TV Land Goes Dark for \'Friends\' Finale

TV Land Goes Dark for \'Friends\' Finale
Posted by davepeck on 22 Apr, 2004 07:11
From Zap2it.com -

Quote
It\'s not like the final episode of "Friends" will need much help in the ratings, but cable\'s TV Land is planning to shut down when the show says goodbye on Thursday, May 6.

Rather than air its regular classic-TV slate that night, TV Land will devote the hours prior to the finale to pre-"Friends" appearances by the six principal cast members on other shows. The network will then go dark from 9 to 10 p.m. ET, when the finale airs.

Or rather, viewers will see a group of TV Land staffers gathered around a TV set. Someone will look up from time to time to remind the audience to flip over to NBC.

"The end of \'Friends\' is the end of an era in television history, TV Land president Larry W. Jones says in a statement. "\'Friends\' has proven itself to be a modern classic, and TV Land wants to be sure no viewers accidentally miss this historic event."

(Hell if they do, they can go buy the DVD the following Tuesday)

TV Land did something similar for the final episode of "Seinfeld" in 1998.

Surprisingly, no corporate synergy is in play here. TV Land is part of the Viacom-owned MTV Networks family, while "Friends" airs on GE-owned NBC and is produced by Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner.

"Before They Were Friends" retrospective will air on TV Land from 6 to 9 p.m. ET May 6.
It will feature each cast member in another series:
Lisa Kudrow on "Cheers"
Matt LeBlanc on "Just the Ten of Us"
Jennifer Aniston on "Ferris Bueller"
David Schwimmer on "The Wonder Years"
Matthew Perry on "Who\'s the Boss?"
Courteney Cox on "Family Ties"

#1 Reply
Posted by obsession600 on 22 Apr, 2004 10:00
I don\'t think I ever saw a complete episode of Friends.

#2 Reply
Posted by FrankZappa on 22 Apr, 2004 12:26
i\'m with you on that one. the closest I ever came to watching friends was when I couldnt find the remote right after the simpsons ended in the afternoon. I just dont think its funny.

#3 Reply
Posted by davepeck on 22 Apr, 2004 12:46
it\'s a good show. i used to never watch it. for years i was very anti-friends, and wouldn\'t even give it a chance. but when they started coming out on dvd, i picked up the 1st season and got hooked. blew through the 1st season in about a week, and have picked up the next 6 on their respective release days.. not sure i\'d call it legendary, but it\'s a damn good show.

i still haven\'t watched it on thursday nights though, and won\'t be watching the finale... gotta go in order.

#4 Reply
Posted by Drew_Kingsley on 22 Apr, 2004 14:24
Whenever I end up watching "Friends" (not often), I get caught off-guard with the humor. I find myself bored with the plot, but the humor itself is fine by me.

#5 Reply
Posted by Mark on 23 Apr, 2004 11:57
Personally I can\'t stand comedy shows that rely primarily on sex jokes to get a laugh, which is true for most sitcoms today. This shows a clear lack of true creativity. For a good laugh, I say stick with the classics: Honeymooners, Odd Couple, I Love Lucy, Three Stoooges, Monty Python, Green Acres, Flintstones, Simpsons, Bugs and Daffy. The best part is, for the most part, I can watch these with my kids and not feel uncomfortable about the humor!

#6 Reply
Posted by oldnewbie on 23 Apr, 2004 12:06
i love this show....i don\'t watch on thursdays hardly at all but i watch it all the time in syndication

#7 Reply
Posted by obsession600 on 24 Apr, 2004 13:38
News Radio was a great show that should have lasted as long as Friends. Phil Hartman\'s wife ruined that though. The world would be a much better place if Phil was still around.

#8 Reply
Posted by jocelyn on 26 Apr, 2004 11:45
I would probably really like Friends if it had a least one charismatic, interesting character.....

#9 Reply
Posted by Stephengencs on 26 Apr, 2004 12:10
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Originally posted by jocelyn
I would probably really like Friends if it had a least one charismatic, interesting character.....

WORD TO THAT JOC........
and that is not asking much for a **** TV show....that is supposed to be so legendary......

#10 Reply
Posted by ChrisPitch on 26 Apr, 2004 12:45
I\'ve watched facelift surgeries that had more laughs than the best episode of Friends.

#11 Reply
Posted by leith on 26 Apr, 2004 14:24
Wow! No love. I actually find friends to be hilarious. I find the relationships between the cast to be real and thus the give and take is that much funnier.(It\'s funny because it\'s true). The type of "nothing" humor i love so much is prevalent in every epi. As for charismatic characters, how much more charismatic can u get than Rachel Green? Jennifer Aniston has done a tremendous job w/ this character. Bringing her from a whining little rich girl to the self realized working mom she is now. I could go on w/ the same rich character development w/ each cast member but I doubt it would change any minds on this thread. Friends will be remembered as a classic by my generation. Believe It!

#12 Reply
Posted by leith on 26 Apr, 2004 14:25
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Originally posted by obsession600
News Radio was a great show that should have lasted as long as Friends. Phil Hartman\'s wife ruined that though. The world would be a much better place if Phil was still around.

Truer words have never been written.

#13 Reply
Posted by freddiewaht on 26 Apr, 2004 14:34
leith,are you ser???you cant possibly love friends..me personally,i prefer frasier,but i thinkl comedy like that maybe be a bit to sophisticated for your kind!!

#14 Reply
Posted by leith on 26 Apr, 2004 14:48
Fraiser up until season 5 was a riot. Then it went to ****. Besides how much of that character can one take. I had enough with Cheers. Cheers now that was some funny stuff. Man when we had Cheers and Seinfeld....