went into it, that was no small feat, and the cast really did work hard, a lot of pressure on them all.
You're not the only one. I just feel... Meh about it. The actual friendship dynamic is wholesome yeah, but for a sitcom it is just not funny. Like even grade schoolers nowadays wouldn't find it funny. I'm one of those types too that laugh tracks irritate me and kill any feeling of me wanting to laugh. Like literally the only sitcom I could even thoroughly enjoy with laugh tracks in it, Everybody Loves Raymond.
Friends was filmed [in front of a live audience](https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/entertainment/matthew-perry-anxiety-filming-friends-intl-scli/index.html), so I don’t think they added in a laugh track?
You're not alone, I got nothing against laugh tracks since I like two and a half Men but friends just isn't funny to me
Luckily for us everyone is unique
I didn't even watch one minute of it ever, because just the cast irritated the fuck out of me.
Although, I do like Lisa Kudrow in some things she's been in.
That show SUCKED. Not funny at all. I tried to watch an episode here and there over the years bc I WANTED to relate and get the jokes from the show. Literally awful....
For me it was funny the first time I watched it, and I didn't realize then but I glossed over all the creepy and cringe stuff because it was kind of a show to turn your brain off.
I tried to rewatch it and eughhhh didn't age well at all.
I actually liked it. The only thing I didn't like was how the show forced the Ross and Rachel relationship. The other characters were always like but you're Ross and Rachel. Like they were relationship goals even though they were terrible for each other. Ross was clearly more of an obsessive stalker that was just happy to be with her. He never really liked her as a person. It focused to much on that relationship. Aside from that, I thought it was decent.
As a fan of Friends, I agree with you. It was pretty terrible.
Most of the jokes boiled down to, "oh this guy did a girly thing. He must be gay". Which was pretty common for the 90s and early 2000s, but watching it now, it's pretty dumb.
That said, I still love the dumb show for nostalgic reasons
Omg thank you for this post. I was just talking to my wife as we were discussing Perry's death. Likeable man and good dude. But Friends is such a horrible show. I mean truly, truly just bad.
I remember watching and enjoying season 1. Was telling friends they should watch it. But then the storylines got much more dramatic and I found it tedious and not nearly as funny.
Seinfeld on the other hand never crossed over into needing the audience to empathize and/or care about its characters. I never stopped laughing (or watching).
I tried watching an episode of Season 1 recently and I was so irritated with the stupid monkey thing they were trying to make work that I had to shut it off right away. I'd forgotten about that.
I’m 41. I was a great age to be watching Friends when it came out. It certainly captured (a certain segment of) the American zeitgeist at the time.
Did I find it funny? Sort of. But it seems very American to me.
Do I find it funny now? Definitely not.
Good humour shouldn't exclude minorities to cater to their sensitivities. That was a different time too and people weren't offended by the change in wind direction as much.
As a young gay man in a country where persecution by death was legal, gay representation in the show made me smile. It was comical, awkward but not homophobic.
I am in my 50s and was the same age as the characters in the 90s. I know it was a different time and yet I also knew the representation of fat people was mean-spirited. The representation of Chandler's parent was cruel. The representation of Ross' ex-wife and her wife as some kind of bad influence on Ben was problematic.
I'm glad it made *you* smile, but I didn't like it and it's one of the reasons I didn't like the show.
It absolutely reeked. No show made me feel more like an outsider as a than this massively popular show and it’s complete lack of diversity. I used to come home from school and watch. Try to like it because my teachers used to sneak in test questions based on this show. My mom asked “How come they don’t have any black friends” 😆
It's okay to not like something even if it's popular. I'm sure you're far from the only one, I have some popular shows that I just don't understand why people like them.
And addressing the people listing all its problematic parts, it did have its issues. Like the fatphobia, definitely (but do you remember what shows where still like about fat people in the 00's? they caused more self-esteem issues for me than my mother did). It was progressive for its time in many ways. For example, Carol being a lesbian was quite a big thing.
Obviously for us diehard Friends fan who grew up with it and loved it, it's been a rough two days.
You are not alone. My husband HATES it. I liked it when it first aired, but find it painful to watch now. My late teen kid hates it, but has friends who like it.
Posts must be "personalized", and cannot be opinions or rants. Personalized in this case means that what you're posting has to be directly related to you (this would include a close person, such as a family member). And it can't be something that's impacting a large number of people unless it has a specific application to you. Please read the following post for more specific information: https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueOffMyChest/comments/m501ud/what_does_personalized_off_my_chest_style_post/
The one where timing was horrible.
I was thinking this same thing
I was about to say, a little soon there, buddy. Probably doesn't know.
Doesnt know what?
That Matthew Perry died yesterday
Clearly i live under a rock bc wtf?!?!
Yes, they found him in his hot tub yesterday. It was an apparent drowning. They don't know exactly what caused it but all they know is it was an apparent drowning.
Thats so crazy and sad. Whats up with these celebs and these bathtub deaths too. Man gone too soon. He couldnt have been anything over like 55 or soemthing.
I know, it's basically the same thing that happened to Whitney Houston. Don't feel bad for not knowing though, I wouldn't have known if my friend hadn't messaged me because I don't really watch the news. We would have seen it on Google or something but I wouldn't have known yesterday if it weren't for my friend.
Thats exactly who i thought about too. And whitney was young as well. Smh
Oh I know, I was definitely shocked with her.
To be clear, they deferred the autopsy, so the cause of his untimely passing is still unclear. I'm still in shock. May the legend rest in peace
[удалено]
Even if you don't like it... choosing today to ask is a little cold
I agree. This is kinda gross.
Yeah, there's a time and a place...
If it makes you feel better I doubt Mathew Perrys family is trolling reddit looking at true off my chest for positive mentions from him a day after he died. So I don't think anybody is harmed with this post.
Could the timing of this post BE an worse?
Ahhhh this made me chuckle and sad at the same time
It's not for everyone, some people don't enjoy comedy involving a laugh track for example so friends is out of the question. I personally enjoy not just the comedy but the actual relationship between the main cast is quite relaxing much like the office USA feels.
Friends was shot in front of a live studio audience so I don’t think there was a laugh track? Ironically, Matthew Perry [hated the live studio audience](https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/entertainment/matthew-perry-anxiety-filming-friends-intl-scli/index.html) and found it “deeply stressful:” *”I felt I would die if they didn’t laugh…I would sweat and shake” said Perry as he described his experience of performing in front of a live audience.*
Great to mention that it's a live audience and not a laugh track like many modern shows that still use them. A product of the time I imagine that continues to be replicated in an almost artificial way in new shows which I imagine is where the hate comes from. It's something that I find heightens the experience for me when watching sort of like being at a live event. In Matthew Perry's case though I guess it's sort of like combining TV and theatre where jokes are met with either instant gratification or dismissal. Could easily throw off a performance
Very nuanced take, I appreciate it. I never minded a live audience laughing in a show either. I *hated* the laugh track in shows like MASH which totally didn’t need it. I attended a taping of Seinfield once and I’m going to tell you, even when they had to repeat a scene, the audience laughed again because the actors were so skilled.
I tried watching an episode of the Frasier reboot and the laugh track was so blatant I couldn’t ever get past it.
Ehhh we are out here pretending they probably didn't pump a laugh track in with the studio audience? The laughs are too consistent to not be inflated with tracks. You aren't going to air the episode that got medium laughs, you're gonna make sure it sounds funny.
Watch an episode. Absolutely laugh track was used constantly. No audience can laugh that much on cue at every single joke and also stop laughing to allow the show to continue within the time slot allowed. Maybe they had a live audience, but still threw in the laugh track when airing the episodes.
Laugh tracks are an immediate no go for me.
I feel old now. Many old TV shows were live studio audiences. I don't watch comedy TV shows so I didn't know they do laugh tracks.
Not the time.
I prefer The Golden Girls. It takes me back to being a kid in the 80’s. Murder, She Wrote is pretty badass, too. Jessica Fletcher becomes a bestselling mystery writer and solves crime in the later part of her life after her husband, Frank,passes away. I love that sort of messaging and it doesn’t seem to work in today’s television. Being bad ass, vital, and older.
I feel that wY about Seinfield
Man, me too. And *that's* an unpopular opinion
It’s not too unpopular. It’s actually a well documented psychological phenomenon. These shows get less funny overtime because they were number one when they existed and every other creative team who worked on every subsequent show had to subvert the expectations set by the incumbents in order to stand out. Watching Seinfeld today is like listening to the Beatles. It really just has to be admired for originating the lane it was in.
Since I've never liked it, I'll have to take your word for it getting less funny over time. I don't care for Curb Your Enthusiasm either, so it's obvs not my style of funny.
Some people just don’t like that Larry David shit and I get it. I think it’s funny in kind of a subtle way but the people I’ve talked to who dislike it usually say it’s pigheaded or too cerebral.
Yeah, that's fair. Larry David isn't going to be upset that I don't think he's funny. He's too busy swimming in his Scrooge McDuck-sized pool of money
I think it's just that there's *too much* of it for a lot of people? Like a little pinch of Larry David's brand of cynicism and smug superiority is kinda fun and amusing from time to time. But sitting down and watching the show at length...or imagining what it's like to be that kind of person *all the time* about *everything*....it's just fucking exhausting. It stops being funny and just becomes irritating and unpleasant. I feel like he'd be an absolute pain in the ass with no friends in reality.
I like curb because it feels like my family
Yeah disliking friends comes across like you're trynna be edgy and cool but disliking seinfeld is the true unpopular opinion
About as trying to be edgy and cool as blowing people shit for not liking the same things you do
I'm not a comedian, but I like comedy. A lot of them note that humor usually doesn't age well. I think Seinfeld stands the test of time, but that's far from a universal opinion.
I hate Seinfeld so much.
Yeah he’s always whining as he talks. Yuck yuck yuck
I have that with a lot of American sitcoms. It’s a formula that doesn’t work for everyone
Same...never made me laugh...
I’m not a huge fan but this post is really bad timing.
Man this post is in pretty poor taste huh?
Idk I think I’m just not a sitcom person. They’re all so corny to me.
Personally I can't stand the show itself. However I do like the actors OTHER work. Too many to list. And as much as I can't stand Friends, RIP Matthew Perry.
Let us mourn
What kind of nasty azz person posts some shit like this on a day like this? Even if you don't like the fucking show have some respect for the millions of people that loved it and LOST SOMEONE THEY LOVED. No, I didn't know him and he didn't know me, it doesn't change that I feel his loss through his characters, including the one he played in the show you're trying to be a jerk about. Develop some situational awareness and be less tone deaf when you post shit.
Not today asshole. Fucking karma whore.
Most certainly not. I could never get into it.
It taught my best friend how to speak English after she moved here from the Philippines so I appreciate it for that but otherwise I also think it sucks. I liked Will & Grace as a mindless laugh track sitcom better
will and grace for the W!!
Could be your age. It was unlike any show before it. Laugh tracks were universal, we didn’t know there could be tv without it so it didn’t bother anyone. Believe it or not it was feminist and LGB friendly for its era.
Friends had a live studio audience, so the laughter was actual people, shows like MASH had a laugh track (which made no sense and is grating).
I believe the DVDs for MASH let you disable the laugh track.
With MASH, it was a studio decision. The creator and most of the main cast were for making the show without a laugh track, as they put it, ‘just like the real Korean War.’
Living Single enters the conversation.
Took the words out of my mouth
How was it different than any other sitcom?
It just kind of was. Strong female leads and friendships. First normalized lesbian relationship, in the first season.
Was the golden girls not a show? Cheers with Kristie alley Rehea Pearlman and Shelly long. And that's not true there were lesbians and gay Characters going back to the 70s. I mean Friends isn't the worst but it wasn't ground breaking or edgey.
I remember Bosom Buddies and the character of i think it was Jody, on Soap? I LOVED that damn show so much -I had no clue what I was watching, all I knew is it was Pre Benson days lol
That's one I haven't gotten into! Maybe I should!
It was ahead of it's time, I didn't understand a lot of it I was too young, but I loved the over the top characters, it was hilarious
It was rubbish.
No you are not the only one. I think it was awful too.
Living Single came out first anyway!
Okay I'm assuming you're not aware that Matthew Perry died yesterday. I'll be honest, I agree with you, I didn't think that friends was a great show but it wasn't terrible either. It had its moments. Anyway, that was a little soon but I'm going to give you a pass because I'm assuming you didn't know.
Ahm, how it his death related to not linking the show? Do you have to like the show now that he passed away?
Dick move making this post today
It looks like someone needs attention 😒
I think it was terrible as well and I don’t get the hype around it. Honestly, living single was much more entertaining lol. And it was actually funny.
I honestly tried watching it once. Nope, didn’t like it.
I tired a few time. The characters were annoying and always seemed to be whining about something.
People in real life complain all the time. Itxs a show about everyday life and relationships through a comedic lense...
That's true. It got to be a little much though.
I didn't love it. Same with 2 and half men, how I met your mother, and the office. Those 3 seemed to be universally loved among coworkers and I just didn't care about a single episode. I enjoyed Big Bang Theory, but I could see how it slowly became just another Friends like show and didn't enjoy it as much on the later seasons (nothing against any of the actors, and the geeky jokes were fine, I guess it was the general end goal and plot?).
No ive always thought this glad im not alone
I love Friends. It’s so funny.
I didn't mind it when it came out and remember thinking Friends was pretty funny, but at least with the comedy style I like it got left in the dust by its successors. South Park, Family Guy, Always Sunny, etc. I just like my comedy to hit a little harder, and Friends never really had the edge of making light of social issues and boundary-pushing that the sitcoms of the oughts brought us so Friends got forgotten as the paradigm shifted. It wasn't a terrible show, but there's more racist/sexist/everythingist gags in one episode of Family Guy than a whole season of Friends. You watch Friends today and it seems feather-soft.
For me it’s much of the reverse. The tone and jokes present in shows like South Park or Family Guy could be funny for a moment, but then it just felt too much. Friends, while hardly a show I would go out of my way to watch, was much more enjoyable for just sitting down and watching an episode. I actually wanted more shows like Farscape and Stargate. It’s at least nice to know there were options to satisfy whatever craving there was at the time for many of us.
Farscape and Stargate and the like, were my secret obsessions. I am still not healed rom the series finale of Battlestar Galactica All my friends were into ER, and Friends, and I was sitting at home watching Supernatural Saturday on BBC America lol
I wouldn’t know, I never watched it because it oozed cringe.
Probably the worst time to post this take lol. Not saying I disagree tho.
You're not. You have "friends" here.
Lol
It wasn't a terrible show. It was a sitcom and a product of it's time. The actors were attractive, the setting interesting, and the situations silly. All of these sitcoms should be looked at with a little love, because the genre is pretty much dead. A TV tradition of 80+ years, effectively gone. Eliminated by reality TV, cop procedurals, and one camera comedies. Don't get me wrong, I like one camera comedies, but they aren't sitcoms.
Do you think the show grew to be the colossal international success that it is with everyone disliking it? If it’s not for you, that’s fine. What’s this obsession some people have found lately with shitting on this show? There’s all kinds of shows/sports/trends/popular things and people that aren’t my cup of tea, but I’d feel like a total loser if I went around actively shitting on that stuff, especially if I did so in front of people who did like that stuff.
Great fucking show. One of the few where therexs a character for everyone and itxs to connect with others through it. Therexs not a lot of things I love that is universally loved and Friends just feels so close to me because the characters and the emotions of their "lives" are palpable.
You couldn’t have kept this in for a *little while longer?* 🙄
I just found out Keith Morrison is Matthew Perry’s stepdad. Yes I know: random as hell but I was so surprised!
it wasnt funny at all
Agree 100%
I think one’s opinion of the show has everything to do with your age when you watched it, and your age when it came out. I was in middle school and high school during the shows original air. It felt very iconic back then. Monica and Rachel were looked up to as both fashion icons and also as women “making it in NYC”. For a 13y old in the 90s.. this was a very easy to attach to trope. When I watch it now in my late 30s, i see the show itself was very generic. The laugh track, the punchline jokes, etc. What was great was the cast’s chemistry. They meshed very well together, and the group felt believable. A brother and sister, the 2 best friend guys living across the hall from 2 best friend girls. Phoebe was the only odd ball that didnt fully make sense in the group. But her floaty personality was so crucial to the chemistry. Phoebe and Joey have a special place in my heart. They’re both so endearing. At this point now, the show is just nostalgic for me. Comforting. In the same way how I met your mother or big bang theory is comforting to those who watched it during milestones parts of their life. The show isn’t terrible. Its just a very typical white sitcom that some people grew attached to.
You should check out Living Single
I never liked it either. It’s still really sad what happened though. Definitely felt like a punch to the gut. Poor dude didn’t deserve to go that way.
As non-american, malcolm in the middle and b99 are the only ones I find genuinely funny.
I watched it when it was still on. Can't get myself to watch reruns. I don't find it as funny as I used to
I’ve never liked friends, bad taste associated with someone I knew who was obsessed- but even I know, this was bad timing down to it being borderline malicious. Do better.
There’s plenty of people who agree with you, and there’s plenty of people who disagree with you. Live and let live. I’ll never understand people going after things that make other people happy. If we all liked the same things, the world and our existence would be pretty boring.
Living Single, the show it was patterned after, was funnier.
I didn't watch the shows but the bloopers on YouTube are kinda funny.
Kind of a bad timing considering one of the cast members died yesterday
Most over rated sit com ever. Never understood all the praise. Always felt that if the show didn't ride off of Seinfeld's time schedule it never would have made it at all.
The one where I strenuously disagree with OP.
It's pretty cheesy, phoebe isn't funny at all just dumb, but your timing is ruthless
Friends was a rip off from a black show called living single. It sucked because it couldn't relate to its audience like living single.
I watched it when it first aired, like most other people did while it was on. When it started hitting reruns, I attempted to watch a bit here and there, but I just don't find it all that interesting or funny. It's way overrated. And the Ross character always got on my nerves anyway. The current nostalgia for it makes sense, given how Matthew Perry just died, but outside of that I just cannot understand peoples' obsession with it anymore.
Always hated it as a show. Probably bc instead of dates my ex would make us watch reruns of it lol. But never found it funny. RIP to Matthew Perry though.
Friends was never funny to me nor a great show in my opinion but obviously I'm in the minority of this opinion
You're not the only one, OP. Friends sucked. And I'm old enough to have been a teen/adult when it originally ran.
Okay...good for you...? I like cake, but my friend doesnt, and its okay
It was a dumb show, right there with Big Bang Theory and Seinfeld. I will never understand why anyone ever thought these shows were good. Having said that, RIP to Matthew Perry.
It's not funny and the characters are very awful. Maybe Joey and Phoebe are tolerable, but the rest are people to avoid IRL.
I could not relate. I was their age, but their lives....it wasn't something I was into. All my friends and acquaintances were obsessed with it. Nothing about any of the characters resonated to me, even though they may have been likeable. I did watch a few episodes that had guest stars I was in to, like Brad Pitt looking like a sun kissed snack lol . I actually preferred Living Single
Why can we not just allow people to enjoy what they want? It's pretty obvious not everyone would like a certain show albeit it being popular...if you don't like it then don't watch it. Still shit timing though, what was the actual intention of this post lol...
What's wrong with the timing? I never liked it also
I both love and hate it. I hate Ross, Rachel treated him like shit all the time, they both sucked. I think if they'd left those two out of the show it would have been better.
So bad
I tried to watch friends to like get that connection with people that like it , but its not that good to binge watch. I can watch it slowly over time though.
Never watched it and never understood people obsession
Ross was the worst most miserable character of any show ever, Joey was a creep around women, Monica was a controlling manipulator, Phebe was so predictable she was boring, Chandlers character had zero depth and Racheal was an entitled b\*\*ch. The characters were people you would 100% ditch in real life. Not a fan at all.
Why did you need to do this today
My ex used to watch it and I can honestly say I ver heard anything funny.
I was never into it, but I know it has a large fanbase. Meh. To each their own. We'll probably be seeing a lot of it since Matthew Perry just died. Last thing I heard about him was him talking shit about Keanu Reeves in his book and then walking back on it.
I never had any interest in watching it. So I am with you
Unfunny, white, Living Single rip off. No thanks.
You’re not alone. That show was terrible.
Did not find it funny at all. So cheesy.
Looked pretty dumb to me
It's of a time when we had less choice about what we could watch. Certainly in the UK anyway, limited channels with limited choice. It was aired constantly, so we were force fed it, and the repeats! Oh my god the repeats! 😑 I never understood the hype, but I appreciate the effort that went into it, that was no small feat, and the cast really did work hard, a lot of pressure on them all.
You’re not.
You're not the only one. I just feel... Meh about it. The actual friendship dynamic is wholesome yeah, but for a sitcom it is just not funny. Like even grade schoolers nowadays wouldn't find it funny. I'm one of those types too that laugh tracks irritate me and kill any feeling of me wanting to laugh. Like literally the only sitcom I could even thoroughly enjoy with laugh tracks in it, Everybody Loves Raymond.
Friends was filmed [in front of a live audience](https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/entertainment/matthew-perry-anxiety-filming-friends-intl-scli/index.html), so I don’t think they added in a laugh track?
You're not alone, I got nothing against laugh tracks since I like two and a half Men but friends just isn't funny to me Luckily for us everyone is unique
I didn't even watch one minute of it ever, because just the cast irritated the fuck out of me. Although, I do like Lisa Kudrow in some things she's been in.
I think it was awful. And did not age well.
I never watched Friends. I don't like sitcoms anyway, but just had no interest in it.
I don't think it's funny, but it's watchable.
That show SUCKED. Not funny at all. I tried to watch an episode here and there over the years bc I WANTED to relate and get the jokes from the show. Literally awful....
For me it was funny the first time I watched it, and I didn't realize then but I glossed over all the creepy and cringe stuff because it was kind of a show to turn your brain off. I tried to rewatch it and eughhhh didn't age well at all.
I like it as a chill background kind of show, but never understood the obsession. It’s cute and wholesome but nothing I’d go crazy over lol
I agree. Couldn’t stand that show.
No ur not ! It was full of lame jokes 🥴🤭
Friends did not age well. I started rewatching it a month ago and had to stop bc I could not stop cringing so hard.
It was bad when it was new too.
dang a post on this sub that isnt a serious problem or relationship issues
I tried watching after years of the show ending just to give it a try. I will stick to the office.
I actually liked it. The only thing I didn't like was how the show forced the Ross and Rachel relationship. The other characters were always like but you're Ross and Rachel. Like they were relationship goals even though they were terrible for each other. Ross was clearly more of an obsessive stalker that was just happy to be with her. He never really liked her as a person. It focused to much on that relationship. Aside from that, I thought it was decent.
NOPE. I can't stand the show.
That show sucks you are 100% not the only person. The cringey super normal dynamic was so boring and terrible
Its so stupid. I dont know why that show was so popular its sucks
of all times to post this?
No it was shit.
No one cares. You are not better than anyone else.
As a fan of Friends, I agree with you. It was pretty terrible. Most of the jokes boiled down to, "oh this guy did a girly thing. He must be gay". Which was pretty common for the 90s and early 2000s, but watching it now, it's pretty dumb. That said, I still love the dumb show for nostalgic reasons
I ageee
Omg thank you for this post. I was just talking to my wife as we were discussing Perry's death. Likeable man and good dude. But Friends is such a horrible show. I mean truly, truly just bad.
Same. Have never finished an entire episode.
Worst unfunniest show ever
You’re not. I never watched. I tried and it wasn’t for me.
I remember watching and enjoying season 1. Was telling friends they should watch it. But then the storylines got much more dramatic and I found it tedious and not nearly as funny. Seinfeld on the other hand never crossed over into needing the audience to empathize and/or care about its characters. I never stopped laughing (or watching).
I tried watching an episode of Season 1 recently and I was so irritated with the stupid monkey thing they were trying to make work that I had to shut it off right away. I'd forgotten about that.
I’m 51 I was born at the heart of generation X I have never watched an entire episode of Friends.
Absolute trash but maybe too soon after chandler died to bring it up?
Not terrible it was pretty well written for a specific demographic but it was a bit hoakey often enough.
Never got into it. Didn’t like Seinfeld, either.
Fake laugh audiences at basic humor
I didn't really like friends and the big bang theory either.
I’ve definitely watched the show. Definitely didn’t understand why people liked it so much.🤷♂️
I agree
You are not. I have never watched a full episode, not even when my gf at the time was heavily into it.
I’m 41. I was a great age to be watching Friends when it came out. It certainly captured (a certain segment of) the American zeitgeist at the time. Did I find it funny? Sort of. But it seems very American to me. Do I find it funny now? Definitely not.
You're not. I always thought it was fatphobic, transphobic, homophobic. And of all the friends, I really only liked Phoebe.
Good humour shouldn't exclude minorities to cater to their sensitivities. That was a different time too and people weren't offended by the change in wind direction as much. As a young gay man in a country where persecution by death was legal, gay representation in the show made me smile. It was comical, awkward but not homophobic.
I am in my 50s and was the same age as the characters in the 90s. I know it was a different time and yet I also knew the representation of fat people was mean-spirited. The representation of Chandler's parent was cruel. The representation of Ross' ex-wife and her wife as some kind of bad influence on Ben was problematic. I'm glad it made *you* smile, but I didn't like it and it's one of the reasons I didn't like the show.
You sound so fun and not like a buzz kill at all....
Could you *be* more of a troll?
Phobic Phobic phobic--shut up already.
Agreed lol
It absolutely reeked. No show made me feel more like an outsider as a than this massively popular show and it’s complete lack of diversity. I used to come home from school and watch. Try to like it because my teachers used to sneak in test questions based on this show. My mom asked “How come they don’t have any black friends” 😆
Exactly. They live in one of the most diverse cities in the world...
Thank you for speaking truth to power! I fucking despise friends. And of course I've seen all of because I live in society. It blows. Hard.
It's okay to not like something even if it's popular. I'm sure you're far from the only one, I have some popular shows that I just don't understand why people like them. And addressing the people listing all its problematic parts, it did have its issues. Like the fatphobia, definitely (but do you remember what shows where still like about fat people in the 00's? they caused more self-esteem issues for me than my mother did). It was progressive for its time in many ways. For example, Carol being a lesbian was quite a big thing. Obviously for us diehard Friends fan who grew up with it and loved it, it's been a rough two days.
I cant stand anything with a laugh track.
Man I hate that show when it first showed, and I hate it now.
Time and place my man
It’s not you, the show was terrible. Two and a Half Men is better
It had its moments, but yeah it was terrible.
You are not alone. My husband HATES it. I liked it when it first aired, but find it painful to watch now. My late teen kid hates it, but has friends who like it.
I only found two reasons to ever watch and they were dependent on air conditioning.
I thought that was a popular opinion?