Sepinwall's book excerpt on The Sopranos: The Russian, and The End

1. "How I Met Your Mother" drew plenty of critical praise, at least through its first four or five seasons. I know that has nothing to do with your point.
2. You underestimate nostalgia. Even something that might not be necessarily good can make us feel good because it reminds us of good times.
3. Tastes change, sure, but not everyone's tastes evolve into swirling wine and listening to opera.

 

I've watched it since then.

I watched it last night, in fact.

It has merit.

It's not flawless. It's not "Seinfeld." But beyond some of those flaws, which have been mentioned by others and granted by me, it was sharply written, often quite funny, and very well-acted.

"Friends" was bad at one-liners.

"Friends" was really good at situational comedy about relationships and how people - particularly young people - dealt with one another. Few shows were better at playing awkward dramatic irony for laughs.

See: Scene where Ross finds out Rachel is pregnant.

See: Episode where Chandler can't remember which Tribbiani sister he kissed at a party.

 

It doesn't have to possess real merit for you to enjoy it.
I was responding more to Dick's position about the show's improvement over time, character development, handling of topics, etc.

I was 24 when 'Friends' started. I never found it funny. I always found it to be a 'Seinfeld' rip-off that was trying to skew young and self-consciously cool.

I think Benny Hill was funny and entertaining, and that show possessed no real merit.

 

I don't drink wine. Let's just keep that straight.

 

It was definitely self-consciously cool in its first season. Maybe even its first two seasons. That changed. It's weird to use this word connected to that show, but it got grittier. As much as a sitcom like that can, I guess.

Also:

No "Melancholia"?

No "Friends"?

Have you no soul?

 

Dick, what movies do you find funniest? (Note: This question is not meant to be the same as, what are your favorite comedies?)

 

We're pretty far apart on 'Melancholia' and 'Friends.'

I will agree that I have no soul. No heart either.

Also, I think we share a common opinion about Charlie Weis.

 

Loved "Wedding Crashers."

Loved "Old School."

Loved "Borat."

Loved "Knocked Up" and "Superbad."

"The Campaign" was pretty sharp.

I thought "Pineapple Express" was really good.

"The Sitter" is a guilty pleasure, mostly because I love kid-on-adult shouting matches.

I thought "Bad Teacher" was flawed, but ambitious. I mostly liked it.

"The Hangover," of course.

Early Adam Sandler, i.e. "Billy Madison," "Happy Gilmour," and "The Wedding Singer."

 

Apparently, Buck thinks he is the final arbiter of funny.

The way he tossed How I Met Your Mother in there is proof that he doesn't know what he's talking about. The people who loved How I Met Your Mother will probably look at it the same way they do now. It was a damn good show that stayed on the air too long and the quality deteriorated badly.

I never cared for Friends that much in the first place, but I'm not going to dismiss it just because I wasn't a fan.

To use one of Buck's examples, I thought Benny Hill was funny when I was a little kid. I've seen it since and I realize why I had to be a little kid to like it. But that's just my opinion. That doesn't mean it isn't funny to others.

 

Oh, look! Another thread where people try to prove how cool they are by declaring Friends beneath their sense of humor.

Anyone wish to talk Sopranos? Or content from the two excerpts on line?

The Lost one, while entertaining, really confirmed to me what a miracle it was that show wasn't a total trainwreck (although its clear the entire sixth season is a trainwreck.) Reading the Lost stuff, you cant help admire David Chase and David Simon even more, because even though neither of them had a long plan for the arc of the series, just like Lost, they made the show they wanted to make and weren't reacting to the on-line fanbois after every episode aired when they sat down to write the next one. I really admire a lot about Lindelof, but he needed turn off the rabbit ears and just write the damn show. Trust your vision, and trust Cuse to be your sounding board. A showrunner should not be second guessing himself because of on-line nerd complaints, and I say this as an on-line nerd.

 

That may be one of the most lame abuses of the quote function I've ever seen on this site.