# Re-watching Friends **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [February 9, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251 "2015-02-09T20:16:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/121 "2023-01-18T17:53:24Z")
Or maybe Ross, Rachel, Romance and Regina Phalange? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/122 "2023-01-18T19:08:25Z")
They haven’t used any main character names for any of the other letters… But Regina Phalangee - yes! Good one! ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/123 "2023-01-18T19:33:07Z")
I’m just reading Matthew Perry’s [memoir](https://www.amazon.com/Friends-Lovers-Big-Terrible-Thing/dp/1250866448), just released. He describes being a major drug and alcohol addict the entire time Friends was on the air. In one memorable passage, he talks about the famous episode where Chandler marries Monica, he says he was driven back to rehab immediately after filming. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/124 "2023-01-18T19:56:19Z")
Poor guy. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/125 "2023-02-10T17:47:08Z")
How _you_ doin’…? [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Ducreux#/media/File:Joseph_Ducreux_self-portrait_at_Louvre_(cropped).jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Ducreux#/media/File:Joseph_Ducreux_self-portrait_at_Louvre_(cropped).jpg) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/126 "2023-02-11T02:04:08Z")
This is what I think EH wanted to post: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d4/Joseph_Ducreux_Original_Self-Portrait.jpg?20181223025116) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d4/Joseph_Ducreux_Original_Self-Portrait.jpg?20181223025116) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/127 "2023-02-11T02:27:35Z")
Yes, that’s what shows up when I click on my link. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/128 "2023-02-21T23:27:30Z")
Hadn’t thought of this: > **[Paul Rudd reflects on his 'strange' 'Friends' experience | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/21/entertainment/paul-rudd-friends-acts-finale/index.html)** > > Marvel star Paul Rudd is everywhere now, but there was a time when he felt like he really didn't belong. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/129 "2023-02-21T23:36:40Z")
It’s a little surprising to look at the episode counts. Of all the Friends’ romantic partners, Paul Rudd is #2 on the list, just behind Janice. He appeared in more episodes than Emily, Richard, and _Carol_. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/130 "2023-02-22T00:07:23Z")
To be pedantic, he was in the same number of episodes as Carol the character, but one more than Jane Sibbett the actress. Carol was played by someone else in one episode. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/131 "2023-02-22T02:39:43Z")
Here’s an interesting piece on how the this quintessentially 90’s show managed to avoid almost any real 90s cultural signifiers. > _Friends_ debuted in the mid-1990s and ended in the mid-2000s, but it reflects almost nothing about its era - like most sitcoms of its time, it very rarely connected to current events, but more it seemed to defy the impulse to dramatize or comment on any of the trends or social commonplaces of its day. It goes without saying that the show was rabidly apolitical, but it’s more than that; it’s a cultural object that exists outside of culture. > **[The Enduring Mystery of Friends](https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/the-enduring-mystery-of-friends)** > > If I said to you “picture a show that’s set in the mid-90s where a bunch of twenty-somethings navigate their lives and relationships and constantly hang out in their favorite coffee shop, set in New York City,” well, you’d know I was talking about... ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/132 "2023-02-22T03:45:57Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > Here’s an interesting piece on how the this quintessentially 90’s show managed to avoid almost any real 90s cultural signifiers. Interesting. Maybe that’s why _Friends_ is so popular with the elderly. After the _Price is Right_ it’s the second most frequently watched show among the residents of the nursing homes that I work at. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/133 "2023-02-22T06:00:37Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Interesting. Maybe that’s why _Friends_ is so popular with the elderly. After the _Price is Right_ it’s the second most frequently watched show among the residents of the nursing homes that I work at. It also may be why it’s so popular with the young, too. The more contemporary a show is in its own time, the more dated it becomes after years go by. Whatever was cool in the past is uncool now, so by never being cool, _Friends_ avoids being uncool today. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/134 "2023-02-22T06:12:11Z")
Yeah, ‘current’ and ‘timeless’ don’t really mesh. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/135 "2023-02-22T13:50:26Z")
Some of the commenters on that piece were teachers who noted that it’s far and away the most popular show among their non-American students. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/136 "2023-02-22T17:59:12Z")
The author of the piece treats _Friends_ as if were some sort of abnormality when, in fact, being “outside of culture” is almost a requirement for a successful situation comedy - maybe even a successful television show, period. Look at other long-running sitcoms from the '90s: _Home Improvement, Full House, Everybody Loves Raymond._ There’s nothing in those shows that ties them to their era; in fact, two of those shows featured stay-at-home moms, which was a deliberate throwback to a different culture. Going farther back, shows like _I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show_ and _The Dick Van Dyke Show_ air reruns endlessly. Although the clothes and settings look like they’re from the show’s era, nothing about those shows reflected any of the then-current culture. By contrast, a sitcom like _The Nanny_, which positively dripped with contemporary cultural references, is a hopeless anachronistic artifact in today’s environment. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/137 "2023-02-22T18:14:25Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I always thought Matt LeBlanc was underrated on _Friends_. It takes a genius to play an idiot with that much conviction and heart. This is way late to the game, but if you want to see LeBlanc’s best stuff, watch the series “Episodes”. It’s a hilarious send-up of the sitcom industry and LeBlanc mocks himself to great comic effect. On Showtime, I think. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/138 "2023-02-22T18:21:28Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > This is way late to the game, but if you want to see LeBlanc’s best stuff, watch the series “Episodes”. It’s a hilarious send-up of the sitcom industry and LeBlanc mocks himself to great comic effect. On Showtime, I think. Seconding this. Really great showcase for his talent. I also thought he seemed the nicest and most grounded of the group on the reunion show. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/139 "2023-02-22T19:39:14Z")
I always think of Chandler and Monica’s relationship being a late addition, but they were actually a couple for more than half the show’s run (Seasons 5-10), although it did take 3 seasons for them to get married. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251/140 "2023-02-23T05:12:15Z")
Watching Friends, I always admired LeBlanc’s acting skills. Since Joey didn’t have much in the way of witty remarks / rapid-fire banter, LeBlanc had to act mostly with his expressions and physical timing, which were comedic gold. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-watching-friends/712251.md?page=8)