Various opinions on F.R.I.E.N.D.S

[DivorceAdvicePlease123]

I'm clearly a bit bored...

Richard Burke is my perfect man and he and Monica made a much better couple than she and Chandler.

I really couldn't stand Susan. Or Emily.

Ross Geller is the funniest friend and mellowed a lot as he aged.

The Rachel and Joey hook up was totally wrong on all levels. She just wouldn't have gone there.

Kathy cheating on Chandler was pretty unbelievable (in real life both actors protested this, obviously to no avail).

Phoebe was a bit of a bitch who often threw her friends under the bus.

I preferred David the science guy to Mike, he was very funny.

It would have been nice for Joey to have a happier ending, a dream woman or part in a hit show.

Rachel's wardrobe is absolutely incredible.

Monica's Mum is really awful to her.

I hate to say it but Joey is a bit of a loser. Though he was the only one who never got drunk throughout the entire show.

Janice was actually really nice.

I'm sure I have more :-)

Gary Oldman

“Is that my arse or yours?”

@RachelHasThoseInBurgundy

Gary Oldman

“Is that my arse or yours?”

That reminds me that I couldn't watch his most recent film Amani because it just seemed like he was reviving his character from Friends!

@Kanaloa Yes he moved out the first time and then had to move back once he lost his job. But when he got the role back (and held onto it until the end of the series) he continued to live in the apartment.

*His recent film Mank. No idea where Amani came from!

I don't know why they made all the characters into awful versions of themselves as time went by.

Ross started out as a sweet guy who had been faithful to his wife, turned into a cheating dick and became ever more jealous.

Monica started out normal but turned into an OC freak

Phoebe was hippy and relaxed, became shrill and "I want to be a soccer mom"

Rachel at least improved from spoilt rich butch to independent single mum bug why did she drop her dream job in Paris to get back with Ross?

Chandler did sort of improve but wasn't as funny in later shows.

Joey also got progressively less funny and harder to understand.

Agree with pp. I feel like the last series in particular became a bit like they were becoming stereotypes of themselves

Chandler did sort of improve but wasn't as funny in later shows.

Yes, they made him a more stable character as the seasons progressed ( contrary to what he was doing in real life). I think it helped him to be less 'on'.

Matthew Perry started having some issues in real life and this affected him during and long after Friends. Sadly.

I loved the different versions of Chandler in all the seasons.

I always loved David Schwimmer but I loved him even more when that post of a photo of a man stealing alcohol who looked like him went viral, and then he recreated the photo.

Here

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-49361965.amp

I used to love Friends but I can barely watch it these days. I hate pretty much every episode up until about season six.

I only like Phoebe...i bloody adore her character. Lisa was perfect for the role. The rest...meh. And I think Phoebe and Joey would have been a perfect coupling. They had some really sweet moments together.

I only like Phoebe...i bloody adore her character. Lisa was perfect for the role

Agree, Phoebe is another character I defend and can't understand the amount of criticism she gets.

Love Monica too. Yeah I can understand the criticisms of her character because of how controlling she could be but I do think she played a large role in their lives as some sort of glue to their friendship. Being the 'mum-type' who cooked for everyone and her house was where everyone gathered most days. Her fridge was the communal fridge.

Where I really felt for her and understood the weight of everything she's carrying as their friend was at Thanksgiving. She had to make different kinds of potatoes because they requested it and Joey sulked to get his; when they all stepped out to take a look at the balloon in the sky, they got locked out and the whole meal burnt because Rachel expected her to have the keys to the door. Her breakdown afterwards, while they were still outside waiting for the janitor to let them in, about everyone's expectations of her to take care of them and how she was magically responsible for everything, just touched me.

@Carolinechanning

Richard Burke creeps me out. Everyone thinks he's so amazing bit how many people would be happy if their 50-odd(?) yesr old best friend started dating their 20-something child who that friend had known since they were a baby and had them playing in their garden etc. I'm glad she didn't end up with him.

I agree!

I'm on Team 'Ross is a dick at times but DS makes him so funny and forgivable'!

Also Team 'Phoebe is a pretty nasty piece of work at times'. I've often felt quite an outlier with that opinion when I see online chatter about Friends, heartened to see it's not just me here at least!

Emily was vile.

Love the Gary Oldman 'arse' line, but I think the bit of that scene that makes me laugh even more is when he's trying to cut his steak with a sword and asks if anyone would happen to have rather a large fork!

Janice was BRILLIANT! I loved when she'd pop up every couple of seasons and just steal the scene every time.

@ZenNudist

I don't know why they made all the characters into awful versions of themselves as time went by.

Ross started out as a sweet guy who had been faithful to his wife, turned into a cheating dick and became ever more jealous.

Monica started out normal but turned into an OC freak

Phoebe was hippy and relaxed, became shrill and "I want to be a soccer mom"

Rachel at least improved from spoilt rich butch to independent single mum bug why did she drop her dream job in Paris to get back with Ross?

Chandler did sort of improve but wasn't as funny in later shows.

Joey also got progressively less funny and harder to understand.

Series 6 is when I noticed they had become caricatures of themselves. Looking back now, I wonder if the writers were subconsciously affected by the rising popularity of Will and Grace and its edgier, more biting and bitchy humour? Season 5 of Friends aired at the same time as Season 1 of W&G and by the end of Season 6 of Friends and Season 2 of W&G, critics and fans were saying the latter was the funnier sitcom.

How anyone could fancy Richard Burke with that moustache?? It looked about an inch thick. Yuk!
Ross's constant whining and moaning drove me mad. He and Emily should have stayed in London and never heard of again.
Phoebe was great. Loved David, they should have married them off. Who would have imagined that Minsk was the go to place for scientists?
Watching endless repeats I think the misogyny becomes more apparent.

DDs have just discovered friends so I am rewatching.

I like chandler and Monica together- they seem like a good fit. I still like the bit where Chandler calls Monica high maintenance but he likes maintaining her. I do get annoyed with the fertility story line like literally they seem to get over their issues immediately because they can adopt - not sure if this is due to the difference in adoption in the US and here but bugs me.

Ross as Golden Child also makes me laugh a lot. His mum saying all the girls had a thing for him when he was clearly such a geek. As does Rachel's mum asking if he has no control when she remembers him having 2 children by 2 mothers.

I'm another love-Phoebe, hate-Rachel. (And Carrie in SATC)

Rachel is so self-absorbed and so much of the humour involving her is being caught lying and acting cute to get away with it. (Actually, most of the jokes in Friends are based on lying, but she's the worst.)

I missed it first time round and have only recently caught up. The writing is brilliant. So many sharp one-liners. The plots less so. Like many successful series, it didn't know when to stop, even when the characters were visibly ageing and the original premise of 20yr olds finding their feet in NYC was obviously outdated by the progression in their lives with weddings and babies. It was still centred in Monica's kitchen.

I liked Monica. JA was attractive, but CC was beautiful. Fantastic bone structure. I agree with pp about her being the glue that kept them together.

Not really fussed about the men. I was probably more sympathetic to Chandler. His background was easily the most challenging with a dad as a drag artiste and a mum who slept with his friends. Joey was the easiest to watch (except for the end) tho' now, post MeToo, he'd surely be pilloried. I liked the casual acceptance by the women of porn, sexual objectivisation and sorting themselves out. Seemed refreshing and more adult than the Victorian vapours you sometimes get on here.

'I liked Monica. JA was attractive, but CC was beautiful. Fantastic bone structure.'

Completely agree. CC was utterly stunning. It's a shame that her and JA have now gone full on pillow-face, but I understand them making that choice. And David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry seem to have done the same!

I loved phoebe but saw a different side to her when she was really rude to Danny Devitos character on her hen party.

I also hated Carol and Susan, they were unbelievably nasty to Ross when Ben was born, calling him a sperm donor!

I found the whole Rachel and Joey story strange but was hoping to see it develop as I always liked them together in scenes. Joey was clearly more into Rachel and I feel she was using him for comfort.

I loved the PP thoughts on where they would be now. I think Phoebe would be a Gwenyth Paltrow type spouting Goop nonsense to her IG followers!

Phoebe has some complete out of the blue hysterical moments for me. Like when she says "aw Pheebs" and strokes one of the others' heads. Cracks me up every time. She's just so out of it sometimes and I love it!

I actually thought Rachel got the nicest over time.

JA was attractive, but CC was beautiful. Fantastic bone structure

Are you me?

I've always thought in people's praise of Jennifer, that they've missed Courtney's absolute beauty. She's stunningly beautiful (till she messed with her face) and even more as the seasons progressed.

Every time there is a Friends thread I am shocked at the number of people who preferred boring Minsk David to Mike for Phoebe. What the hell??!! Mike and Phoebe were perfect together. And he is very cute.

Phoebe has some complete out of the blue hysterical moments for me. Like when she says "aw Pheebs" and strokes one of the others' heads. Cracks me up every time. She's just so out of it sometimes and I love it!

Haha, it's scenes like this that made me love Phoebe. So wonderfully weird. And I think that's why she'd have worked with Joey too. Two "oddballs". Their shenanigans were so entertaining to watch. One of which was when she wanted to help Joey with an audition and was teaching him French, then pretended Joey spoke a different French dialect when Joey messed up the audition. Love Regina Phalange.

My favourite scene with Phoebe and Joey is when Monica and Chandler go on their honeymoon and they don’t leave a key so P&J get Mr Treager to knock the door down to get into the apartment, claiming a gas leak.

Joey then needlessly recreates the scene over the phone to Chandler by breaking a chair leg.

Maybe you have to see it but it cracks me up every time.

I don't think Carol and Susan were mean to Ross. He went to ante natal classes, whinging when he didn't get his own way and then insisted Ben had his surname before Susan's. Probably other things. He was lucky they were as compliant as they were.