A die-hard Seinfeld fanatic myself, I kind of enjoy Friends too and think it's way underrated by a lot of people who talk about it. Obviously not in the same league, stratosphere, universe, can't even be mentioned in the same breath as Seinfeld, but still, the performances and the writing I think are funny and well above the sitcom average.
i've been watching freinds in reruns lately myself and i have to admit it's not a terrible show. it's better than about 85% of the tv dreck out there right now. the main problem i have with it is how thoroughly inane and idiotic the characters are. sappiness abounds, and the show is way too "cute" for me.
that's another reason seinfeld was so great: it was NEVER sappy and the characters were cool people you'd like to hang out with. the friends cast (if i may be so bold) is annoying as all fuck and makes it, despite the good writing, hard to watch.
I too have been watching Friends on re-runs (helps because it's on right after Seinfeld here in NYC). Joey and Chandler's characters are the only chararacters that make me laugh out loud besides the Seinfeld characters. Besides Seinfeld, Friends is the only half-decent comedy to watch on TV.
Yes, it does seem that the universal pool of writers' ideas have run dry, although sometimes the WB can offer something amusing...it does puzzle me how blank writers' minds can be. There are so many funny things in this world, how would you ever run out of ideas. Well, at least Seinfeld is being rerun on several networks now.
Amidst the chattering on alt.tv.seinfeld, the voice known as Surly09 said something like this. Well I had to reply...
I don't think I can remember a *bad* Seinfeld episode, but I can recall many bad Friends episodes. But most of the time, Friends is a really great show :)
I'm not surprised. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was great to see Izzy Mandelbaum again, and the scene with Newman and Kramer making sausages was one for the ages.
As there are still episodes you have yet to see, try not to get caught in the trap. I mean don't go into a new episode with the impression that it will be bad just because you read someone's opinion about it. If you end up not liking an episode, make sure it's because you really don't like it, and not because you were expecting a bad episode.
I also remember alot of complaining about season 6 and 7 in this newsgroup too. the slightly lousy episodes that seasons 8 and 9 gave us merely fed the fire...
So is this like a sexual preference thing - like do A LOT of youse guys think A LOT is one word or is it just like a personal thing? Not there is A LOT wrong with that. :-)
So is this like a sexual preference thing - like do A LOT of youse guys think A LOT is one word or is it just like a personal thing? Not there is A LOT wrong with that. :-)
Funny. I was gonna say I stopped watching Friends right around the time they got rid of the monkey, and then I noticed your screen name, JamesChimp.
Nice primate coincidence.
Barry the monkey.
Koko the monkey.
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I also live in NYC, and have been watching Friends reruns. I like the show, just for the laughs it provides. It isn't particularly well written, and the characters are not engaging, but it is cute and fun to watch.
Frasier is another show I feel is worth watching. I find it VERY well-written, and with extremely clever scripts and character interpretations. Just my thoughts!
Actually no, the German version of FRIENDs is, in America, under the title "2 guys a girl, and a pizza place" while the FRIENDS we know here is actually "Pals" in Germany.
it seems that the people that enjoy friends are not the biggest seinfeld friends and vice versa...friends viewers also seem younger or more immature (not to belittle them, just an observation).
On Sun, 29 Nov 1998 16:00:13 -0600, "Dusty Moer" wrote:
Friends is bullshit.
The whole things turned into a soap opera... if i wanted that crap i'd watch party of 5 or something... theyre taking themselves WAY too seriously...
Also the jokes are being repeated - not the actual same words but the same techniques... and copied from other programs... eg "whats the number for 911".. thats been on full house, step by step and a couple of others. then friends decided to flop it out...
theres also that type of joke that goes... person 1) Act like a homosexual person 2) No person 1) ill give you $500 person 2) (in homosexual type voice) Hi Guuuuuys crowd of 9 year olds) HAAHAHAHAHAHAHA
that kinda joke is about 3 an episode these days... its also on all those other comedies produced by david krane or whatever that guys name is....
Seinfeld was unstoppable. It kicked. EVERY joke was original and most were BLOODY funny only problem was the final - i thought it was pretty crap... disappointing... i reckon they shoulda done a thing where some guy joins their crew (elaines new boyfriend or someone) and whenever they start talking about the 'thing' or the 'secret sandwich cutting rule' the guy just says 'na that is inconsequential and not worth thinking about", and they have a final chat where they realise it is, and they cruise off and join the hoy paloy with the rest of the world
jesus that did sound dull... you could probly make it cool.. y'know is seinfeld did the jokes and kramers' hair was xtra big :)
also anyone notice that kramer is BALD? most of the time you cant see it cos the rest of his hair is all over the place covering it... but i saw an episode where he had it slicked down and there was a big hairless patch at the back! JESUUUS!!
anyway... hope sienfeld is on sunday afternoons in 20 years so i can see all the ones i missed....
email me if ya wanna talk seinfeld.... i looooveeee that program
hi i'm french and i'm a fan of seinfeld and friends. and i can tell you that in france it's the same thing people who watch friends are younger then the ones who watch seinfeld. that's curious because friends is supposed to describe the twentysomethings and the thirtysomethings way of life. and seinfeld too. so i guess it's a question of look. people watch the show with the cuttest characters. pity.