Monday, April 02, 2007

Individual voices

OK, so I keep going on about Friends. But it takes time to re-watch ten seasons! :)

One thing which is a testemony to the subtlety of the show is how each character, without it getting pushed in your face, has his own individual voice.

Good example: Ross (and he is the only one) makes these semi-deliberate, subtle puns...
"You're over me? When were you... under me?"
"Wasn't this supposed to be just a fling? Shouldn't it have been... flung by now?"
"It turns out she [the dying grandma who suddenly woke moved after she'd been pronounced dead) isn't passed. She is... present."

And such things are consistent over ten seasons and lord knows how many writers working at the same time. I don't think I could do that.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

friends, what an absurb show. it sucked. had no comedy whatsoever and as boring as watching grandma knit a sweater. enough. please on move on eo.
please............................

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

OK, Anonymous (what's your name?) what comedies do you like?

Anonymous said...

Life's circumstances kept me busy when "Friends" started, so I didn't follow the series. However, there are some excellent classics I loved:
- The Cosby Show. I wish it were still running!
- Mork and Mindy. Anything with Robin Williams for that fact. His non-comedies are less "funny", but of great quality.
- Basically, anybody with decent talent and who puts being entertaining before being admired. This is the key to success.

I read that unlike their personas in the series, the actors in Friends kept trying to steal the spotlight from each other, to be "the Number one star" of the show. Big mistake. A funny team is funny because they have fun as a team, together. Solo talents may be unable to work in a duo or team, depending on their partners.

Compatibility, and some associations, are paramount to a team's success. A good example is the Laurel & Hardy duo. Before they met, they were nobodies. And they understood it well, because they never broke up. Best friends for life, in real life.

P.S.: Anon, if you knew how my grandma does needlework, you'd think twice before mentioning this activity as an example of boring. :-)
(Granted, she does get some help from the cat...)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"I read that unlike their personas in the series, the actors in Friends kept trying to steal the spotlight from each other, to be "the Number one star" of the show."

I really doubt that. It couldn't have worked as well as it did, and I have not seen any evidence of it from all I've read and seen.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I hope you're right, Eolake. One can read just about anything (and the opposite) about celebrities, anyway. Not all can be believed.
Plus, in the end, what does it matter? An actor is a professional illusion on a screen. Usually a talented illusion. An impersonator, a pretender, a chameleon, a grown-up who plays make-believe. Nobody's perfect. For most of them, I know I'll never meet them in person, so I can just appreciate their acting. Elvis was a drug addict, but nevertheless, boy could he sing!
(Of course, when celebs run for political office like Reagan, Schwarzenegger, or La Cicciolina, it becomes a whole different matter. And knowing they are not their roles will help me, I believe, to vote more objectively.)