Farewell, Friends
: When Friends premiered, I gave it a bad review in TV Guide. I said it was a rip-off of Cheers and an exercise in demographic pandering. But it grew on me and I wrote another column about a year later reconsidering teh show and saying that I was wrong and Friends was pretty damned good. One of the producers sent me a letter thanking me for admitting my mistake. So, you see, if it had been up to me, I would have abandoned Friends and we wouldn’t have all this hoopla tonight.
15 responses to “Farewell, Friends”
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I love Friends. Though I agree with your original impression (I admit- it is kinda dumb), they compensated by using the smartest trick in the book: “Hire Good Writers”.
Works every time. -
I’m sure that I see your tongue poking into the side of your cheek, as you reach your arm around to pat yourself on the back.
My current beef is the airing of the finale in the same time slot as CSI, although Tivo will help to alleviate the burden of choice. -
So, you see, if it had been up to me, I would have abandoned Friends and we wouldn’t have all this hoopla tonight.
…and we would be better off. “All this hoopla” indeed. There is still a war in Iraq, right? :) -
Not that I like “Friends” at all, but along the same lines, others weren’t so lucky. Over the years, Frank Rich managed to trash countless plays on/off Broadway, only to come out years later in a book and state “I guess so and so wasn’t so bad.” Oops! Those producers should be so lucky!
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How does tonight’s hoopla compare to the hoopla around Seinfeld’s finale? I remember having a real “gather the friends and family ’round the screen with chips and dip, this is an event” sort of feeling for Seinfeld’s last show, but tonight’s is kinda “yeah… but CSI, Survivor, Internet…”. And I do like Friends.
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Let’s face it. The only reason so many of us guys watched was to see Jennifer and her two “friends”.
Heh. -
Sure, the show was oftimes funny, but the basic premise was fairly ridiculous. I defy anyone to show me a place like “Central Perk” located anywhere south of, say, 92nd St., that is so white (Staten Island does not count). And how these people could afford Manhattan rents for those apartments when at any given time one of the roomies was out of work is beyond me.
Still, Phoebe was a babe and reminded me of my wife. I’ll miss it. -
i like how the only minorities they featured on the show were those hooking up with those white dorky guys. sorry, but this show is so unbelievable, i never could watch it.
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What hoopla? I haven’t watched the show in years, and I’m in the 18-35 male bracket.
As a Manhattanite, I find the show entirely ridiculous. -
There was a show called ‘Friends’?
Is that the one where a comedy was based on an obsessive-comulsive, a hippie street urchin, an airhead, a wimp, a simp, and a sarcastic underachiever? -
Someone call Ted Koppel and tell him it’s Sweeps! He may have missed the last Friends episode!
I bet he missed it because he did not know it was Sweeps!
I feel badly for Ted, he probably missed “10.5” too. And all the other special specials since he DOESN’T KNOW IT’S SWEEPS! -
hate to say it, but you were right the first time. friends was a total bore.
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I’m with tony – boring. Never liked it, never thought it was funny and never saw the appeal of any of the characters.
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So, you see, if it had been up to me, I would have abandoned Friends and we wouldn’t have all this hoopla tonight.
Ah, so Jeff’s single-handedly responsible for the “success” of that insipid show. Now, I know who to blame!
Seinfeld was a show written by comedians and acted out by comedians. Friends was a show written by writers and acted out by actors. (And “actors” is admittedly stretching it!) -
I remember that review. In fact, I think back to it every time I see something about the show and justify to myself that I’ve never watched an entire episode. I didn’t realize that was you, though!
