Friends

[carrier76]

I remember when they were running the (contrived!) Joey Loves Rachel episodes...it was right after the '02 Olympics. I remember at the time that nobody knew if Friends was coming back or not, and I also remember thinking that GOD I wish someone would just put a bullet in this show.

And they ran it for two more not-great seasons. Blech.

And again, I must state how much I love the first few seasons. It really was a good sitcom.

[Ripley]

I loved it at the beginning too. I remember reading a column where George Will was denigrating the show because his 15-year-old daughter watched the episode where Ross & Rachel are doing it for the first time in the museum and they roll over on a juice box and Rachel thinks it's premature ejaculation. Will looked at his daughter and asked, "Do you understand what happened?" He was shocked that something like this would be on network TV. I remember thinking, "George, they're a bunch of people in their mid-20's. I'm in my mid-20's and that is how people in my age group talk and act."

I think that is what I missed most about the show as it progressed. I no longer thought, "Wow, this show really represents me!"

I always did love the Thanksgiving episodes, though. The Gellar Cup was hysterical.

[swanflake]

For some reason I never really wanted to allow myself to like this show towards the end of its run (when it premiered I was in elementary school and I loved it), and at times it got a little cheesy for me, but now that I re-read all these great quotes I realize that I really did like it a lot.

Currently I'm studying to be a rhythmic gymnastics judge (or at least be able to judge avocationally from my computer) and one of the body difficulty groups is "Pivots". Whenever I'm reading that section it takes a lot of concentration to keep myself from shouting "PI-VOT!!! PI-VOT!!!" in my mind.

[Binky]

Aww, I thought David Schwimmer was fantastic on Friends. He had no problem making Ross pathetic and dorky, and was pretty damn funny. The other characters got to be sexy or intentionally funny - he got the laughing at his expense laughs. I thought he was the funniest person in the cast.


PI-VOT!

[ladymadonna]

I loved Friends and watched it from the very first show to the bitter end. Thursdays used to be mandatory TV night for my friend and me. We would put the kids to bed really early and settle in to watch the NBC line-up.

I hated how they made Phoebe into a bitch and Joey into a complete moron by the end. He was NOT that stupid in the beginning, more of a goomba than an idiot. One of my favorites though was when Joey got the turkey stuck on his head, lol.

Oh, and we say PIVOT all the time in my house as well as "Could it BE more __________?" Chanandler Bong was my favorite and I'm so glad he and Monica ended up together. ;D

[india7]

ladymadonna said:

Chanandler Bong was my favorite

And one of the best things about that "Chanandler Bong" part? Was just the almost pride he took in adding in the "Ms."!

Ross: "What is the name on the mailing label of Joey & Chandler's TV Guide?"
Rachel: "Chanandler Bong! Chanandler Bong!"
Chandler: "Aaaaah.... it's actually MS. Chanandler Bong!"

[susyhomewrecker]

ripley said:

I loved it at the beginning too. I remember reading a column where George Will was denigrating the show because his 15-year-old daughter watched the episode where Ross & Rachel are doing it for the first time in the museum and they roll over on a juice box and Rachel thinks it's premature ejaculation. Will looked at his daughter and asked, "Do you understand what happened?" He was shocked that something like this would be on network TV. I remember thinking, "George, they're a bunch of people in their mid-20's. I'm in my mid-20's and that is how people in my age group talk and act."

I think that is what I missed most about the show as it progressed. I no longer thought, "Wow, this show really represents me!"

I always did love the Thanksgiving episodes, though. The Gellar Cup was hysterical.

Oh, God. I LOVED the Geller Cup! My brother and I had something similar--except it was called "The Numba 1" and it was an old squeeze bottle of mustard with "Numba 1" written on the side in black sharpie. Even though I didn't like Ross or Monica so much separately, together they were hilarious, and totally acted like brother and sister.

The Joey/Rachel storyline was by far the worst idea the writers ever had--and I think they realized that, too, because it seemed like they started backtracking pretty quickly and the plot just kind of went nowhere.

[kixxy]

Honestly, I didn't really watch Friends when it was on -- I didn't pay so much attention when it was in the earlier seasons, and later on, I chose Survivor. And had to hate on Friends by default. Watching the TBS reruns and buying the DVDs, though, I'm not afraid to admit that I love it.

(Mind you -- I haven't really watched the Rachel/Joey coupling yet. I'm kind of afraid of it ruining any and all Friends goodwill. No! No!)

After a summer spent watching the DVDs, lixxie and I decided that Ross looks surprisingly... un-Rosslike (read: handsome) with his shirt off. I mean, Ross. What? Ross is not attractive. Until. We've dubbed it the Ross Effect. I'm just a little embarassed.

[johnboysmole]

I liked Ross too. I loved that they had the guy with the most education and the most pretentious career be the biggest fuck up that ever fucked up. The spray tan, the WHITE! teeth, the leather pants, kissing his cousin, the pivot couch, the fake English accent and the list goes on...the guy was a social moron, but he had his PhD, he was a professor and worked in a museum. I don't know. I thought his whole background paired with his personality was hilarious.

[memememe76]

I thought the season 8 Joey/Rachel storyline thing was pretty effective. I remember the cliffhanger when Joey confessed to Ross about his feelings for Rachel--and then the blackout. And there wouldn't be a new episode for weeks as a result of the Winter Olympics. That was great television, IMO.

It is interesting that given all the early season love, the show didn't win a damn Best Show Emmy until season 8. I can't believe they weren't even nominated for season 4.