Please could someone explain to me what is so funny about Friends. I have watched it a few times each time I have found it tedious in the extreme.
Try watching a decent comedy program such as:
Only fools and horses - Best comedy ever
The Simpsons - Close 2nd
On Sun, 2 Jul 2000 01:20:41 +0100, "Kevin Liversage" wrote:
The first show I saw didn't strike my fancy either (the one where Chandler gets stuck at the ATM with Jill Goodacre). It wasn't until I was watching an episode with some friends a few years later that I really began to enjoy it. But hey, not everybody's tastes are the same. If you don't like it you don't like it! I laughed like mad when visiting my parents over holiday during an airing, but they sat in stone silence. I felt ~so~ out of place! But I can relate to the show. I have had the same batch of friends for years, I am roughly in the same age group, so it strikes a chord with me. Plus it can be outrageously funny!
Is that UK only? I've never heard of it here in the US, and I fancy myself a fairly avid TV fan.
I know this was probably far more response than this likely troll deserved, but I give the benefit of the doubt when I can.
<<The first show I saw didn't strike my fancy either (the one whereChandler gets stuck at the ATM with Jill Goodacre). >>
Are you serious?? TOW The Blackout wasn't the first episode I saw (I don't remember which one it was although I know it was in 2nd season) but when I did see it in syndication, I was laughing my head off when the cat jumped on Ross.
~amanda
On 02 Jul 2000 01:43:20 GMT, [email] (XPhiLe46) wrote:
That ep was part of a "Blackout" night on NBC, where the people in 'Mad About You' messed with their cable TV to the extent that they caused an electrical blackout all over New York City. That whole Thursday night's NBC line-up was affected. Taken in bulk, the whole thing seemed forced and phony. Seinfeld was above this nonsense, but Friends and a weak Dabney Coleman show also suffered through a blackout script.
I've yet to see the same Friends episode in repeats, but at the time it originally aired, it seemed very lame.
Well Delmont, thanks for giving me such a reply. Sorry if I came over obnoxious, OFAH is a Britains no1 comedy, the reason it has never done well in America is the fact the BBC reckon you wouldn't understand all of the cockney expressions in it.
As I said I have seen several episodes, Matt Le Blanc demolishes any credibility the show would of had with his hammy acting.
"Delmont Reeves" wrote in message news:[email]...
whereChandler
don't
I did
Ross.
The first 1 i saw, i was trying not 2 enjoy it, cos my rents were there, and they're really weird!! i was like 9 though, and it was u no the one with Julia Roberts, as Suzy underpants!! It was just soooo funny, and then after a while, i decided 2 watch it, and i wouldnt care about what my rents thought, but then they liked it 2, so that was ok!!
Bry sm:)e
On Sun, 2 Jul 2000 09:37:34 +0100, "Kevin Liversage" wrote:
Maybe it will find a home on out Public TV stations. Commercial stations never seem willing to give anything a chance if they don't think the residents of every trailer park will understand the jokes. Lowest common denominator programming is all we get.
Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Delmont Reeves doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...
And you think *we* don't get that? People wax lyrical about Brit comedy, but in the past 5 years we've not had *one* new comedy that has lived up to the standards of OFAH, Men Behaving Badly, etc... they've all been blatantly boring and more often than not canned after 6 episodes. British sitcom is at an all-time low... and to be perfectly honest, I believe that's a major factor in the reasoning as to why Friends is so popular over here.
In article , Tina wrote:
I agree with you until 2 months ago. Haven't you seen "Coupling", Tina?
Tennant
O yea, that were great!!!! it was really funny, but i missed the first 2 or so!!
luv Bry sm:)e
In article , "Bry" wrote:
You won't be the only one Bry, so there's bound to be a repeat in a while.
That's cute!
Tennant
Tina wrote in message news:[email]...
Unfortuantly this is very true.
I agree that Friends is popular because there are not many good british sitcoms, but I think it also works the other way around. Some sitcoms which could have developed into good shows are cut short because they are constanly compaired to their US rivals, and they cannot possibly compete. How can a sitcom written entirely by one or two people, on a small buget ever hope to be as consistant in quality as a show with a huge writing team, and millions of dollers to spend?
wasn't "Mr. Bean" a british comedy?? I remember seeing the movie, and oh boy did it suck... (I know this was totally off topic, but... oh well)
~*~Katrina~*~
In article , [email] (Katrina) wrote:
We saw Rowan Atkinson's One Man Show in the West End (with Angus Deayton), and some of the skits were very Beanish, although this was long before the character acquired his name. All I can say is that he was well funny on stage, but for me he didn't work on TV, and we have never seen the movie.
Much British comedy does indeed suck these days, but then the same thing applies to American comedy. Theodore Sturgeon once conceded that 90% of Science Fiction was crap, but only because 90% of *everything* is crap...
Tennant
Tennant Stuart wrote in message news:[email]...
NE1 find Dinnerladies funny? and I watched Morecambe and Wise for the first time yesterday and it was really funny... I always like the two Ronnies too...
In article , "*semyl*" wrote:
Annoyingly, my otherwise extremely intelligent sister is a HUGE fan. I've liked some of Victoria Wood's work in the past, but not that.
Sorry Semyl, but I find them both rather dated.
Tennant
On 04 Jul 2000 05:16:04 GMT, Katrina discovered his/her life was empty without alt.tv.friends, and confessed their love in a poem. This is how it went:
I think the TV show sketches were much better than the film. But then again, I was about 8 when I saw them. Which shows how old 'Mr. Bean' is! (Or does it?)
Samantha Stein 'Veni, Vidi, Velcro' - I came, I saw, I stuck around.
Kevin Liversage wrote in message news:395e8a09$[email]...
hmmm - i think i started watching friends about 1/2 way through the first series when it came out in the uk (1995/6 - ish?) - my sister used to watch it and i used to insult it - saying it sucked n stuff - but them i actually bothered to watch it properly and i was hooked - i do think iut's one of those shows u either love or hate -i don't know many ppl who like it a bit for example. OFAH is a v.good comedy show - i watch it when it's on but - you're right - i don't think it'd translate well overseas.
Also - i was just wondering why, if u dislike friends so much, you would take the time out to find a news group about it and post to it insulting it? - nothing better to do? - i dislike a lot of comedy shows the BBC and others have shown recently (royal family is one example) -the quality of new and current english sitcoms is awful (with a few exeptions) - but i don't go finding newsgroups for the show and saying - oi, your show sucks.
p.s. - futurama beats simpsons hands down (or up - whichever your preference)
In article , "EgaMeMNon" wrote:
Friends began in the UK on 28th April 1995. Season 1 ended on 6th October with a cracking cliffhanger that hooked many people, including me.
I quite agree. I don't like The Royle Family either, but the latest BBC sitcom Coupling is plain brilliant in my opinion.
Tennant Stuart
Tennant Stuart wrote in message ...
I've got to agree with you on this one. "Coupling" is one of those sitcoms that is rare today - hilarious and clever. Plus it's a lot like Friends in that pretty much all the actors/actresses are relatively unknown. The preview I saw for it said that it was "Friends but closer to the bone". Granted - they've taken a bit from the whole idea of Friends. Substitute a coffee bar for a vodka bar, a manic NYorker with quick lines with a manic Welshman with quick lines but who cares. It's one of the first decent new British sitcoms in a good few years. Plus (I'm sure you're the man to ask on this one) any ideas if there's a second series coming up. A season with only five or six eps. isn't a good sign.
IM.
I saught out the newsgroup which took all of 10 seconds, and posted my message to try and find out what people see in this show. When superior alternatives are out there! British Comedy is at an all time low, I am of that opinion sadly, Ali G is the only decent show on at the moment.
"Iain McCallum" wrote in message news:8jofg5$len$[email]...
sitcoms
in
a
Kevin Liversage wrote in message ...
I'll certainly agree that British sitcom is at an all time low but on the face of it was it ever at a particular all time high. In the last 30 years I can probably count on two hands (if that) the amount of hilarious sitcoms Britain has produced
(1) Only Fools and Horses (which as it will probably never be seen in the US means this is a UK perspective only) (2) Men Behaving Badly (Possible) Father Ted (though debatable whether British or Irish - more probably the latter)
And now we really start pouring back the sands of time
(3) Fawlty Towers (4) Monty Python (technically not a sitcom but I'm starting to struggle) (5) The Morecambe and Wise Show
And if I was feeling generous
(6) Blackadder
And that's it. That's your lot. I realise some people are going to add to his but I defy you to add much more (probably Ab. Fab. but personally I never found it that funny.). And anyone who says "The Royle Family" gets slapped in the face with a rotting pilchard. For all that some Americans complain about their own sitcoms - believe me. You've got it lucky. I mean how funny can a sitcom entitled "The Perils of Pendragon" actually be?
So in 30 years this is pretty much all we can dredge up on this side of the Atlantic. Pathetic.
IM.
Iain McCallum wrote in message ... | |Kevin Liversage wrote in message ...
|I'll certainly agree that British sitcom is at an all time low but on the |face of it was it ever at a particular all time high. In the last 30 years |I can probably count on two hands (if that) the amount of hilarious sitcoms |Britain has produced | |(1) Only Fools and Horses (which as it will probably never be seen in the US |means this is a UK perspective only) |(2) Men Behaving Badly |(Possible) Father Ted (though debatable whether British or Irish - more |probably the latter) | |And now we really start pouring back the sands of time | |(3) Fawlty Towers |(4) Monty Python (technically not a sitcom but I'm starting to struggle)
It doesn't matter, does it? lol I like Smack The Pony, but I always found OFAH quite boring. And how can you miss out "Babes In The Wood"?
|(5) The Morecambe and Wise Show | |And if I was feeling generous | |(6) Blackadder | |And that's it. That's your lot. I realise some people are going to add to |his but I defy you to add much more (probably Ab. Fab. but personally I |never found it that funny.). And anyone who says "The Royle Family" gets |slapped in the face with a rotting pilchard. For all that some Americans |complain about their own sitcoms - believe me. You've got it lucky. I mean |how funny can a sitcom entitled "The Perils of Pendragon" actually be? | |So in 30 years this is pretty much all we can dredge up on this side of the |Atlantic. Pathetic. | |IM. | | | |
Only Fools and Horses is funnier than every other comedy you have mentioned put together Candygirl. I do hope you were joking about Babes in the wood, if ever a show made friends look good this is it.
The bottom line is OFAH is the most watched show ever in England, thats a fact. Friends struggles to get ratings of 2 and a half million I think.
In article , "Kevin Liversage" wrote:
Kevin, are you talking about the ratings on Sky One, which *only* reached a figure of 2.86 million? If so, don't forget that this is a subscription only satellite channel. The ratings will be much higher on Channel Four.
Tennant STuart
They are not too much higher, and lets be truthful here they are never going to trouble the 25 million OFAH had for its last episode. It used to consistently get 15 Million + anyway. "Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...
In article , "Kevin Liversage" wrote:
Well Kevin, 6.49 million is a *little* bit higher than 2.86 million.
Okay Kevin, this is so. But Friends is a foreign import, Only Fools And Horses was British. It's not surprising that it did so well in Britain.
To compare like with like, you must ask how well other US sitcoms perform in Britain (Frasier does modestly well, the rest are nowhere), or how well OFAH used to do around the world (guess).
And you are overlooking that OFAH *finished* 3 years before Friends began.
Tennant
OFAH does well all over the world except America, which is a bit of a pain. "Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...
On Mon, 3 Jul 2000, Tennant Stuart stated this considered view. Waking from my doze, I hastily scrawled -
Yes, they average close to 5 million there - WAAAYY above anything else on that channel!
How about the Two Ronnies???? And Absolutely Fabulous???? The Vicar Of Dibley ?????? Poss. counting French and Saunders???????? Don't discount the Brits yet!!!!!!!! Does anyone else agree with me???
Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Lil Mizz T doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...
Never *did* much see the appeal with them.
Fantastic... I wisb they'd bring that back.
Pretty good as well.
Well, anything French and Saunders are involved in...
The problem is, there isn't a great deal else. The only people who can be relied on to produce good comedy here are the tried-and-tested ones... anyone else can either come up with complete crap, or (if they're lucky enough to even be looked at by the BBC and ITV) complete genius, but it's completely hit-and-miss.
In article , [email] (Lil Mizz T) wrote:
Good in its day I suppose, but seems old-fashioned to me.
Yep. Very good innovative sitcom. I loved the episode with the unwanted war orphans which they sold on at a profit.
No, I only ever liked the joke she told Alice at the end.
Sketch show, not a sitcom.
Tennant
In article , "Iain McCallum" wrote:
That's not an unfair assessment - it's rather like the sexual side of Friends, but not its other aspects. The scripts are very clever and just bursting with ideas - the giggle loop, the sock gap, the *toy* which can't mow the lawn, Hebrew, and Lesbian Spank Inferno. The cast is the biggest similarity, three men & three women in their twenties, but the relationships are different - a couple plus their best friends & ex's.
It was six episodes, which is not at all unusual. Since each is a solid 30 minutes long, that's equivalent to 9 episodes of Friends. Don't forget that British seasons are always short - Fawlty Towers was two seasons of six episodes each, so shortness in of itself is not a worrying sign.
The biggest difference between British & American comedy is that we rarely have teams of writers - all the episodes of Coupling were written by one man working on his own, Stephen Moffat. He contributed to the Dawn French black comedies Murder Most Horrid, and the lesser-known Press Gang. He also created Chalk which was so disappointing. However he will forever be known as the man who gave us Joking Apart, still my favourite British sitcom of all time, which was also extremely funny and bloody clever.
I have no news about a second season of Coupling, all I can say is that comedy of such high calibre is bound to continue. However, a solo writer takes a very long while to produce such high quality material, so you must be warned. The pilot of Joking Apart aired in 1991, followed by two seasons of six episodes each in 1993 & 1995.
Tennant
In article , Tennant Stuart wrote:
Well, now I *do* have news, for Steven Moffat himself has very kindly written to me, revealing that he's busily working on a second series, consisting of *nine* episodes due out next April.
You never know who is reading that which we write...
Tennant
How many times do we have to see Del falling through the gap at the bar? Try something else for a change!
-----------------------------------------------------------
In article , jang wrote:
For the sake of all our (puzzled) friends around the world, this is supposed to be the funniest moment in Only Fools And Horses, with the hero Del trying to look suave at a pub, until the barman lifts up a flap in the bar, and Del attempts to lean on thin air.
Even I won't attempt to list the dozens of such pieces of physical comedy in Friends that easily match this.
Tennant
Match it then you daft idiot. You can't nothing them bad actors do could match it.. You are forgetting the public voted for that moment, ok. So please stop trying to say Friends is a good show.
"Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...
You can think what you like but if you don't have anything meaningful to contribute to the discussion about Friends, go somewhere else! And don't call somebody you don't know an idiot. You can't even figure out that the newsgroup alt.tv.friends is devoted to Friends not OFAH.
Kevin Liversage wrote in message news:396265b9$[email]...
whether Fools and Horses is good or not doesn't mean that Friends isn't good too... its all a matter of opinion I guess, but I like it!