1 Well, to be fair to the report writer, it wasn't any of those things. But it was popular. Who can say why things succeed on TV? My wife flipped on the syndicated 6:30 pm "Friends" last night. They were replaying the "blackout" episode from Season 1, I think... and wouldn't you know, half the frickin episode was devoted to Ross trying to express to Rachel how he feels about her. For f*ck's sake! The finale was a fitting end to the series because it reached back to all the familiar tropes that made the thing so g-d predictable all along. Frankly, I think that people enjoyed the unoriginal predictability of the thing.... Remember, we're the same idiot public that killed off Sports Night, The Critic, Wonderfalls, Buffalo Bill, My So-Called Life, and how many other shows that were actually good shows.

2 I agree with you completely except for Wonderfalls.

3 I would at Freaks and Geeks, and Ed to the list of great shows we let fall through the cracks. As for Friends, it was a funny, entertaining show for the most part. Predictable? Yes. Groundbreaking? Not really. But something about the chemistry of the characters struck a chord. I'm just glad that I can finally turn on TV and not see some weepy-assed "final season" ad for Friends. The hype was positively nauseating. But anyway...

4 God, I loved My So-Called Life...I also loved Northern Exposure and Picket Fences... *sigh* Where have all the good shows gone?

5 Popular does not mean good. Too often it means lowest common denominator. Friends wasn't especially witty like Frasier, it wasn't groundbreaking, it was warm and fuzzy enough to get some chuckles, but not make the audience think too much. Quality has its devoted audience, but they usually aren't enough to support a show in a 100 channel universerse anymore.

6 oh, my, god, kel...i LOVED "picket fences."