[Stu]

Originally Posted by GiRTh

This. Two words to re-enforce this point - Shark porn.

I can understand why Friends is the run away winner in this poll but cant understand some of the point people have made to defend it. For me, there are a number of totally unwatchable episodes that I would challenge anyone why they find it funny. Some of the episodes had way too many jokes and not nearly enough quality control. Characters would say a funny line then pull a funny face then do a funny walk presumably in the hope that the audience would laugh at something; anything.

For sure, Seinfeld should be added to this list as should my personal fave The Larry Sanders show. Friends is wildly overrated sitcom that seems to have gained popularity due to the pretty cast and clever marketing. I’m surprised some of the fans on here cant see that.

People don't fall in love with a sitcom for years on end because the cast is pretty or because it is marketed well. If it doesn't strike a certain something with it's audience then the audience won't last. Friend's audience lasted because it's that perfect late evening television filler that's not too demanding of it's audience. It's the television equivalent of your most comftorable but not necessarily your highest quality of flashiest pair of clothes. It wasn't designed to be the smartest thing on the box. It was designed to have a likeable, somewhat goofy cast who went through believable, ordinary trials and tribulations of the human emotional range that viewers would respond to and would sympathise with.

The idea that the characters would pull a funny face or walk funny in the hope that the audience would laugh is just the show doing it's job. It's not a Stewart Lee seminar on cultural phobias.