10 Incredible TV Shows That Everyone Thought Would Be Terrible
3. Friends
After 236 episodes, ten seasons, and 62 Emmy nominations, there is no question Friends had one of the greatest runs in sitcom history. It wasn't just a funny show in its own right - some of the most gut-busting episodes and most iconic moments in television history took place in the confines of Central Perk.
That's why it's bizarre in hindsight that Friends was seen as a smutty, ghastly and anaemic. Sitcoms were a dime a dozen at the time and every one of them seemed to be trying to be the next Seinfeld.
In fact, that was Friends' most common criticism when it aired. Newsday, Detroit Free Press, and The Houston Chronicle described the comedy with the same phrase; "a Seinfeld wannabe".
Other critics like The Plain Dealer stated Friends worked "less successfully on the hanging-out style of Seinfeld". The reception wasn't universally unfavourable but viewers couldn't help placing Friends in Seinfeld's shadow. That's right. Critics complained Seinfeld sucked and then those same critics ridiculed Friends for not being as funny as Seinfeld. You couldn't make it up.
But as Friends became a titan in the world of sitcoms, the critics eventually realised the series was here to stay.