Why are Friends and How I Met Your Mother rated so highly?

[TM Riddle]

I remember enjoying both of these when I was in school. How I met your mother in particular was a favorite amongst all us friends, boys and girls alike.
But as I grew up a little and rewatched them again I found both of them a wee bit overrated. Sure they had their funny moments and made for a nice viewing to watch in a group but aside from that had little to offer .
Fast forward a few years later I tried to binge watch friends again a couple of weeks ago and just couldn't get myself into it. It looked so boring and forced. Beats me what it did so different to become one of the most quotable shows around and a cultural phenomenon that transcended generations and national boundaries.
Same goes for HIMYM which was even more cringy and basically felt like poor man's friends.

Also one thing I have noticed that these programmes have a large women fan base which also put me off from them as from my experience I have observed that females in general have a pretty poor taste in tv and films and tend to watch them for the looks of the leads or accessories wore by them completely disregarding things such as plot and screenplay.

Anyone else feel the same way or about any other show or film for that matter which you feel don't deserve the hype surrounding it?

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Both of them are mindless low quality humour but are popular (especially friends) because the humour and everything else is very easy to understand and a lot of people just play an episode at the end of a tiring day just to relieve some stress. I feel like How I Met Your Mother is slightly deeper and more complex although I may be biased since as I said before, it is my guilty pleasure show (funny enough though I haven’t finished it. After season 4 it just got unwatchable.) But honestly the first 4 seasons of the show actually have some life lessons that I have been able to relate to. I agree with you that the shows are mediocre though. Anyway shows and movies that appeal to the lowest common denominator will always be really popular and there’s nothing you or me can do to change that and that’s something I’ve realized over the past few months.

 

[IgnitedMind]

Excellent stress busters ! Friends has a lot of connect, characters are well etched out...so that audience can see the punchline coming. Its just relatable...I do believe it is one of the groundbreaking television shows in terms of the reach...and worldwide audience...the amount of money in TV shows..and all the stuff.

HIMYM is a rip off of the Friends style...but good fun show as well whose ending sucked balls.

 

[DeadBall]

Both of them are mindless low quality humour but are popular (especially friends) because the humour and everything else is very easy to understand and a lot of people just play an episode at the end of a tiring day just to relieve some stress. I feel like How I Met Your Mother is slightly deeper and more complex although I may be biased since as I said before, it is my guilty pleasure show (funny enough though I haven’t finished it. After season 4 it just got unwatchable.) But honestly the first 4 seasons of the show actually have some life lessons that I have been able to relate to. I agree with you that the shows are mediocre though. Anyway shows and movies that appeal to the lowest common denominator will always be really popular and there’s nothing you or me can do to change that and that’s something I’ve realized over the past few months.

Pretty much this. I however haven't watched any episodes apart from catching a few scenes here and there when it was on in the background somewhere.

 

[Rafa]

Watched neither crew.

 

[Slog]

Friends is actually good and it seems was something new for television in terms of the show structure and comedy

HIMYM and many others are just Friends wannabes

 

[ManFan]

Never really liked either.

HBO shows are good but I never have the time to watch an entire series.

 

[James]

Different to many people with this - Friends I always thought was very “lite” and barely amusing, but I loved HIMYM start to finish, much more rude and crude, hilarious use of catchphrases, and has some fantastic emotional drama in it (Marshall’s Dad, Barney’s Proposal). Barney is also a far better character on his own than all of the Friends characters put together, legen-dary in fact.

 

[TM Riddle]

Barney was most def a legen-dary character till they decided to introduce the stupid Robin romance arc which ruined a perfectly good storyline.
The show only regressed afterwards.

 

[JaDed]

Not everyshow has to be smart, although HIMYM was very well written in terms of episodes, also majority of the population is working in stressed environment.
With desis I think it's coz of American Dream during college years, they like such shows.

You cannot expect OFFICE level of humor, that's a diff kind.I find that people who like Office, Parks and rec,Arrested development usually have a dislike for comedy shows with laugh track.

I know many to whom the laugh track is annoying and they don't even try such shows.

I used to like everybody loves Raymond a lot,even Seinfeld and have watched few seasons of Cheers they are good in their own way.

 

[Bilal_103]

Watched neither crew.

Same

 

[Itachi]

Because of emotions. There are lots of comedy shows around but these two stands out for specific reasons.

The character development. This is perhaps the biggest trouble that a sitcom faces when it runs long seasons. You can't change the uniqueness that the character brings but you have to evolve them centering that uniqueness. Very few sitcoms were successful in doing it. And both these shows did it to perfection.

Imperfections. In each of these sitcoms, every character has their own flaws and that's what keep them close to reality. We all have done stupid mistakes in life be it in professional life or relationships. And the events in these shows echos those mistake where the viewers find common aspect in multiple instances.

And last, emotions. In both friends and himym, the situation can get pretty serious even in seconds. Which gives them gravity over mindless comedy sitcoms over others.

Many other shows showed tremendous potential at start. But failed to achieve one or the multiple factors above.

For example, big bang theory was en route to become one of the great sitcoms. But it lost the route as, the character development made the character something which viewers hard to grasp. They lost the uniqueness and hence, viewers started to feel the characters as strangers.

Because both of these shows could stood up these challenges, they are regarded as one of the classic sitcoms of all time.

 

[TM Riddle]

Because of emotions. There are lots of comedy shows around but these two stands out for specific reasons.

The character development. This is perhaps the biggest trouble that a sitcom faces when it runs long seasons. You can't change the uniqueness that the character brings but you have to evolve them centering that uniqueness. Very few sitcoms were successful in doing it. And both these shows did it to perfection.

Imperfections. In each of these sitcoms, every character has their own flaws and that's what keep them close to reality. We all have done stupid mistakes in life be it in professional life or relationships. And the events in these shows echos those mistake where the viewers find common aspect in multiple instances.

And last, emotions. In both friends and himym, the situation can get pretty serious even in seconds. Which gives them gravity over mindless comedy sitcoms over others.

Many other shows showed tremendous potential at start. But failed to achieve one or the multiple factors above.

For example, big bang theory was en route to become one of the great sitcoms. But it lost the route as, the character development made the character something which viewers hard to grasp. They lost the uniqueness and hence, viewers started to feel the characters as strangers.

Because both of these shows could stood up these challenges, they are regarded as one of the classic sitcoms of all time.

Friends I can understand to a smaller degree but there was absolutely zero character development in HIMYM as the seasons progressed. Ted got more annoying and they ruined the only good role of Barney by bringing the romantic angle with Robin.
In fact I see similarities between HIMYM and BBT in that regard. Both started off pretty nicely but soon succumbed to the pressure of their own success. In BBT's case too it was all good till Penny was the only major female character around and the moment they introduced those two other nerd chicks not to mention making Raj more and more metrosexual, the show lost its sheen. Now it's plain garbage similar to the later seasons of HIMYM(don't even get me started on that ending).


This is what bewilders me tbh. There are far better sitcoms out there and yet people(read fangirls) choose to overrate these two average ones.
I agree with aliasad on this one. Things appealing more to the lowest common denominator would always achieve far more success. The rise and popularity of bollywood among millions is testament to that.

 

[Robert]

Found Friends very lightweight, but white girls all loved it.

Never saw the other one.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I never saw HIMYM either. I liked Friends to a point, if it was on I would usually watch it through to the end of the show, because it was quite well made with likeable characters. But it wasn't one of those shows that I liked enough to actually make time for it so I missed a lot of episodes, only seen a few here and there.

 

[hadi123]

I've seen some friends episodes and it's a good show but I don't think it's AMAZING but still decent. Haven't seen a single episode of HIMYM

 

[Rayyman]

Well it's different for me than you guys because characters are very relatable to me, born and raised in NY.

These are my two favorite live-action shows, idk why I just like them a lot. And I've tried to watch others but they're not as good.

 

[dauntless]

friends is quite good and I m watching it for 3rd time.My all time favorite. I watched few episodes but didn't like it that much.

 

[Toony™®]

HIMYM was overated except for Barney's character.

 

[jusarrived]

Friends was very good, but found HIMYM pretty lame. Big bang theory was better imo

 

[shaz619]

HIMYM was a good show, the final season was rubbish though. Watched Friends here and there but never watched it seriously. I suppose they are popular because of how they relate to the casuals so easily.

 

[IgnitedMind]

There is also this misconception that only the serious, complex should be rated highly. I Genuinely believe it is easier to make a film or a TV show with serious story line because the nature of the plot/Genre does half the work in keeping the audience engaged.

Writing funny relatable sitcoms ...making people connect, engage and laugh over period of 240 episodes needs serious talent.

 

[CricketCartoons]

There is also this misconception that only the serious, complex should be rated highly. I Genuinely believe it is easier to make a film or a TV show with serious story line because the nature of the plot/Genre does half the work in keeping the audience engaged.

Writing funny relatable sitcoms ...making people connect, engage and laugh over period of 240 episodes needs serious talent.

Don't know why people who love mediocre and low quality fare crave their choices to be rated highly and want others validation.

 

[Mamoon]

Comedy is not my cup of tea; I don't like to laugh.

Haven't watched either and never will. My brother is obsessed with Friends though, but he doesn't seem to hold HIMYM in high regard.

 

[Pakistanian]

They're relatable. It's about 20 something adults living together in an apartment.

 

[James]

Comedy is not my cup of tea; I don't like to laugh.

Haven't watched either and never will. My brother is obsessed with Friends though, but he doesn't seem to hold HIMYM in high regard.

I don’t like to laugh? Eh?

 

[blackanhyellow]

Well they are both pretty funny and has likeable characters.

HIMYM is a lot funnier, but Friends holds a more nostalgic feel because it came out earlier and was an iconic show for its time.