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1 year ago
5
Let's be honest, the theme song couldn't BE more annoying.
You love it, I love it, it's Friends... The iconic sitcom set in New York following six incredibly close mates who do everything together.
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Friends set the bar for buddy sitcoms and established a towering legacy that stands to this day. So much so that when all of the episodes were added to Netflix in 2018, it quickly became the streamer's most-watched show in the UK a whopping 24 years after it first aired!
As a lifetime fan of the show, I've watched it all the way through more times than I care to mention – as I'm sure many of you also have! But that doesn't mean I think it's a perfect series; indeed, I think it has some pretty glaring issues.
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Here are 11 of my most controversial opinions on Friends – do you agree with me??
1. I always skip the intro cos it sucks.
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I'm sorry, I know it's super famous, but I just cannot stand the intro theme – the iconic "I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts. Maybe it's because I've heard it so much, but I have to skip it every time I watch Friends now... Cue me jumping across furniture to get to my laptop to "skip intro".
2. The early seasons are trash.
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Okay, I'm editorialising a little here. They're not "trash", but they're just not as good as the later seasons. When I rewatch, I tend to begin around the time Emily (Ross's second wife) comes into the picture, and continue on from there. I personally feel like everything before that is significantly more rocky – Chandler is too annoying, Monica is too severe, Phoebe's too weird.
Some of the storylines are fun, but I feel like the writers and actors are trying so hard to establish WHO everybody IS, that they come off a little extra for me. The worst part of the early seasons is what happens after someone tells a joke; the camera sort of lingers so that the actor can ~react~ (see above). That doesn't happen so much in the later seasons where all of my favourite episodes tend to be e.g. "The One with the Apothecary Table".
3. I cannot stand the "clip" episodes.
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By clip episodes, I mean the ones that look back on past episodes with some sort of theme in mind – there's one in season eight entitled "The One With Joey's Interview" (see above). I know this is a common TV show trope, but they're just so pointless and annoying. It's a like "previously on" but for twenty-five minutes!
4. Ross's job was really interesting, and I'd have loved to hear about it!
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I don't know if it's because I find biology and animals fascinating, but I can't help but feel like I would love to have palaeontologist friend who could tell me interesting things about dinosaurs and other pre-historic animals. Granted, I wouldn't like it constantly and ideally they wouldn't be bragging about their job, just sharing interesting historical facts from time-to-time!
5. Phoebe wouldn't have been friends with the others.
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There's a fan theory about Friends that I find fascinating and it revolves around Phoebe not being a part of the group. Instead, she wanders the streets of New York, following around a group of five friends and fantasising about being a part of them.
Obviously, that's not what is going on in Friends, but it speaks to the idea that Phoebe is VERY dissimilar from the others. Her upbringing was totally different from theirs, she has some pretty polar-opposite beliefs, and she's not as career focused as the rest of them are. I can't help but feel like Phoebe wouldn't hang with these guys long-term, and in the words of Rachel, she does kinda "lift right out".
6. But she was wayyyy ahead of her time!
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Phoebe is my favourite character, and honestly, I think she totally paved the way for "weird" women in TV shows. There would not have been a Jess Day or an Ilana Wexler without the likes of Phoebe Buffay. Once her character evened out, she was easily the funniest one. She was also sex-positive, spiritual, and unafraid to go against the grain. Honestly, I can see why Gaga dressed up as her for the reunion... What a pioneer of freaks!
7. Joey was ~too~ stoopid.
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I know it was a running joke that Joey was somewhat unintelligent, but sometimes the writers took it wayyyyy too far. Like when Joey didn't know people ate birds... Really??!! Or when we he submitted a letter to Monica and Chandler's adoption agency signed "Baby Kangaroo Tribbiani".
The thing is, his stupidity was super inconsistent because sometimes (especially in earlier seasons) Joey would display a decent amount of intelligence or give his friends great advice! I personally feel like towards the end of the show's run, the writers didn't know what to do with him so they just made him dumber and dumber.
8. He was also a massive sexist and didn't deserve his female friends.
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I'm not gonna bang on about how dated Friends is now, given its stance on things like marriage and LGBTQ+ people, but what I will says is this – Joey could be downright sexist and I really don't know how he managed to keep his female friends. From constantly hitting on them to treating other women like garbage, I can't help but feel like he would've lost all his close female friends IRL.
9. And he probably wouldn't have lived in NYC like the others.
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We all know that if you wanna make it in the movies, or anything really, you have to go to LA! Why was Joey dicking about in New York if he wanted to be a big-time actor? It's not like his main thing was theatre. This is supported by the fact that as soon as Friends ended, Joey moved to Hollywood in the spin-off series, Joey.
10. I think Rachel and Gavin should've gotten together.
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Gavin Mitchell, played by the super hawt Dermot Mulroney, entered Friends in season nine where he played Rachel's colleague at Ralph Lauren. He and Rachel had a fantastic enemies-to-lovers storyline, and ended up getting together before Rachel broke off their dalliance, fearing that things could become too complicated (she had just had a baby with Ross).
As we all know, Rachel ended up getting back together with Ross (that's a whole other thing!!!), but I think she really missed out here. Gavin was smart, her age, he had similar interests to her, they totally vibed as pair. PLUS HE WAS SO FREAKING GORGEOUS! They could've even gone off to Paris together! Justice for #Gavchel, and I'm not the only one who thinks this.
11. And finally, Ross and Joey should've gotten together.
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This is probably my most controversial take, but hear me out! Throughout Friends, Joey constantly sleeps with women and never takes things further with any of them. He has a couple of semi-serious things, but they don't work out. In my fantasy world, he would be bi and would also get with men. Think about it, from his bag to how he vibes with Sandy (the straight babysitter Ross is convinced is too sensitive in series nine), I think Joey gives a LOT of clues that he's a little fruity.
Flashback to series seven – remember when he has his amazing naps with Ross? I could totally see these two having a Monica and Chandler style hook-up that sees them getting together. Just replace "nap" with "sex" in the sentence: "it was the best nap ever". I honestly think they would really compliment each other, and it would be nice to see some more diversity in the sextet. Plus, pairing up Gavin and Rachel leaves Ross available...
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