Changes from season 1 to season 7...

Yesterday I was watching some Friends reruns, and it happened that I first watched a few of the older episodes (seasons 1 & 2), followed by a couple of newer episodes (seasons 6 & 7) , and I could not help but be a bit startled by how much the characters have changed throughout the course of the series.

Monica is exponentially more obsessive and bitchy than she was near the beginning. If anything, she's a lot _less_ mature than she used to be.

Chandler's sarcastic wit has lost its edge, and he's become very very pathetic.

Rachel is the only one who seems to have matured relatively normally. In fact, she seems to have matured very quickly, but perhaps that's not surprising: being on your own when you never have before can change a person a great deal. Instead of the ditzy, spoiled girl that she was at the beginning of the series, she is now an intelligent, fairly sophisticated woman who seems to have stolen Chandler's thunder as the sarcastic one.

Joey has gotten exponentially more stupid. If you watch him in season 1, he doesn't seem to be exceptionally smart, but he's just an almost-normal, womanizing Italian guy. He doesn't seem to be dimwitted at all, at least not in the way he's portrayed in the later seasons.

Ross doesn't seem to have matured at all, which is really weird. He's still the whining baby he was in season 1. If anything, he's even _more_ a whining baby. There are hints in seasons 6 and 7 of a new, mature Ross, but he always seems to eventually get discarded in favor of the buffoon Ross.

Phoebe's gotten more and more flaky as the series has gone on. Most people get _less_ flaky as they age, don't they?

Anyway, my point is that, with the exception of Rachel, the characters have almost become caricatures of their earlier selves, especially Monica, Joey, and Phoebe.

Comments?

George

I disagree George. I think out of all of them, Joey is the only that's remained consistant. He may have been dumbed down a little, but he doesn't seem any dumber than he was before. He still remains sweet, cute, womanizing, dumb, and very very funny. The others have all changed in the way you've said, with Rachel seeming more mature, but, Chandler has also grown. That's mainlky the reason for losing his wit. he's secure now and doesn't need to hide behind his humour. If anything, Rachel seems more insecure and is using Chandler's defense mechanism of sarcasm. She has matured, but she only seems to be more mature than the others. With Ross, you have to remember that he had somewhat of a nervous breakdown. it's no wonder he's turned out like this. but he has been getting better recently, you have to admit. I think Phoebe has become more bitchy than anything. the flakyness to me has stayed more on the same level. As for Monica, she may have been bitchy and less mature in the sixth season, but that was the time of screechy Monica, and that time has passed (Thank God!), but I do admit she still has to catch up a bit. but that just my take on everything.

"George P. Masologites" wrote in message news:[email]...

Same thing here whenever I watch older episodes.

I couldn't agree more.

How did the writers get it in their heads that it was a good idea to kill off one of the most important sources of great jokes in the show?

She is of course nowhere near as witty as Chandler used to be. It's like it doesn't come naturally for her.

Well, he was quite dumb in the first seasons, but it was believable. Now he's turned into a sitcom caricature.

Hear, hear.

This is something they *should* have changed. Phoebe's flakiness grew old rather quickly, so it would have been better if they had somehow let her mature.

I think this is precisely the reason so many people are complaining about the quality of the show nowadays. In the first seasons the writers thought up original storylines and then used the characters' peculiarities in their favor. Now they seem to start with a character trait of one of the friends, blow it up out of proportions and hope to get some cheap laughs out of it.

Bobo

George P. Masologites wrote in message news:[email]...

You prefer season one Joey? What did Joey do that was at all interesting during season one? Hmm, Joey is the character that has improved over time. They've played up his lack of smarts more (but not by a whole lot--this is the same guy who did not immediately realize that Ursula and Pheobe have the same birthday), but they've made him nicer and sweeter.

Lewis.

Oh, come on!

So, what you want is six mature thirty year olds settling down to serious relationships, having children.....

Sounds like fun. I'm off to watch Days Of Our Lives now.

[email] writes:

I agree with you 100%. Sadly, this behavior is typical on long-running shows, especially sitcoms. Characters turn into caricatures on sitcoms because the good ideas are used up, and the behavior of the characters is made more and more outrageous to try to generate laughs.

It's not just Friends. I haven't watched Frasier in years, because they've been down to one plot since the fifth season: Make Frasier and/or Niles look like a complete idiot.

I try to take a broader perspective, that a show must change as the creative people behind it change. Judging from comments on this newsgroup, many people enjoy Friends more now than ever. Since comedy is subjective, it only stands to reason that some people will like the changes and some will not.

The best example I can think of for this is Rosanne. I didn't like the show the first few years because I didn't like Rosanne's stand-up act, and her "domestic goddess" shtick was the primary theme early on. In the middle of its run, when the character of Darlene became old enough to play off her parents, I thought it was the funniest show on TV. Then, when Sara Gilbert left the show, it started a steady decline, culminating in a nearly unwatchable final season.

The bad news is, the Friends you and I loved is gone for good. The good news is it's still a fun show to watch, and occasionally manages to catch the old spark.

Plus, Jennifer Anniston is *still* gorgeous! :-)

DW

In article , [email] (George P. Masologites) wrote:

Absolutely true. The sad thing is that occasionally (like tonight's episode for the most part) the writers show they can still put some depth into the characters.

The best changes since Season 1 are the breast,cheek and chin implants of Ms Cox,Ms Kudrow and Ms Anniston.To see the opening credits taken during the first season where the 6 are dancing around the fountain, the actresses look like completely different people than today.