Me with Big Bang Theory.
I genuinely don’t understand why anyone likes it. Every moment is pure torture to me. Humor is subjective, sure. But I just don’t get it.
Anything with a laugh track in it is poison to my mind.
You remove the laugh track and it turns out it’s all verbal abuse.
The tv show “Kevin can F**k himself” makes fun of this exact thing. Highly recommend it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJB6VQ0his4
Ooh, new show to watch!
tiny seal claps 🙏
This show was really well done. I wish it went in a slightly different direction, but I enjoyed it. It was a very unique take on the sitcom.
It’s such a great show
But damn it’s painful to watch
Then you should like friends. They played to live audience.
That’s why I miss shows with a live studio audience. It always made it a little more enjoyable when lines hit so well the audience is laughing so much the actor is clearly pausing a little longer than they thought or stuttering a bit so they can have a clear moment to say their lines
I couldn’t stand watching it because of that. The jokes themselves were passable.
I don’t know about others, but I can tell you the main reason why I like it.
I’ve had to work with not one, but two guys who were exactly like Sheldon Cooper from the show, in terms of intelligence and character. They also quite looked like him. That was in different cities and different jobs. Both were absolutely self-righteous and 100% full of themselves. One of them seemed to think of himself as second only to God himself. It was brutal.
So, watching the series provided me with a lot of comic relief.What, you don’t think it’s peak comedy when the joke is “this guy isn’t white”?
To embed the picture it should be like this:
I thought it was okay. A lot of the humor relies on awkward social situations being funny which is a hit or miss.
… Bazinga! Ridiculously loud laughing ensues
Honestly, I love friends, but I would never recommend it to younger audiences.
Humour is a very personal choice, and like colors, not everything being fun for the same people. On top of that, A TON of today’s humour descends from friends, so the jokes feel dated and simple, but they were the literal origin of many tropes, at the time it was perfection, like a chewing gum.
And most importantly, nowadays people (specially chronically online people) can’t just sit back and relax, they are always being judgemental little pricks to feel superior to everyone else, while not even trying to contextualise the time when what they are seeing was made.
Not to mention how sad it is that all the media, no matter the genre, have to pass their stupid moral compass (whether the progressive one or the conservative one). The whole sit back, relax and have a laugh is lost to them.
Is a very sad reality of hyper judgement they lived in, probably fueled by the cancer that is social media. I’m sad for them, they keep chasing the internet points thinking it will make them happy somehow, they don’t just watch something, they keep filling the checklist to then “have something to say”.
I’m so happy the internet was not a thing when I was growing up, what a brain worm I dodged, just in time to enjoy it as an adult as well. I’m really sorry for the young people today.
If I can’t comment on, upvote, downvote, report, share, like and subscribe to and article or piece of art, then what’s the point of me experiencing it at all?
The emotions that it makes you feel are yours, they’re valid on their own even if you don’t share them with the world.
Very interesting take I never thought about that at all. What about just what you consider “good” or “bad”? You think it’s better to watch whatever is in front of you/ available and have no criticism for it ? I’m most critical of media I enjoy most but not in a judgement social media way you are picturing
as always there is nuanced to everything, if I see a comedy or horror I’m not going to hold it to the same standards as a drama that is trying to convey a message, there will be a limit if it goes against my values in a crazy way, and I’ll stop watching it, but my main mentality is not there, I don’t watch it from a “defensive” position, so my alarms don’t go off as easily as other people’s, and I assume more good intent by default, which allows me to enjoy more of them, even if they “make fun” of my way of thinking or morals.
Being able to laugh about yourself or your beliefs without thinking you are “helping the other side win” in some kind of imaginary online culture war is quite healthy actually.
I was talking about objectivity and whether media is good in a sense of writing, execution and delivery. I will always give something the benefit of the doubt like you said, give something a try because you obviously never seen it. But why watch something that is clearly low effort and poorly thought out or planned? All that seems like an attention/ cash grab especially ones that try to appeal to a specific moral audience while disregarding any other viewers. My example is any show aimed at a straight white male that is very obviously disregarding any possible other viewer I consider poor writing and not well thought out.
My example is any show aimed at a straight white male that is very obviously disregarding any possible other viewer I consider poor writing and not well thought out.
This seems a bit reductionist, though I guess it depends on what you mean by “disregarding any possible other viewer”. Any examples?
If you mean racism and sexism, then that’s obviously bad. But I don’t see anything inherently wrong with having a target demographic
I think you are reading into it too much, a show, like friends that is very simply written for one target demographic means it is not very good. That’s all . I consider this a bad show that isn’t very funny. Instead of accepting it because everyone I know likes it or it’s on cable television.
People today really do lack basic critical thinking to the point where it’s not just concerning, but could outright explain the decline of our society. I think it should be common sense to consume media while being mindful of its era and audience as well as being able separate the art from the artists. I think it’s ridiculous that there are people who are attacking actors for playing an outdated joke on a show 30 years ago. Like how fragile and miserable do you have to be to get that riled up while trying to watch entertainment to relax.
Me with Seinfeld.
I was gonna say, I’m not judging people who like Friends, because I like Seinfeld…
why would you compare the two? seinfeld is actually funny because it’s universal social observation. it’s a streetwise comedy of manners like curb your enthusiasm.
we’ve all been george when he leaves a dumb message on an answering machine and then stresses over it; we’ve all had touchy friends or acquaintances who cut ties for some petty reason. it’s often exaggerated, but it’s human and relatable.
i wouldn’t just question the taste of someone who doesn’t like seinfeld but i’d question how much awareness they have about everything going on around them.
some jokey sitcoms still hit–frasier and golden girls are witty. but most aren’t funny anymore and they weren’t all that funny in their day.
the liquid hearty meal will not be given to you
Me watching any sitcom
Rewatching Malcolm in the middle right now and shit is hilarious
Hal’s roller skating dance routine for Malcolm lives rent-free in my head.
I like the episode where Dewey is addicted to cigarettes and Hal relapses on coffee because of it
Dewey smoking 2 packs a day lol
Also Reese outrunning the cops in his retry driving test and driving perfectly to the rules while Sum 41 is blasting then getting beat up by the cops but gets his license
It’s a classic in our house. It never disappoints!
I think sitcoms that don’t rely on laughing tracks (Scrubs, Malcolm, Better Off Ted, etc.) are genuinely funny. Else it’s give lor take. I found HIMYM really funny but not Friends.
I was subjected to an endless barrage of Full House reruns… My sister was obsessed. Oh god… Oh… Just oh god.
She should’ve cut it out. How rude!
Maybe it’s just nostalgia talking but I feel the Inbetweeners and Fresh Meat still hold up. The former one especially, if anyone wants to know what it was like growing up as a British teen in the '00s it’s basically 100% accurate.
I think sitcom hate has gone overboard. It became trendy and cool on sitcoms for some reason. I personally am okay with sitcoms if the characters are well written and the writers can write gags that naturally fit with their personalities.
With background laugh
I don’t think it’s the funniest show on earth, I don’t think it’s even an amazing show, but it has its moments. Pretending otherwise for internet points is cringe.
My face when someone asks if I have watched Game Of Thrones (which hearing about it is the extend of the knowledge I have).
I’m not a fantasy person, but I had a gf who was a HUGE GoT fan. She whined enough to the point I watched it with her.
I still don’t like it.
I like tits and peter dinklage. It checked some boxes for me.
Imagine if Peter Dinklage got implants. You’d be in heaven.
Same experience here, my wife was obsessed with it and badgered me mercilessly until I finally sat down and watched… I lasted about 5 minutes before I welped and slapped both my thighs as I got up to play games
I tried to watch it. Couldn’t do it.
Me with American Dad et al. They’re just soul-crushingly mean-spirited.
I’ve noticed that with Family Guy in particular, the writers of that really have it in for women.
Wait, WHAT. I thought the likes of Seth MacFarlane were pretty progressive. But I also live a sheltered life. ELI5 please lol
Louis Griffin in particular is pretty bad, but the female characters are very one dimensional, and often portrayed as being very shallow and annoying, whereas the male characters are much more fleshed out and three dimensional.
I’d bet money Seth Mcfarlane doesn’t have a good relationship with his mother.
Thank you for telling me politely
I mean if you understand that they’re satire, then they can be funny.
That being said American dad past season 9 and Family Guy past season 7 have severely declined in quality to the point where they’re not funny to me anymore.
I don’t really see it as satire. Satire should have some kind of cleverness to it; nuance.
@titty_wizard I didn’t like Friends when it was on the air, and I’ve never liked it. There are millions of people who like it, and that’s fine. But I don’t relate to the characters, and the plot lines for the episodes sounded dumb to me.
When I watched Friends, though, I didn’t think that I looked like Imhotep.
It’s not for everybody and it’s certainly not nuanced or pointed humor at all, but it’s funny and it holds up.
Some episodes have aged excellently. That one where Phoebe dates a cop, who is definitely giving off white supremacist vibes, and Chandler is going around at every opportunity reminding everyone in absolute terror: “he has a gun!”
I disagree. I grew up watching reruns and I liked it. Recently I tried watching it, and the jokes did not hold up. I’d argue that Seinfeld and Fraiser held up better. But to each their own.
To me the issue with Seinfeld is Seinfeld himself. He’s just a very bad actor and he sticks out like a sore thumb with the other characters. Watching his deadpan face in every episode kills the mood for me.
pointed humor
Nipples did augment the jokes.
It’s the sheer laziness and cynical nature of US comedies which sucks - develop a formula and keep shitting out episodes until there are enough for syndication. That’s it. The actual show itself is just 20 minutes of meaningless, throwaway nothing with some jokes. Occasionally a show will try something different but 90+% of them are just this until cancellation or syndication.
Not sure why you are singling the US out. Most TV world wide is like that.
Look, no one TOLD you life was gonna be this way…
clapclapclapclap
Your job’s a joke, you’re broke,
You smell, you’re pathetic,
You shithead, you-*gets dragged away from song, kicking and screaming*
Friends is a funny show. But I’ll say that after season 5, it got progressively less and less funny.
Idk why you’re being downvoted, you’re right. The shows first few seasons were great because the humor felt original and the chemistry between the characters felt organic.
I felt like all of the characters declined. Chandler’s sarcasm became more and more forced. Ross getting divorced again and again got repetitive, I also didn’t like how they handled him having a kid. Joey’s character was lobotomized and he went from being a funny womanizer to being a child in an adult’s body. The girls stayed more consistent, but I felt like Phoebe’s shtick kind of wore off and became annoying. I also hate the ending.
I think the first half of friends is one of the best sitcom products that American TV has produced, but the second half is just mediocre.
Absolutely. I think everyone became one dimensional. And you’re right, they all had great chemistry in the first seasons.
I also don’t know what people are talking about when they call the humor “dated”. I don’t think it’s dated. It’s just that different people find different things funny. I mean, who can forget “PI-VOT” and then “I’d like to return this couch. I’m not completely satisfied with it” - says Ross as he returns a mutual couch, that’s been severed in two
Chandler’s dad is pretty dated
I guess that’s true. But my point is that the show doesn’t hinge on jokes like that.
It’s one of those shows that you have to watch when it first came out.
See Game of thrones
I actually disagree. I’ve gone back to watch it and find it very cozy. It’s like I’m flipping through cable in the 90s and, oh, a show I’ve not seen!
That’s because we’re old. It’s okay grandma, I’m grandma too.
You mean when you are a child?
No. You let your little children watch shows about sex? That’s weird.
It was sorta funny back then, at the time we didn’t have nearly as much selection of niche stuff as we do now. If you stayed up late you could catch Beavis and Butthead and that was about it.
It was the thing you watched with your parents.
Now it just comes across like it’s a cleaned up comment section of a mainstream social media site. The stuff they hope to portray themselves as.
In the late 90’s UK it was a huge show, everyone really liked it, it was one of the first binge serials I can remember. I’ve not watched it for 25 years, maybe worth revisiting, although reading through the comments, seems it hasn’t aged well. It’s always sunny in Philadelphia is probably a better re-watch these days, it’s like extreme (anti) Friends on crack.
IASIP is more like Seinfeld on meth.
Rewatched over the COVID period. Was still entertaining. The pacing is odd though when you binch watch, their relationships / life events last a few episodes (so it seems like only a few days have passed), whereas when it was a weekly event it seemed like they lasted months.
