FRIENDS vs. The Office

Started by Motor City, Jun 26, 2015, in Entertainment Add to Reading List

Which is better?

  1. Friends

    19 vote(s)
    33.3%
  2. The Office

    38 vote(s)
    66.7%
  1. WPG
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    WPG sxn80 Rory Gilmore

    Jun 30, 2015
    look, i know you're trying to assert your taste and intellect over your friends in freshman seminar, but let's tone it down a notch. friends is the product of lots of remarkably talented people, on both sides of the camera. doing dumb s--- like posting clips from a multi-cam show with its laugh track stripped prove that you're penalizing it because it doesn't fit your very narrow view of what a good tv show should be. it's like taking juvenile vocals, putting them over an oddisee beat, and saying, "see? he sucks!"


    as @captain awesome said, yes, it's moderately well-off white people talking in new york. but seinfeld is this group of thirty-something misanthropes, the show is episodic, no hugging no learning, etc etc. friends is aspirational--twenty-somethings, highly serialized, all hugging, all learning. they might have superficial similarities, but they fill entirely different creative spaces.
     
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  2. BNF
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    Location: Orange County, CA

    BNF

    Jun 30, 2015
    s---, I didn't even know they were still on television. Mind giving me the names of the shows, I'd love to check em out. And I guess you're right, Cougar Town is good but that's about it. Although, Scream? lol

    I'd also like to check out that mini-series Schwimmer is gonna be in.
     
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  3. Narsh
    Posts: 40,221
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    Jun 30, 2015
    le blanc is pretty great as himself in Episodes lol

    no one ever talks about that show (not that they really should) but Ive been watching/enjoying it since it started a few years ago
     
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  4. lil uzi vert stan
    Posts: 7,755
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    Jun 30, 2015
    scream was 19 years ago, and she's adequate, but nothing special or anything. by contrast, anison has aged into being a compelling onscreen presence. she's very funny depending on the part, and was rly great in cake imo.

    kudrow is obviously the most gifted of the group. check out The Comeback on hbogo.
     
    #64
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  5. Charlie Work
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    Charlie Work Level 5 Goblin

    Jun 30, 2015
    @WPG

    The video pretty clearly shows that the characters aren't human. They're aliens. Punchline aliens no different than Big b--- Theory. The point of the show is watching them "hug" but their interactions are flawed by default. Going back to your Speilberg comparison, that works in the sense that Friends has the same eye rolling sentimentality that Spielberg does at his very worst. A laugh track in general will be dated (as far as critical darling comedies go) before the show is over. This would be different if we were measuring it against The Fresh Prince of Bel Air or something, but we aren't. As CA pointed out, this show IS a different breed than The Office. I don't deny that. I do think it's an inferior type of show. Seinfeld was popular and filled the same kind of niche and is far better in every category. Post-Friends we get 30 Rock and The Office etc. Put up against those shows, again what this thread is doing, I think it pales in comparison. I also don't agree with CA that the cast is strong on their own. Anniston made it out and the rest got work being typecasted based on the strength of Friends. Romie & Michelle's High School Reunion, The Big Nothing, The Whole Ten Yards etc were good for reasons besides those actors.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2015
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  6. WPG
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    WPG sxn80 Rory Gilmore

    Jul 1, 2015
    ok, you didn't address anything in my post except reinforcing the idea that you're dismissing multi-cams.

    EDIT: addressing a few points...

    the characters aren't "aliens." sure, there's schticky comedy, but they're distinct and very dynamic, human characters. if you had watched any consecutive run of episodes without dismissing the show out of hand, you'd know that.

    deciding that one form of a medium is superior or inferior to another is pretty obviously misguided, especially when--as is the case here--those forms are associated with different eras. multi-cams were in fashion until the early 2000s.

    seinfeld was a comedy lab. friends was about the relationships.

    saying that the friends cast isn't talented is barely even worth refuting. it's just a thing you're being stubborn on, because you reject the show they're famous for on sight.

    i know you fancy yourself some sort of film buff. what would you say to someone who says "black and white movies are boring and inferior to what came later"?
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2015
    #66
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  7. lil uzi vert stan
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    Jul 1, 2015
    yeah it's hard to argue with someone who disputes the strength of that cast. charlie is gonna need to sit out further analytic discussions (also, if you quote my post then delete it, i can still see the mention lol)
     
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  8. Cain
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    Jul 1, 2015
    The office >
     
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  9. Robz
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    Robz ggmu

    Jul 1, 2015
    I love The Office UK, but I rate Friends higher due to the 10 good to great seasons over a few ones. Never watched The Office US.

    [​IMG]
     
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  10. Charlie Work
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    Charlie Work Level 5 Goblin

    Jul 1, 2015
    I like movies. I think most TV is kitsch tbh. I've said that before. There are tons of multicams I do like . Ones you included in your list of best sitcoms or whatever, that you didn't include Friends in for obvious reasons. I addressed a few of your points pretty clearly. Saying something is schticky comedy doesn't magically make me think that the stilted dialogue works better. At least ashow like Rosanne challenged those relationships and set them somewhere besides "rich white people New York". Even Fresh Prince got shot and had his dad leave him. The only real adversity in Friends is the love triangles they exploit for season after season. I'll watch some Friends later and see if I change my mind. It's been a while.

    I like how you've tried to imitate Paul's hostility recently. @captain awesome
     
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  11. lil uzi vert stan
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    Jul 1, 2015
    Hostile? Because I think you're wrong about Matthew Perry?

    bruh u ok

    edit: paul copies me
     
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  12. WPG
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    WPG sxn80 Rory Gilmore

    Jul 1, 2015
     
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  13. WPG
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    WPG sxn80 Rory Gilmore

    Jul 1, 2015
    i did tho
     
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  14. Nitz
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    Jul 1, 2015
    This, plus I think i just watched Friends more overall.
     
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  15. Charlie Work
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    Charlie Work Level 5 Goblin

    Jul 1, 2015
    I like when you use ebonics
     
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  16. WPG
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    WPG sxn80 Rory Gilmore

    Jul 1, 2015
    god you're a caricature
     
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  17. Narsh
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    Jul 1, 2015
    i cant figure out who has the biggest d-ck

    *insert studio laughter*
     
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  18. lil uzi vert stan
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    Jul 1, 2015
    ^wtf

    when its late at night, and its very still in his la basement apt, paul def looks into the mirror and sees @CharlieWork's reflection staring at him
     
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  19. Peter Parker
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    Peter Parker your boy

    Jul 1, 2015
    ... You guys have been e-f.r.i.e.n.d.s. for far too long imo
     
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  20. WPG
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    WPG sxn80 Rory Gilmore

    Jul 1, 2015
    an actual transcript of charliework's inner monologue http://www.clickhole.com/quiz/are-you-film-buff-2563
     
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