DMC Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 12 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said: Agree to diasgree. HIMYM is (except for the last 30 minutes of the show) entirely more re-watchable than Friends. HIMYM's ability to maintain its internal timeline and consistency is remarkable. It's use of running gags was a highlight. One of it's est gags was it's piss take on Friends during the second season. Ultimately, it's a personal choice for everyone, but I'll always take HIMYM over Friends. For me I just could never get into the characters in HIMYM. NPH as Barney kinda grosses me out (whereas I like him otherwise, just mean the character). I've never been a big fan of Jason Segel nor Alyson Hannigan. So coming into it I probably had a certain negative bias. Then all that's left is Cobie Smulders and Ted, the latter of which is pretty much universally disliked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 (edited) HIMYM always grossed me out as well. It seemed so calculated, like it was created by an algorithm. Every character is just a bit annoying but the show treats them like you should like them. Also a big fan of Harris but I never bought him as Barney, it was so obviously a character he was playing. The show felt very inauthentic, and authenticy was part of the appeal of Friends, you could genuinely believe those characters existed and all liked each other. Edited March 5 by Heartofice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I've never seen nor been remotely inclined to watch a single episode of HIMYM. It looks insufferably smug. Also I can't buy doogie howser as a lothario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mladen Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 My ranking of Friends: Chandler Phoebe Joey Monica Rachel Ross Rachel and Ross are the worst of the worst. More as a couple. I have never seen such toxic couple. And I watch Turkish TV series. All of them have some flaws, all of them have said things that are problematic in modern society, after all they are the product of 1990s. I think I never overcame the emotional abuse Monica endured from her parents and the moments when you realize how bad they were to her, are probably the most emotional for me. The pinnacle of the series was Chandler v Phoebe and the famous "They don't know we know they know." That one was hilarious. As for HIMYM... I've never wanted to revisit it. I watched it to the end, there are some great moments but honestly, never wanted to watch it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSumm Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 1 hour ago, Mladen said: The pinnacle of the series was Chandler v Phoebe and the famous "They don't know we know they know." That one was hilarious. It was an impressive piece of writing that that actually made sense within the episode, I think it got as far as “they don’t know we know they know we know”. I agree with someone a few pages back, Friends deserved to be as popular as it was. Yea it dipped in the later seasons, but even then I don’t think it had any really embarrassing “oh god why are they still making this” episodes. Mladen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 43 minutes ago, DaveSumm said: Yea it dipped in the later seasons, but even then I don’t think it had any really embarrassing “oh god why are they still making this” episodes. Personally I felt that it stopped being the same show from maybe season 3 / 4. The last couple of seasons I generally found pretty unwatchable, like a horrible caricature of the show it started out as. It all got super incestuous will all the main characters copping off with each other for 'reasons' and it relied even more on celeb cameos to keep itself going. Flanderisation is a good term, but the direction the Simpsons went in is basically identical to Friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 6 hours ago, Heartofice said: The show felt very inauthentic, and authenticy was part of the appeal of Friends, you could genuinely believe those characters existed and all liked each other. Interesting. Because that's exactly how I feel about Friends. As mentioned above, Friends was one of the whitest of white shows and had an air of its own superiority about it. I never could understand how they were actually Friends. Yes, I did watch it. And as mentioned above about HIMYM, I've never felt the need to revisit it. There were a few really good moments but the rest was generally forgettable. The concept as wasn't even very original, how did it last 10 seasons? Granted the HIMYM concept probably didn't need to go 9 seasons, but it came from a more original conceit... Larry of the Lawn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 1 hour ago, DaveSumm said: It was an impressive piece of writing that that actually made sense within the episode, I think it got as far as “they don’t know we know they know we know”. I love poor Joey’s reaction. Mladen and Ser Scot A Ellison 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 30 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said: Interesting. Because that's exactly how I feel about Friends. As mentioned above, Friends was one of the whitest of white shows and had an air of its own superiority about it. I never could understand how they were actually Friends. Yeah I get what you mean, on paper they shouldn't be friends, but what I think shone through was the chemistry between the actors / characters. It really didn't matter that a Joey would never actually hang around with a Phoebe, it made sense on the show. Can't say the same about HIMYM, I never spotted the chemistry between the characters, they just existed next to each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbunting Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 20 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said: Agree to diasgree. HIMYM is (except for the last 30 minutes of the show) entirely more re-watchable than Friends. HIMYM's ability to maintain its internal timeline and consistency is remarkable. It's use of running gags was a highlight. One of it's est gags was it's piss take on Friends during the second season. Ultimately, it's a personal choice for everyone, but I'll always take HIMYM over Friends. Except that Friends is still being watched more than HIMYM and always will be, it still finds new fans. I like both and think the writing on HIMYM was better, but if both were on this afternoon I'd probably pick Friends to watch. See the snip below. HIMYM didn't even do those ratings when airing live. How many views does Friends still get? Yet Friends' popularity seems to be on the rise. Between its various syndicated airings, the show still draws a weekly audience of 16 million in the U.S., a big enough viewership to make it a viable hit on current network TV (and that's not even including streaming). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbunting Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Man I don't remember Ross being cheap in the show. Yes he wanted his shirt back but it was his favorite Salmon shirt. IDK, I was usually blinded by Rachel so... Ross was definitely the most unlikeable. The first couple seasons he was so annoying, all the constant whining and moaning and the damn monkey. Joey and Chandlers friendship was the best thing about the show for me. Well that and Jennifer Aniston. Ser Scot A Ellison 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 What’s weird is, Friends started onky two years before A Game of Thrones came out… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbunting Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 5 minutes ago, Derfel Cadarn said: What’s weird is, Friends started onky two years before A Game of Thrones came out… If by weird you mean sad that we are still waiting for the next book, then yes, weird! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 14 minutes ago, Derfel Cadarn said: What’s weird is, Friends started onky two years before A Game of Thrones came out… Can’t believe we’ve been waiting twenty damn years now for David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston to get off their ass and finish filming Ross and Rachel’s wedding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 (edited) 1 hour ago, dbunting said: Except that Friends is still being watched more than HIMYM and always will be, it still finds new fans. I like both and think the writing on HIMYM was better, but if both were on this afternoon I'd probably pick Friends to watch. See the snip below. HIMYM didn't even do those ratings when airing live. How many views does Friends still get? Yet Friends' popularity seems to be on the rise. Between its various syndicated airings, the show still draws a weekly audience of 16 million in the U.S., a big enough viewership to make it a viable hit on current network TV (and that's not even including streaming). There's no accounting for taste? But really, so? That's not something I'm going to argue against. Friends is popular. Neither those who love it or dislike it can accurately explain why. It puts numbers in syndication because of how it's played in syndication most likely. It's also a product of that 90s nostalgia that seems to permeate so much pop culture these days. Also, it's 9am here CST. I'm looking at the cable guide and Friends is on TBS right now, and will be for the next 6 hours...that kind of syndication coverage doesn't hurt. It has some really great bits, no arguments (love or hate Ross, "PIVOT!" is a brilliant bit). I'm just someone who's not going to choose to watch it if I'm presented with a choice of Friends or just about anything else. Edited March 5 by Jaxom 1974 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 2 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said: Interesting. Because that's exactly how I feel about Friends. As mentioned above, Friends was one of the whitest of white shows and had an air of its own superiority about it. I never could understand how they were actually Friends. Nobody else would hang out with them. You know all those people you see in the apartment when they throw a party, who never show up or are referred to ever again? Those are the folks the cast want to be friends with. But those folks can't stand them. They only show up to their parties to get free drinks. So the cast only have each other to hang out with. That's my headcanon anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maithanet Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Friends is a very undemanding show. It has pretty people acting generally nice to each other in a way that makes watching the show feel like visiting old friends. It is hard to really put a finger on what makes a show extremely rewatchable, but I'm not at all surprised that there are people who want to experience that again and again. Ser Scot A Ellison and Poobah 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Selig Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 1 hour ago, dbunting said: Man I don't remember Ross being cheap in the show. Because most of the time he wasn't and he was shown to be pretty generous with money on quite a few occassions throughout the series. But the show pretty often ignored established characterisation for the sake of making a joke so there was a handful of scenes where he was cheap to get a laugh from the audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 27 minutes ago, Maithanet said: Friends is a very undemanding show. It has pretty people acting generally nice to each other in a way that makes watching the show feel like visiting old friends. It is hard to really put a finger on what makes a show extremely rewatchable, but I'm not at all surprised that there are people who want to experience that again and again. I think there is this level of undemanding familiarity when it comes to the jokes as well. I don't think any of the jokes on any of the shows are actually very funny, but the show is contrived in a way that it compels you to laugh. Almost as if the rhythm of the dialogue does more than the words itself. When I watch people watching Friends, they tend to laugh before the joke happens, and I don't imagine they are reacting to the humour itself, rather it's like a reflex! It is interesting just how difficult the show has been to replicate however. The way the different streaming services have been fighting over it, and the Office, is really telling. In the UK we still had it on almost 24 hours a day on one channel, it was so heavily relied upon to fill space. It's really only been Big Bang Theory that has come close to that level of safe bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 7 hours ago, BigFatCoward said: I've never seen nor been remotely inclined to watch a single episode of HIMYM. It looks insufferably smug. Also I can't buy doogie howser as a lothario. I don't even know what HIMYM is. Having read about it here, I have no desire to look it up. Sounds like a proper shit show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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