RIP Matthew Perry

I will not have my wet dreams edited.

 

Thanks for the new sig block.

 

Junkie-

Some people like some things and other people like other things.

I didn't watch it enough to analyze it.

I heard the Schwimmer character talk about life and relationships for two minutes and said, "whoa, I'm out."

 

I watched it for 10 years and another 20 in syndication and that wasn't enough to start analyzing it. It was mindless humor. I didn't realize analyzing sitcoms was a thing. But if so, Archie Bunker has to be the career leader in WAR. You don't have to look to hard, though, to see that Ross is a comic foil and his best stuff is physical comedy.

 

If it was mindless then why were people getting Aniston's haircut and acting like those idiots? I was there in 1994. Well, sort of.

Back to the bullying aspect (which is very interesting) - I'd suggest that more of us wound up working for a yutz like Ross than being bullied by him (giggle). Which I would also say is worse.

 

All you have to do is do a simple Google search and you'll find all kinds of examples of think pieces written about "Friends" and Gen X. As well as "Friends" and what it means to Millenials and Gen Z.

And those are recent vintage ones. Back in the 90s, there was a lot of press about it, no doubt including some encouraged by the publicists for NBC and "Friends" itself. I found it off-putting. Then I watched the show, which was mediocre in extremis, and the annoyance level was high.

Yes, it is absurd to paint any show as representative of a generation, but these perceptions tend to stick, especially through the lying lens of nostalgia.

 

Marcel usually gets short shrift in most analysis pieces about Friends.

 

Stole the idea.

 

On topic, sort of, I've seen so many cite "mindless humor" and "Friends", that you wonder if there's a SJ AI chatbot working in the background.

I think there's two kinds of people in the world ... and I'm married to one who is opposite from the way I am.

There is the person where mindless entertainment that is thrown on in the background. It is just background noise, comfort food of a sort. The quality of it doesn't really matter. Just something to pass to time. The kind of people who watch "Friends" or "NCIS". They don't care about the quality of what they're watching, which isn't a criticism, necessarily. In fact, it might be an indictment of sorts of the next group, which I'd be in.

Then there is the person who can't abide that. Even if they want to watch something "mindless" it has to stimulate in some way. Or, the mindless part has to be over the top mindless, accepted as such from jump. Say, "Billy Madison", which is absurdist. Or "Mystery Science Theater", also absurdist, and far from mindless, but it can be watched mindlessly if you choose.

It's funny. I've found folks that enjoy absurdist humor aren't in tune with traditional humor like "Friends" and vice versa. People who watch traditional procedural dramas aren't into what would be considered more high-brow fare. Those who aren't in tune with "Friends" don't think it's mindless humor. They would never watch a show with that mindset, unless they're captive to it, say, if they were in a hospital waiting room or something.

Then again? Those folks, myself included, are probably taking it all too seriously.

 

As I was writing the above post, my wife, who is recuperating from a (routine) procedure has the TV on in the adjacent room. She's asleep, but what pops on? "The Big Bang Theory".

I would rather eat a gun than watch "Big Bang Theory", but there are others who would consider it "mindless comedy". To each their own.

 

My brother-in-law would watch Ancient Aliens during high-carb vegging.

 

Of the other Friends characters, do any of them get this same rememberance-obit treatment as Perry?

His character was pretty great. His personal issues, and admitting to them and struggling with them, makes him more ... personable? Real? Likeable? All of the above? And he's the first of this generation, or maybe among the first (?), to die, putting the then-25ish year olds into the "OMG, he's my age" situation that is a wakeup call.

I'd say Aniston gets the No. 2 spot for the Obit Remberance rankings from Friends, and the other three would be in the "oh, they were part of ..." category. Her impact on fashion along with other movies and show appearances, and relationships with other stars, puts her in the top tier.