Anybody watch "Friends" last night?

Hmm, everyone pressured Monica to make Thanksgiving dinner, even though she didn't want to. Ross and Joey went to the Ranger game without Chandler because Chandler was helping with the dinner. But, Ross and Joey lied to Chandler about where they were going. Rachel and Phoebe entered Emma in a baby beauty pageant, which she won. They also lied about where they were going. Ross objected until he learned Emma had won $1,000.

So, everyone ended up being an hour late, and Monica was so furious she locked the door to their apartment. The rest of the group opened the door as far as the chain would let them and stuck their heads in the door, and asked to be forgiven. Monica refused, but then Joey got his head stuck. While everyone was pushing the door open (they ended up breaking the chain), Monica took a phone call. The momentum from breaking in pushed Joey into the table with the food, which went flying everywhere. Monica came out of the bedroom after hanging up, and everyone expected her to be even angrier. She wasn't because she'd heard from the adoption agency that a pregnant woman in Ohio had picked her and Chandler to be her baby's adoptive parents. Hugs all around.

Personally, I thought a lot of it was lame (I'd've been as pissed as Monica was), but I've been rather disappointed with the current season so far. Hey, that's just me.

Thank you!!!
I have to agree that, so far, this season has been a bit lame. But I will miss them when they are gone.

Funny but forgettable -- they've got to pick it up somewhere before it ends. And not offering it in wide screen and HDTV like other NBC newer sitcoms is an NBC executives twitching, incomprehensible and quirky idiocy.

BTW, the second re-run of the Thanksgiving dinner the year before with Christina Applegate playing Rachel's vain, insulting elitist sister was far superior as comedy.

Friends-isn't that the show where nobody ever seems to do any work yet can somehow afford to live in $5000 a month Manhattan apartments?

To be fair, it's obviously a brownstone walk up so it's debatable what the rent would be. Joey is paid some unknown sum for being on a soap opera among other acting jobs. Monica is a well paid chef in a chic restaurant and Chandler is working for an ad (or public relations?) agency. Rachel is middle management at Ralph Lauren (maybe $80,000 a year?) Ross is a paleontology professor (I don't know, at a NYC university -- which one? -- probably $60,000.00 a year?) Phoebe I think has inherited money 'cause she doesn't make anything singing lame folk songs plucking on that there banjo (or whatever it is).

Christina Applegate was chiding Ross on the repeated Thanksgiving episode for only have a modest one bedroom apartment with no upstairs!

Yeah, I agree, last year's Thanksgiving show was better.

As for the apartments, Monica's is rent-controlled. There's a flashback episode a few seasons back where she mentions it's her grandmother's apartment and otherwise she wouldn't be able to afford it. Otherwise, I have no idea how they afford their digs.

Well, is it any wonder why this is the last season? They've plumb run out of situations (it is situation comedy after all). You're right, Monica could afford the apartment at one time due to rent control but as they both are now working and earning pretty good incomes, it would seem they would have at least bought some new furniture! I wonder if Monica every replaced the "guest" china that was obliterated last year?

BTW, with the rents in NYC, how does anyone live there?

True enough.

The sets have barely changed, even though they're married and Rachel is living with Joey. Didn't she bring in any furniture? Did Chandler? That's just weird.

And in this year's Thanksgiving ep, Mike wasn't mentioned at all, much less in it. I mean, he's Phoebe's fiancé! At the very least, she should've tossed out a throwaway line like, "Mike's with his parents this year." I know I sound like I pay WAY too much attention to this show, but the engagement was a big deal at the beginning of November (a sweeps month). We're not such a stupid audience that we've forgotten that there's a 7th person in the picture.

That was odd -- it's slip-ups like that which makes me believe they've somewhat lost interest in writing the show. I would have hired all new writers for the final season to give the series an all new twist. But I'm not a network programming executive.

Maybe that's why I can't get any enjoyment out of programs like this. I don't see Monica, I see Courtney Cox, I don't see Ross, I see David Schwimmer. Basically all I see when I put on these programs is a bunch of actors of questionable talent earning a million dollars a week to act like idiots!

Hear, hear, Wilso.

On man's meat is another's poison. If one doesn't know any people like these characters, they haven't been around. I always believe people do act like idiots, sometimes nearly always and sometimes only on occassion. Of course, it's an exagerration. All comedy is an exagerration of one sort or another. It's meant to needle us about human foibles and facades so it's often only effective if its blown out of proportion. We laugh at dysfunctionals portrayed on film and in these
sitcoms. We are all different and one of the differances is how we've tuned our sense of humor.

Or maybe we're from different countries

Golly, Wilso, I hope there's at least one madcap, silly Aussie around there somewhere. You're making it sound awfully dull.

Not dull, just nowhere near as shallow, plastic and gimmicky. Though I can sense that changing.

That's the comedy in the show -- they're what we perceive as shallow, plastic and dysfunctional, and to those who feel we they are perfect and have absolutely none of those traits that they may often hide , my hat is off to you. I've met no person who is free of any character or personality flaws.

I will have to disagree with everyone. I think that the Friends Episode was funny. I laughed. The paper rock scissors game was funny. All the heads through the crack in the door was funny. Joey tearing Ross' shirt was funny. Chandler calling his cramberries Chanberries was funny. Joey not taking off his Foam finger was funny.

As for not thinking of them as the people they are acting but as them selves in reality is retarded. People who harp on the fact that they do get a million an episode are jealous to the nth degree. Get over it. They get more money for acting and I think they act pretty good. Plus they will never have to work again.

As for this season I think Friend's is just Frined's. People want explosions and wander to happen this last season. It won't happen until the last five episodes. Then things should go out with a bang. Remember Seinfield? That last episode was horrible and since Friends is even pacing them selves with this season being par I expect the end to be that much bigger. That is too much work for anyone to make a show spectacular for everyone the entire last season. The last five should be the spot were things should explode.

If you want great writing with situations that seem impossible set your eyes on 8 Simple Rules . . . because they have done a remarkable job without John Ridder. People thought it would tank when he died but the writers pulled it off. For how long is only as long as they can write great stuff. Last night's episode is case in point.