FRIENDS: A while ago, Tracy and I watched CNN's seven-part "History of the Sitcom" documentary series. I started out being familiar with all of the shows, but it got to a certain part and I hadn't seen any of them. More recently, I decided to rectify that situation by watching all of Seinfeld for the first time. (For the record, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't anything that created a hole in my life for not having seen it.) More recently still, I decide to watch the other sitcom from the '90s: Friends. (Yes, I know there were more than two sitcoms in the '90s, but these are the main ones people remember and still discuss 30 years later.) I had a girlfriend in the '90s who was a big fan of the show and was always trying to get me to watch it with her. One day, I watched an episode. It was fine. Then, months later, she got me to watch another and guess what? It was a repeat of the exact same episode I had seen before! So, before starting this project, I had seen one episode of Friends, twice.
But I wasn't wholly unfamiliar with the show. Early in our marriage, Tracy and I watched one of her favorite shows from the '90s, Mad About You. Mad About You and Friends share the same fictional universe. Lisa Kudrow's character on Friends is the twin sister of the waitress on Mad About You. (She plays both roles.) This relationship was already mentioned in the second episode of Friends. What's more, I discovered while watching Seinfeld that Kramer sub-let his apartment from Mad About You's Paul (which is odd because, in another episode, they watch Mad About You on TV). Anyway, this'll keep me busy for a while.
Captain Comics > Jeff of Earth-JJanuary 20, 2024 at 11:18am
I have watched a handful of Seinfeld episodes and none at all of Friends. I feel no urge to correct this cultural oversight. I also don't watch football, haven't watched any Fast movies, haven't read any Harry Potter, have never tasted pumpkin spice and can't name a Taylor Swift song.
The one advantage to getting old is not caring about pop culture.
ClarkKent_DC > Jeff of Earth-JJune 7, 2024 at 6:39am
I've watched parts of CNN's seven-part "History of the Sitcom" documentary series, but never the whole thing, From time to time, CNN re-runs some of the episodes, so we may eventually see all of it. For the episodes I have seen, I usually find myself arguing with the TV over what was left out.
I guess it's too much too expect that these things be a comprehensive overview of television history, but that is what I expect. One episode wasted FAR too much time on the question "Seinfeld? or Friends?" as if there weren't numerous other, and better, choices. (Like Barney Miller.)
Also, I found myself arguing with the TV over the things that are just plain wrong. One episode declared Billy Crystal's character Jody Dallas on Soap was the first gay character who was a regular in a TV series. Not so; that distinction belongs to the short-livedHot l Baltimore The Corner Bar. (Plus the groundwork was laid on Barney Miller with the recurring character Marty and his partner Darryl.)
And the episode on Black sitcoms, like too many shows of this type, begins with Julia. It's a fine show, I loved it dearly when I was a kid and even more so when we ran across it on one of the Black TV channels a few years back. But Julia wasn't first. What came before Julia, admittedly, was the embarrassing likes of Amos 'n' Andy (SO embarrassing, the NAACP hounded it off the air, even in reruns) and before that Beulah, which is SO embarrassing, people often forget it was the first sitcom with a Black woman in the lead and give that credit, in error, to Julia.
These shows also gush about The Cosby Show (which I always thought was overrated), although now one has to spend as much time lamenting Bill Cosby's predatory behavior as one does lauding the show on its merits. But I'd like to see the context of Bill Cosby's entire TV career; he made a splash with I-Spy but also appeared in a few forgotten sitcoms and a variety show with his name in the title in some way (The Bill Cosby Show, Cos, Cosby).
I've watched parts of CNN's seven-part "History of the Sitcom" documentary series, but never the whole thing.
We did not watch History of the Sitcom when it first aired, but caught one episode after-the-fact, liked it, noticed CNN was sporadically re-running them, and set to record. (Same with History of Comedy.) What we have discovered is they tend to run the same episodes (probably the most popular) over and over. I keep a little notebook/checklist by my chair but we have yet to see Sitcom episode 5 or Comedy episodes 4-5. I keep similar lists for their docu-series focusing on the decades '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s (ten episodes each).
One episode wasted FAR too much time on the question "Seinfeld? or Friends?"...
I remember that one. In fact, it was the realization that I hadn't seen either one of those shows which prompted me to binge both of them, first Seinfeld (of which I had seen a few episodes), then Friends (of which I had seen one episode, twice). I enjoyed them well enough, but I doubt I'd ever watch them again. At least now I can have an informed opinion the next time the questiojn of "Seinfeld or Friends?" comes up.
...as if there weren't numerous other, and better, choices. (Like Barney Miller.)
Just to play devil's advocate, the comparison was between '90s shows.
One episode declared Billy Crystal's character Jody Dallas on Soap was the first gay character who was a regular in a TV series.
I remember that claim, too... and disagreeing with it. I don't remember who I thought it was, but maybe the distinction I wasn't making was a regular in a TV series. Still, I'm sure I could think of some that pre-dated Jody if I thought about it. I remember watching Hot l Baltimore, but i think some of the humor went over my head at the time. I also remember watching All That Glitters, another Norman Lear show (syndicated). I wouldn't mind watching some episodes of those again from an adult perspective. (If I ever get one I'll let you know.) Tracy vehemently objected a couple of years ago when I wanted to watch Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. I used to watch Fernwood Tonight regularly, although not MH, MH.
These shows also gush about The Cosby Show (which I always thought was overrated), although now one has to spend as much time lamenting Bill Cosby's predatory behavior as one does lauding the show on its merits.
I remember watching The Cosby Show from the beginning because of how Bill Cosby presented it on the talk show circuit. Then, between two of the seasons, I simply stopped, for no particular reason other than that I hardly watched an TV at all in those days. IIRC, that was the only sitcom I made it a point to watch at the time.
ClarkKent_DC > Jeff of Earth-JJune 7, 2024 at 6:39pm
Jeff of Earth-J said:
One episode wasted FAR too much time on the question "Seinfeld? or Friends?"...
I remember that one. In fact, it was the realization that I hadn't seen either one of those shows which prompted me to binge both of them, first Seinfeld (of which I had seen a few episodes), then Friends (of which I had seen one episode, twice). I enjoyed them well enough, but I doubt I'd ever watch them again. At least now I can have an informed opinion the next time the questiojn of "Seinfeld or Friends?" comes up.
I'm with Cap; I've watched a handful of Seinfeld episodes and a handful of Friends episodes. I feel no urge to correct this cultural oversight. The alleged appeal of Friends is that they remind you of the people you hung out with at that stage in your life and/or are people you want to hang out with too. I do not. The alleged appeal of Seinfeld? Beats me. These are NOT people I want ot hang out with, and nothing about the show struck me as funny enough to keep me coming back.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
...as if there weren't numerous other, and better, choices. (Like Barney Miller.)
Just to play devil's advocate, the comparison was between '90s shows.
There are still better choices: Cheers. Or Designing Women.
Or for shows that debuted during the 1990s, The Larry Sanders Show. Or Frasier.
We watched the final six episodes of Doom Patrol and were quite disappointed. A series that astounded with its off-the-wall craziness settled for a traditional, schmaltzy, too-long goodbye. It's hard to make zombie butts boring, but the last few episodes did it.
Then we watched Fargo season 5 and were lifted from disappointment to rapture. Really, really good season. Maybe the best.
Then we watched all three seasons of Slow Horses in one weekend. It's that good. Highly recommended.
Now we're watching The Pacific and are really pleased. It's like Downtown Abbey (in characterization, soap opera and period-piece production quality) married to Saving Private Ryan (in the combat sequences). Sometimes I consider pausing during combat to get my blood pressure under control. How did mere mortals do those things?
JD DeLuzio > Captain ComicsJanuary 20, 2024 at 11:57am
We loved the first couple seasons of Doom Patrol, didn't much like the third, and gave up on the fourth.
I occasionally caught Seinfeld in the 90s, probably saw Friends once, but then caught up on a couple key episodes per season much later. I have a niece, who now lives locally, who was a huge fan growing up. I saw enough to know that (1) Talented though the cast is, I didn't miss a whole lot by not watching it in the 90s (2) The interplay with Mad About You was amusing-- and was news to my niece, who didn't know that was a real show or that Phoebe's sister had an existence prior to Friends and (3) Chandler appears to meet Rachel for the first time on three separate occasions: the pilot, the flashback to a few years earlier, and then the one that sticks, the flashbacks to when they're all much younger.
When my niece got married last year, we got them (a real present, yes, but also) matching Central Perk mugs.
I've only ever seen one entire episode of Mad About You.
If I had to rank the three from best to worst I would say...
Mad About You
Seinfeld
Friends
I still have not yet finished season one of Friends but I have seen enough to know that I didn't miss a whole lot by not watching it in the 90s, either. One "advantage" (if you can call it that) of watching it now is that, the next time someone mentiones "Ross & Rachel" (if that ever happens again), I will know which ones they are. As for newer shows, I'll probably watch them 30 years from now.
Replies
I've often wondered how Sanford and Son compared to the original Steptoe and Son.
I have wondered that, too (as well as how All in the Family compares to the original 'Til Death Do Us Part (although I have seen clips of both).
FRIENDS: A while ago, Tracy and I watched CNN's seven-part "History of the Sitcom" documentary series. I started out being familiar with all of the shows, but it got to a certain part and I hadn't seen any of them. More recently, I decided to rectify that situation by watching all of Seinfeld for the first time. (For the record, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't anything that created a hole in my life for not having seen it.) More recently still, I decide to watch the other sitcom from the '90s: Friends. (Yes, I know there were more than two sitcoms in the '90s, but these are the main ones people remember and still discuss 30 years later.) I had a girlfriend in the '90s who was a big fan of the show and was always trying to get me to watch it with her. One day, I watched an episode. It was fine. Then, months later, she got me to watch another and guess what? It was a repeat of the exact same episode I had seen before! So, before starting this project, I had seen one episode of Friends, twice.
But I wasn't wholly unfamiliar with the show. Early in our marriage, Tracy and I watched one of her favorite shows from the '90s, Mad About You. Mad About You and Friends share the same fictional universe. Lisa Kudrow's character on Friends is the twin sister of the waitress on Mad About You. (She plays both roles.) This relationship was already mentioned in the second episode of Friends. What's more, I discovered while watching Seinfeld that Kramer sub-let his apartment from Mad About You's Paul (which is odd because, in another episode, they watch Mad About You on TV). Anyway, this'll keep me busy for a while.
I have watched a handful of Seinfeld episodes and none at all of Friends. I feel no urge to correct this cultural oversight. I also don't watch football, haven't watched any Fast movies, haven't read any Harry Potter, have never tasted pumpkin spice and can't name a Taylor Swift song.
The one advantage to getting old is not caring about pop culture.
I've watched parts of CNN's seven-part "History of the Sitcom" documentary series, but never the whole thing, From time to time, CNN re-runs some of the episodes, so we may eventually see all of it. For the episodes I have seen, I usually find myself arguing with the TV over what was left out.
I guess it's too much too expect that these things be a comprehensive overview of television history, but that is what I expect. One episode wasted FAR too much time on the question "Seinfeld? or Friends?" as if there weren't numerous other, and better, choices. (Like Barney Miller.)
Also, I found myself arguing with the TV over the things that are just plain wrong. One episode declared Billy Crystal's character Jody Dallas on Soap was the first gay character who was a regular in a TV series. Not so; that distinction belongs to the short-lived Hot l Baltimore The Corner Bar. (Plus the groundwork was laid on Barney Miller with the recurring character Marty and his partner Darryl.)
And the episode on Black sitcoms, like too many shows of this type, begins with Julia. It's a fine show, I loved it dearly when I was a kid and even more so when we ran across it on one of the Black TV channels a few years back. But Julia wasn't first. What came before Julia, admittedly, was the embarrassing likes of Amos 'n' Andy (SO embarrassing, the NAACP hounded it off the air, even in reruns) and before that Beulah, which is SO embarrassing, people often forget it was the first sitcom with a Black woman in the lead and give that credit, in error, to Julia.
These shows also gush about The Cosby Show (which I always thought was overrated), although now one has to spend as much time lamenting Bill Cosby's predatory behavior as one does lauding the show on its merits. But I'd like to see the context of Bill Cosby's entire TV career; he made a splash with I-Spy but also appeared in a few forgotten sitcoms and a variety show with his name in the title in some way (The Bill Cosby Show, Cos, Cosby).
I've watched parts of CNN's seven-part "History of the Sitcom" documentary series, but never the whole thing.
We did not watch History of the Sitcom when it first aired, but caught one episode after-the-fact, liked it, noticed CNN was sporadically re-running them, and set to record. (Same with History of Comedy.) What we have discovered is they tend to run the same episodes (probably the most popular) over and over. I keep a little notebook/checklist by my chair but we have yet to see Sitcom episode 5 or Comedy episodes 4-5. I keep similar lists for their docu-series focusing on the decades '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s (ten episodes each).
One episode wasted FAR too much time on the question "Seinfeld? or Friends?"...
I remember that one. In fact, it was the realization that I hadn't seen either one of those shows which prompted me to binge both of them, first Seinfeld (of which I had seen a few episodes), then Friends (of which I had seen one episode, twice). I enjoyed them well enough, but I doubt I'd ever watch them again. At least now I can have an informed opinion the next time the questiojn of "Seinfeld or Friends?" comes up.
...as if there weren't numerous other, and better, choices. (Like Barney Miller.)
Just to play devil's advocate, the comparison was between '90s shows.
One episode declared Billy Crystal's character Jody Dallas on Soap was the first gay character who was a regular in a TV series.
I remember that claim, too... and disagreeing with it. I don't remember who I thought it was, but maybe the distinction I wasn't making was a regular in a TV series. Still, I'm sure I could think of some that pre-dated Jody if I thought about it. I remember watching Hot l Baltimore, but i think some of the humor went over my head at the time. I also remember watching All That Glitters, another Norman Lear show (syndicated). I wouldn't mind watching some episodes of those again from an adult perspective. (If I ever get one I'll let you know.) Tracy vehemently objected a couple of years ago when I wanted to watch Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. I used to watch Fernwood Tonight regularly, although not MH, MH.
These shows also gush about The Cosby Show (which I always thought was overrated), although now one has to spend as much time lamenting Bill Cosby's predatory behavior as one does lauding the show on its merits.
I remember watching The Cosby Show from the beginning because of how Bill Cosby presented it on the talk show circuit. Then, between two of the seasons, I simply stopped, for no particular reason other than that I hardly watched an TV at all in those days. IIRC, that was the only sitcom I made it a point to watch at the time.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
I'm with Cap; I've watched a handful of Seinfeld episodes and a handful of Friends episodes. I feel no urge to correct this cultural oversight. The alleged appeal of Friends is that they remind you of the people you hung out with at that stage in your life and/or are people you want to hang out with too. I do not. The alleged appeal of Seinfeld? Beats me. These are NOT people I want ot hang out with, and nothing about the show struck me as funny enough to keep me coming back.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
There are still better choices: Cheers. Or Designing Women.
Or for shows that debuted during the 1990s, The Larry Sanders Show. Or Frasier.
"Cultural oversight." Yeah, that was it. Now I can say I've seen them both. (Big whoop.)
We watched the final six episodes of Doom Patrol and were quite disappointed. A series that astounded with its off-the-wall craziness settled for a traditional, schmaltzy, too-long goodbye. It's hard to make zombie butts boring, but the last few episodes did it.
Then we watched Fargo season 5 and were lifted from disappointment to rapture. Really, really good season. Maybe the best.
Then we watched all three seasons of Slow Horses in one weekend. It's that good. Highly recommended.
Now we're watching The Pacific and are really pleased. It's like Downtown Abbey (in characterization, soap opera and period-piece production quality) married to Saving Private Ryan (in the combat sequences). Sometimes I consider pausing during combat to get my blood pressure under control. How did mere mortals do those things?
We loved the first couple seasons of Doom Patrol, didn't much like the third, and gave up on the fourth.
I occasionally caught Seinfeld in the 90s, probably saw Friends once, but then caught up on a couple key episodes per season much later. I have a niece, who now lives locally, who was a huge fan growing up. I saw enough to know that (1) Talented though the cast is, I didn't miss a whole lot by not watching it in the 90s (2) The interplay with Mad About You was amusing-- and was news to my niece, who didn't know that was a real show or that Phoebe's sister had an existence prior to Friends and (3) Chandler appears to meet Rachel for the first time on three separate occasions: the pilot, the flashback to a few years earlier, and then the one that sticks, the flashbacks to when they're all much younger.
When my niece got married last year, we got them (a real present, yes, but also) matching Central Perk mugs.
I've only ever seen one entire episode of Mad About You.
If I had to rank the three from best to worst I would say...
I still have not yet finished season one of Friends but I have seen enough to know that I didn't miss a whole lot by not watching it in the 90s, either. One "advantage" (if you can call it that) of watching it now is that, the next time someone mentiones "Ross & Rachel" (if that ever happens again), I will know which ones they are. As for newer shows, I'll probably watch them 30 years from now.
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