Thanks to streaming platforms like Netflix, HBO and Max, Friends it is still incredibly popular years after its primetime run. His actors are still making millions of dollars each yearand the show has a large fan base that spreads across countries and generations — I am not one of them.
At first, I thought that my indifference to the whole show was because of my age or education. By the time the show ended in 2004, I was barely out of diapers and spent most of my time watching cartoons. I grew up on BET and Tyler Perry movies, like many of my current and past friends. But don’t get me wrong, I was not constrained to see these shows. In fact, some of my best childhood memories are watching reruns of The Babysitting and Full House with my cousins. I just never got to Friends and I didn’t feel like I needed to.
So what better time to check out this cultural phenomenon while trapped in the house? I threw in the 1994 pilot and, well, let’s say I was not impressed. Leaving aside the valid criticism that the show is problematic in 2020 standards, Friends it is not very fun.
In the first scene, Chandler tells the group about a “crazy” dream he had recently where he was naked. With each part of their story, I found myself anticipating the humor. Then ends the joke. “All of a sudden, the phone starts ringing, and it turns out that is my mother,” he says before a laugh track. “Which is weird because she never calls me,” Chandler finishes before another laugh track plays and the screen fades into the next scene. What is that? That is the punchline?
I think that the most off-putting part is the unnecessary laugh track after almost everything that a character says (granted, a number of the ’90’s shows are guilty of the same thing). This made the first couple of minutes is terribly uncomfortable for me. Here I am, thrown into this show without any kind of background, and I’m already overwhelmed with laughter forced.
Then there is Rachel apparently iconic “runaway bride” story arc. She had been living off his dad’s money, then, was the planning of her husband’s life. She suddenly realizes that she does not feel attracted to him, so that leaves him at the altar and decides to go live with her old classmate from high school. The zany plot is probably the most interesting thing about the episode, but is not particularly fun.
Let’s talk about Monica “nondate” of the date. She goes to an appointment with this “wine guy,” and have a nice date, and implied consensual sex after. She later learns that he had lied to her in order to get to sleep with him. What is funny about a grown man having to make up an elaborate lie to “take a powder”? Then, she didn’t even give him a piece of your mind; instead, it’s left unresolved. Maybe it’s something that comes up again in another episode?
It is evident that people enjoy this show because of a nostalgic connection and the way they relate to the characters. But for me, a newcomer, just not of the same emotions. To be fair, I can admit that some of the ornate Black comedies that I grew up with (*cough* Family Matters *cough*) are not all that on the rewatch. I am sure that many people who did not grow up watching Steve Urkel chase after Laura Winslow you will probably find the show to be in bad taste.
Let me finish by saying this: I can definitely see where the people the love for this show comes from, but it simply is not as fun.
