See, that schtick made me want to slap the “BE” out of his stupid mouth.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell. 
Yeah, I don’t remember that ever being a Seinfeld plot either.
A lot of shows, sitcoms especially, depend on where you are in your life at the time. I knew people in their 20s and 30s who watched “Friends” religiously. I was in my 40s. Perhaps a few years earlier I might have enjoyed it, but at the time, the comedic antics and angst of 20-somethings didn’t interest me. I tried watching one episode, got halfway through and turned it off. Six months later I decided to give it another shot. The same damn episode was on as the summer rerun!
“Family” sitcoms never interested us either. To my wife and I, the only good episodes of “Home Improvement” involved Tim’s TV show. We didn’t care about his wife and kids.
We loved “Seinfeld” from beginning to end. I know lots of people who hated it and still do.
I’m sorry, but if there is any show that defines “overrated” it’s Twin Peaks. And I’m saying that as a fan. Shows that expect the audience to do the writers’ job, fill in the plot holes, and make the story work are not good shows. And before anyone gets all het out of shape, no I don’t expect to be led by the hand through the plot. But could there BE a plot? (said in Chandler Bing voice).
See also: Seinfeld.
Well, that was kinda the whole point of Seinfeld. “no hugs” and all that. (And then It’s Always Sunny takes that to it’s extreme). I don’t really remember that being a common thing on Friends.
It was a Mad About You episode. Jerry Seinfeld did have a cameo appearance, though.
Counterpoint: My mom was around 45 when the show came out and she loved it. I remember Thursday night was the highlight of her television-watching week because Friends was on.
I remember it being amusing enough. Not as “edgy” as Seinfeld (for the time) but good for some laughs. I was less interested when episodes sunk into the Ross/Rachel morass but I guess guys in their 20s wasn’t the target demographic for that.
I have never liked Friends, can’t stand to watch 10 minutes of it. But I can watch other lightweight comedies like Cougar Town, King of Queens, and Big Bang Theory. Not sure what it is about Friends but it is just repellent to me.
(a) You are certainly not the only one. Far from it, as is made obvious from this thread
(b) It was certainly not a great show. I don’t think I’ve watched an episode since it went off the air. But it was funnier and better performed than people in this thread are giving it credit for. I laughed very hard at some of its jokes.
It always seemed too slick, like a battery of writers had honed every gag to within an inch of its life (and the laugh track didn’t help)
You helped me pinpoint what I didn’t like about it. It’s as if all the popular kids you knew in high school were in one show that (surprise!) completely revolved around them. They aren’t smarter than you, or better people, they just arbitrarily get all the attention because they are attractive and well-off financially. I was forced to watch the popular kid drama play out in high school, I don’t care to watch it again.
I know I sound bitter but I’m really not. More like yawn.
I think it’s better performed and written than a lot of sitcoms today. I tried watching 2 Broke Girls a few years back and I could practically see the actors concentrating on hitting their cues like it was a high school production of some kind. I’ll chalk that up to the direction and the schedule as I don’t think some of those actors are all that bad.
It wasn’t all bad. I thought the shark porn episode was brilliant.
How about Paul in teh 1998 season opener of Mad About You?
I liked Friends slightly more than Seinfeld, which is to say not much.
It’s junk food. Like The Office. It’s ok, never wonderful, but people watch it because it’s just something easy to have on in the background.
I never cared for it much myself. But then again, I was never that into sitcoms to begin with.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and if Twin Peaks didn’t work for you, so be it. But I think the show rewarded observant watchers. I knew “whodunnit” from the start. There is a huge clue in the first episode - but you have to be paying extremely close attention.
Once again, I am reminded of the extent to which different people have different opinions about things.