The only thing I don't understand about all of the panic is that Friends is not that great. I get that there are certain shows that are comforting, and you can just play on a bad day and feel relaxed. But there are better shows about friends hanging out and having shenanigans. New Girl. Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The Good Place. Parks and Recreation. Community. Living Single (aka The One That Friends Ripped Off).
It's fine. It's not revolutionary. There were no boundaries broken. Any edge was smoothed out. It was perfectly fine. The only thing I have found genuinely hilarious and made me laugh out loud was the trivia game that decided who got Monica and Rachel's apartment. The jokes were quick, and even though we were learning new information about these people we'd seen for, at that point, four seasons, none of it was out of left field.
Also, I don't care about Ross and Rachel. The constant will-they won't-they wasn't interesting to me, mainly because I don't think they were a good couple. Why were we as a people interested in them? What made them this special couple? I'm seriously asking because I don't know the answers to those questions. I do not understand the fascination with two people whose relationship was toxic and could never stick to it long-term.
My big issue with Friends and the hype surrounding it is that it's treated as one of the best comedies of all time. It isn't. Popular does not always equal best.
