"We were on a break!" You won't need a break once you pick this show up. The series follows 6 tight knit friends in New York City trying to find their way through the early stages of adulthood. It dives into all the classic topics of youth: dating, professional life and post school self identity. "Friends" ushered in some of the funniest sitcom moments with a slew of hilarious hijinks. As the seasons go on, and the characters age, the show moves from young single life to long-term relationships, marriage and children. While the show was made for everyone, I'd highly recommend watching this when you're expecting a child. It perfectly sums up life before and slightly after kids. It feels like a seamless transition to your new life.
"Friends" is nearly perfect in everyway. My only complaint would be that it doesn't have a strong overarching story running through the show. After the first few seasons it mostly plays the "will they, won't they" game with various characters. That being said, each episode is so funny and enjoyable that it's hardly relevant. This is show is a masterpiece of calamity and the characters sell themselves.
Could I be watching anymore episodes? I think you'll find that the answer is always yes.
9/10
Just done with this. Although I can't say I love it as a whole series or among my favorite comedies, this is surprisingly sturdy the whole way through. Even its worst season (in its late run) has at least one great episode and a few very good ones sprinkled throughout. Above all though, this has to be among the most perfect comedy ensemble castings ever? Not a weak link here, which carries it some way through even at its worst writing. I've seen comment here and there that often singles out Kudrow at the only "real" actor of the cast, which must be career retrospective bias or otherwise it's insane, since all work so well individually and together from the start, and honing their skills over time as the series progresses and even as their characters become more caricatures. Ross as a character, for example, regresses bad around the time of his second marriage crumple in Season 5, but that conversely frees Schwimmer up for some of the best physical bits ever in the show.
Not ranking the cast (genuinely can't do it at the moment), but (alphabetic) praise for each:
Aniston - best dramatic acting
Cox - best (barely suppressed) manic energy
Kudrow - best throwaway airiness/non-sequiturs
LeBlanc - best facial expression/reaction
Perry - best line delivery
Schwimmer - best physical comedy
I somewhat missed out on watching "Friends" while I was growing up. I was vaguely familiar with it, but if you had asked me to name any character, I would have struggled. Give it a month worth of binging and now it's quickly become one of my all-time favourite TV series. I genuinely believe "Friends" to be a pinnacle in the sitcom genre, perhaps the one that perfected the now dated laugh track format.
What, in my opinion, separates "Friends" from most other sitcoms and, frankly, comedies in general, is the cast of characters. All of them have unique personalities, backstories and personal development. You quickly get attached to them and get to see them spent 10 years of their lives together. Throughout all this, you see all the events that occur in their lives, which gradually change them without betraying their esssence. Another notable factor is the relatability of the friends' everyday situations. Whether it be a comedic moment that hits a little true to home, or someone's struggle that you can understand, it grounds the series in spite of its often outlandish tone.
I liked the show from the start, but grew to love it after the first couple of seasons. I needed time to grow to the cast and for the series to get rid of some of its more annoying plot contrivances, namely certain relationship drama. The episodes are standalone and worked well for the cable TV format of old, but I can attest to its bingeability. "Friends" is not a comedy that pretends to be more than it is, perhaps only doing so very early on. It learns to thrive on its goofiness and makes for an easy and comfortable watch. It's greatness is in its very nature, which it doesn't shy away from. It's a show you can always go to, whether your life is going down or up. It can definitely feel as if you are hanging out with some of your own friends.
I've mentioned now more than once how silly the series gets, but there's certainly some wittier moments present. The writing is sharp when it needs to be, and rarely fails to get a laugh out of me. Surprisingly, some rather series topics can be covered here. It's almost always done with a humourous view of things, but it can certainly provoke you to contemplate some of what is seen.
There's some issues with the show, but none that ruin the experience for me. I do wish the ending could have been a bit more detailed regarding certain character's fates, but it's nothing that bugged me much. I felt melancholic to have parted with this group I found myself rooting for during 10 seasons. Chandler remained my favourite throughout, and I made sure to clap during the intro everytime I could.
Review by FinFanBlockedParent2019-11-20T17:37:45Z
I know most people don't respond well if you say something negative about their favorite show but I can't help it. If you like it I'm glad for you (really) but please allow me my opinion.
I am one of those who doesn't think that this is THE best show ever. It's not even the best sitcom in my opinion. It had its moments but not many. Maybe it isn't fair to judge it 25 years after the fact because that is a long time in TV land and things change. But most of the stuff I dislike has nothing to do with timeframe.
First, why this is called Friends is beyond me. Those are the most dishonest, selfish, egoistic and sometimes even mean group of people I've seen on TV. They constantly try to withhold stuff and most of the comedic situations spawn from that. I don't see where it is funny to go behind your friends backs. There are those moments where there behave like friends should, but those come usually after they screwed up.
Than there is the characters. I've written in some episode's comment that Ross is the most obnoxious character I've ever seen on TV. And I've seen my share. And there is WAY too much of him and Rachel who I also disliked deeply. They pull down every episode they're in which is pretty much every episode. That constant back and forth, the bickering and their pretensious behaviour is so annoying. Joey was funny at first but that wears out fast once you get past 50 episodes. Very one-dimensional. I don't even know what to say about Chandler because he is that bland. Monica went from "I don't care" through "I kinda like her" but ultimately annoying. Phoebe I liked until she, too, got the I-need-to-marry virus. Until that she was honest in that she didn't care what others thought about her and just made her thing. Alltogether there was little character developement in any of them. I couldn't connect with them and was more interested in what guest stars might turn up next.
And what it is anyway with all the girls need to find guys to marry and get babies and the guys needing to score? It is a good thing there wasn't any social media available because with all those gay and trans jokes there would have probably been a lot of heat.
That laughing track is way over the top. It accompanied literally every sentence. It even ruined jokes by starting to early. And what is wrong with building up an emotional moment and going through with it instead of ruining it with a bad joke ?
So, why did I watch, and even complete, it ? It's simple. And I mean that in the true sense of the word. You don't have to pay close attention to the plot, f.e. you don't have to stop it if the phone rings, you can even skip an episode completely. It's like having a radio playing in the background. Sometimes reading the synopsis was as interesting as the actual episode. Let's be honest: continuity, logic and depth of story were not the trademarks of Friends. It is full of holes and errors. But it fitted my daily schedule. I could drop in a couple of episodes here and there. And I punished myself a little bit because I went out and bought the whole series at once. Had I watched the first season first I would stopped there and then.
This is the longest review I've written in a while which shows I thought about this show a lot. I like versitality, it would be boring if every show was the same. That doesn't stop me though from speaking my mind. This is a love or hate kind of show. I don't hate it as such. But there were only just one or two episodes a season I think were more than average. It became better towards the end (either that or I caved) but it was an effort to get through and I am glad I'm done with.