Is "Friends" that important?

[still_one]

It seems that much of the so-called news outlets are giving a tremendous amound of time to the final episode of friends? If this is really that important of a story then there is nothing that can be done for this country...

[mopaul]

1. hell yes!

in george orwell's 1984, there was a t.v. show on the official t.v. station on your wall, that had a show called 'the family', and it was a real family, of actors, and the whole nation watched it.

it took their minds off big brother's totalitrianism and global domination and wretched poverty.

he was a wise man, that orwell

[Nihil]

2. Incredibly wise

Ironically, one of the things I tend to do to start the wind-down for
the weekend here in Airstrip One is to go straight to the 'fridge for
a shot of (Victory) gin. It tends to numb the dismay, the shock and
the anguish accumulated during the day - both by the mindless job and
the frustrating snippets of Truth that keep zipping past on my screen.

Very prophetic was Mr.Orwell.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

23. VG? I prefer Soma.

"Swallowing half an hour before closing time, that second dose of soma had raised a quite impenetrable wall between the actual universe and their minds."


More: http://www.huxley.net/soma/somaquote.html

[mrfrapp]

4. 1984?

Are you sure that was 1984? I don't remember that at all.

A search of the text reveals six uses of the word "family" and none refer to a TV show of the name.

[qwertyMike]

6. Maybe Brave New World???

[mopaul]

7. brave new world? i was a kid when i read it.

please correct my illeteration. i'm old and drain bamaged

[Orangepeel]

9. It isn't Brave New World. I think it is Fahrenheit 451 (n/t)

[mopaul]

12. OF COURSE...thank you

[amber dog democrat]

3. Not at all

I never could identify or relate to yet another sitcom, yet I do understand it had good writers.


Friends seemed totally irrelevant, but I am not in the demographic it was written for.
I watch almost no tv anyway.

[Throckmorton]

5. A dont know, Ive never watched it.

Then again, I dont watch any of the major networks.

[nostamj]

8. i have never seen a complete episode

of course, I know all the characters and the actors and I've seen scenes but...

never a complete episode. seemed awfully forced in the snippets I've seen...

:shrug:

[pnb]

10. Nope

But it does interest people. There is nothing wrong with having some interests that are not "important." Entertainment and not having to think all the time is actually a part of life, a part that shouldn't be put down by anyone either.

That said, I don't like "Friends" though.:)

[Eurobabe]

11. could never understand the attraction to this vapid show

[nonconformist]

13. It was a good show

The media attention it's been getting was overkill. Big time.

But there's nothing wrong with taking the occasional break from reality to enjoy sitcoms and the like. Fiction and other "meaningless drivel" entertainment is just about all that keeps me sane anymore.

[mopaul]

15. i'm guilty too

i like a certain t.v. show fanatically. it ain't a soap opera, but close. sort of ashamed, but enjoying a t.v. show is basically harmless in itself.

but yeah, a lot of airtime could have been devoted to more dire events.

[Mike Daniels]

14. In a time where the sitcom is dying and being replaced by "reality" shows

I don't think it's that harmful for the media to focus on the end of what was probably one of the most popular TV shows created.


Other reasons I don't think the level of attention is all that offensive on its final week as a series...

First, how many shows last 10 years and keep up a high level of consistency and don't undergo significant cast changes?

Second, like it or not, the show became a cultural bell-weather for it's time. For example, how many hairstyles are referenced by the name of the character who wears it? From what I remember, people would go to salons asking for a "Rachel" when the show first came out.

Third, sorry but sometimes people want to take a break from the world and enjoy sinking into a couch to watch a program on the tube.

[BiggJawn]

19. Sorry, but some people retreat into their TeeVees...

"sorry but sometimes people want to take a break from the world..." That assumes that they were ever "in" the world in the FIRST place.

Yeah, I'm one of those no-TeeVee "Elitist Snobs"...

And it's not like "Friends" is going away, never to be seen again. Shit, it's out on DVD, and "Nick at Night" will keep our "best buds" amazing us with how they never seem to have visible means of support for at LEAST the next 25 years...

[KharmaTrain]

16. Another Last Show Dud

Let me qualify, I did not watch "Friends" and have no opinion about the show, just relating what I heard from others. Last night's show was a "waste" and "let down". I had to laugh...

What was the worst last episode? Seinfeld (forever jailed to reruns 10 times a day), Cheers (remember the even lamer Tonight Show?) or MASH? The only good farewell I remember was Mary Tyler Moore and the Newhart shows.

[Gruenemann]

17. I'm with Jon Stewart on this...

Last night he said he never watched the show and STILL he was sick of it.

[theHandpuppet]

21. Sick of it?

A cuddly show about a gaggle of vapid, clueless, brain-dead WASPs where the cares of the real world never cross the doorstep of their incestuously dysfunctional home? Sounds like reality TV, American-style, to me.

I will THANK THE GODDESS when all the airtime devoted to this group of slack-jawed morons is at last FINISHED... OVER... DONE!!

[BiggJawn]

18. you nailed it.

What does it say about a country where one of the top stories for the past WEEK has been the "last" episode of some fucking Tee-Vee show?

And today, I was listening to insightful discourse on why "Friends" is getting all the press, but "Frazier" is not, even though it's had a longer run...

Maybe because more people would like to fuck Jennifer Anniston that Kelsey Grammer?

Bread and Circuses.....

[barbaraann]

20. Absolutely not.

Although I think there were some moments/scenes/episodes that were profoundly and immortally funny. The girls dressing up in wedding dresses is one of those, IMHO.

[goddess40]

22. Juvenile Humor

I started to watch an episode and found the humor to be at about the level of Three's Company. I like humor that is a little more clever and nuanced like the earlier Fraziers. Never watched another episode of Friends. I'd rather watch reruns of All In The Family, Seinfeld and Cheers.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

24. It shouldn't be.

I watched it last night, and I watch it once in a while. I do laugh, (but not as much as say, when I watch Monty Python) but it shouldn't be taking over the headlines like it did.

On edit: Changed "storylines" to "headlines"