I just completed watching “Friends” from Season 1-10 in just over 3 months. I was 24, white (well still white), just completed college, lived with roomates, and had my first big boy job when this show first aired in 1994. Basically I couldn’t have been more the demo for this show if they changed the name to, “Dobs’ Show”.
I was hooked on this show and watched it pretty faithfully until season 6-7… but still managed to catch it more often than not. Since the finale in 2004 I dont think I have seen a full episode until my just completed re-watch. So I wanted to share some random musings on the show and how my perception of the show has changed.
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Originally, Rachel was my crush on this show. She was smoking hot, kinda easy, and pretty funny. Having watched it again, now i’m kinda on the Phoebe’s side. Her random comments just cracked me up, and while she seemed to “age” more during the show, she was still pretty hot and just seems now like shes the type you would want to hang with.
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Ross is a bit of a dick. Not sure what the hell Rachel ever saw in him. He’s whiny, makes stupid decisions, and doesn’t seem to know even at a basic level how to treat women.
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I forgot Paul Rudd was even in the show but he is awesome.
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Tom Sellec story arc was great, still funny as hell
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I think they took Monica from a quirky control freak to someone that might have serious mental issues.
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Joey really played better to me now, then back then. Much funnier now.
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Chandler was great the first 3-4 seasons… kinda couldn’t stand him at the end. Not sure what it was exactly… but yeah, he annoyed me.
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The show holds up pretty dang well. Not many pop culture references to take you out, and not much focus on technology so you dont get that “old” feel. Althought I did laugh when Chandler bought the latest PC. Dont remember the exact specs… but it was something like a 512 mb hardrive and a blazing fast modem… awesome.
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The chemistry between them all is so much more noticeable now. You could tell they just really enjoyed doing this, and it makes it that much more enjoyable.
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I was a bit shocked by the homophobic parts. Amazing how attitudes have changed (at least mine). Worst thing you could be in that world apparently was act “gay” toward each other. It got better in later seasons, but the first few its obvious they went for cheap laughs.
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Best story arc (humor wise) was the switching apartments. From the contest to the makeout session, pure humor gold.
