Clash of the Sitcoms: Round 1, Heat 10.

[Rain Man]

This one's going to be a fun competition. Remember that you can pick three.

[suds79]

I command any guy to turn in their man card right now if they voted for Friends.

[blaise]

Friends has a lot of good episodes. And Aniston in the first few years was about as hot as a woman can possibly be, I think.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by chiefs1968

Don't know if you are going to put it in another poll...but...SOAP.. was a funny sitcom.

Yep, it's in the queue. It just hasn't come up yet.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by blaise

Friends has a lot of good episodes. And Aniston in the first few years was about as hot as a woman can possibly be, I think.

Exactly. If you DIDN'T watch Friends and their ice-cold sets featuring Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston, you should turn in your man card.

[suds79]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Exactly. If you DIDN'T watch Friends and their ice-cold sets featuring Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston, you should turn in your man card.

Guess I touched a nerve. Won't argue that Aniston at that time was about as hot as they come. And if that was one's driving force for watching it, fine.

Just seemed a lot like a chick/soap opera show to me. Ross & Rachel on again, off again, the cast mixing & matching going out until the writers ran out of combinations, etc.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by suds79

Guess I touched a nerve. Won't argue that Aniston at that time was about as hot as they come. And if that was one's driving force for watching it, fine.

Just seemed a lot like a chick/soap opera show to me. Ross & Rachel on again, off again, the cast mixing & matching going out until the writers ran out of combinations, etc.

That show was great when it was true to the title: Friends. When they started the round-robin process of all dating each other it went downhill, I agree. However, they generally followed the Seinfeld rule of always having a couple of different story lines, so the other story line was usually still pretty good.

But yeah, when the characters start dating each other, that means they're running out of ideas. As someone mentioned earlier, the great thing about Seinfeld was that they never resorted to dating each other.

[suds79]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

That show was great when it was true to the title: Friends. When they started the round-robin process of all dating each other it went downhill, I agree. However, they generally followed the Seinfeld rule of always having a couple of different story lines, so the other story line was usually still pretty good.

But yeah, when the characters start dating each other, that means they're running out of ideas. As someone mentioned earlier, the great thing about Seinfeld was that they never resorted to dating each other.

I obviously only watched very little parts of the show but what you explained I can easily see.

Just about any good sitcom I can think of that I've liked were great in seasons 1 & 2, then go downhill. It happens to all of them. The writers simply used their best material early on. Can't keep telling the same jokes.

[L.A. Chieffan]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

That show was great when it was true to the title: Friends. When they started the round-robin process of all dating each other it went downhill, I agree. However, they generally followed the Seinfeld rule of always having a couple of different story lines, so the other story line was usually still pretty good.

But yeah, when the characters start dating each other, that means they're running out of ideas. As someone mentioned earlier, the great thing about Seinfeld was that they never resorted to dating each other.

Jerry and Elaine knocked it out. But that s what was great about the show, it didn't hurt it at all.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by suds79

I obviously only watched very little parts of the show but what you explained I can easily see.

Just about any good sitcom I can think of that I've liked were great in seasons 1 & 2, then go downhill. It happens to all of them. The writers simply used their best material early on. Can't keep telling the same jokes.

It makes one wonder if there's a good model of replacing writers one at a time every couple of years to bring in fresh blood. However, seeing the quality of most comedies, I guess I would posit that there aren't a whole lot of good comedy writers out there, or at least they would bring in different styles that wouldn't give a show any consistency.

[L.A. Chieffan]

Curb hit its peak about season three and has kept it going with only a few dips here and there

[Munson]

I'm one of the few people who can't stand South Park. I remember when it first aired when I was in junior high or high school. Everybody thought it was the greatest thing ever, but I never could get into it. Something about it just annoys the hell out of me.

[Predarat]

I may be one of the few but I absolutly despise friends. Except Jennifer Aniston. So Family Matter, SouthPark and The Jetsons for me.

[Omaha]

Only two choices for me.

1. Friends - I know it's not cool, but I always loved this show. Call it a guilty pleasure, but I'm pretty sure I've seen every episode.

2. South Park - I don't watch it religiously, but I've seen some hilarious episodes.

[Pioli Zombie]

Is Friends the first show in tv where there is not a lead character? Think about it, there was no one star, they were a true ensemble. And I personally wanted to **** Monica more in the beginning.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Pioli Zombie

Is Friends the first show in tv where there is not a lead character? Think about it, there was no one star, they were a true ensemble. And I personally wanted to **** Monica more in the beginning.

I'd lean more toward either WKRP or Barney Miller as the first. Both of those had nominal leads (Barney Miller and Andy Travis), but the leads were generally not the center of the story line.

I liked that the Friends cast all agreed to never accept a "Best Lead Actor" award nomination, though. They would only take Supporting Actor nominations.