Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

ross isn't really a sociopath he is just quite typical of the male romantic hero of the 90s - mopey, jealous, sad-case dickhead. it's instructive to remember that while the cast of friends are gen x the creators and writers were more baby boomer, and the social mores and attitudes really reflect that (not that gen x didn't also have a similar tolerance for awfulness in their romantic heroes - see ethan hawke in anything).

Ross was definitely being written as a non-hero and terrible person by the second half of the series, it's just that his friends and family couldn't quietly and slowly ostracise him as they might in real life bcz the actor was still one of six leads

dude pursued and dated one of his underage students

I was just gonna say, I hate Chuck Lorre and think 2 and a half men and Big Bang are the worst things in the world...but I always thought Dharma and Greg was decent.

hard disagree

Xps to yerac: I’m from nz and used to get ppl yelling BRITT! BRITT! at me (it was the hey day of flight of the conchords) - at that point I hadn’t even seen the show.

My neighbor's 16 year old daughter carved the Friends logo into a pumpkin for Halloween, and she and her crew dressed up as the characters from the show. Separately another friend's daughter had a big banner made up for their 16th birthday in Friends logo font that spelled out "The one where X turns 16".

It's fucking weird, I never really watched it and had sort of forgot about it and had no idea kids these days etc.

My gf's niece is on the same trip (somewhat recently binged the series, had some hs graduation thing similarly themed 'The One Where...'). I guess it's weird but then I guess it's also like that thing where I was thrilled to inherit my mom's Monkees records ca. '87.

i was finding the zoomer love for the office kind of weird recently until i remember i love the show cheers which started 2 years before i was born and ended when i was 8

This looks terrifying:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1JdWOqc9Q8

so many people my age love cheers xp

and i assume i would too

cheers has a lot of timeless elements, like talking to people at a bar

the sexual politics of cheers are pretty of their time. like my woke gf won't watch it with me

but there's a lot to love about it (i kind of get off the bus after diane leaves)

that's maybe fair? I feel like a lot of the interactions would play out differently in 2019 and the different aspects of feminism you get from Diane/Lilith/Rebecca have modern analogues but the portrayals and outcomes would have to play differently

early seasons Sam's a womanizer of the type that doesn't play well in that there are occasional "women are crazy" tropes when obviously he's treated women badly or led them on only to ghost

Norm's boilerplate wife jokes are buffered by the fact that he obviously really loves her and doesn't really take it when other people say things about her, iirc

yeah lots of:

Sam: women are crazy, Diane.
Diane: You're a pig, Sam Malone!

Friends debuted 25 years ago. When Friends debuted, The Brady Bunch had debuted 25 years before.

The Brady Bunch was similarly a "thing" with my generation I guess.

yeah Norm's zings on Vera are a performative mask for self-loathing

and Sam's sluttiness was played as a non-positive more often than not

the sexual politics of cheers are pretty of their time. like my woke gf won't watch it with me

hard disagree. it's remarkably progressive for 1983.

"progressive for 1983" is still timely

(Sam's ability at conquest is only acclaimed as admirable by a) unfuckable losers who say in as many words that they do so because they're living vicariously through him, and b) Carla, who is universally sex-positive, but also lives vicariously because the expresssion of her own positivity has been drastically curtailed by her extreme fecundity)

shhh y'all are making me want to get into cheers

sic otm

the most problematic aspect of it is Sam and Diane's relationship, and on last viewing I thought the way that played out was actually better than I had remembered it. See the Cheers poll thread I guess.

Brad, do it!

I remember Cheers being soooo good but I haven't seen an episode in over 1-2 decades.

for ex., in the *third* episode of the show there's a subplot about a patron who's confused about what to do about his son's interracial relationship which also turns out to be a homosexual one (this reveal is played as a joke on Coach, who is of course initially confused). But the way its resolved is with the dad spontaneously coming to the conclusion that he must accept his son as he is because he loves him and wants him in his life. This is not how the vast majority of other 80s sitcoms would have handled that setup.

plus it's funny! The writing is filled with tons of great throwaway lines/gags

I just read that Frasier doesn't show up until season three and comes on the show as Diane's love interest, which I guess checks out but I swear I remember him as a recurring guest before then. I'm probably just remembering episodes out of order!

i think he isn't initially diane's fiance but they get together shortly after he appears? definitely doesn't show up til season 3

it's weird that I liked Frasier on Cheers but I really did not like the show Frasier.

initially diane's fiance but they get together shortly after he appears

Frasier debuts as Sam's therapist!

the show Frasier is garbage also fwiw

Shakey offtm, but it's no Cheers

Frasier is a different genre of sitcom, it's a definite shift into the '90s upper-class urbanites style and away from the working-class of Cheers, which was more in the vein of Taxi and WKRP et al in that regard. It's still good imo.

Frasier had some good characters but all of the running plot devices wore thin really quickly, imo

we get it, Frasier's brother has the hots for their dad's therapist but he's married, whatever

when did they add cheers to netflix and what other older sitcoms are available? taxi? bewitched? the andy griffith show??

(just checked - no, no, surprisingly yes)

the entirety of Cheers has been on Netflix for several years

taxi is streaming on hulu btw

in the *third* episode of the show there's a subplot about a patron who's confused about what to do about his son's interracial relationship which also turns out to be a homosexual one

Third episode on DVD, second episode aired! It took all the way until the 16th episode (aired Jan 27 1983) before they did one about gay athletes coming out and mocking homophobia

is that the "Cheers is turning into a gay bar!" episode? Cuz that one's also surprisingly great.

yah, titled The Boys In The Bar. time capsule: Norm is terrified that if Sam allows homos in, the bar might get ferns next.

tbf in that episode the joke(s) are all on the homophobes

time capsule: Norm is terrified that if Sam allows homos in, the bar might get ferns next.

― quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, June 27, 2019 2:25 PM (five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol tho

watch a bunch of S1 and meet us in the Cheers thread Brad!

Frasier had some good characters but all of the running plot devices wore thin really quickly, imo

we get it, Frasier's brother has the hots for their dad's therapist but he's married, whatever

Frasier is built on a farce engine, so while a lot of its lols are built on putting characters who don't change into situations where we can predict their base reaction, it's not like other US '90s sitcoms where it's just maneuvering them to say their catchphrases each week. The individual gags and verbal zings are going to be bespoke each time, and much of the pleasure comes in admiring the plotting that moves the ppl into positions of embarrassment or hubris or getting caught fucking or w/e

I started casually watching Cheers from the start a while back and remember being impressed with how much of a non-bro Sam was. Which probably can be chalked up at least in part to Danson, who's always seemed like a mensch.

yeah, mostly. there was that whole blackface thing...

(which tbf did NOT occur on Cheers, just fyi Brad)

ha, just like, don't wait for the sam malone dating whoopi goldberg episode.

anyway fwiw Best CHEERS character