Friends . . . that lovely sitcom from the 90's

ChemFanatic25

Let's talk this about this interesting sitcom.

Oh wow, so I'm watching Friends for the first time ever. When I was young I wasn't allowed to watch it and I've been meaning to because it's on Netflix and well I was born in the 90's; I almost feel obligated to watch it. 

Wow is it horrific. I don't know why everyone thinks it is so amazing but holy cow! These people! Like is this real life? I won't bother to go into detail about Ross Gellar because that guy is a complete grade - A *sshole. 

But Monica and Chandler just got engaged (yeah I've gotten about that far). It was beautiful. I loved it. I hate Monica btw. In real life no one would want to be friends with someone who is so self-involved, selfish, that high maintenance and that much of a pain in the butt. I digress. Beautiful engagement. I am sitting here thinking there is absolutely no way this could be ruined. For once I am okay with Monica being on the screen. I actually am okay with Chandler for the most part though he seems very homophobic. I feel sorry for his poor father. 

Well Monica ruined. Man did she ruin it big time. her behavior would have the etiquette board up in arms. This is actually why I'm posting. Just wanted to just say "holy cow look at the shitshow that is about to start AND it hasn't even been 24 hours!" 

1.) This maniac turn a beautiful engagement into it being all about her. Screw Chandler! Monica is freaking engaged and everybody better be focusing 100% of their attention on her!

2.) She flipped out on Ross (hate that guy) and Rachel for making out in the hallway. They were stealing her thunder (not her's and Chandler's, just her's). Also, she didn't even get angry at Ross who just would not shut up about getting laid.

3.) Told Rachel she was jealous of her getting engaged. We all role our eyes at this whenever we hear someone say this. I rolled my eyes BIG time . . . though to be honest Rachel was a little jealous.

4.) The NEXT morning Monica pulls out this huge book and is like "everything is planned, Chandler you better not touch a damn thing." 

Goodness gracious, I would be so nervous about the upcoming nuptials. I don't know why but I keep watching this show. I don't know if I enjoy the torture or the constant feeling of embarrassment of these people. Or maybe it's the sense of obligation I feel to watch it since I'm a 90's kid. I know it's stupid but I had to post. I've been watching for a while and I finally just had to come on here and be like, holy cow, how did people enjoy this? Did viewers actually think these peoples' behavior was acceptable or were they just as horrified as I am right now? 

chibiyui

I was never a huge friend fan, I just watched reruns occasionally.

But.

I would fucking break my pelvis on Ross. I have thought that since middle school and would still fucking do it do this day. No shame.

WinstonsGirl

chibiyui said:

I was never a huge friend fan, I just watched reruns occasionally.

But.

I would fucking break my pelvis on Ross. I have thought that since middle school and would still fucking do it do this day. No shame.

I had the biggest crush on him when that show was out.   I always liked the cute but slightly nerdy guys

ChemFanatic25

WinstonsGirl said:

chibiyui said:

I was never a huge friend fan, I just watched reruns occasionally.

But.

I would fucking break my pelvis on Ross. I have thought that since middle school and would still fucking do it do this day. No shame.

I had the biggest crush on him when that show was out.   I always liked the cute but slightly nerdy guys

**dang phone, I apologize for any weirdness in my posts**


Okay, I was curious about what that meant and now I know. :-P

huskypuppy14

We talked about it a couple months ago:

http://forums.theknot.com/discussion/comment/7550941#Comment_7550941

It's a little dated, but I love it. I think it's hysterical. I watched it when it was on must see TV Thursdays, so I probably have a different perspective than you.

It's a sitcom, and they're characters. Ross is awful though, ugh. 

hellohkb

To be fair, every single thing in that show is exaggerated because it IS a sitcom. I like them all, but Ross can be a bit tiring even for a comedy. Also fun Friends fact, I learned a few days ago that Phoebe and I have the same Myers-Briggs personality type (INFP). She's my favorite so I was stoked.

huskypuppy14

hellohkb said:

To be fair, every single thing in that show is exaggerated because it IS a sitcom. I like them all, but Ross can be a bit tiring even for a comedy. Also fun Friends fact, I learned a few days ago that Phoebe and I have the same Myers-Briggs personality type (INFP). She's my favorite so I was stoked.

Ha, I'm the complete opposite of you: ESTJ .( I just looked it up, and I'm Monica).

hellohkb

huskypuppy14 said:

hellohkb said:

To be fair, every single thing in that show is exaggerated because it IS a sitcom. I like them all, but Ross can be a bit tiring even for a comedy. Also fun Friends fact, I learned a few days ago that Phoebe and I have the same Myers-Briggs personality type (INFP). She's my favorite so I was stoked.

Ha, I'm the complete opposite of you: ESTJ .( I just looked it up, and I'm Monica).

Nice! I always really liked Monica. I'm in between introvert and extrovert (I'd say I'm 50/50, but for some reason Myers-Briggs insists I'm introvert) but I get along well with very "intense" extroverted personalities. 

climbingsingle

I'm older, so I watched Friends from the first time it aired. Maybe it's one of those shows you had to watch in the 90s, or maybe it just doesn't translate well into current times. But I LOVED this show. Friends is one the best shows that has aired. I cried when it ended. Yes, I did. 

The characters and the situations are exaggerated because it's a sitcom. Ross is meant to be annoying for laughs. Monica is meant to be crazy and controlling and nutty for laughs. Phoebe is quirky. Chandler has issues with his dad. Joey is dumb and sleeps around. Etc, etc - it's all exaggerated. That's pretty much how sitcoms are. 

lovegood90

Friends is literally my favourite show of all time. Backing away slowly from this thread right now, haha (but seriously...)

ChemFanatic25

hellohkb said:

To be fair, every single thing in that show is exaggerated because it IS a sitcom. I like them all, but Ross can be a bit tiring even for a comedy. Also fun Friends fact, I learned a few days ago that Phoebe and I have the same Myers-Briggs personality type (INFP). She's my favorite so I was stoked.

climbingwife said:

I'm older, so I watched Friends from the first time it aired. Maybe it's one of those shows you had to watch in the 90s, or maybe it just doesn't translate well into current times. But I LOVED this show. Friends is one the best shows that has aired. I cried when it ended. Yes, I did. 

The characters and the situations are exaggerated because it's a sitcom. Ross is meant to be annoying for laughs. Monica is meant to be crazy and controlling and nutty for laughs. Phoebe is quirky. Chandler has issues with his dad. Joey is dumb and sleeps around. Etc, etc - it's all exaggerated. That's pretty much how sitcoms are. 

Yeah my boyfriend keeps saying this when I'm watching the show and react. It normally goes something like this

ChemFanatic: Oh my god, why is so-and-so like that? Why do that they do that?

SO: Chem . . . it's a SITCOM, that happens in a SITCOM. What did you expect?

ChemFanatic: oh yeah, I keep forgetting that. **Tuck my tail between my legs and walk away in shame; forget and resort back to my original silly ways**

I get so emotionally involved in shows and books. I don't know why. I am working on that because obviously it makes it less enjoyable for those watching with me aka my boyfriend.

Maggie0829

Um, it is a fictional sitcom.  It is just so supposed to be entertaining and funny.  Why do people feel the need to read so much into something that is just supposed to be light hearted and silly?  

I just rewatched the entire series on Netflix and found it funnier the second time around.  But I agree with climbingwife that maybe it just doesn't translate well in this day and age because it seems that everyone needs to get something out of a show (or read into it and nit pick at it) more then just being entertained or getting a few laughs for 30-60 minutes?

banana468

I LOVE that show!

But that doesn't mean that I want to actually BE friends with people exactly like that.   There's a bit of those characters in all of us but there all off to the extreme.   

jenna8984

I agree with @climbingbride. I watched it pretty much from the beginning at the time it was happening and I loved it. But of course I did always think some things were weird- like in the pilot, Rachel and Monica are barely friends...Monica wasn't even invited to her wedding...yet she just moves right on into Monica's apartment. WTF is that? Ross is kind of a horrible father. Rachel had no work experience and just happened to land these amazing jobs at Ralph Lauren. But whatever, it's all fake so I just go with it.

But yea, even when I was like 17 and the wedding episodes were happening, I knew nothing about etiquette but thought Monica was being a psycho bridezilla bitch lol

peachy13

OP, so funny. I thought about all that stuff as a re-watched the series recently. I started a thread on Snarky Brides regarding etiquette fails in movies and TV shows and Friends definitely comes up a lot.

To me, the most annoying part of Monica's engagement is that she automatically assumes that her parents are paying and that they can use the "Monica wedding fund" which actually doesn't exist because her parents bought a car with their own money instead. Then Monica freaks out and gets pissed at her parents despite the fact that she's a 30 year old with a great job, but then the show joyfully ends with her father giving her the new car and Chandler agreeing to use his entire life's savings to pay for Monica's dream wedding. 

arrippa

No matter how much of a fire hazard the candles are, I will never not cry at Chandler/Monica's proposal scene.

I watched the show when it was on so maybe I am sentimental but I love that show. I still to this day, I still referenced the pivot scene as one my favorites in the show.

climbingsingle

peachy13 said:

OP, so funny. I thought about all that stuff as a re-watched the series recently. I started a thread on Snarky Brides regarding etiquette fails in movies and TV shows and Friends definitely comes up a lot.

To me, the most annoying part of Monica's engagement is that she automatically assumes that her parents are paying and that they can use the "Monica wedding fund" which actually doesn't exist because her parents bought a car with their own money instead. Then Monica freaks out and gets pissed at her parents despite the fact that she's a 30 year old with a great job, but then the show joyfully ends with her father giving her the new car and Chandler agreeing to use his entire life's savings to pay for Monica's dream wedding. 

I think the reason behind that story line was that her parents told her they had a wedding fund for her. And the joke was that since she took so long to get engaged, her parents thought she'd never get married. So that's why they spent it. 

Again, it's a sitcom people! 

jenna8984

@arrippa YUP. PIVOT is my fave.

banana468

Exactly! I wouldn't be friends with a Joey IRL but on the show his character is very amusing. Despite not having magical powers, it isn't reality either.

themuffinman16

PI-VOT!

princessgracekelly

ChemFanatic25 said:

hellohkb said:

To be fair, every single thing in that show is exaggerated because it IS a sitcom. I like them all, but Ross can be a bit tiring even for a comedy. Also fun Friends fact, I learned a few days ago that Phoebe and I have the same Myers-Briggs personality type (INFP). She's my favorite so I was stoked.

climbingwife said:

I'm older, so I watched Friends from the first time it aired. Maybe it's one of those shows you had to watch in the 90s, or maybe it just doesn't translate well into current times. But I LOVED this show. Friends is one the best shows that has aired. I cried when it ended. Yes, I did. 

The characters and the situations are exaggerated because it's a sitcom. Ross is meant to be annoying for laughs. Monica is meant to be crazy and controlling and nutty for laughs. Phoebe is quirky. Chandler has issues with his dad. Joey is dumb and sleeps around. Etc, etc - it's all exaggerated. That's pretty much how sitcoms are. 

Yeah my boyfriend keeps saying this when I'm watching the show and react. It normally goes something like this

ChemFanatic: Oh my god, why is so-and-so like that? Why do that they do that?

SO: Chem . . . it's a SITCOM, that happens in a SITCOM. What did you expect?

ChemFanatic: oh yeah, I keep forgetting that. **Tuck my tail between my legs and walk away in shame; forget and resort back to my original silly ways**

I get so emotionally involved in shows and books. I don't know why. I am working on that because obviously it makes it less enjoyable for those watching with me aka my boyfriend.

FI is a lot like this. I'll be watching a comedy or drama and he'll go on and on about "that isn't realistic, they should really do this" or "what she did was stupid and impractical" and "this person is so annoying, why does he have friends?" He kept saying this while I was re-watching "Friends" and I finally just said, "If these people were smart about relationships or careers, this show would have been over in one season, if that, because it would have been hella boring."

Take Bella from "Twilight:" most people don't like her because her one "flaw" as a character is her clumsiness. The characters on "Friends" are . . . um, quite flawed, and they are exaggerated flaws and these people have exaggerated problems, but we all still know someone whose Type A personality or free spirit or tendency to rush into commitment too soon has gotten them into trouble. I relate to the characters of "Friends" waayyyy more than I relate to Bella, who is instantly loved by all the boys of her new school and trips sometimes.

By chance, do you have an arts background? Because FI and I are both writers and we're always critically thinking about how we shape media and media shapes us and good lord, I just felt like I was writing a college course description writing that.

arrippa

themuffinman16 said:

PI-VOT!

jenna8984 said:

@arrippa YUP. PIVOT is my fave.

pinkcow13

I LOVE Friends. It is my favorite show, I must have watched every episode at least a hundred times. Personally, I love Ross. I find him hilarious because he is always getting himself into some crazy situation. One of my favorite episodes is when he tried to get a spray tan, and asks the guy what number shade he is and the guy responds "Puerto Rican." And then Ross counts down in "Mississippi" and gets over sprayed.And of course, one of my all time favorite scenes:

.

climbingsingle

PIVOT is one of the best episodes ever. I pee my pants laughing at that one. 

themuffinman16

I think as the show developed, the character's personalities became really pronounced.  I LOVE friends, and I can't even fathom how people don't like it. I HATE Seinfield, I could never identify with any of the characters. I don't do everything Rachel would do, yet I feel I identify most with her. My sister identifies most with Monica. She would never take a little vacuum to vacuum a larger vacuum, but still... similarities are there. At the end of the show, Ross started to annoy me, although his situations were still funny.

theartistformerlyknownas

I mean... have you ever watched a sitcom before? All sitcom characters are essentially caricatures of real people. They're exaggerated for comedic effect. 

Don't blaspheme Friends. 

Maggie0829

Because lets be serious, unless you have a tremendously huge ass turkey, there is no way that you could put one on your head.

jenna8984

@pinkcow13 My other favorite Ross moments:

 

 

lovegood90

Maggie0829 said:

Because lets be serious, unless you have a tremendously huge ass turkey, there is no way that you could put one on your head.

See, I would NEVER put a turkey on my head! These characters are soooo unrelatable amirite?! Awful show.

pinkcow13

jenna8984 said:

@pinkcow13 My other favorite Ross moments:

 

 Yessss! I love those also!!!

And who could forget The Routine?!?!?

.

ChemFanatic25

climbingwife said:

PIVOT is one of the best episodes ever. I pee my pants laughing at that one. 

"This couch was not to my standards." Indicates to a torn up couch split in half. "I'd like a refund."

"I can give you $4."

"I'll take the $4." LOL I actually was able to relate to this episode because I bought a new couch set and I measured the doors and entryway to make sure it could fit and I still had to be like "well crap, I screwed this up. Let's angle it in this weird direction that will most likely not work." I gave the furniture people a huge tip for that.