'Friends’ voted best sitcom of all-time

Despite ‘problematic’ plots


Entertainment Desk January 12, 2018
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Friends is one of those shows you probably don’t mind watching again and again. We get it, there was just something really special in the dynamic between those six characters which led you to binge-watch them as much as you possibly could.

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You’ve also probably heard many confess their love for and obsession with the sitcom but 2018 has brought various notions about the popular show. Millennial watching Friends on Netflix have branded its storyline as "homophobic and sexist," reported Independent.  While the show ran for over a decade until 2004, it only just made its arrival on Netflix at the end of 2017.

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The hit series, starring Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer remains one of the most beloved shows in the US.  However, young adults from the UK found LGBT plot points that left some people feeling "uncomfortable."

Instances such as when Chandler was paranoid about being perceived as a gay man or made mean-spirited jokes about his cross-dressing dad were conversed. Sexism seemed ‘apparent’ when Rachel hired a male nanny for her daughter Emma but Ross can't handle the fact that the nanny is a man. He even went on to actually ask the nanny if he is gay – now that’s taking it a step too far, according to the youth.

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Discussions of body shaming seeped in when it was mentioned how Monica (played by Cox) was never allowed to forget she was once overweight - there's even an episode where Joey Tribbiani (played by LeBlanc) yells, "Some girl ate Monica!"

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Newer audiences also picked up on the fact that Rachel once hired an under-qualified assistant because she wanted to date him – meaning she would have been done for sexual harassment if that were to really happen.

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Let’s not forget Monica’s controversial relationship with her father's best friend who was 20 years older. It was perceived as even more inappropriate in light of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and trending #MeToo stories.

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The sitcom has also received criticism for its lack of diversity as there were only two notable non-white characters on the show - Ross' girlfriend Julie and Dr Charlie Wheeler.

Although the young adults of the UK find the show pretty problematic in 2018, media company Ranker has crowned it the best sitcom of all-time.

PHOTO: INDEPENDENT PHOTO: INDEPENDENT

And this isn’t the first time it has had that honour either. In fact, it sits on the crest of IMDB's 2013 list of the top 30 greatest sitcoms of all-time, along with Modern FamilyTwo And A Half MenFull House and Roseanne.

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COMMENTS (1)

Bunny Rabbit | 6 years ago | Reply I too liked them but they were growing kinda stale and had to stop . all good things come to an end ... and it did ...
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