Media Phenomenon Evaluation: Friends
...r a middle-age parent, many of us can relate to and find funny the characters in Friends. Chandler, for example, is always struggling in his relationships and uses his dry wit as a way of dealing with problems. His sarcastic humor is the type of humor that has become very popular in today’s society. This has been noted in essays like that of Steve Rushin, where he says, “I don’t know when, exactly, everyone became a smart-ass, only that it has happened” (Rushin 602). Because the trendy humor used by Chandler is so popular, it helps to push up the shows ratings and add to its success. Other characters such as Joey are funny in a different way. Joey is less educated then the rest of the characters and his ignorance and attempts to fit in can be quite amusing. For example, in one episode Joey is suckered into buying an encyclopedia book for the letter “v”. Throughout the episode he tries to gear the conversations toward a subject that begins with the letter “v”. But despite his best efforts he still remains a bit left out of the conversations. This humor gives the viewers a character that funny and will consistently provide them with a laugh. By involving characters such as Chandler and Joey into the show it helps to spice up the show by giving the show a more humorous appeal. Another aspect of Friends that has added to its success is the intriguing relationships between the characters. When you make a TV sitcom with six attractive characters, you would naturally expect some of their relationships to grow beyond just friendships. When the show first began, we noticed that Ross seemed to have a long time Valk 3 crush on his sister’s friend Rachael. The writers soon created a romantic relationship out of this, adding a new dimension to the show. With the relationship between Ross and Rachael being very problematic it intrigued many viewers to continue watching. It added some drama to show that was primarily comedy. It left viewers wondering, “what is going to happen between Ross and Rachael?”, which brought many occasional viewers to become full time viewers. When this relationship finally died out, the writers introduced a new romantic relationship. The relationship began on a trip to London, where Chandler and Monica became involved in a secret relationship. With both characters normally being hopeless in relationships, it seemed the perfect match. The two continued to hide the relationship throughout the following episodes. As the relationship developed more and more each character eventually discovered what was going on. The session finally climaxed with Chandler proposing to Monica. These relationships that the writers put into the show help to add a soap opera effect to the show, and give it more depth. This adds to the shows quality and helps to make it more successful. A great aspect that helps separate Friends from the typical sitcom is that it is very good at dealing with real life problems. If a show can effectively relate real life relationship problems to its viewers in a humorous manner it certainly has a good chance at succeeding. Just as McCorkle called The Simpsons a “socially aware satire”, it can be said that Friends is also socially aware. This is an attribute that many past and present successful s...