Friends

[Spot's Meow]

It's been a while since we had a Friends thread around here. Talking about this show never gets old.

I've been watching the DVDs again from start to finish with my boyfriend. This show is so rewatchable, it's really fun. It's also fun because each season reminds me of what was going on in my life at the time it first aired. Ah, good times.

We just started season 7, and WOW. There is a huuuuge difference in Matthew Perry's weight. I was expecting it because I knew that he had drug problems during this time (and later during season 9, when he was written as living in Tulsa), but watching the last episode of season 6 and the first episode of season 7 back to back made it truly clear how different he looked. It's actually really scary - he goes from being slightly chunky to looking pale and anorexic.

His acting was different as well. Much more calmly sarcastic in season 6, and more...hyper and confused in season 7. I don't remember it being this bad when it first aired, but I guess there was several months in between seasons so you are less likely to notice.

So feel free to discuss this or any other Friends related topics you'd like to bring up...

 

[RoJoHen]

My favorite thing about Friends is that it really doesn't matter when you jump back in. You can catch a random episode in any season and still enjoy it as much as any other.

 

[Vanyel]

My favorite thing about Friends is that it really doesn't matter when you jump back in. You can catch a random episode in any season and still enjoy it as much as any other.

When I find this one, I remember just how fun Thursday nights were.

 

[RoJoHen]

My favorite thing about Friends is that it really doesn't matter when you jump back in. You can catch a random episode in any season and still enjoy it as much as any other.

When I find this one, I remember just how fun Thursday nights were.

You just made my night.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I thought he was talking about "naked Thursdays"

 

[Spot's Meow]

My favorite thing about Friends is that it really doesn't matter when you jump back in. You can catch a random episode in any season and still enjoy it as much as any other.

When I find this one, I remember just how fun Thursday nights were.

That one is definitely my favorite episode, it's a great one. That whole season was awesome.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Still find myself watching Friends from time to time. I was a big fan of the show during it's run and considered it must see TV (no pun intended). Matthew's weight gain is noticeable over the series in the time frame that Spot's Meow mentioned but I don't really notice that much of a difference in his actinng. Trying to remember what happens in Sesason Seven...for some reason I want think that was Chandler and Monica's wedding so if it is then it's only reasonable that Matt's acting was more hyper since there was a whole arc dealing with Chandler not being able to accept being married.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It's a great show, and the wonderful thing about it is that you didn't need to watch it obsessively for its whole run in order to enjoy it thoroughly.

 

[ITL]

Friends is repeated endlessly over here - If you want to watch an episode, there will usually be quite a few to choose from on any given day. Therefore, I have watched them all many, many times - and I still enjoy it. It's the small things I like - for example, when Joey and Rachael are on the boat and he tells her off for eating her sammich wrong. Always makes me smile.

 

[Tulin]

My favorite thing about Friends is that it really doesn't matter when you jump back in. You can catch a random episode in any season and still enjoy it as much as any other.

Indeed.

A lot of people rag on "Friends". It's kinda like the "Titanic" syndrome. Whatever is big and accepted by the masses becomes instantly uncool to the greasy emo nerds in basements.

Fact is, the show is fun and all of the actors are very enjoyable in the show. Here in Australia, "Friends" became a Monday night staple and I really liked it!

 

[tharpdevenport]

Perry had an alcohol problem (Wasn't he arrested, and also was in rehab?). That causes weight gain. Seems almost every show with a cast of five or more members has at least one who drinks.

 

[Nick Ryder]

And amazingly Courtney Cox didn't really change a whole lot, I mean usually there's always an actress on a show that sort of goes from really thin to a bit more filled out to a bit more muscular or whatever, but she didn't really change. Jen Aniston didn't really change, aside from her hair, which I could give a rat's ass about. Phobe is probably the only change, since well, they wrote her in pregnant for a while. But they didn't really change a whole lot. Joey changed a little, but he still looked different toward the end than he did at the start. Ross didn't really change a bit. Matthew Perry was the only really major change. And didn't he start wearing his glasses a lot more toward the end of the run, like the last 2-3 seasons than he did early on?

Its a funny show, can't say I would say I was massive fan, but when its on like twice a night most days, hard not to watch it periodically and hey... its either that or some other crappy show. I'll go with Friends

 

[Trekker4747]

And amazingly Courtney Cox didn't really change a whole lot...

Uhh... watch the show again.

Season 1's Cox/Monica was "normal" sized, fleshed-out, curvy.

In Season.... 5? 6? Whatever one was the season after Ross' botched wedding in London she looks like a skeleton (in context of the show this happened instantly in the middle of the wedding as she still looked, fairly, normal in the cliff-hanger season ender.)

Hell, Perry aside I'd say Monica was the worst when it came to weight-loss and Cox never really filled herself back out as when the series ended she still looked like Skeletor with straight-black, long, greasy hair.

Friends, funny show, I may watch through it on DVD here in a bit.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

And amazingly Courtney Cox didn't really change a whole lot...

Uhh... watch the show again.

Season 1's Cox/Monica was "normal" sized, fleshed-out, curvy.

In Season.... 5? 6? Whatever one was the season after Ross' botched wedding in London she looks like a skeleton (in context of the show this happened instantly in the middle of the wedding as she still looked, fairly, normal in the cliff-hanger season ender.)

Hell, Perry aside I'd say Monica was the worst when it came to weight-loss and Cox never really filled herself back out as when the series ended she still looked like Skeletor with straight-black, long, greasy hair.

Friends, funny show, I may watch through it on DVD here in a bit.

Yeah, I agree with you about Courtney Cox's greasy hair. I kept wondering just how long she'd go without washing it. It kind of looked like she was basting it.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

In my opinion one of the really underrated shows of all time. It doesn't get enough credit for how edgy the show really was. All of the cast embodied their characters perfectly especially Jennifer Aniston who really is a good comedic actress.

 

[Nick Ryder]

Hmm you're right... kinda forgot about that. I just thought she wore different clothes. Late 90s it seemed like the tights and leggings and short skirts were the in thing, and it sort of made her look a bit more normal, I thought she always was pretty skinny, she just got more into the yoga mom thing later on. Look at her in that new Couger Town show, she's not skeletor but she's not "normal" either, she's pretty well built honestly. At least in my opinion.

 

[payndz201]

I saw an episode being filmed (as part of a set visit - I even have photos of myself at Central Perk, playing foosball with one of the producers and chilling in Joey's recliner), and Courteney Cox was scarily thin in real life, even more so than she appeared on screen. When she leaned forward, I could practically see the shape of every vertebra in her spine through her top. Jennifer Aniston is tiny in person, too.

Friends and Frasier both ending at the same time was gutting. To my mind, there hasn't been a comedy since that even comes close to either of them.

 

[Orac Zen]

I rewatched the show a few months ago and it was still as funny as it was back in the day. About the only thing I didn't really like then - and still don't - is what an idiot Ross gradually became over the course of the series. Otherwise it was and remains one of the few genuinely funny shows out there and I can't imagine I'll ever get tired of it.

 

[Trekker4747]

Ross did become quite the idiot over the course of the series, hell even Joey grew dumber over the course of S1 into S2. But Ross? Ugh. He just became a complete tool.

 

[payndz201]

About the only thing I didn't really like then - and still don't - is what an idiot Ross gradually became over the course of the series.

Similar things happened to all the characters, though, and is a more or less universal problem with long-running comedies (look at The Simpsons, where Homer's become so stupid it's amazing he remembers how to breathe) - the leads' personality quirks get more exaggerated over time, because it's an easy way to get laughs.

So Ross got more goofy and uptight; Monica more obsessive and controlling; Joey dumber; Phoebe weirder and bitchier; Chandler more wussy. Only Rachel really had any positive development, in that she started off as a spoiled, naive, self-centred brat, and ended up... well, less bratty, at least.