So I think that this show is one of, if not the most overrated show of all time. And that show is Friends. I have tried to watch it on three separate occasions and the show is just not funny. I don’t get why people hold it up to be one of the greatest sitcoms ever done. The writing is predictable, the characters not that good, and the direction not that impressive. And this has nothing to do with the laugh track or anything like that. That’s just the way sitcoms were made when Friends premiered: with four cameras and a live studio audience.

Everything Friends did, other shows did it better. The New York Hangout Style? Seinfeld did it better. The will-they-won’t they central romance? Cheers and the Office did it better. The characters on the show itself? Seinfeld. Situations? Seinfeld. Utilizing Guest Stars? Seinfeld? Continuity? The Office. The Series Finale? The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The Dialogue? Seinfeld. The Directing? Cheers.

Honestly, above all else, it’s just not funny. And it probably wouldn’t have been as big as it was had it not been on NBC’s Thursday Night Lineup. In it’s first season, towards the end of it, it was literally sandwiched in between Seinfeld and ER. And for those who don’t know, Seinfeld was the number one show that season and ER was number two. Before it moved into that timeslot, it was doing OK numbers, nothing too impressive. That’s probably my biggest gripe with it. It’s that it was a massive success ratings wise when all it was was just another sitcom about a group of 20 somethings living in the big city. There was nothing remarkable about it. It’s just a mediocre sitcom that gets way more love than it deserves. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.