Mark Cagney on Friends...

...not a bad presenter, but inclined to be a bit too sure of his opinions on entertainment. Interviewing Paul Rudd and asked him about working on 'the biggest sitcom ever', Friends. Not sure of the actual viewing figures, but in terms of numbers thought MASH, Cheers and Seinfeld and maybe Frasier were light years ahead of the pack, and Friends was with the likes of the Wonder Years and Married With Children. Any way of checking the ratings - presume the numbers tuning in for the final show might be a good indicator?

aequinoctium

i dont think Friends will have the staying power that Seinfeld and Frasier had as 90s sitcoms. but to give it credit, it did have its moments.

Shane10

aequinoctium wrote: »

i dont think Friends will have the staying power that Seinfeld and Frasier had as 90s sitcoms. but to give it credit, it did have its moments.

nah it definately will, every episode still funny. some of the early episodes of friends were the best.

Whether it was funny is subjective. I personally didn;t find it funny at all.

But whether it was the biggest ever is objective, and depends not on whether one liked the jokes but on the audience numbers. And pretty sure that Friends was not at the top of that pile.

Nuttzz

cagney isnt a bad presenter, he's bloody horrendous

lostexpectation

why did rudd and co have film opening here?

saw him on expose cracking jokes and the interviewer not really playing along, i've got mancrush on paul rudd.

Aidric

Nuttzz wrote: »

cagney isnt a bad presenter, he's bloody horrendous

Agreed. He fits well in to the mix of average also ran's on the ireland am show.

Elmo

The early episodes of Friends do stand out. I think they have more staying power then Fraser, how many times can he put his foot in it? An American Jeeves and Wooster TBH. But Jeeves and Wooster remain classics.

Friends was a huge sitcom.
21.4 million viewers for last season on average
Seinfeld 21.4
Final episode of Frasier got 25million, don't know what its average was. But ranked #35 for the season.

But it isn't always down to just viewers.

djsupreme

You're presuming that when he said "biggest", he was talking in terms of ratings and viewing figures.

I would look at a different interpretation - that of it's impact on popular culture and society, and in that regard, I would argue it's "bigger" than Seinfeld or Frasier. The catchphrases "how u doin", the Rachel haircut etc.

Elmo

djsupreme wrote: »

I would look at a different interpretation - that of it's impact on popular culture and society, and in that regard, I would argue it's "bigger" than Seinfeld or Frasier. The catchphrases "how u doin", the Rachel haircut etc.

The American's may disagree with you there (I hope your not american because if so you just ruin the entire argument that follows, )

Seinfeld has several episode that resonate American pop culture e.g. the Soup Nazi. Yadda! Yadda! Yadda! so Seinfeld wins.

That's my argument, hoping an American might explain it better.

Elmo

Elmo wrote: »

Final episode of Frasier got 25million, don't know what its average was. But ranked #35 for the season.

Got stats on final episodes

Seinfeld got 76 million, being the third highest ever behind MASH and Cheers. Which is why I was kinda thinking of those three being the biggest.

Friends got 52.5 million.

Frasier well behind those two for last episode

aequinoctium

Elmo wrote: »

Seinfeld has several episode that resonate American pop culture e.g. the Soup Nazi. Yadda! Yadda! Yadda! so Seinfeld wins.

most episodes of seinfeld brought with them a new phrase or term that is still in use, whereas friends repeated the same phrases

Royal Seahawk

And there's also the fact that anyone with half a brain will realise that Seinfeld p****s all over Friends.

lostexpectation

i don't think seinfeld ever caught on here as much as friends did, or certainly not at the same time it was been shown in the states.

Elmo

lostexpectation wrote: »

i don't think seinfeld ever caught on here as much as friends did, or certainly not at the same time it was been shown in the states.

Both Network 2 and Channel 4 had Seinfeld around the time of its first appears of TV. Seinfeld is a difficult one. The total insanity of the characters makes them all kind of unlikable and it also goes against allot of the norms of sitcoms. For example in the Yadda! Yadda! Yadda! episode (I think I amn't sure if it is the same episode) George appears from nowhere at the dentist and in a confessional box and one more time. Seinfeld is asking how he knows where to find him, this is a joke about the whole make up of US sit-coms where the main characters appear in places just to interact with the other main characters even thought their is no reason for them to be there.

When it first aired I hated the show, I just couldn't understand how the Americans could find it funny, but it really a acquired taste and doesn't even suggest that it is an "American" comedy just for Americans.

I mean the madness of the White Supermist (sp?) is one of the funny US sitcom episodes I have ever seen.

You must all start to watch seinfeld.

Elmo

Elmo wrote: »

You must all start to watch seinfeld.

Just been taking advantage of the season DVD boxsets price reduction on amazon.co.uk and have bought all 9 seasons of Seinfeld .One set contained 3 seasons and another had 2.

I would check it out cos the prices will probably go back up soon!:)

Our man in Havana

Aidric wrote: »

Agreed. He fits well in to the mix of average also ran's on the ireland am show.

Someone should tell him to button his shirt properly!

godtabh

Deleted User wrote: »

Interviewing Paul Rudd and asked him about working on 'the biggest sitcom ever', Friends.

He's hardly going to say what was it like to work on the ****est show ever. Its all about playing to their egos to get a responce.