User reviews

I wasn't a fan of the show and there would be episodes I would catch and stick with but I could never ever say I was committed to watching the next episode so this review is as neutral as it can get - not a hater nor a fan.

If you take away the unrealistic situation the comedy sets itself in and just give in to the clever lines (from the minds of a thousand script writers on rotation for ten years) that all the characters seem to spout on a constant basis then it is a nice, pleasing way to spend an evening and you can't argue with its popularity - this show has been seen everywhere and people of all races, creeds and colours love it! I teach Chinese students in China and they love it. It's success is undeniable.

However, someone who likes a bit of cynicism with their comedy aren't going to see much value in it which is fine, not everyone finds the same thing funny so if you don't mind the unrealistic setting, the colgate smiles, the thousand miles an hour repartee that every character seems to spit out episode after episode then you'll enjoy - it's extremely clever, slick but for me, not massively funny but then I am British - maybe that's it - I don't know. I like my comedy a bit less shiny and slick. Take this review for what it's worth. Not a bad show by any means but not my cup of tea.

To these days I can't figure out what made this average sitcom to be so especial for people. The best conclusion I could reach is that this show served for escapism to the real issues that American people where suffering in those days.

Perhaps by seeing that those characters could overcome topics such as: divorce, infidelity, sexual inclinations, obsession etc, with a smile on their faces, real people in a way, could deal with that issues in that way. However, "Friends" was a fictional show, much of what it happened, albeit taken from reality, was dealt in a light-hearted way.

To sum up, although the premise was interesting (six friends living together in New York), the development of the plot and characters could have been a bit more realistic.

Friends remains one of the most iconic sitcoms of the 1990s and early 2000s, but its legacy is far from unanimously praised. I can comprehend that some viewers continue to find comfort and humor in its light-hearted portrayal of six New Yorkers navigating adulthood, but I view it as an overrated show that hasn't aged well.

The charm of Friends lies evidently in its early seasons, where the characters-though admittedly one-dimensional-were relatable and the humor felt fresh. Chandler and Joey, in particular, appear generally as the show's comedic heart. However, not all characters fare equally-e.g. Ross and Phoebe are often either unlikable or implausibly written. Over time, the show's repetitive plotlines, romantic pair-switching, and lack of character growth wore thin. The overuse of laugh tracks, simplistic jokes, and plot holes strain believability-how could Joey, for instance, afford a Manhattan lifestyle with no stable income?

Ultimately, Friends is probably best understood as a product of its time. It may have connected with a generation, but it doesn't connect with everyone; true, I don't think that I have managed to watch any episode in full...

The sitcom equivalent of elevator music. The perfect show to run in the background when you have to do some work around the house and dont want to feel lonely. Not nearly as annoying as say How i met your mother but not as funny as....well I dont know any sitcoms that are funny actually

I don't know why millions of people say that this is the best sitcom ever. I've repeatedly tried to get into it, but just can't. I only laugh slightly a couple of times per episode.

The main six characters are a bunch of ordinary narcissists (with the possible exception of Phoebe). How is the audience supposed to like them or care about them?

It's ridiculously unbelievable that Ross (a funny-looking, old- acting geek with an annoying voice) gets several hot girls.

Many fans have said of Friends that all young adults are similar to one of the main characters. I've never been similar to any of them - nor are any of the people whom I personally know.

I don't understand Rachel having been revered and admired as a sex symbol. She isn't glamorous, doesn't have a seductive voice or sexy personality and isn't particularly good-looking.

I've seen many sitcoms which are much better than Friends, including Coupling (the original UK series, not the dreadful US remake). Coupling is a much funnier, sexier and more intelligent version of Friends. Coupling is better-written, better-acted and has much stronger and diverse characters.

Friends is a mediocre sitcom full of ordinary people who are rarely entertaining. I guess that all of the people who dislike my review haven't seen any episodes of Coupling.

I never really followed this show but I've watched episodes off and on, and though it's pretty funny in the first few seasons, it just gets stupid and extremely shallow as it goes on.

The fat jokes are unbearable as are the jokes about not fitting in and not being popular. Monica is annoying and extremely high maintenance, which is fun in a quirky way and up to a point, but suddenly the show becomes all about her and it makes no sense. Rachel is the only female character that's relatable and likable most of the time, so why all the focus on the most annoying character in the whole show? Fun enough, sure, but shallow and somewhat empty in a weird way.

Ross is, for the most, great and genuinely funny, as exemplified in the Fake Tan episode. When he gets into "meaningful" and "deep" heart-to-hearts or intrigues with Rachel though, he is insufferable.

Chandler is super-funny throughout.

Monica is excellent, particularly in the scenes depicting her obsessive and bossy behavior.

Phoebe is O.K. although sometimes her quirkiness gets a bit tiresome.

Joey is dumb and lascivious. He occasionally comes up with a funny quip but mostly it's about his love of junk food and humping everything that is remotely female. His I.Q. is unlikely to be above 50. What's his purpose on the show? Rachel... *sigh* A duplicitous, useless imbecile. She brings NOTHING to the show except, perhaps, a pretty face. She is not funny and she is not a convincing actress. That, per se, is bad. But spending SO much time on her and Ross' "relationship" makes her positively annoying. In the latter episodes I found myself fast-forwarding through all the sequences of her and Ross. But, and here is piece de resistance, what makes her UNBEARABLY IRRITATING are the values she represents and stands for. Throughout the series she chases after Ross employing sometimes despicable means (such as sabotaging his existing relationships); when she gets him, she drives him away, but the minute he then tries to form a new relationship with someone else, out come her old guerilla tactics to ensure that relationship fails. People like that used to be called female dogs, if you know what I mean.

A dishonorable mention: The various guest "stars" (e.g. Bruce Willis or Jeff Goldblum). They overdramatize and behave totally unnaturally. It's like: "Hey, I'm a big-shot star on this big-shot sitcom, so I have to leave my mark, and the only way to do that is through affectation and by being outrageous." Willis, in particular, was unwatchable. Elle Macpherson, too, was bleak and nondescript. What greatly exacerbated this were the cheap hysterical canned laughs played after every line uttered by the guest "star." Oh yeah, and the apoplectic canned screams played at the entrance scenes of the guest "stars." Bottom line: If the series had been cut down to five instead of ten seasons, and if Rachel and Joey had been left out (or at most limited to intermittent guest appearances), this would have been an outstanding show. This way, it got jaded, predictable, tired and annoying halfway through.

The only time I ever laughed at this stupid show was when Phoebe brought out the guitar and started singing becuase that stuff is pure gold!.. As for the rest of the show... The only thing good about it is Jennifer Aniston's face and the theme song.. I have in fact seen all the episodes twice and it still refuses to grow up me. The jokes are too simple and the characters ranges from boring to way over the top, namely Joey who is supposed to be the "Funny" guy but to me he comes across as cheesy and one dimensional.

I will never understand how this hopeless little sitcom captured a whole generation and how it's even relevant to this day. Makes no sense to me.

Having recently seen some reruns of Friends on TV, I struggle to understand how it was so popular. At best, the jokes were worth an expulsion of air through the nose. In general, it's a nothing show.

I give a minimum of 5 for having gone to the effort of making something.

I have to admit I watched this show many many times because it was and still is constantly on TV. OK, the characters can be funny and relatable at times, but there are a lot of not funny moments and you hear the laugh track... I find Chandler the funniest. I hate Ross, Phoebe and Joey, maybe Joey is not so bad, but he is too stupid and unbelievable as a womanizer and how can he live in NY with no money. I think the best and funniest episode is when everybody finds out, but the problem is I can't mention a second best, no, there is not one that comes close to this one. Funny, that more of the actors said that this episode was their favorite. I wonder if they could name a second favorite. So overall I gave 5, that is a pass mark according to me, because there were some sweet moments in the show, but nothing spectacular. I don't really understand how it became so popular.

Please, please, stop screening repeats..it is beginning to look like irritating wallpaper as it's on TV so often.

I love the show, the characters are funny, stories and jokes are amazing, but man.... Monika's character becomes the most annoying and selfish character after season 5 I just hate every scene she is in....

However, these people get together and just switch partners, get married, get divorced, have kids, and sleep with each other like they're exchanging clothes all while hanging out in the same coffee shop All. The. Time. Not to mention, lots of blatant plot holes and implausible situations, but if you just wanna watch a group of people act like goofballs and a group of friends, then you'll probably love it. There is absolutely no enlightenment or educational value here. This show went on five years too long in my opinion.

It is worth one watch but nothing more. It does not even begin compare with shows like Seinfeld. Some of the jokes are good but is too melodramatic in my opinion. It is too sentimental for my liking. Acting is also average. Characters are good. Again some of the plots are too melodramatic and unreal. One or two seasons are good, rest are pretty average. Some of the last seasons are boring and too high on emotional content. You feel like watching some soap opera. One of the good things about it is that you can really associate with the characters. It has a diverse set of characters as well.

In a few words don't expect too much.

I remember being a kid and watching this show with my parents and they thought it was great. Now that I'm an adult I realize it's really not all that great. It doesn't make a ton of pop culture references in the show so the joke's aren't really dated. However, I feel like a lot of the joke's weren't that good to begin with. And most of the character arcs didn't really have very satisfying conclusions.

I realize this is one of the first sitcoms of its kind to ever air, any many people have fallen in love with this series, these people however have never gotten into shows like South Park, The Office or even the Simpsons and it shows. See, Friends has very very bland and dry humor (which some people like), but the show's plots are really nothing short of overrated and did not take much time at all to come up with. Friends has created a seemingly endless cycle of cringe-worthy jokes and other sitcoms similar to its very own spawn. I tried getting into the series a total of 9 times because of all the hype and simply could not do it, I fell asleep the first 3 times. All people do on that show is cheat, hookup, tell corny jokes, have occasional serious moments, and then rinse and repeat.

Chandler and Joey we're the only two characters that were good. While it had some good jokes, easily 60% of them are a miss. Most people just have nostalgia towards this series.

This is one of the best American sitcoms that exist. And particularly the first couple of seasons were decent fun. The characters were one sided and they were easy to relate. Halfway through, they became more than one sided New Yorkers. It was still great to watch though. Because they were developing and the show was still funny. But six seasons into the show, the characters that I liked so much in the first place, somehow managed to be really really unlikeable. The fact that I realized they were always telling these stupid lies to each other, made the whole show much less enjoyable. I actually think that the last half should be called "Liars" instead of the original title.

Before I get any replies, I should say that I am not a hater. I am not a hater of sitcoms. I watched many great American and British sitcoms. I just think that this show was huge at the beginning of 2000's and that caused writers to be a little bit lazy, that's all. I still love the show but also hate it at the same time.

During it's original broadcast I was a huge fan of this show. Even bought the entire DVD series back in the early/ mid 2000's. Have not watched those DVD's since and have not watched the show since.

But recently during COVID I decided to watch a rerun, when I watch the show now it just does not hold up well. The jokes are cheesy, the fashions the guys wore (all the excessive gel and sloppy spiked hair) with those v-neck shirts are laughable now. Aside from the fashion, the plot of the show is just cheesy and predictable, but trying to not be predictable at the same time.

If I had to choose a favorite season, it would have been season one. The rest of the seasons seemed to just blur together, especially in the last 6 seasons.

Some of the gender jokes and plots (Chandlers father playing a transvestite, but it was really a woman playing a transvestite) would be culturally inappropriate today.

As far as scenery, this show does NOT remind me of New York City at all, you can tell it was filmed in Los Angeles. In retrospect while the show is not bad, ....it is just not great, ....it was never a ground breaking show, the tepid 90's style humor and jokes show it was a product of it's time if you watched at all the sitcoms from that era. But Friends lasted 10 years... I am surprised the show lasted an entire decade, because by 2004 tv had changed, which is probably why most people think it went off the air earlier than it actually did...but it lasted until 2004.

I'm sure that everything that needs to be said about this show has been said by now but I just want to say a few things:

As watchable as the show was when you we worn out, the characters could easily be as obnoxious as they were charming.

Monika, I'd like to go easy on. She had a hard time with body image and weight issues even if she could be kind of mean, she is a little bit more broken than most of us.

Phoebe used to be my favorite character. But in time she became the one that annoys me the most. She was the original Luna Lovegood but Luna did it so much better. Your new age, healing crystal nonsense can be funny but that doesn't change that you are a poser and a hypocrite on so many things, delusional about your own level of talent that seems to want to be some warrior for social justice (an admiral thing) but you are just as problematic. To illustrate my point: remember that super sweet and poignant moment where Joey says he wants Chandler to be his plus-one to the premier? Then Phoebe has to say to Monica "I think these guys want you dress!". Not only is that a repulsive stab at men showing tenderness to each other, she ruins a great moment.

I like chandler. People say he's annoying but I reckon he was always the outcast kids and just wants attention anyway he can get it. He's the character I root for the most.

Joey is an idiot. I appreciate it's not his fault i know but let's not downplay that he doesn't know anything about anything except seducing women. I'll be the first to admit I'm jealous that's not a secret but how does this guy manage it when people who are just as attractive and know something about something fail? He's the go to comic relief to be sure but I won't hide I laugh at him more than I laugh with him.

And finally: Rachel. That Rachel...Yeah I get the whole spoilt girl on her own angle and that was cool for a while. But she never stopped being a spoilt, narcissistic shrew that just caused way more problems that she was worth and had some personal grown but nowhere near enough for me to want to go easy on her. David Shwimmer's character deserves so much better (not Emily she was awful and had an English accent more jarring than mine but still). He should have just gave up on her very early on. He is so much more sympathetic. They were never a will-they-won't-they, they were an always-totally-were which was the wrong movie.

This show is perhaps the first '90s show to feel retro with its electric guitar transitions and how it seems to think it's so edgy an hip for talking about lesbianism and pre-marital polygamy and stuff. In that regard it can be fascinating or annoying depending on your mood.

These writers knew what they were doing. They were clever with how the mix of clever and dumb humor made this show feel safe and friendly (no pun intended) when you were in a bad mood. It keeps finding new audiences with the new generations and even my dad just keeps watching it though I know he's seen it all.

My favourite gag of all time of the show is...the one that ends "baby kangaroo Tribaini".

For me the worst thing was that saga with Emily.

The ending was basically impeccable even if i am not team Rachel.

And one more thing: They were on a break! But even if they weren't Rachel deserved it. Wish he'd stayed with Bruce Willis' daughter...

The most mainstream played out sitcom ever. But still can't not sort of look forward to forceably re-rewatching it with my offspring in the far future. It'll probably still be just as popular. I would LOVE to be proven wrong though.

Loved the show but too much Monica. I loved all the other characters but why was there Monica most of the time. Always went back to her. Her kitchen and cooking. She was the hostess. Too much of her. Courtney Cox and Friends.

Friends are absolutely essential to me for many good reasons. It is a dog-eat-dog world out there, and friends provide me with emotional support, which help me keep going.

Additionally, friends can provide social opportunities for me to engage in activities and, if needed, help me solve unexpected problems.

Friends are absolutely essential to me for many good reasons. It is a dog-eat-dog world out there, and friends provide me with emotional support, which help me keep going.

Additionally, friends can provide social opportunities for me to engage in activities and, if needed, help me solve unexpected problems.

What's really important is that friends can offer a sense of belonging and acceptance, which is critical in modern society where people often feel like strangers. This can improve my overall quality of life.