My face watching Big Bang Theory
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I liked Friends. It hasn’t aged particularly well, it’s not without its flaws, but it was popular for a reason.
More importantly, its success meant NBC continued to invest heavily in comedies, which gave us a golden age of much better shows. A golden age that eventually included Scrubs, 30 Rock, The Office, My Name is Earl, Parks and Rec, Community, etc.
My Name is Earl is one of my favorites. It just has so much feel-good to it.
Me with Big Bang Theory.
I genuinely don't understand why anyone likes it. Every moment is pure torture to me. Humor is subjective, sure. But I just don't get it.
Anything with a laugh track in it is poison to my mind.
You remove the laugh track and it turns out it's all verbal abuse.
The tv show "Kevin can F**k himself" makes fun of this exact thing. Highly recommend it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJB6VQ0his4
Then you should like friends. They played to live audience.
> character says something obnoxious and pauses
> canned laugh track lasts just long enough to not overlap dialog magically
> repeat

Actually, like most sitcoms of that era, it was filmed in front of a live studio audience, it's not a canned laugh track. The reason it lasts just long enough to overlap audio is because the actors wait for the laughter to die down before continuing. The whole point of the laughter isn't to make it funnier to the viewer, it's so the actors can see how the jokes land and tweak their performance, it's constant feedback. It's done for the same reason comedy has an audience even when it is a filmed special.
Funnily enough, it was filmed in front of a live audience, and it is canned laughter. In the edit, they often replaced the audience's genuine reactions with stock laughter for various reasons. For example, when Monica popped out from under the sheets with Chandler, the audience shouted for minutes on end, they trimmed that for broadcast.
Hollywood trope: Applause sign. Forced laughter and laugh tracks are definitely real.
Makes me wonder what commonly accepted tropes from today will be laughed at in 10 years.
Me watching Seinfeld
Same, but funnily enough I love Curb Your Enthusiasm. Jerry Seinfeld just doesn't land with me while Larry David does.
Seinfeld has that absurdist edge that other sitcoms lack, it has aged particularly well apart from Jerry Seinfeld being a nonce.
Honestly, I love friends, but I would never recommend it to younger audiences.
Humour is a very personal choice, and like colors, not everything being fun for the same people. On top of that, A TON of today's humour descends from friends, so the jokes feel dated and simple, but they were the literal origin of many tropes, at the time it was perfection, like a chewing gum.
And most importantly, nowadays people (specially chronically online people) can't just sit back and relax, they are always being judgemental little pricks to feel superior to everyone else, while not even trying to contextualise the time when what they are seeing was made.
Not to mention how sad it is that all the media, no matter the genre, have to pass their stupid moral compass (whether the progressive one or the conservative one). The whole sit back, relax and have a laugh is lost to them.
Is a very sad reality of hyper judgement they lived in, probably fueled by the cancer that is social media. I'm sad for them, they keep chasing the internet points thinking it will make them happy somehow, they don't just watch something, they keep filling the checklist to then "have something to say".
I'm so happy the internet was not a thing when I was growing up, what a brain worm I dodged, just in time to enjoy it as an adult as well. I'm really sorry for the young people today.
I don’t think it’s the funniest show on earth, I don’t think it’s even an amazing show, but it has its moments. Pretending otherwise for internet points is cringe.
@titty_wizard I didn't like Friends when it was on the air, and I've never liked it. There are millions of people who like it, and that's fine. But I don't relate to the characters, and the plot lines for the episodes sounded dumb to me.
When I watched Friends, though, I didn't think that I looked like Imhotep.
Me with Seinfeld.
Yeah, it's almost as if different people find different things funny. Mindblowing, I know.
Me watching any sitcom
Rewatching Malcolm in the middle right now and shit is hilarious

You can Add in Always and Community too under love it.
Huh. I kind of liked it. I've only seen a few episodes, I don't watch a lot of TV, but Phoebe particularly cracked me up.
Phoebe is without a doubt the best part of FRIENDS. And one of the few characters who didn't punch down at some point as I recall. I feel like Joey probably comes second there, he's just horny.
My face when someone asks if I have watched Game Of Thrones (which hearing about it is the extend of the knowledge I have).
It's not for everybody and it's certainly not nuanced or pointed humor at all, but it's funny and it holds up.
Some episodes have aged excellently. That one where Phoebe dates a cop, who is definitely giving off white supremacist vibes, and Chandler is going around at every opportunity reminding everyone in absolute terror: "he has a gun!"
I disagree. I grew up watching reruns and I liked it. Recently I tried watching it, and the jokes did not hold up. I'd argue that Seinfeld and Fraiser held up better. But to each their own.
Dated a girl who thought it was the best show ever. Shoulda seen the red flags, but I had on rose tinted glasses.
Me with American Dad et al. They're just soul-crushingly mean-spirited.
Me watching The Office: Why is this funny, nobody in a real office acts like this, what are you even trying to parody?
Turns out I never worked an early 2000s small town US corporate job. Apparently it's kinda accurate even if exaggerated.

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