Reply to "Seinfeld is better than Friends" which I never read.

I honestly can't believe people watch Friends. The show is just so crappy, it's a comedy, but the comedy is lame. I don't know how the show became successful , but I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the theme song as the show itself is so uninspired.

I know that some people think Seinfeld is not funny or they just plain dislike the program - and I'd state my life that most of these people think Friends is creme of the crop.

The only other comedy that is of similar style to Seinfeld is Murphy Brown - although I only realized that sometime this year. That guy that played a main character in "Street Hawk" is basically George, in terms of acting style, and I think Jim is like Elaine, Corky is Kramer - but I'm not sure who Jerry would be, Murphy perhaps (long time since I last watched the program in re-runs).

The only other comedy that is as awesome as Seinfeld is Married With Children, just watch the re-runs from the first show on. Married With Children (in early series) is just drop-dead funny, moreso than Seinfeld, but the style of comedy in Seinfeld and it's characters and especially the acting give it a cult status greater than Al Bundy's.

Back to the subject of this message, comparing Friends to Seinfeld is like comparing David Letterman (Late Show) to an Oprah celebrity special - both interview celebs but only one is truly funny.

I actually think Friends was crafted for an audience that does not know anybody funny in real life because the comedic elements are those that tend to spring up in everyday life. For example in Seinfeld where George is trying to get fired by driving around the Yankee Stadium carpark dragging the trophy would not be funny in reality but in the context of the episode it's hilarious. Friend's is the complete opposite, not funny in the context of the show or episode and yet would be funny in reality.

hey i know Seinfeld may be the best show ever, at least in my opinion, and Married with Children and other shows you mentioned are funny, but Friends is a funny show. whether in real life or just in the show as you explained, funny is funny no matter how they manage to create laughs, and plus you must admit it would not be anywere near as popular as it is if it weren't hilarious. I'm not dissin you, cause everyones got their own opinion, and I'm not sayin that Friends IS better than Seinfeld, but you gotta give Friends some credit.thats just my opinion. let me know if anyone out there agrees/disagrees.peace and happy new year to everyone

I assume you're being sarcastic about the theme song, since no show could sustain -- even increase in -- popularity based solely on the theme. While "Seinfeld" is IMO vastly superior to "Friends", the latter show is very funny and deserves its success. (A side note: "Friends" has *never* benefited from one of NBC's "golden hammock" time slots, whereas even "Seinfeld" needed to be moved from Wed. to Thurs. to survive.)

After re-watching the early episodes in syndication, I realized how lame the show *could* have been, but it has gotten better and better and has shown a "Seinfeldian" willingness to flaunt the sitcom rules. For example, in most sitcoms, when something absurd happens -- like, say, building a god-awful entertainment center or buying a baby chick and duck -- the gag is used for a laugh, and in the next episode, everything returns magically to "normal." "Friends" takes the harder and more comically rewarding route of forcing themselves to live with their situational gags from episode to episode. So when the girls lose their apartment to the guys in a bet, they actually *had* to move out and spend most of the season in the guys' apartment. When the guys were robbed, they spent several months sitting around in a canoe! And we *still* see the chick and duck walking around two years later.

Even "Seinfeld" followed the rules when it came to this -- especially in the later years when it began to turn into a cartoon. Rickshaws? Sure! Jerry sanding his floor? Well, the gag calls for it, so let's forget that he's never used, owned or touched a power tool in his life. "Friends" forces itself to live with the comedic punchlines. I respect that.

In the first several years, "Seinfeld" had a real slice-of-life feel that I connected with. Slightly silly, but most of the scenarios seemed "real". Friends has *never* had that; it was always about beautiful people who were improbably able to afford their lifestyles, improbably stupid in relationships, and improbably doomed to enter their 30s with little to know maturity or wisdom. But you know what? The show is damn funny. Jerry himself always said that a funny show was all that mattered, and in "Seinfeld"s final two years, "Friends" was funnier. IMO.

Murcura wrote in message ...

crappy,

the

Seinfeld is the best sitcom I've ever seen. Friends is also a very funny show.

However, to say that Friends never benifitted from 'one of NBC's golden hammock time slots' (which I assume you mean sandwiched between two BIG shows) might be technically true, it did have the leadoff slot on 'Must See TV' Thrusday nights. Pretty hard to fail in that slot. Look how many bad or mediocre shows lasted longer than they should have in one of those Thursday slots. (Caroline In The City, The Single Guy - which was better in it's first season before all the changes, Suddenly Susan)

The fact that Seinfeld had to move from Wednesdays to Thursdays doesn't mean it needed Thursdays to survive. If they had just moved it out from direct competition with Home Improvement (crappy show in my opinion, but very popular with families), it would have survived in any other timeslot.

Very interesting points! But don't let Friends's "unreality" automatically make people deem it as a bad sitcom. It's just a different approach. Jerry Seinfeld's material is observational humor about real life. Hence, the show has a "real" feel. Friends takes the more sitcom-like approach in that the humor comes from unreal events and settings. Many shows have that aspect to it. Take anything Tim Taylor does on Home Improvement, the events that happen to Paul and Jamie on Mad about You, Encore! Encore!, Just Shoot Me, Working, Dharma and Greg, The Drew Carey Show, The Nanny, 3rd Rock from the Sun, NewsRadio, etc. Friends deserves credit.

Murcura wrote in message ...

I agree. I was one of those people for a brief period, I cant think why, now. Either that show has slipped a lot, or my taste has improved. I switch on the TV for Seinfeld re-runs, and switch channels if Friends is still on- its too corny to watch even for a few seconds before Seinfeld begins. I felt the same about 'Mad About You' sometimes. I think I dislike 'Friends' because - it feels like everyone is trying really really hard for a laugh (like George when he says he 'HAS to be liked' by Jerry's masseuse girlfriend, and the more he tries, the less she likes him) , whereas Seinfeld glides effortlessly into it.

You've something there.. The only other show I really thought was funny was Married with Children. There was another -'Mama's family', which IMO is not too bad, but is very different.

the

AT wrote:

too bad, but is very different.

I agree that Married With Children was a great show. The downfall for me started when they introduced the "Seven" character, the little kid who lived with them. The early shows, especially the ones with Steve Rhodes in them, are excellent.

Cris