Cult !
On this page, you will find the TV shows that can be called "Cult". Those shows are over or not, but they all are strongly recognized as major shows for their acting, direction or drama.
Friends
Show created by Marta Kaufman &David Crane
With Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Le Blanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer...
233 episodes in 10 years. A huge, quick & worldwide success for a tv show with a relatively simple pitch : the life of six young people in New York city, three girls & three men. The start point of an adventure that will remain a great success of american Tv of the 90's and early new century.
Marta Kaufman & David Crane, creators of Dream on, one of early 90's big Tv success, are also the creators of Friends, and we can thank them for this simple but inspired idea !
Very quickly, Friends will be all the rage with the american audience. The sitcom is at its height. The incredible success can be explained in various ways.
First of all, the quality of the casting. It was hard to find out the six actors that would really get on well and make it a success. The six young actors were TV actors, playing in ads (Heinz for Matt Le Blanc), unknown to the audience, running from casting to casting and supporting parts to supporting parts in the Hollywood jungle. Surprisingly, the alchemy that will come out will be the engine of the show until the very last season & episode which they chose to end together.
The quality of the dialogues & the direction will be the two the other reasons of the success of Friends. Short lines, high rythm, quality of the texts and situation comedy through looks and gestures, will all give a great dynamism to the show, that will not decrease throughout the 233 episodes.
If the success never vanished over the years, it is also due to the fact that the show was speaking about life of the young adults between 25 and 30 years old, when youth is giving place to adulthood. An echo for a generation.
Characters :
- Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) : Rachel Green is firt her daddy's girl, living in idleness. She then found her high school friends Ross & Monica Geller. She decides to abandon this old life to live "her" life. Sometimes a bit numb but always natural, she will become the fantasy of Ross before falling in his arms for the best love story of the show.
- Monica Geller (Courteney Cox Arquette) : the sister of Ross. Maniac and obsessed with order, ex-fat girl of the high school, now a chef. She was for a time the lover of her parents friend Richard before falling in love for Chandler.
- Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) : the mad woman of the gang. In the moon, natural, honest and crazy, she's also a famous singer & guitar player of the Central Perk café with hits such as Smelly Cat.
- Joey Tribiani (Matt Le Blanc) : Joey is the handsome guy, a bit numb sometimes. Real seducer, real, he's also a comedian struggling to get the role of his life.
- Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) : friend of Ross & Monica in high school. He does not have much success with women but will end up with Monica eventually.
- Ross Geller (David Schwimmer). Brother of Monica, he's the grown up of the gang. Paleontologist and father of a little boy, Ben, from a former marriage (with Carol who became lesbian !). In love with Rachel for years, he will live with her the best love story of the show.
Over the years, a log of guest stars will play in the show : Tom Selleck, Brad Pitt, Elliot Gould,George Clooney, Noah Wyle, Julia Roberts, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis... The last episode was seen by over 50 million people only in the US, a record.
More information on Friends...
How I met your mother
Show created by Carter Bays & Craig Thomas
With Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris, Alysson Hannigan, Bob Saget...
A love story in reverse. This is how the show is being depicted by its own creators. It is indeed a story in reverse, but it's above all the best comic show since Friends. Not yet very known, How I met your mother relates the story of Ted, who decides to explain to his kids how he met their mother back when he was in his late twenties.
While Friends starred unknown actors, How I met your mother stars some TV comedians such as Alysson Hannigan (who had a regular part in Buffy the vampire slayer), Neil Patrick Harris (star of Doogie Howser, M.D.) or Bob Saget (though we never see him, who was the dad in Full House).
The story is based on Carter Bays & Craig Thomas friendship, when they were roommates. This is how Ted (Josh Radnor) is pictured with the couple played by Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alysson Hannigan). Ted fells in love with a girl, Robin (Cobie Smulders) and hangs around with Barney (Neil Patrick Harris), a real seducer.
The mystery is of course to discover who is Ted's future wife and based on this starts point, we see his life with his friends through the years and all their crazy adventures. Very well written, with wit and real fun !
More information on How I met your mother...