Yuku free message boards

I'm pretty sure I'll receive shit for this one, but . .

17b. Recess

Recess is a show about a group of six fourth graders and their adventures on the elementary school playground. It is 100% oriented towards kids (in contrast to the Powerpuff Girls, which had occasional elements that only adults would pick up on), but to be fair, I still find it pretty funny I still see it on when I work and it is basically the only show from my childhood that I will actively sit down and watch when I come across it. In fact, when it doescome on at work, I find myself thoroughly distracted from my serving tables. It was really from a different era of my life than Rugrats was, so I decided to just give them a tie.

As I mentioned earlier, the show is about six friends, but each is very different (and fits a particular stereotype). TJ is the leader/cool kid, Vince was the jock, Spinelli was the tomboy, Gretchen was the brain, Mikey was the sensitive fatty, and Gus was the wimp (though that does him no justice). The six characters were all really different, but were really tight knit friends. The show was mostly about how they spent their daily recesses (duh).

The coolest aspect of the show was the way that the playground was set up. It was modeled like a kingdom in fact there actually was a character named King Bob (a mighty sixth grader). There were a huge amount of secondary characters, ranging from the Diggers (guys who spend all their recess digging holes), the Ashleys (a clique of bitchy girls), the kindergarteners (who are portrayed as a crazy prehistoric tribe). There were also other noteworthy people such as the Upside Down girl, Swinger Girl, Randall the tattle tale, and probably at least 15-20 others that were somewhat recognizable.

The teachers were also quote funny, and often were the butt of the jokes. Principle Prickley and Miriam Finster were the mean authority figures that were constantly outwitted by the gang (especially TJ). All the more likable adults in the show let their inner-child come out from time to time. The overall message of the show was to let kids be kids.

The plot of the shows (which were also set up in the dual 10 minute episode format) were really relevant to things I remember from my child hood. They ranged from being the only one to have not seen a movie out of all of your friends, to dealing with the dilemma of being a cool kid and finding out you have a geeky older brother/sister, to having a first crush etc.

The messages that it sends out for kids are actually quite solid. They were almost always about embracing differences and playing nice. And it is probably one of the first Disney related programs that had strong female characters.

Again, it had good animation and sound, but nothing too groundbreaking. It wasn't as successful as Rugrats, but it still achieved some recognition for its amazingness.

This show (and Rugrats for that matter) do not end up higher on the list because they are kids shows, so there is a limited amount of depth that they are able to achieve. I just can't justify putting them above some of the masterpieces located above it. They were definitely the best kids shows I remember watching though.

Honorable Mention:

How I Met Your Mother

I was gonna put this show on the list, but I never really continued watching it after the first five episodes or so. Now I've just kind of lost interest because of another entry further up on this list. I have to give it something though because it was quite funny.

Spot # 15 goes to

.

.

.

..

...

Friends!

Friends is arguably one of the most successful shows to air that I've ever really watched. Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Phoebe and Joey lit up millions of television screens every week with a pretty damn funny dynamic. The show lasted for 10 seasons and made its actors really successful... movie star, a-list celebrity type successful. Well, except for Matt LeBlanc, but lets not think about his spinoff that shall not be mentioned in this thread.

The show tracked six friends as they progressed through their mid-twenties to thirties with each other in New York . They were a pretty dynamic group, and the characters were very well developed but the key element to the show is that the characters were likable(by sitcom standards). I honestly believed they were friends, which is hard to pull off in a show (there aren't many sitcoms that successfully pulled off a friend-based dynamic)

When you consider the entire running length of the show, it is pretty consistent. The show started off strong, but in my opinion it picks up after the second season. In its glory days (seasons 3-7), the show was fucking hilarious. We'll save seasons 8-10 for later...

By far the best part of the show was the ensemble cast. They worked really well with eachother. Sometimes a guest star would come on the show, but they never seemed to steal the show the main characters too much (except Bruce Willis and Janice).

It was also insanely well received. I don't even want to start listing what awards it won, but it probably tops most (if not all) shows on this list.

As a random side note it was very culturally influential. Jennifer Anniston introduced 'The Rachel' (a hairstyle) to the world and it was incredibly well received. Also, I believe it was very nineties-like to say 'How you doin'?'.

Friends is a show with a heavy list of pros and but an equally heavy list of cons - in fact I almost didn't put it on the list until last minute when I decided to the write up.I will just rant for a minute about the show:

Rachel? Joey? Together!? WTF? That was the dumbest fucking thing ever. Everyone knew that it was never going to happen. They had no chemistry. Also, why the FUCK did they decide to make Monica such a bitch the SECOND she got married? Seriously, the shit she put Chandler through . . . Even Ross was despicable in the end. I mean if you like Rachel so much then either get her back or move the hell on. Don't try to fucking ruin every relationship she's in. And Rachel was such a whiny manipulative bitch! I guess Phoebe was OK, but I really didn't think Mike was all that special. And Joey just couldn't decide to finish his career on television when everyone else did . . . not to mention Jen's bullshit with Brad . . . how the fuck did these people minus Mathew Perry fall from grace!?!?!?!??

OK so I guess I am being a bit harsh, but the biggest reason that I have trouble rating Friends any higher pertain mainly to the later seasons of the show. I hated Friends when it got dramatic. Rachel and Monica were such a whiny bitches. And Ross and Chandler were just so dumb at times. It was just aggravating and I did not want to see it. Unfortunately, IMO the last three seasons were drama packed.

Ummm, I really don't have much more to say about it than that. The end left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, but I still really do enjoy it when it comes on. I can't help but shake the feeling that the last few seasons are probably better than I remember them being (kind of like Survivor: Guatemala). In retrospect, I can't believe I almost didn't put it on the list.