If you want to engage a Friends fan in a passionate debate, ask them if Ross and Rachel were on a break, or if Monica and Chandler were better off not together. But if you really want to get under their skin, throw out the audacious claim that the iconic sitcom isn’t even funny. X CEO Elon Musk poured fuel on that fire in one of his recent posts, and while I get that Friends isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (or rather, Central Perk coffee), I’m a little surprised at how many haters there are for a decades-old TV show.
For seemingly no reason at all, Elon Musk decided to get people all riled up with what I would have imagined was an unpopular opinion on one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time (and yes, as a Friends fan myself, I am a little biased in calling it that, but also, it is objectively true). The billionaire posted:
I mean 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/Nc0GKtUbDySeptember 28, 2023
It’s actually not surprising that a man worth hundreds of billions of dollars doesn’t relate to six 20-somethings who are barely scraping by in 1990s New York City. Rachel and Monica’s apartment would actually cost way more than Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox’s characters could afford at an estimated $6,500 a month, but that’s likely pocket change to the SpaceX founder.
Turns out, though, it’s not just billionaires who don’t find Friends funny, as more than 700,000 X users liked the post, and plenty of them weighed in with their own opinions of the show. The comments included:
- Friends is one of the least funny shows out there. Take away the laughing track and the ‘humour’ goes with it – THOMP_edits
- Never got the appeal at the time. Still don’t get it now. – TheCriticalDri2
- Searching high and low, and yet struggling to find someone who genuinely enjoyed ‘Friends’? What does that say about the show’s so-called ‘popularity’? – Michael73561485
- I don’t think anyone actually enjoyed watching Friends – Biscuitsbubble
- Indeed. Friends was boring and pointless. I couldn’t stand watching for more than ten minutes. The overall idea revolved around attempts to come up with half-decent jokes, and the situations presented were entirely uninteresting. – Panterabch
Although I admit to being one of “those” die-hard Friends fans who has seen every episode multiple times, I am not unreasonable, and I agree there are valid arguments to be made about the sitcom, especially when it comes to the series’ lack of diversity. That’s not new, and the cast and crew have even copped to it.
Also, it’s been 29 years since Friends premiered, and comedy has evolved a ton since 1994. I honestly don’t know how I’d feel about it either, if I were to watch it for the first time today. However, to suggest that people who actually enjoyed the sitcom don’t exist is simply ridiculous.
Elon Musk and everyone else are absolutely entitled to their opinion, and obviously if they think Friends isn’t funny, I assume no one’s forcing them to watch it. I would just say that the fact that Musk is even bringing it up, and there is debate over whether or not it’s worth watching — nearly two decades after its final episode aired on NBC — only proves its pop culture relevance.
If you do want to watch (or rewatch) Friends, all 10 seasons are available to stream with a Max subscription.