Will Friends ever be the same?

Hi! I used to subscribe to this newsgroup a few months ago, then left. Now I'm back! The name's Kaylie. 17, English and obsessed!

I've been watching series 6 on Sky One and I've found rather than rolling around on the floor in fits of laughter I've simply "tittered" at the mild jokes. I do admit that TOW Joey Loses His Insurance is the best so far (Ross's attempt at an English accent was quite amusing!), yet in my opinion the spark is gone. They're all getting older, they're all getting meaner and their characteristics have changed. Instead of sweet Ross, it's angry and depressed Ross; instead of dippy Phoebe, it's sarcastic and heartless Phoebe; instead of neurotic Monica, it's become childish and petty Monica. I feel while these 3 have gone downhill, Rachel, Chandler and Joey have gone from strength to strength. They've improved vastly if not grown up a little. Rachel is finally her own person and not Daddy's Girl, Joey's stupidity has become loveable and Chandler has finally grown up and brought his sarcasm with him! Don't you agree?

A vast improvement needs to be made if this programme wants to go out on a high, because at the moment it's at an all time low.

Kaylie

Chandler gone from strength to stren... HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ... Nah! Chandler is the worst of 'em all. Since he's been doin' Monica he's become *less* sarcastic and the whole spark between him and Joey has gone. That's what I miss. Although Rachel is definately growing on me as a charcter!

I don't want to sound a grouch but I hope the whold Chan and Mon things fall apart quickly!

And Ross' british accent: FANTASTIC, don't you think his Cockney attempt was v. v. v. good, 'cos I do!

Jan Green wrote in message ...

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little.

Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, The Fax Machine doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...

Hate to say it, but I agree with you here. I LOL every time I hear Rachel's accents in that episode... and amazingly, so did my dad, who's heard every accent going. :)

I don't know about that, but they're certainly in a slump now, which is worse than R&R's slump ever got, and they need to sort that out *somehow*.

For what it was meant to be (a v. bad attempt at an accent), yes, it was very good. But he must *never* do a Brooklyn accent again (flashback to Blossom appearance *shudder*). :) Unfortunately, I cringed at CCA's attempt at an accent, even a bad one... that was so *not* even a *bad* Irish accent I was throwing things; I'm *certain* that I heard more of her American accent than her 'Irish' one during that. I think Schwimmer and Aniston have voices which lend themselves well to accents, but Cox Arquette doesn't (given the aforementioned revolting Irish accent), which is surprising considering that she's supposed to have seen a speech coach to loosen up her Alabama accent.

Tina

Tina Nellis wrote Unfortunately, I

It made me think of Groundskeeper Wully, who is the worst cod Scot ever heard (probably intentionally so). She may have *intended* Irish but there was some Scots in there too, but yes, I agree, mainly her own voice coming through loud and clear. I quite liked Ross' accent, although it was VERY peculiar; it beats Dick Van Dyke any day for comedy potential! Rachel's was good (although she should really have gone for "Welsh" (read bad Indian in practice) to get the full set of British (GB not UK!) accents in there. :)

Jac

Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Jacqui doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...

:)

Welsh accents are one of the few I can't do... they're very hard to do without slipping into a Scottish or Irish accent, I've found (and I don't mean that as any kind of insult to the Welsh!). The Bombay accent had both me and my dad LOLing, though - and like I said before, my dad has heard every accent going. :) He echoed my sentiments later on, in a bizarre father-daughter moment where we actually discussed Friends without throwing things - he thought Monica's accent was just terrible (and he's Irish, so he'd know) - it just sucked, even for a bad accent.

Tina

In article , Tina Nellis wrote:

Monica's 'Irish' accent & jig was *so* awful I can't help thinking that it was meant to be like that - if CCA simply couldn't carry it off they would have cut it out of the show, plenty of stuff already is. :-(

OTOH Rachel was so brilliant that I've adopted her line as my tag.

Tennant

Agreed on every single character but Chandler... I don't feel he's gotten better. Since Season 6... his relationship with Monica has harmed his character. He's not sarcastic and witty and lovable loser he used to be. He's *dum-dum-dum* HAPPY! Not that there's anything wrong with being happy but it's not what works on TV. Chandler and Monica were fantastic in Season 5- I loved them. But that was last year. It's gotten old... and so have the storylines.

JOEY: Look at me! I'm Chandler! Could I be wearing any more clothes? [email] [email]

AlyssaPhoebs wrote in message news:1s4n4.4236$[email]...

All they need to do is give Chandler more things to be depressed about. Bringing back his mom and (finally) introducing his dad should do that. In season 1 there was a lot of stuff how Chandler did not find his job fulfilling, so they need more of that, maybe even giving him a new one. (But none of that "Out of work character sulks around." They've done that too often.) As far as his relationship with Monica, I will feel downright cheated if the show ends before Monica gets pregnant. Both characters reactions to this, which should take about a whole season, will be gold if they do it right. Yes, I know they did the "Let's keep the pregnancy a secret from everyone else for a while" on Mad About You, but if they do it on Friends, it could be just as funny as the first half of season 5 when the C&M relationship was secret.

Bobby C.

Agreed on every single character but Chandler... I don't feel he's gotten better. Since Season 6... his relationship with Monica has harmed his character. He's not sarcastic and witty and lovable loser he used to be. He's *dum-dum-dum* HAPPY! Not that there's anything wrong with being happy but it's not what works on TV. Chandler and Monica were fantastic in Season 5- I loved them. But that was last year. It's gotten old... and so have the storylines. Chandler's flaws have left plenty of space, however, for Rachel. And it's great watching Jennifer flex her funny bone. I welcome her with open arms. :-)

JOEY: Look at me! I'm Chandler! Could I be wearing any more clothes? [email] [email]

i think i agree.from reeva

Hey, Kaylie, I've been watching Friends from the 1st ep of season 1 lo those many years ago and I have to totally agree with you. I just can't believe that in little more than 1 yr (say from the time Seinfeld was leaving the air and Friends was suggested to take its time-slot in the US) it has gone from a high quality "timeless" show to one that I can't even bring myself to watch.

You've hit the nail on the head with every example you've used. I can only add that they need to do what Seinfeld did and bring in external characters on a regular basis (ex: Newman, Puddy) and put them in NYC locations more often. It sometimes feels like our six friends are some sort of cult who never leave their apartments. I really think what they need to do is get more creative writers and get all of the back stories in order because it seems the flashbacks are the funniest eps.

take it easy dan