Friends: TV Show 1994 - 2004 (Sitcoms)

[dbunting]

1 hour ago, Spockydog said:

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. 

It's actually a pretty good show, but I probably have bad taste!

[Werthead]

It is interesting looking at which US sitcoms where actually huge in the UK. Friends and Frasier were #1 and #2 and probably still are. Seinfeld was nowhere. I suspect more people have watched it in the last two years since its been on Netflix in the UK than in the entire period before that since 1991 when the BBC showed the first couple of seasons. Cheers did okay in the 1980s but is relatively obscure now. How I Met Your Mother is a cult thing, at best.

The Big Bang Theory was reasonably big-ish, and Will & Grace back in the day. Brooklyn Nine Nine was a modest success, but Parks & Recreation is almost unknown. The Good Place is probably even more obscure (but to be fair had a short run). The US Office does reasonably well, but in terms of profile and discussion I think people still bring up the UK version more. Modern Family has a pretty small following, but isn't totally unknown.

There's a whole sub-remit of Channels 4 and 5 and their various channels and streaming equivalents which are packed with US filler sitcoms that nobody ever mentions anywhere else (Two Broke Girls, Two and a Half Men etc).

[dbunting]

1 hour ago, Werthead said:

It is interesting looking at which US sitcoms where actually huge in the UK. Friends and Frasier were #1 and #2 and probably still are. Seinfeld was nowhere. I suspect more people have watched it in the last two years since its been on Netflix in the UK than in the entire period before that since 1991 when the BBC showed the first couple of seasons. Cheers did okay in the 1980s but is relatively obscure now. How I Met Your Mother is a cult thing, at best.

The Big Bang Theory was reasonably big-ish, and Will & Grace back in the day. Brooklyn Nine Nine was a modest success, but Parks & Recreation is almost unknown. The Good Place is probably even more obscure (but to be fair had a short run). The US Office does reasonably well, but in terms of profile and discussion I think people still bring up the UK version more. Modern Family has a pretty small following, but isn't totally unknown.

There's a whole sub-remit of Channels 4 and 5 and their various channels and streaming equivalents which are packed with US filler sitcoms that nobody ever mentions anywhere else (Two Broke Girls, Two and a Half Men etc).

Two and a Half Men, Seinfeld, Big Bang, and Friends are my four go to time killers. Two and a half men only when Sheen was on it, never ever Kutcher.

[Poobah]

2 hours ago, Werthead said:

It is interesting looking at which US sitcoms where actually huge in the UK. Friends and Frasier were #1 and #2 and probably still are. Seinfeld was nowhere. I suspect more people have watched it in the last two years since its been on Netflix in the UK than in the entire period before that since 1991 when the BBC showed the first couple of seasons. Cheers did okay in the 1980s but is relatively obscure now. How I Met Your Mother is a cult thing, at best.

The Big Bang Theory was reasonably big-ish, and Will & Grace back in the day. Brooklyn Nine Nine was a modest success, but Parks & Recreation is almost unknown. The Good Place is probably even more obscure (but to be fair had a short run). The US Office does reasonably well, but in terms of profile and discussion I think people still bring up the UK version more. Modern Family has a pretty small following, but isn't totally unknown.

There's a whole sub-remit of Channels 4 and 5 and their various channels and streaming equivalents which are packed with US filler sitcoms that nobody ever mentions anywhere else (Two Broke Girls, Two and a Half Men etc).

 

Interesting - deeply anecdotal of course but both Modern family and Brooklyn Nine Nine are hugely popular amongst my friends and family, and The Good Place is one of my favourite shows of all time, whereas I know nobody who liked Big Bang Theory.

[kissdbyfire]

7 hours ago, Spockydog said:

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. 

How I Met Your Mother

It's alright? Though as with Friends, I’ve only watched the odd episode here and there. IMO neither ever comes close to great comedies*** like Red Dwarf, Father Ted, Fawlty Towers & AbFab.

*** and when I say “great comedies” I’m not at all making an analysis of their merits or lack thereof; I mean these are great comedies b/c they really make me laugh.

[DMC]

Friends is certainly not in all-time great sitcom in terms of quality.  It is, however, rather natural to be one the more rewatched sitcoms due to its ubiquity.  Frankly, IMO same goes for Big Bang and Modern Family -- and even Seinfeld for that matter.  These were not the greatest comedies, it's just before streaming become the dominant form (which is still pretty recent), they were on all the time.

[Jaxom 1974]

40 minutes ago, DMC said:

Friends is certainly not in all-time great sitcom in terms of quality.  It is, however, rather natural to be one the more rewatched sitcoms due to its ubiquity.  Frankly, IMO same goes for Big Bang and Modern Family -- and even Seinfeld for that matter.  These were not the greatest comedies, it's just before streaming become the dominant form (which is still pretty recent), they were on all the time.

To be fair, all four that you mention, are still on all the time.  If you only have basic cable, you're assured to have at least one of those shows on for hours at a time (during the day or late night) every single day.  As mentioned yesterday. Also, Two and Half Men, Mom, King of Queens, and oddly enough, Golden Girls...

 

[Heartofice]

47 minutes ago, DMC said:

Friends is certainly not in all-time great sitcom in terms of quality.  It is, however, rather natural to be one the more rewatched sitcoms due to its ubiquity.  Frankly, IMO same goes for Big Bang and Modern Family -- and even Seinfeld for that matter.  These were not the greatest comedies, it's just before streaming become the dominant form (which is still pretty recent), they were on all the time.

What is an all time great comedy in terms of quality is probably quite subjective. Personally I much prefer the comedies mentioned above like Red Dwarf and Father Ted, but they absolutely would not appeal to everyone. In fact one of the big qualities that Friends has is it's universality. It has broad appeal and no matter your background or nationality, you will probably get something out of it.

That broadness is something that I find boring and doesn't challenge me, but its exactly that which means that it works for a lot of other people.

I'm sure a lot of people really would put Friends at the top of any 'great comedies' list.

[DaveSumm]

I think it’d be up there as far as ‘sitcoms with a studio audience’ goes. That’s kind of broad by definition, I can’t think of any higher brow comedies filmed with a laugh track that way.

[Heartofice]

2 minutes ago, DaveSumm said:

I think it’d be up there as far as ‘sitcoms with a studio audience’ goes. That’s kind of broad by definition, I can’t think of any higher brow comedies filmed with a laugh track that way.

Blackadder and Fawlty Towers both have laughter tracks. Laughter tracks were basically universal until a certain point where they weren't.

[DMC]

18 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

What is an all time great comedy in terms of quality is probably quite subjective.

Right, just giving my two cents on that subjectivity.  As for mass appeal, kinda a tautology, but sure, that’s why it’s so popular and continues to be.

[Heartofice]

27 minutes ago, DMC said:

Right, just giving my two cents on that subjectivity.  As for mass appeal, kinda a tautology, but sure, that’s why it’s so popular and continues to be.

I just wanted to mention that from my experience I've seen people from many different countries, with different first languages, all of whom love Friends. I really think sense of humour can be kind of different between regions, the Germans for instance only ever finding toilets funny, but Friends just manages to cut across all that. 

[BigFatCoward]

while i'm not as down as friends as a lot of people, the fact that it has an average rating of 8.9 on IMDB is absolutely bonkers.  

[Werthead]

6 hours ago, DMC said:

Friends is certainly not in all-time great sitcom in terms of quality.  It is, however, rather natural to be one the more rewatched sitcoms due to its ubiquity.  Frankly, IMO same goes for Big Bang and Modern Family -- and even Seinfeld for that matter.  These were not the greatest comedies, it's just before streaming become the dominant form (which is still pretty recent), they were on all the time.

I think Seinfeld has a very strong argument to be in the "greatest comedies" list, at least a Top 20 one (but it being in the top 10 would be reasonable). It's certainly operating at a much higher level than the other three.

However, I do think one of its strengths was how reactive it was compared to other sitcoms of the side, and how relatively daring it was in the places it went that contemporaries would not (like a whole episode about wanking). Some of those things feel very tame by modern standards, and don't land as well. But I think it's general writing and structure is way ahead of those other three shows you mention (it even had serialised story arcs before it was cool!).

[DMC]

7 minutes ago, Werthead said:

But I think it's general writing and structure is way ahead of those other three shows you mention (it even had serialised story arcs before it was cool!).

Certainly, that's why I tried to emphasize "even" Seinfeld.  I just think it tends to get overrated a bit.  Like you said, no argument it's in the top 20 of all time.  Top ten?  I dunno, I'd have to think about it.

[HexMachina]

6 hours ago, Heartofice said:

Blackadder and Fawlty Towers both have laughter tracks. Laughter tracks were basically universal until a certain point where they weren't.

yeah watch any kind of Britcom from early 2000s or earlier, you'll hear a laugh track. Hard to track when this started to phase out but I'd guess around the 2010's?

[DMC]

5 minutes ago, HexMachina said:

yeah watch any kind of Britcom from early 2000s or earlier, you'll hear a laugh track. Hard to track when this started to phase out but I'd guess around the 2010's?

Here it started in the aughts with the rise of single-camera comedies:  Arrested Development, The (US) Office, Scrubs, 30 Rock, etc.

[Werthead]

27 minutes ago, HexMachina said:

yeah watch any kind of Britcom from early 2000s or earlier, you'll hear a laugh track. Hard to track when this started to phase out but I'd guess around the 2010's?

Police Squad! (in color) was unusual in being a 1982 US sitcom without a laughter track. The next one I can think of is The Larry Sanders Show (1992) and then the unfortunately-mostly-forgotten Danger Theatre (1993).

In the UK I think there was a push to lose the laughter track starting in the late 1990s. Red Dwarf ditched the laughter track for Season 7 in 1997 but I think someone freaked out, so they showed the finished episodes to an audience and dubbed the laughter track over it, which was not a great idea (as the laughter went over the next line, as the actors didn't know when to pause). As it stands I think Season 9 is the only season without a laughter track (it's also dogshit, with the long-running gag it had a laughter track, it's just that nobody ever laughed).

Spaced didn't have a laughter track and I recall they had to fight to ensure that was the case. The League of Gentlemen team also fought that battle but lost, but were able to drop it for the third (and worst) season.

Probably the big paradigm shift was The Office (UK) where they actually made a really big deal about not having a laughter track (it would disrupt the mockumentary format), and that spread to almost every other comedy show, to the point that shows that still had a laughter track felt a bit off.

[HexMachina]

Interesting. The main one I remember growing up was The Royle Family and, at the time, it stood out for the lack of laugh tracks etc.

[DMC]

Yeah Larry Sanders Show and The UK Office were definitely the big trend-setters from what I remember.  Interestingly though looking it up, Scrubs started only a few months after The Office (UK). 

Never been a huge fan of Scrubs, but I suppose it deserves credit there.  As does - here in the US at least - Malcolm in the Middle, which started in January 2000, well before Scrubs and The Office in Summer/Fall 2001.