Friends - General Discussion

[mojoween]

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who doesn’t find “Pivot!” all that funny.

[Domestic Assassin]

40 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who doesn’t find “Pivot!” all that funny.

You're not alone.  I think it's obnoxious and not at all funny.

[Lisa418722]

42 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who doesn’t find “Pivot!” all that funny.

I don't either, but I was not a huge Ross fan (he was OK, just not my favorite) so I think that influences how I feel.

[supposebly]

It's funny for me because when I watch it, I remember the blooper. They had such a hard time getting through it without breaking, especially David Schwimmer cracking himself up.

[LexieLily]

https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/friends-where-the-characters-would-be-today/

I don't know about Joey. I can barely see him married, let alone with six kids. The only way I would see that is if a few of the kids were one-night-stand babies. Because, really, with the amount of women Joey slept with, it's believable that one of them would have gotten pregnant. 

[Bort]

When Joey's spin-off ended, he had a serious girlfriend, so I can see the married with kids scenario for him. Maybe not six, though. 

[LexieLily]

1 hour ago, kariyaki said:

When Joey's spin-off ended, he had a serious girlfriend, so I can see the married with kids scenario for him. Maybe not six, though. 

I remember very little about the Joey spinoff, but I vaguely remember him dating his neighbor Alex. 

[Irlandesa]

Didn't Joey come from a big family?  I can see him recreating that.

[Chas411]

Having binge watched seasons 1-5 i think Hubbie and I agree that Chandler and Monica were the most enjoyable couple. I love that they were best friends, hooked up and were crazy about each other from the get go. There was never any awkwardness or back and forth. Even when Ross and Rachel were together I didn’t think they were as natural as Chandler and Monica.*

On Ross and Rachel, I love them together but I’m glad they split up early and the plots were moreso focused on their friendship from early season five onwards. They had their moments but never as intense as the first four seasons as it would have just got exhausting. Plus Aniston and Schwimmer were hilarious in their separate storylines and both really came into their own from season 3 onwards. Rachel I never thought to be that funny until she started working in Bloomies. From Joanna to Joshu-AWH she was a hoot.

*That being said, Chandler and Monica’s proposal is still the cringiest and most uncomfortable scene I watched in the show. I wasn’t moved. It was badly written, acted and sooo dramatic and overdone. I think Aniston and Schwimmer managed the heavier Ross and Rachel scenes a lot better. It never felt as over the top. 

[Chas411]

A few other observations - Carol and Susan had an affair. She left Ross breaking his heart and apparently ruining all his trust in women... yet Susan acts like he’s the one in the wrong. I know it was mostly just done for laughs and Ross is annoying but stil bugged at times. It was like they had no self awareness at times. In particular Susan. Her disrespect toward Ross being Bens father to the point where she didn’t want his name included or included last was unbelievable. That scene in the doctors office for the first scan must only have been a few weeks after Carol up and left him so Susan’s callousness grates.

Having said that I did like the back and forth they had and think a lot of the time it was more teasing. I think it’s just because we never really saw the women acknowledge how their affair might have hurt him that it bugs. Carol was usually nice but Susan just wasn’t.

[Rescue Mama]

I watched a couple of episodes this morning,  one of them was when Rachel went back to work.  I couldn't believe she left her baby with a man, Gavin, that she didn't even know.  After thinking about it,  she did it again later when she let the male nanny she had just met to take Emma into another room to change her diaper.   

She wasn't a very good mom.  

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Chas411 said:

Her disrespect toward Ross being Bens father to the point where she didn’t want his name included or included last was unbelievable. That scene in the doctors office for the first scan must only have been a few weeks after Carol up and left him so Susan’s callousness grates.

Yep. If she had cheated with a man, there is no way they would have treated him like that.  And that's what she did - obviously, if she realized she was a lesbian and chose to divorce him, that's different. But not to cheat on your spouse, expect him to be okay with your new partner that you cheated with, joke about calling him "the sperm guy" etc.

[OhSarah69]

On ‎9‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 12:35 PM, mojoween said:

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who doesn’t find “Pivot!” all that funny.

I suppose I found it reasonably funny...because the whole scene is meant to show how sure Ross usually is of being right.  He thought out a plan to bring the sofa up the stairs, drew a sketch ("that's my ARM!"), and roped his friends into participating.  He was so sure of being right that he didn't see what was plain to the rest of us, i.e. ain't no way that sofa is getting up those stairs, no matter how smart you think you are or how many times you shriek, "PIVOT!  PIV-OT!").

Edited September 23, 2019 by OhSarah69

[Nellise]

I don't think "Pivot!" is even the funniest line in that episode. I always laugh way harder when he tries to return the couch: "I will give you store credit in the amount of 4 dollars".

[snarkylady]

17 hours ago, Chas411 said:

*That being said, Chandler and Monica’s proposal is still the cringiest and most uncomfortable scene I watched in the show. I wasn’t moved. It was badly written, acted and sooo dramatic and overdone. I think Aniston and Schwimmer managed the heavier Ross and Rachel scenes a lot better. It never felt as over the top. 

I have always felt that Courtney Cox was the weakest actor of the six.  And I'm sure that others will disagree....no problem with that.  She had a way of changing her voice a little, not sure how to describe it but I think she was trying to convey seriousness, and she just couldn't do it.  A lot of the plot in the proposal episode was just stupid.  Everything doesn't have to be overdone.

I did, however, enjoy the look on Joey's face when Chandler turned to him after going into the apartment thinking Monica had left.

[christie]

17 hours ago, Chas411 said:

*That being said, Chandler and Monica’s proposal is still the cringiest and most uncomfortable scene I watched in the show. I wasn’t moved. It was badly written, acted and sooo dramatic and overdone. I think Aniston and Schwimmer managed the heavier Ross and Rachel scenes a lot better. It never felt as over the top. 

I agrre. I think that generally Friends didn't handle dramatic scenes well; they were usually badly acted and unnatural.

[Irlandesa]

On 9/22/2019 at 12:51 PM, supposebly said:

It's funny for me because when I watch it, I remember the blooper. They had such a hard time getting through it without breaking, especially David Schwimmer cracking himself up.

Yeah.  I don't know if it cracks me up now because of that scene or if it's more because of how the actors were cracking up while filming it.   It kind of reminds me of the bag pipe scene where I think the blooper is funnier than the actual scene.

At the same time I logically know why it would crack people up.  I think it captures that horrible experience of trying to move a large and heavy object into a door that's too small or up a staircase where you need to have just the right angle...and you rarely find it.

[Nordly Beaumont]

3 hours ago, snarkylady said:

I have always felt that Courtney Cox was the weakest actor of the six.  And I'm sure that others will disagree....no problem with that.  She had a way of changing her voice a little, not sure how to describe it but I think she was trying to convey seriousness, and she just couldn't do it.  A lot of the plot in the proposal episode was just stupid.  Everything doesn't have to be overdone.

I did, however, enjoy the look on Joey's face when Chandler turned to him after going into the apartment thinking Monica had left.

I loved the look on Joey's face too - the best part, really!

For me, it was when Matthew Perry would do his serious/sincere voice ("she's a mother... without a baby") that made me cringe. 

Edited September 24, 2019 by Nordly Beaumont

[Bort]

The actors with the best range turned out to be Aniston, Schwimmer and LeBlanc. They were funny but could also sell the drama. 

[Chas411]

3 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

For me, it was when Matthew Perry would do his serious/sincere voice ("she's a mother... without a baby") that made me cringe.

Omg yes! I used to roll my eyes at it every time. Having done the rewatch though it doesn’t creep in until the Monica relationship starts.

5 hours ago, snarkylady said:

I have always felt that Courtney Cox was the weakest actor of the six. 

3 hours ago, kariyaki said:

The actors with the best range turned out to be Aniston, Schwimmer and LeBlanc.

I don’t know about Cox being the weakest but She was definetly the one to break character the most. The majority of her scenes are her stifling laughs. It’s funny because I read the show was originally meant to focus around Monica with an eventual relationship with Joey planned (before they cast LeBlanc and changed the character completely). Watching the pilot and first few episodes she’s definitely more central. 

Agreed on Aniston and Schwimmer being the strongest especially together. Not really LeBlanc though but I think it was moreso the awful writing for Joey in the last few seasons where he was utterly moronic. He also had a specific voice for any serious scenes usually with Rachel. I think Kudrow was someone who could do serious if requested but it just didn’t fit the character to ever do them. I do still well up in the scene where she gives the triplets up. I think she had some great moments throughout that storyline that suited the character.

[WendyCR72]

I'm going to dodge some tomatoes. But it seems in almost everything I have seen Jennifer Aniston in, maybe with the exception of The Good Girl and the new Apple series I have never seen, she seemed to play some variation of Rachel Green. Long way of saying I don't think she has much range, either. But I think all six had their moments, and it usually came down to the writing in the end.

[Chas411]

Agreed Wendy. I think Jennifer excelled at playing Rachel because Rachel was written well (save for the Joey saga at the end when the dumbed her down completely). I don’t think it’s a case of her being an amazing actor that rose above her material. 

[WendyCR72]

I do find it sort of ironic that Lisa Kudrow actually won an Emmy for Phoebe, considering most of Phoebe's stories were, for lack of a better word, afterthoughts or downright crap.

I just read the other day somewhere that Marta Kauffman regrets most of Phoebe's stories and now dislikes her story arc with Charlie Sheen when Phoebe gave Ryan chicken pox, as one example.

[Bort]

I liked the chicken pox storyline, it was actually funny. Maybe Marta dislikes it because it wasn't terribly realistic?

• The number of adults in the '90s that hadn't had chicken pox. One, okay, but three?
• Adults with chicken pox are much more ill than that, with a longer recovery time.
• If Phoebe already had it, Charlie Sheen would be a significant amount of time behind her because there's several days of an incubation period.

As sideplots go, the one I hate the most is Joey's identical hand twin plot. Wow, that was dumb, they obviously couldn't think of anything for Joey to do in Vegas at all.

[Inquisitionist]

9 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

I'm going to dodge some tomatoes. But it seems in almost everything I have seen Jennifer Aniston in, maybe with the exception of The Good Girl and the new Apple series I have never seen, she seemed to play some variation of Rachel Green. Long way of saying I don't think she has much range, either. But I think all six had their moments, and it usually came down to the writing in the end.

I'll dodge with you.  And I'll add that I thought she was miscast and terribly bland in The Good Girl.

[wendyg]

I thought Aniston was very good (bitter and angry) in CAKE. Schwimmer is probably the best actor of the six, given his long history in theater. (Try watching IT'S THE RAGE if you don't believe me.)

I had to revise my opinion of Matt LeBlanc's acting upwards by a considerable way after seeing EPISODES.

[FormerMod-a1]

Aside from We're the Millers, I've always found Aniston's acting to be kind of bland/non-exceptional.  She's been fine, and definitely had her moments, but overall, plays everything the same.  (She seems like a nice person, and I'd probably love hanging out with her).  I caught We're the Millers on some cable channel years ago and kept thinking "That actress looks like Jennifer Aniston."  "That can't be her, though, right?"  lol  

[Peace 47]

I’m not sure about strongest versus weakest actors—they all had some moments that fell flat and some really great moments.  (Chandler saying that Monica was a mother without a baby wasn’t a shining moment, but I just absolutely hate that whole plot in general, because the fact that they lied about who they were was so unrealistic and stupid that I reject everything that comes after!)

Someone upthread mentioned that the performances in general elevated the writing, and I agree with that.  Unlike some other comedies (Frasier or 30 Rock), I think that the writing was not the source of especially witty lines as the means to a comedic end, but rather was a more situational comedy delivery apparatus (in creating funny situations to deliver the comedy).

I think Aniston was really great at crying in a humorous way (which I don’t think is easy to do).  Like when Treager made her cry when she took out the garbage for the first time, or when she was crying in front of Joanna at work.

I think Matt LeBlanc had some great (some of the best) reaction shots and line deliveries throughout the show that I never fully appreciated until my recent rewatch.  A few posts up, it was mentioned about his look when he leaves Chandler with Monica for the proposal, but there are tons of other moments like that.  I think this one was mentioned a few pages back, too, but his reaction when Chandler blurted out that Ross was in love with Rachel.  I’d also add his reaction to eating the beef trifle.

[OhSarah69]

On ‎9‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 8:24 AM, kariyaki said:

I liked the chicken pox storyline, it was actually funny. Maybe Marta dislikes it because it wasn't terribly realistic?

• The number of adults in the '90s that hadn't had chicken pox. One, okay, but three?
• Adults with chicken pox are much more ill than that, with a longer recovery time.
• If Phoebe already had it, Charlie Sheen would be a significant amount of time behind her because there's several days of an incubation period.

As sideplots go, the one I hate the most is Joey's identical hand twin plot. Wow, that was dumb, they obviously couldn't think of anything for Joey to do in Vegas at all.

Me too!  Phoebe: "I've got the pox!".   Charlie Sheen character:  "Chicken, or small?".  Ha.

Ah, Joey's hand twin, whom he "discovered" on the trip to Vegas.  Yes, it was mucho stupid.  But had some good moments.  Phoebe:  "I'm Regina Phalange; I'm a businesswoman, in town on business".   And...it did have Thomas Lennon as the guy running the game at the casino.  "If you leave now, I'll cut off my hand and give it to you", delivered in his priceless nervous but deadpan style.  He was in the Odd Couple remake with Matthew Perry a few years back.

[LexieLily]

7 hours ago, OhSarah69 said:

Ah, Joey's hand twin, whom he "discovered" on the trip to Vegas.  Yes, it was mucho stupid.  But had some good moments.  Phoebe:  "I'm Regina Phalange; I'm a businesswoman, in town on business".   And...it did have Thomas Lennon as the guy running the game at the casino.  "If you leave now, I'll cut off my hand and give it to you", delivered in his priceless nervous but deadpan style.  He was in the Odd Couple remake with Matthew Perry a few years back.

Joey's hand twin; I will suffer through that entire plot just for the song, set to This Land Is Your Land. Hee!

"This hand is your hand

This hand is my hand

Oh, wait, that's your hand,

...no, wait, it's my hand."

Edited September 26, 2019 by LexieLily

[Crs97]

Watching the episode when Monica and Chandler make Joey cover for them, and everyone thinks he is gross.  As much as I hate that plot, I love the episode for two reasons:

1.  Phoebe’s smile when she gets Rachel to talk about robots in Jane Eyre.

2.  Ross eating cotton candy while he talks about his rage.

David is the best actor IMO.

[Bort]

31 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

Phoebe’s smile when she gets Rachel to talk about robots in Jane Eyre.

I think that's one of my favorite Phoebe plots. It's just so funny how Phoebe gets Rachel to hang herself in the class, plus it's totally something that I would have done when I was in school. Also, it was good continuity for how Phoebe is good at picking up symbolism (like when Monica was dating the misogynist empty vase poet diner cook).

[Chas411]

I just watched that episode last night also.  It’s so so funny. The way He looks up from the candy and delivers “hey chandler” is one of his funniest deliveries. 

I think this is the season they all start to get a little more eccentric.

[Crs97]

“He offered me a tranquilizer.  I thought it was a good idea . . . So I took it.”  

Pure gold.

[Rockstar99435]

7 hours ago, Crs97 said:

Watching the episode when Monica and Chandler make Joey cover for them, and everyone thinks he is gross.  As much as I hate that plot, I love the episode for two reasons:

1.  Phoebe’s smile when she gets Rachel to talk about robots in Jane Eyre.

2.  Ross eating cotton candy while he talks about his rage.

David is the best actor IMO.

I always feel bad complaining about Ross because I like David Schwimmer so much. He always makes me laugh.

[Jax7917]

I don't think Jennifer Aniston has much of an acting range, but I do think she played Rachel really well. My first time watching, I thought she was bland but whenever i Re-watch which is ... always.... I do find a lot of her lines and the way she plays Rachel to be funny and her presentation of the lines is generally good.

I find them all to be good actors, but they do all have their strong and weak episodes, mostly because some of the lines were just not funny to me. I thought Chandler was hysterical in the first few seasons but he just went downhill as a comedic actor in the later seasons. I'm not sure if it was because he was sober or because he was now married and single Chandler was better.. but something felt off.

The only one who i rarely found funny was Phoebe, in fact I found her to be very annoying. Again, i'm not sure if it was the lines given or the actor portraying the lines. She was sort of like Bernadette from the Big Bang Theory with her outbursts. I just always felt annoyed when she would go from 0 to 60 with anger and her lines were just eh compared to the rest of the cast. But I guess she also had her moments.

[Jax7917]

On 9/23/2019 at 3:10 AM, Chas411 said:

Having binge watched seasons 1-5 i think Hubbie and I agree that Chandler and Monica were the most enjoyable couple. I love that they were best friends, hooked up and were crazy about each other from the get go. There was never any awkwardness or back and forth. Even when Ross and Rachel were together I didn’t think they were as natural as Chandler and Monica.*

On Ross and Rachel, I love them together but I’m glad they split up early and the plots were moreso focused on their friendship from early season five onwards. They had their moments but never as intense as the first four seasons as it would have just got exhausting. Plus Aniston and Schwimmer were hilarious in their separate storylines and both really came into their own from season 3 onwards. Rachel I never thought to be that funny until she started working in Bloomies. From Joanna to Joshu-AWH she was a hoot.

*That being said, Chandler and Monica’s proposal is still the cringiest and most uncomfortable scene I watched in the show. I wasn’t moved. It was badly written, acted and sooo dramatic and overdone. I think Aniston and Schwimmer managed the heavier Ross and Rachel scenes a lot better. It never felt as over the top. 

I loved them as a couple, but I didn't think their proposal did justice to their relationship either. I didn't like how much the show portrayed her as still being so into Richard, even down to her being so excited to see him in the restaurant. In the beginning of Mondler, that would have been fine... but they were already together for years and it was the same episode that was being set up as them getting engaged. I didn't like that she ended up proposing to him, and the dialogue was cringey with Monica's "there's a reason girls don't do this."... It just didn't work for me but otherwise, I  thought their relationship was really well written and I was impressed that the writers never felt the need to break them up and that they stayed together for about 6 seasons. Most shows wouldn't be able to do that.

[OhSarah69]

21 hours ago, Crs97 said:

“He offered me a tranquilizer.  I thought it was a good idea . . . So I took it.”  

Pure gold.

"Why'd they make  you see a psychiatrist?".

Ross:   "On account-a my rage".    Funniest delivery ever of that line, gets me every time.

[blondiec0332]

5 hours ago, Jaclyn88 said:

The only one who i rarely found funny was Phoebe, in fact I found her to be very annoying. Again, i'm not sure if it was the lines given or the actor portraying the lines. She was sort of like Bernadette from the Big Bang Theory with her outbursts. I just always felt annoyed when she would go from 0 to 60 with anger and her lines were just eh compared to the rest of the cast. But I guess she also had her moments.

I thought Lisa Kudrow did fine with Phoebe when she was being "normal". When Phoebe was being "Phoebe" I thought she was hamming it up.  

On the other hand while I always thought David Schwimmer was fine as Ross being "normal" when he he overreacted I thought he killed it.

[Inquisitionist]

David Schwimmer is in the new Steven Soderbergh movie The Laundromat, starring Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman.  I wonder if Oldman spits on him.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

On 9/29/2019 at 9:36 AM, Inquisitionist said:

David Schwimmer is in the new Steven Soderbergh movie The Laundromat, starring Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman.  I wonder if Oldman spits on him.

I wonder if he smacks his head on an open dryer door. 

[MadyGirl1987]

Just caught the second episode on TBS and the Broadway fan in me can't believe I never realized Patti Lupone makes an appearance in it as a museum coworker Ross is talking to about an exhibit when Carol comes to tell him she's pregnant. Strikes me as a huge casting coup for a show just starting out. It's not even like Law and Order where it was filmed in NYC so it makes sense they have a ton of Broadway people show up.

[chitowngirl]

That wasn’t Patti Lupone, it was Merrill Markoe.

2 hours ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

Just caught the second episode on TBS and the Broadway fan in me can't believe I never realized Patti Lupone makes an appearance in it as a museum coworker Ross is talking to about an exhibit when Carol comes to tell him she's pregnant. Strikes me as a huge casting coup for a show just starting out. It's not even like Law and Order where it was filmed in NYC so it makes sense they have a ton of Broadway people show up.

[MadyGirl1987]

22 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

That wasn’t Patti Lupone, it was Merrill Markoe.

Oh wow, am I dumb! She definitely looked and sounded like Lupone to me! Thanks for the correction! 

[slf]

Watched the ep where Rachel and Monica end up duking it out over the last condom in the bathroom while Richard and Ross uncomfortably wait in the bedroom doorways. Ross, faced with his sister's older and pants-less lover, awkwardly asks, "...so...were you in 'Nam?" I crack up every time.

(I have actually used that one with older men when they've made unwanted and very inappropriate passes and I can appily confirm it is a boner killer for them having their age acknowledged like that.)

[Chas411]

Just finished the Janine episodes. I think Elle McPherson was my least favorite guest star. She was so bland. 

[christie]

1 hour ago, slf said:

Watched the ep where Rachel and Monica end up duking it out over the last condom in the bathroom while Richard and Ross uncomfortably wait in the bedroom doorways. Ross, faced with his sister's older and pants-less lover, awkwardly asks, "...so...were you in 'Nam?" I crack up every time.

(I have actually used that one with older men when they've made unwanted and very inappropriate passes and I can appily confirm it is a boner killer for them having their age acknowledged like that.)

I really disliked that scene; it was one of those things that made absolutely no sense that the writers put in for some humour:

• Why didn't Ross and Rachel go to Ross's place?
• Why didn't Richard and Monica go to Richard's?
• Who has sex with their brother/sister in the next room?
• Who keeps condoms in the bathroom? NOBODY that's who.
• If you have a boyfriend surely you're gonna stock up on condoms so you don't run out. Don't tell me that super-organised Monica would not check to see if there were condoms.

Aaaargh

[slf]

1 hour ago, christie said:

I really disliked that scene; it was one of those things that made absolutely no sense that the writers put in for some humour:

• Why didn't Ross and Rachel go to Ross's place?
• Why didn't Richard and Monica go to Richard's?
• Who has sex with their brother/sister in the next room?
• Who keeps condoms in the bathroom? NOBODY that's who.
• If you have a boyfriend surely you're gonna stock up on condoms so you don't run out. Don't tell me that super-organised Monica would not check to see if there were condoms.

Aaaargh

Yeah, the situation is definitely stupid. But like, this is the show that had Monica and Ross kiss each other when they were younger and play strip Happy Days game at the beach, so... The writers didn't seem to get, or didn't care, that there was sometimes a squick factor to that relationship.

[christie]

1 hour ago, slf said:

Yeah, the situation is definitely stupid. But like, this is the show that had Monica and Ross kiss each other when they were younger and play strip Happy Days game at the beach, so... The writers didn't seem to get, or didn't care, that there was sometimes a squick factor to that relationship.

I totally agree.

[Bort]

1 hour ago, slf said:

Yeah, the situation is definitely stupid. But like, this is the show that had Monica and Ross kiss each other when they were younger and play strip Happy Days game at the beach, so... The writers didn't seem to get, or didn't care, that there was sometimes a squick factor to that relationship.

Don’t forget all the girl talk scenes where Phoebe and Monica are wanting details from Rachel about kissing Ross, sex with Ross… I was always throwing up in my mouth a little bit about Monica’s eagerness to hear these details.