User reviews

Six standard cliched people with standard cliched sitcom personalities in a show that seemed to be written with every possible cliche that ever existed was, for me, very run of the mill. The actors were gifted, but the plots and writing were from "Sitcom 101." You could predict the jokes and the ending to all the shows. It feels like someone saw Seinfeld and said "We can copy that! But we will make it about the generation younger than the Seinfeld demographic. " ...except they couldn't. They didn't have the writers or talent to bring it off. I just don't understand why it was so popular. It was like a fast food version of Seinfeld.

Not funny, makes fun of stupidity, OCD, people with strong emotions, anger issues and childhood trauma. Awful acting and a terrible love story between two very unlikeable characters. I tried to like the show. But I couldn't.

Friends is neither so unfunny that I switch channel, yet nor is it funny enough to ever make me laugh out loud. At best, I'll chuckle, but that's as far as it goes. The dialogue consists of 1-2-1 exchanges that with almost clockwork precision result in one of several "quirky" expressions, most commonly the much copied "sh'uh right" from the infinitely funnier Wayne's World. Its that, or its Phoebe's expression of disgust, "Y'eugh". You get the idea. The comedy is built around this predictable exchange, with the audience no doubt cattle prodded into laughing, or paid. Over the years that the comedy has run, attempts have been made to develop the characters, and I believe this was directly in response to the masterful writing in Frasier, which managed to combine complex character and relationship development with laugh-out-loud humour. But Friends failed to succeed in developing either the characters or their relationships. Rather, what we were presented with were teenagers in adult bodies, 'playing' at being adults. And in a sense, for people who love this comedy, it perhaps represents a 30 minute opportunity to identify with this and its opposite, namely being 20 but living the life of a 30 year old, or being a 30 year old, and remembering back to when they were 20 fantasising about being 30. In the latter sense, comfort can be found in knowing that they aren't the idiots that the Friends are, but at the same time, they have achieved a comparable lifestyle, whilst being able to fantasise that they too have achieved that lifestyle with the same level of ease as the Friends. Conversely, people in their 20s can fantasise that they too will be able to attain a comparable lifestyle with the same level of ease. Herein lies its success but simultaneiously its weakness, that contributes to the general lack of substance that characterises this show. Life, especially in the city, is often about struggling, and indeed, it is in the struggle from which much comedy is born: the struggle to find love, the struggle to find work, or in my case the struggle to find Friends funny. Friends is a hugely but inexplicably successful series...I hesitate to call it a comedy because this would be to imply that it is funny. It is not. Put it this way: I can watch Friends, and effortlessly hold a straight face. It simply is not funny. The paradox, however, is that aside from Matt Leblanc, the cast have proved themselves elsewhere to be excellent dramatic and comic actors. But you would never guess it from watching Friends. I was glad that Friends finished, only to realise that there would be in eternity of repeats to avoid. I can only hope that Arrested Development is given a new lease of life on HBO, that Kelsey Grammar and gang return to a new series based around Frasier Krane, and that the new seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Rescue Me start soon. These are shows against which Friends is eclipsed and soon forgotten.

This show is just getting so irritating and predictable, all the "jokes" are based on only few facts such as:

1) Joey's unrealistic stupidity (the weird part is that he wasn't that stupid in the first few seasons and then out of the blue he becomes dumber than a dodo)

2) Monica's cleanliness habits

3) Chandler's sarcasm

Rarely any other jokes are based on something else. This show also contains a lot of drama and unneeded angst (created by the dreaded and irritating duo of Ross and Rachel) .

In conclusion:

The show is cheesy, cliché and predictable accompanied by witless humor. But on the good side, if you have not watched any episodes of this show, the first few seasons would be enjoyable. Also it a good pass time show.

I give it 5/10

When I first saw this show I hated it. It gave me the impression that it was a bunch of spoiled out of touch hipsters living in an expensieve new york apartment. However my roommate, who happens to be older than me actually liked the show. So I gave Friends a chance and after a while it grew on me. Specially when I found out Fibi Buffet was once homeless. Though her character doesn't act like anyone that was homeless that I've ever met even if they are now in a home. I found it a cute premise but still out of touch. Joey was cute and sexy even though they overplayed how good looking he was. He was cute but not handsome by any means and besides he was kinda short. Anyway, I watched it off and on for years but I am so sick and tired of TV stations playing this in re-runs over and over again. I'm now sick of the show again and hate it once more. I did go through a spell where I liked the show but I really didn't feel for any of the characters no matter how deep they tried to pretend to be. I still found them all fake and phoney. Now in 2012 almost two decades since the show started it seems that local stations are contractually obligated to play this series to death... or I should say way past it's death. There are newer fresher funnier shows like 30 Rock that have jokes and humor of today in 2012 and not from a decade that people don't act like anymore. I wish more TV stations would play newer shows like 30 Rock or something else. One reason I got rid of cable was the limited handful of reruns they owned. Don't get me wrong I love re-runs but there is such a tiny supply of shows on TV these days. On the internet there are hundreds of shows to choose from while that dinosaur TV hits us over the head with shallow peppy plastic shows like Friends. I don't care how deep they tried to come off that show was total and utter phoney garbage. Now who ever owns the rights to Friends is forcing the local TV stations to play them over and over again until we all die a little inside. I know I can turn the station or go back to the superior internet. But there are times when I come home at night and would like to turn on the TV and have them present me with something enjoyable, fresh, today, and actually funny. Sure the characters on 30 Rock come off as hipsters too but they meant to be hipsters, they are meant to be absurd. And that's what makes it funny. But Friends is so obnoxiously transparent I can't believe that it has the TV contracts that it does. It's a cute show but so aren't a lot of things. A plastic doll is cute but that's all it is. Plastic. If Friends were to disappear forever I for one would not miss it at all. If I ever see this show again it will be too soon.

The theme song for this is catchy and musically top notch, which alone makes this worth more than 2/10.

Other than that, it's a dull series apparently about three perfect men and three perfect women, which the writers are quite inept at making look imperfect.

They're also incredibly dull, and impossible to relate to.

It is one of those series that is impossible for a non drug abuser to stay awake through for more than 45 seconds. So, it could be a good Insomnia cure, but more than likely will just irritate you if you try to watch it.

The situations and relationships are impossible to relate to.

I like Phoebe. I like her cheeriness and eccentricities.

I found a lot of the writing to be pretty bad.

That's why I find it overrated. Now for some personal points: This show's particular brand of humor is not my taste. Because of this, I don't like Rachel or Monica. I can't overlook how Monica is an arrogant control-freak and that Rachel can't admit when she's wrong and she blames things on others.

The videotape! Rachel came onto Ross and she knows she did! But nope! She thought she could fool everyone into think Ross came onto her. And when it was proven otherwise I was like, "Yeah! Take that Rachel, you liar!"

They were on a break! She wanted Ross to take responsibility for everything that went wrong between her and him! Yeah, not everything was his fault. ('If you take responsibility I can begin to trust you again.' Seriously, Rachel?) Same goes for the drunken marriage and the annulment fiasco that followed it. ('Look what you've done with your funny, funny form!'-'Me? What about you and your consummate like bunnies...' Now that I type that I realize it was entirely her fault they couldn't get an annulment! And I don't care if she was angry. What she did was childish and stupid! Also, on the form it said Ross was addicted to heroine. Okay, a judge read that out loud. Wouldn't she call the cops or something?) Sorry, went on a tangent. Duh, right? Lol.

I'll just say this has to be the most overrated TV show in history of the world. I don't hate it or anything, I just don't see why does it have such a high rating or why did so many people love it? I'm dumbfounded.

Do you ever have something everyone seems to love but you just can't figure out the draw? That's Friends for me, though over the years I've learned to feign enjoyment for the show for the sake of social cohesion.

It's simply not very funny, especially 25+ years later, except for a couple of Chandler's jokes. The acting is poor and the show is boring as the six friends sit in their apartment talking to each other; the season bylines are who will date who. I know it was the 90's but the show is just so bland.

I've seen every episode of every season and tried rewatching a few after Matthew Perry tragically died. I really wanted to change my mind.....but it's still bad. There is so much better television out there. It was bad then and it is bad now.

The best thing about this show back in the day was we were closer to watching Seinfeld.

People always rave about the show. But honestly there isn't much different or special about it compared to other shows with the same laugh track that places in your nightmares. The only people who like it enjoy it because it fills the void in their life that was left empty by their lack of real friends.

This review is the result of years of sporadic trying to get something from this show. I tried honestly to find something in it, be it funny or warming. Sure, from time to time, a line jumps that would be funny perhaps in another context. But the wannabe soft parts are mushy, the quiproquos would have been easily avoidable through simple clarification, and the immature, childish behavior of all the characters destroys even the rare glimpses of fun, because everything is not life-like at all.

The main characters are not relatable. They are in their late 20s but they act like teens, and they are so sketchy: the spoiled, independent girl, the quirky girl, the competitive girl, the oh-so-funny guy, the shallow stud, and the dorky unrequited lover. Many people appear to like them and the show, maybe as a result of heavy promotion and of the viewers' own shallowness. But even as an escapist show, it doesn't work because it's almost annoyingly unreal.

Others noted its leaning towards dumbing down, because the only character with higher education (Ross) is constantly mocked for it and appears as boring and awkward. To me, paradoxically perhaps, the only almost likeable main characters are sometimes Phoebe and Joey, for their sporadic, down to earth common sense.

I won't lie, the show did have its moments and made me laugh. There were also some heartwarming moments and memorable scenes. However, "Friends" are highly abusive. The abuse is knit under all those seemingly incessant jokes. Rachel and Ross relationship is highly toxic. There is no respect for characters outside of "circle", they are only there so the main characters could make fun of them. It's promoting herd mentality, but the main characters are not saved either. Everyone is being devalued and shamed consistently. Outside of "humor", there is really no story going on or anything of value. On the other side, it is also promoting unrealistic life expectations for young adults.

"The Office", for example, makes fun of its characters all the time, but never in devaluing or hurtful way. Instead, you come to love all these personalities and their quirks. It is completely opposite with "Friends". Yuck!

I like it. I hate it. I don't know. I used to love this sitcom when I was a kid. I was obsessed. I was too young to realize how some of the jokes are mediocre or not funny at all. Sometimes, I feel like kids could have written some of the show. Maybe it just grew on me or I grew out of it. I don't know why it's still very popular after all these years. I know the cast too well. That's not the bad part. I like the cast. It's just the show itself. They just sit around and goof off most of the time. Many of the jokes don't make sense. If the main characters explained many of their contradictory subjects and jokes a little bit better to each other or something afterwards, maybe the show would make more sense. Sometimes, they complain and fight about the dumbest things. They also seem to yell a lot at each other. It's really annoying. They just sound childish or aggressive.

There aren't that many interesting situations. If there's a death, they are all just depressed about it. They don't find it mysterious like other stories do. Usually, the problems are as simple as "I lost my coat" or something. If the problem is, "They may get back together", the take on that isn't very strong. The characters don't support that enough. They just question and wait. Also, I get that they are supposed to make the situations seem real, but every time there's a fight, the characters can seem immature. You don't even get to see how some of their problems get resolved (at least not in the best ways or the best times). The timing in a lot of the show is just bad.

I can name other reasons why I don't like the show anymore, but these are just a few.

Whilst appreciating there are many fans, I have tried to watch Friends several times since it started and has been repeated. Ten minutes has been the maximum before I turn off. I suspect thats if you like more thoughtful comedy like Frasier, early Big Bang or Parks and Recreation then Friends may not be to your taste.

You know the show's not funny when they have to put a background sound of people laughing in order to trick you into doing it. The most overhyped show i've ever seen.

This show is so overrated I mean what was the hype. Why did Netflix pay so much I don't understand .It so basic .It was never a good show.

I think it was "good" at the time, but it hasn't aged well and just gets worse the more I watch it. It's not funny, the acting is over dramatic, there's and really none of the characters are likable. There are tons of way better shows.

I don't get why soooo many people are obsessed with this show. Seems to be made for simpletons, low IQ average people or..I don't know. I just never even laughed at this show. Seems like the same kind of people that love this show also love ones like Roseanne or other similar shows. I find most of the jokes and humor simple and predictable and just not funny.

I've tried to watch this godawful show so many times because friends kept telling me to watch it, but it's just not funny.Which makes the constant laugh track quite ironic.

First episodes were ok, after that Joe was the only entertainment, and sometimes Phoepe and the rest became very predictable.