Topic: What Rogmeister's Been Watching

[Rogmeister]

Okay, I'm copying a page out of Pete's book...just listing and writing briefly about some stuff I'm watching that won't be full reviews.  If I take the time to watch a full movie, I'll probably do a regular review of it (unless there's already been 2-3 reviews for that film done) so this will be mostly TV stuff.  Last night, for instance, I decided to watch "Friends" from the beginning...and I even thought of doing an episode-by-episode marathon of it, writing all the way but wondered if I wanted to commit to 10 full seasons (over 200 episodes) and unlike some people, I rarely watch more than 2-4 episodes of a series at a time.  So I've decided in this case to make it lite reviews...maybe I will wind up watching every Friends show but now I don't feel so daunted by that possibility.   



From Friends: The Complete First Season

Episodes watched last night: "The Pilot" and "The One With The Sonogram At The End".

My Thoughts: I don't feel I need to do too much set-up...everyone knows "Friends", right?  It was a sitcom that lasted a full decade telling us the romances and escapades of brothers Monica & Ross Gellar, Chandler Bing, Joey Tribiani, Phoebe Buffay and Rachel Green.  The first episode has five of the six gathered (as usual) at Central Perk when an old friend of Monica's, Rachel, comes in wearing a wedding gown.  She has run out on her wedding and winds up as Monica's new roommate and (at first) becomes a waitress at Central Perk.  There's more back story which we'll find out about in future episodes.

One thing that's a bit surprising when you go back to these earlier episodes is how thin everyone was, especially Joey.  He was a nice-looking slender Italian...he would beef up a bit in later episodes.  You wonder how a starving actor could look so well fed...lucky for him he lives across the hall from Monica who is a chef.  In the second episode, we meet Barry (the groom who Rachel ran out on) and Carol, Ross' ex-wife who left him because she decided she was a lesbian.  In later episodes, Carol would be played by Jane Sibbett, but a different actress plays her in this early episode.  Everyone is pretty well defined in these early episodes...flighty Phoebe, wise-cracking Chandler, woman-crazy Joey, etc.  I've seen every episode multiple times but it's still a show I enjoy seeing again whenever I have the opportunity.  I always preferred this to NBC's other hot comedy of the time, Seinfeld...and the main reason is that, unlike the Seinfeld cast, the characters here were imminently likable.  Heck, I wouldn't mind if they were my friends.

[addicted2dvd]

I always liked Friends... and also considered a marathon at times. But like you... never felt I could really commit myself to the whole 10 seasons. I used to be able to do such a thing with no problem what so ever... but in the last year or so I been wanting to jump around from series to series more.

[Rogmeister]

I continued watching this set of Friends tonight...

The One With The Thumb--A lot of little things going on in this episode...Monica's new beau Alan (who everyone loves) might be considered the main storyline....Chandler starts smoking again, and Phoebe gets a soda with a human thumb in it..."...and on the way over here, I stepped in gum.  What is up with the universe?"  I noticed Gunther in the background at Central Perk but at this point, I don't think he's gotten any lines yet.

The One With George StephanopoulosRachel gets her first paycheck which prompts this funny line..."Who's Fica?  And why's he gettin' all my money?"  The girls get together for a pizza party while the guys go to a hockey game where Ross gets injured when a flying puck hits him in the face.

At this point in the series, nothing too serious is going on...it's basically a few small events with a lot of sharp witty dialogue going back and forth.  I think I started watching this show because of Courtney Cox...but the quality of the show kept me tuning in.

[Rogmeister]

I just finished watching the first disc of the first season of Friends...

The One With The East German Laundry Detergent--In this one, we see how the friends pair off and spend an evening.  Ross and Rachel do laundry together in which Ross brings the title object..."It's Uberweiss!  It's German, it's extra tough..."  This is the episode where Ross and Rachel share their first kiss, after which Ross immediately hits his head on a dryer door.  Another first...we meet Janice, Chandler's shrill-voiced on and off-again girlfriend.  Here he breaks up with her right after she gives him Bullwinkle socks.  What, is he mad?  A fun episode.

The One With The Butt--In this episode, we get to see Joey at work...first we see him in a play, a musical about Freud...hey, Joey has the lead role...and he sings!  Then we get to meet Joey's new agent Estelle.  Joey gets a part in an Al Pacino movie...he gets to be his butt double!  Chandler meets a stunning  young woman at the play...the only problem is she's married...and has a boyfriend.  But she and Chandler start going out anyway!  Oh yes, Joey gets fired because his butt overacts...we also get a  look at how compulsive Monica is.  Yes, all the friends have some weird quirk or another...

[DJ Doena]

I just finished watching the first disc of the first season of Friends...

The One With The East German Laundry Detergent

ÜBER-WEISS

[Achim]

I just finished watching the first disc of the first season of Friends...

The One With The East German Laundry Detergent

ÜBER-WEISS

´
Somehow that reminds me of the story German comdian Otto used to tell, from the time he picked up his white laundry from the cleaning service. He thought it was unfortunate, as it was colorful when he brought it there.

[Rogmeister]

Friends: The Complete First Season (Continued)

The One With The Blackout--The city has a blackout...during which Chandler is stranded inside an ATM vestibule with model Jill Goodacre while the others are at Monica and Rachel's apartment.  We meet Paolo in this episode...which is actually not one of my real favorite episodes.

The One Where Nana Dies Twice--Ross and Monica's grandmother passes away...and a woman co-worker of Chandler's mistakes him for being gay.  Elinor Donohue guest-stars.  Another okay but not great episode.

The One Where Underdog Gets Away--Now this o ne I like better than the previous two...it's the first of several Thanksgiving Day episodes.  It's also the first appearance of Jane Sibbett as Ross' ex-wife Carol.  I like the moment where Ross goes to her apartment...she's not there but her lesbian life partner Susan is.  Ross notices a row of books and comments "Wow, you sure got a lot of books about being a lesbian..." to which Susan replies "Well, you have to take a course...otherwise they don't let you do it."  Ross returns later and his singing to the baby in Carol's tummy causes the baby to kick for the first time (while he's singing the theme to The Monkees, though making up new words).  The rest get locked out accidentally while dinner is cooking...Monica was making 3 kinds of potatoes for everyone so she exclaims "Potatoes are ruined, potatoes are ruined, potatoes are ruined!"  They wind up having grilled cheese sandwiches for Thanksgiving! 

[Rogmeister]

So far, my Friends watching has been late...at 11pm or later.  But tonight my baseball team (who I usually watch lose) is off so I got some Friends watching in early for a change...

The One With The Monkey--Ross becomes the first "Friend" to get a pet...a monkey he names Marcel.  This is a New Year's Eve episode and we get to see Janice again.

The One With Mrs. Bing--Here we meet Chandler's mother, a write played by Morgan Fairchild...who shares a kiss with Ross.

The One With The Dozen Lasagnas--It's bye-bye Paolo after he makes a pass at Phoebe during a massage.

Some decent episodes but I might not put any of these on "The Best of Friends"... 

[Rogmeister]

The Directors: Lawrence Kasdan

This was a series produced by AFI during the 1990s (I'm not sure if it's still being made or not) that I seem to recall seeing on Encore sometimes back when I still got that channel.  I eventually bought 10 different volumes, each one a 1-hour show devoted to a different director.  They only cover current directors so you won't find ones on John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock or George Cukor.  I thought 10 would be a good number to have so I got ones on directors I especially liked, including Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard.

Tonight I decided to watch the one on Lawrence Kasdan because his "Silverado" is probably my favorite western since John Wayne passed away.  I also have Wyatt Earp on hand but haven't watched that yet...and I have seen some of Kasdan's other films including The Big Chill.  Here you have bits of scenes plus interviews with Kasdan and stars he's worked with.  As I recall, Kasdan's last effort at directing was actually about 5 or 6 years ago.  Will he ever direct again?  One can only hope.  But I enjoyed this look at his work.