Manic Expression

Self congratulations time!

It was about one year ago that I decided to post my first blog on tgwtg.com. Just for fun I posted the article, never guessing that it would be the first of many.  It has been so much fun being able to discuss the things that I always wanted to discuss in a format where people could actually read and respond to the article. It was nice knowing that some things I liked others did to, maybe even more so in some cases. I came to Manic Expressions six months later thanks to Positive Troll, or Les excuse me, who worked with me after I addressed my initial concerns with the site. Now I am happy to be here because not only is there no audience on tgwtg, but the blog's are a genuine pain in the neck these days. I may start using this exclusviely.

I have accomplished a lot more than I ever thought I would.  My proudest would be the Seinfeld episode guide. True it didn't reach the audience I may have liked but it was still a lot of fun putting that together. I did some cool top 5's, some great holidays articles (many of which will reappear here this holiday season I have no doubt), my series on production companies was a lot of fun, reviews, and probably my favorite thing which was the sitcom face-off's. It was thanks to Moviefan12 for inspirting these from his similar Disney articles and they really took off. Not only was it fun pairing these shows up but it was a great way for me to discuss and analyze my favorite programs. I have at least one more I hope to do before I run out of shows.

Of course not everything was succesful. I did a Worst of Trek series which just fell flat, my articles on sitcom cliche's were kind of boring, and I think my biggest disapointment was the article I did on ER which received 0 commenst. I am not a vain ego person and I understand some blogs get more comments than others, but when not one person comments it kind of feels like I did something wrong. Ah well, it was a risk anyway talking about a drama. And of course my most controverial article was the one where I said (gasp!) I did not love The Muppets. I am going to rewatch it but don't think I will change my mind about that stupid love story.  I have also enjoyed getting to read all the great stuff you all have done in the last year. You all do some really great work and even though I do not always comment I do read the stuff and enjoy it very much.

So what is coming next? Well, I am not sure. The truth is I have run out of things to talk about in regards to sitcoms of the 80's and 90's. That doesn't mean I wont do something new but I really have talked about everything I wanted to talk about there. So I guess I need to decide what  I want to talk about next, which is hard because I don't play video games, read the latest comics, or go to movies very much. I do have some ideas so we will see what happens next. I would like to do the one thing I have not done yet at all. That is collaborate with someone on something.

I want to take this moment to thank everyone who has supported and read my stuff, it has meant a lot to be achnolwedged. I don't want to name names to risk slighting anyone, you know who you are. I leave you know with the first blog I ever wrote. It is a bit crude, but it was the first so it should be crude. I hope you have enjoyed the last 160 blogs and hope you'' stick around to see what comes next. 

Top 5 Worst "Friends" Episodes

I have wanted to do this for a long time, why not now? I have been an avid tv fan for as long as I can remember. I love comic books to, but want to focus on tv. I will bring up comics from time to time though. Why aren't there any tv reviewers on here? I want to change that.

As you probably know, Friends was NBC's mega hit from 1994-2004. It was funny, well written, and smart. The cast is known the world over and I, at least, know all the episodes by name. However, there were a couple episodes which just leave me scratching my head, wondering what the writers were thinking. Did they really think these idead were good? They are not just not funny, but downright creepy.

 Before I begin, let me say this is my first blog so have patience with me.

#5 Episode 168, "The one with Chandler's Dad". The problem with this episode is the B story, about Ross and Rachel driving and getting a ticket. Overall the ep is not bad, but that last scene where Ross flirts with a male cop is bound to make anyone cringe.

#4 Episode 45, "The one with the bullies". In hindsight, this is not that bad an episode. However, when it first came on in 1996 there was something about it which, irked me. The story I am referring to has a couple of bullies giving Chandler and Ross a hard time in Central Perk. The idea of these characters being reduced to nervous grade schoolers just bothered me. And where are their friends, I know there is a scene with Joey saying he will stick up for them but what about Phoebe, or Monica. Imagine Monica defending her bother which upsets Ross, that would have been a better way to go. It's not that bad an ep, this story just bugged me.

#3 Episode 77, "The one with the ballroom dancing". Talk about a no win situation, with most of these the B or C stories make up for the horrible other story. Not in this one, not only do we get this absurd story about the janitor learning to dance with Joey (seriously? I wrote it and I don't believe it) but we get the annoying bank story where Ross and Chandler can't quit the health club and if that isn't enough there's Phoebe lusting after a massage client. Nothing worth tuning in for. 

#2 Episode 206, "The one with phoebe's rats". Oh my god, what were the writers thinking? One of the stories in this episode involve's Phoebe and her rat babies, and worrying about caring for them. Not funny is an understatement. The worst part is that the rest of this episode was really good, there were some genuine laughs. The rats story drags the episode down which is to bad.

#1 Episode 198, "The one with the sharks." When this first came on I had recorded it for some reason, but I hated this episode so much I instantly erased it. Basically what happens is that Monica walks in on Chandler, well, gratifying himself. Chandler turns the channel when she walks in, but Monica believes that he was getting off on the shark show that is on the television. She freaks out about it then at the end of the ep is prepared to turn him on with a shark vidoe. I mean, c'mon! Forget they were friends for years, even if I could believe she was stupid enough to believe Chandler didn't just change the channel why didn't she just ask! I can see how this story started, the writers probably had no idea what to do with it. Well, they went the wrong way.

Well, that's it. Agree, disagree, I can take it. I enjoyed this and hope to do more, if you liked let me know. Gotta go for now.