Friends: The Poll

HIMYM is odd in that the writing is often good but the execution is really flat and uninvolving. I've enjoyed it when I've watched it but gotten many more genuine laughs out of "The Big Bang Theory" and "Two and a Half Men".

are these all very zingcentric? i need more surreal bait and switch

HIMYM can be awesome.

the band that did the friends theme is from waukesha, wi.

embed me a funny HIMYM clip dudez

I can't video at work, but I hear you on thinking HIMYM is a snoozefest, once I finally gave it a shot though it hooked me fully and completely. Some great episodes: Slutty Pumpkin, Slapsgiving, the Pineapple Incident, and Wait For It are all great episodes. Little Minesota from this season is great if you are Canadian or a northern American. I guess you have to have enjoyed Pineapple Express, Dr. Horrible's sing-a-long blog, Freaks & Geeks or Forgetting Sarah Marshall because it's essentially the Jason Segal & Friends happy hour. Josh Radnor (lead guy) is okay but outshined by his supporting actors..

Phoebe is the least annoying.

― redmond, Tuesday, January 6, 2009 9:53 AM (47 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

how someone could think this is such a gigantic mystery to me that it kind of reawakens my sense of wonder at the incredible diversity of life on this planet

― dugong.jpg (jabba hands), Monday, 5 January 2009 23:43 (Yesterday) Permalink

this is too hilarious

Lisa Kudrow RIP

Unless you hold a gun to my head, I ain't playing this game. They are all pretty appalling when considered as people. They are only slightly less vomitous when considered as largish hand puppets.

That particular argument never really made sense to me; why do you have to like the "Friends" characters to find them funny? Since when is likability a necessary component of being funny?

Are we supposed to take the question of who is best as meaning who is funniest? This is easier, but easier still would be to take best as meaning the most inane, which rather twists the word "best" unduly hard.

they don't have to be likeable to be funny but it helps?

voted for Joey anyway because he has to be the only character on tv who became more enjoyable the stupider he got.

the band that did the friends theme is from waukesha, wi.

― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan)

wait waht? at least one of them is a prodigal son of MN.

barney is CRUCIAL to himym. it would be an absolute bore otherwise.

no wai, robin is everything. barney used to be amazing but there are only so many inane 'this week the writers tried to think of a clever way of saying something about how to sleep with a girl' episodes i can take.

friends sucks. voted phoebe because she's the least evil.

Grotesque characters can be funniest of all, but I'm pretty sure that's not what Friends was aiming for

a hoy hoy: you can't deny dirty Lily though, I think I find her least predictable on the show and love it.

Since when is likability a necessary component of being funny?

Better to laugh with than laugh at imo, or at least balance it so characters redeem themselves well while still bringing lols. Friends characters were never downright hateful tho, just an acceptable level of routinely annoying.

The Seinfeld characters were downright hateful yet still all managed to be really, really funny!

I put some HIMYM quotes into i know i'm one of the only people on ilx who watches *how i met your mother* on a regular basis, but did anyone else see the robin sparkles episode? where robin didn't want people to know that she had so as to not totally spam this thread with How I Met Your Mother stuff, but what scene is above? (still at work)

If you mean the YouTube embed above, it's Adam & Joe's parody of Friends, using stuffed toys instead of actors.

ah cool cool, I'll check it out at home

Ross was insufferable boring whiney "straight guy" character in the first few series esp with that whole Rachel storyline. I think you were supposed to like him or identify with him though. The later episodes where they just let him be a bit of an arse and took the piss out of him for it were way better and actually made me think he was a decent comedy actor.

Rachel also got better later on.

Paul Rudd ftw...

really i never forgave this show for the London/Baxendale episodes

i liked how Baxendale clearly was hating it as much as the viewers.

Since when is likability a necessary component of being funny?

It depends on the style of humour that is being aimed for. I don't buy Friends as some kind of nihilistic 'people are cunts, haha' thing (which, BTW, many comedies I enjoy are going for, Curb or The Thick of It, for example). The programme makers were always intending the audience to sympathise with the characters to some extent, IMHO. This is why I've always found Chandler and Joey the most successful characters in the context of the show, because I can generally relate to them even if supposed to be laughing at rather than with them.

wasn't baxendale supposed to be a more long-term character, and because she didn't gel with the crew the whole, say-rachel's-name-at-the-altar plot was cooked up?

i had definitely heard she didn't gel with 'em, yeah.

I have deliberately skipped the London episodes. Are they like the Frasier episodes which feature the "English Pub"? Because if so I would hate them.

The London episodes really are fucking awful. Don't remember the English pub episodes of Frasier, but I remember Daphne's "English" brother.

Joey annoys Chandler by saying "London, baby," over and over. Ross is annoyed that Rachel won't come. In London, Chandler is embarrassed about touring with Joey. Emily worries about the wedding and Ross reassures her. Rachel tries taking care of Phoebe but Phoebe clues her in to her feelings for Ross. Joey buys an ugly hat and Chandler goes back to the hotel. Monica gives Emily advice, so Emily decides to postpone the wedding and she and Ross argue. Phoebe tries to help Rachel get over Ross. Joey shows Chandler highlights of his trip on videocamera, including his meeting with the Duchess of York.

his meeting with the Duchess of York is all you really need to read there.

and Richard Branson..

think I'll stop there.

Don't remember the English pub episodes of Frasier, but I remember Daphne's "English" brother.

Poor old Anthony LaPaglia playing her Londoner brother. Painful.

The Frasier episode was called "Where Every Bloke Knows Your Name" - seewhattheydidthere?
It was extra odd because they had (iirc) some actual English actors who seemed to doing terrible English accents. Plus Frasier plays darts! Frasier drinks pints of ale! Hilarity ensues!

Poor old Anthony LaPaglia playing her Londoner brother. Painful.

Isn't she supposed to be Mancunian? Why would she have a Londoner brother.

Late period Ross ftw. He used to annoy the shit out of me but as time went on and his role changed I realised Schwimmer is the best comedy actor in the show. Also for some reason he reminds me of Kermit the Frog.

Well, quite. But I'm sure his accent was more London. Maybe I misrember?

And then, IMDB tells me, in the last episodes Robbie Coltrane and Richard E Grant turn up as other brothers? What accents do they do? The mind boggles at the Moon family's British heritage.

hugh laurie on the plane in the friends london episode tho

Definitely supposed to be a Londoner I think.

I hope it's explained somehow that they were separated at birth and raised hundreds of miles apart.

Maybe American audiences just hear "Brit" and don't give a shit about regional accents.

I think that's it. Robbie Coltrane just burbles nonsensically, like his character from A Kick Up The Eighties (was that what it was from, I can't remember now?). I don't even want to attempt to explain Richard E Grant's accent. I don't even want to attempt to explain Jane Leeves', tbh.

They put Antony LaPaglia in a Man Utd shirt, like that was supposed to convey Mancuniann-ess :-) Perhaps it was an in-joke that no-one in America was likely to get.

Maybe American audiences just hear "Brit" and don't give a shit about regional accents.

same thing happened in Lost with Dom Monaghan's character (manc accent) and his brother (home counties from what i could tell). Brit culture refs in Lost are v funny tho.

speaking for all americans--we couldnt possibly care less about "regional accents"--your country is the size of delaware and its retarded of you to have so many accents anyway

Yee-haw.

Also:

Delaware: 2,490 sq mi
GBR: 80,823 sq mi

dom i imagine your accent is something like mario + the beatles

http://www.soulstrut.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/GetOnMyComp_gm.jpg

Fucking English people can't work out my accent, Americans would have no chance. Like Estuary English backed in on itself.

I have a horrible accent. Born in Plaistow then out to Essex - best friend a Liverpudlian who I copied all the time - then to the midlands - where I was forced to have speech training because I said "gull" for "girl". I sound a bit like Jools Holland if he less articulate. I probably sound like someone from Spinal Tap.

Fuck alone knows how I sound. Posh northern, I think, with increasing Scotticisms. A "good radio voice", apparently (which I'd hope, given that I used to work in radio). Best summary was probably at the end of a tutorial last year when a fellow (much younger) student said: "OK, I've been wanting to ask you this for ages. Are you really posh, or just English?"

I'm also aware that I assimilate very quickly, especially when talking to people with pronounced regional accents, so ... really, I've no idea.

(Dom: FWIW, you sounded exactly like I thought you would.)

Dom's voice is disappointingly bland in real life. Not the heady mix of Alan Moore and Super Mario I had been hoping for.

― blueski, Tuesday, 11 December 2007 14:28 (11 months ago)