Friends with Better Lives (2014) User Reviews

why is this show cancelled?

[kgrant42509 · 7/10 · 2 July 2014]

Given it wasn't the best show in the world, I actually found it to be really funny and looked forward to watching it every week. I just went to On Demand and noticed it was gone which led me to find out that the show was cancelled.

I hope CBS reconsiders their decision to cancel this show. Especially after reading other's reviews, it looks as if no one agrees with the cancellation. please do NOT cancel!! I need to finish watching the other episodes! And I'd like for there to be more!

I don't usually like sitcoms but I actually liked this one and got hooked. I am very upset to hear I won't be seeing this show again. Very upset... boo you CBS. I wish there was some way to get in touch with someone about this haha.

Don't compare & you'll love it.

[vj_dustin · 8/10 · 3 April 2014]

I have a problem with the way this show was advertised. "Makers of Friends" and an ad which had all the FRIENDS tag lines. They should have promoted it for what it is, and the rating wouldn't be this low.

I for one knew better and didn't compare FWBL to anything. And I enjoyed it. The casting is fine for me except for the engaged guy. I already know Kevin from one of my all time favorites Entourage. Not sure about Majandra, Brooklyn is most probably for the wow factor of the show. But Zoe Lister, you'll just love her cynic role.

It is just one of those sitcoms where the story is about the life of a group of friends, but no matter how many times we've seen this story (HIMYM, Friends, TBBT), we can never get enough. I for one, connect best with Zoe.

Overall, I'll definitely follow this show and see how it turns out. And you too should give it a chance. It's not FRIENDS Part 2, it's a NEW SHOW! 9/10

So far, so good!

[chip_cristian · 6/10 · 3 April 2014]

Not too much to say about it but it was damn funny. This is NOT HIMYM, Friends or Seinfeld. It's all in one and it's really funny. I laughed all the time during the first episode. I hope they go on and keep up the pace. Besides Friends, Seinfeld or any other classic like Cheers, I haven't seen a great sitcom from start to finish, from season 1 to season 9-10-11. HIMYM broke down at season 4, The Big Bang theory at season 3, Go On is canceled, The crazy ones is not even funny enough, and the examples just go on. Hope this is it. I has funny characters and great potential. Try not to compare it with anything else and take it as it is.

Don't cancel the show please

[glsimpson19 · 10/10 · 12 May 2014]

I love this show. Why are they canceling it? The cast is made up of funny and great actors. I love this show. :( CBS has lots of shows I can't stand. Cancel some of those reality shows instead. We live reality. I want to watch funny. Cancel one of those. I'm so sad. James Van Der Beck and Kevin Connolly are a great combination. And I love the control freak chick that goes to strip clubs and doesn't care what people think. I'm so sad. Don't cancel... I've never seen James Van Der Beck play such an innocent guy part. Well not since Dawson's Creek. They have him a newly single Dr that doesn't know how to date. And Kevin Connolly is a doll.

One of the best new shows that got canceled!

[motdranwod · 13 November 2014]

I loved this show. It had everything! So it was canceled right away. Seriously, all you have to do to be a TV executive is be tall. No brains needed. This bunch would cancel Supernatural, Friends, and Sinfield in the past if they were allowed to. I really liked the snooty single girl who typified the California woman of today.FWBL had smart dialog, believable relevant plot, and addressed adult situations. It wasn't about teenagers that acted like grown ups, but about grownups. I was hoping for the next season to be even better! I hate to start watching a series anymore. Because the same suits that canceled Firefly might not have anything to do that day. Seriously, I can't believe this one got canceled. Cancel a reality show with giant butted women....please!

Great Character Dynamics, Yet Ruined By a Laugh Track

[emilyeansor · 6/10 · 12 May 2014]

I stumbled upon Friends with Better Lives accidentally one night while my Netflix was not working and instantly fell in love. The character dynamics are phenomenal and the sense of humour is on point with the emerging adult generation. The show tends to get away with saying and showing things that are not often found on network television, which is off-putting in the best way. Pop culture references, such as The Good Wife and Fruit Roll-Ups filled me with joy. However, a lot of the jokes and scenes are actually lessened by the featured laugh track. While writers and producers probably assume that the laugh track would intensify the humour, it did the opposite, which is quite disappointing.

All in all, I love this show, and it's very disappointing to find out it was cancelled after just 5 episodes.

A Good Program based on the first two episodes.

[deepaknow · 10/10 · 18 April 2014]

I have watched the fist two episodes and enjoyed. There is a lot of humor and funny sex jokes. Even the hamburger orgasm was funny. This is somewhat like Friends and yet totally different. I find this a lot funnier than HIMYM or The Crazy Ones. This and 2 Broke Girls make my day. Hopefully, this interesting pacing will continue in the coming episodes. It's a great program for some laughs and even sexual humor. Let us give it a chance, maybe the writers will come up with more character developments and substance in the coming episodes. I have watched James Van Der Beek on Don't trust the Bitch and this one is way better and funnier. All the other characters give a good performance and make this program interesting.

Good cast and good possibilities

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 10 May 2014]

Bobby (Kevin Connolly) and Andi (Majandra Delfino) are the comfortable couple with the baby. Kate (Zoe Lister Jones) is the hopelessly single girl. Jules (Brooklyn Decker) is hot and quickly gets engaged to healthy eatery owner Lowell (Rick Donald). Will (James Van Der Beek) is just getting a divorce not used to the single life.

The cast is mostly good. I love ZLJ's single girl persona. I like Connolly in Entourage. I haven't seen Majandra since long ago on Roswell. I like them together although I think they could be more inappropriate. Brooklyn Decker is surprisingly good for a model-turn-actor. Rick Donald is odd and doesn't seem to fit. He's the squeaky wheel. And James Van Der Beek is James Van Der Beek.

The Friends comparison is very unfortunate. It's probably a death nail for the show. The title is horribly clunky. It's suppose to mean that everybody thinks their friends have better lives. I don't know why that's funny. And that's not really what's going on in the show. It got canceled 5 episodes in and really didn't have much of a chance.

Like it hope it's a keeper

[shelley-969-374081 · 8/10 · 22 April 2014]

My boyfriend and I were sitting watching the premiere after the finale of HIMYM and always go into new shows with eyes open since you never know. We ended up liking it and laughing the whole time. You have your newly single divorced guy who is living with his best friend who he also works with. Who is also married with one child and another on the way. Then there is your super single girl who has dry sarcasm and pretty much a great outlook on the tough world of dating. (and she helps the newly divorced James Van Der Beek meet women) Then there is your typical newly engaged couple that have only known each other for a few weeks of actual dating. Kevin Connelly is great, he has had some good one-liners the last few episodes and also my boyfriend loved Brooklyn Decker for the eye candy alone and found the vegan episode where she houses the cheeseburger hysterical. This could go either way this season (stay together or break up) We ended up liking it and hope its a CBS keeper for the fall. All in all we hope it stays.

Exceeding My Expectations!

[exphilesphan · 1/10 · 15 April 2014]

When I saw the ads for this show, I though for sure that it was just a cheap Friends knockoff. Well, color me wrong. This show is much. much. much worse than anything I could ever had imagined. Ha, Ha, the single woman has the dirtiest mouth and is the most promiscuous. Ha, Ha, the single guy is a well-educated doofus who lives with his friend. Ha, Ha, all anyone ever talks about is sex. Ha, Ha, they are constantly meeting in the married couple's living room. Ha, ha, there are three men and three women who are constantly taking pot shots at one another. Ha, Ha, none of the shows have any theme, they are just about being as dirty-minded as possible. Ha, Ha, the show has disappeared.

Please Bring This One Back Right Now!

[jennyrowell999 · 9/10 · 5 November 2015]

I wasn't expecting to love this show, but it had everything: Easy to watch, grown-up jokes and content, likable characters with different quirks but believable personalities and most importantly it was both funny and realistic! Another great feature of it was that everybody in their teens to their 40's could relate to at least one or two of the characters and their situation.

So now I've got to the end...and cannot understand why there's no second season. It still has lots of writing promise and even my husband and brother-in-law laughed at the jokes (one of them never even laughed at Friends!) A light-hearted, funny, feel-good, show that wasn't crap. We need more of this. Please bring it back!

Friends With Better Shows

[interstellar8888 · 1/10 · 12 April 2014]

I whole-heartedly disagree with those that term this show adult humor. Most of my friends are educated and are tired of the juvenile, gutter humor that has infested every network comedy. To these writers, comedy means try to be more vulgar than anyone else. Two weeks off the air (which will be soon) and this show will be totally forgotten. The women characters are especially reprehensible. Why any actress would agree to portray women of such low moral character is beyond me. Oh! I get it, it is so they will be considered for the next network piece of trash. I don't know who any of these actors are, except JVB, and I don't suppose I will ever hear of anything they will ever do in the future. This is not comedy, it is tragedy. It's another sign that insults and humiliation have replaced humor in our society. My only advice to the cast of this lowest-level garbage is that they need to be Actors With Better Agents.

Zoe Lister-Jones has this show in the palms of her hands

[professorharoldlloydhill · 1 April 2014]

With it's big ticket item, How I met Your Mother, done with, CBS is going to be scrambling to find its adequate replacement. Cue, "Friends With Better Lives", which aired alongside the aforementioned series finale. This is a show that had a strong pilot, but mostly because it rests on the strengths of one major actress in the ensemble cast. Zoe Lister-Jones (previously a supporting character on the mediocre NBC multi-cam "Whitney") keeps this show in the palm of her hand. Her characterization of Kate, who is a cynical, picky, and single workaholic is the best character on the show. She is so good in fact that the other plots lines, while amusing, seem to be boring in comparison. Majanadra Delfino (capable of scene stealing as evidenced in the short lived ABC Family sitcom "State of Georgia", but unfortunately not showcased as of yet) and Kevin Connolly are a 7 years married couple with a young child who are in a boring rut in their marriage, James Van Der Beek is freshly divorced, and Brooklyn Decker and Rick Donald are a blissfully newly engaged couple. Decker and Donald's storyline is the weakest and most silly, but both bring to it a sweetness that is endearing. Delfino and Connolly have a cute moment at the beginning of the pilot, and then their storyline goes down hill. The tone of the pilot was surprisingly crass. There were many sex jokes, but most made me crack a slight smile. Because of HIMYM ending, FWBL wants to be next the great ensemble comedy (or its network does at least), but here is where it fails. Lister Jones's performance is too strong for it to be anything but her show. The chemistry between the ensemble is flimsy at times. All sitcoms take time to find footing, and a bit of back story will do this show a lot of good.

great cast with adult humor

[omegatrophy · 10/10 · 1 April 2014]

Great cast. I laughed the entire time. Adult humor that had me wanting more. Its a great show and cant wait to see more. Its nice to see real acting instead of reality shows when people cant act. it reminds me of Friends but with a little more adult humor. the different characters played by great actors makes a really good recipe for a long running show. i had the honor of watching this pilot show before it aired with my wife and we both laughed non stop. really enjoyed the writing of the show along with the actors bringing the show to a high standard. having such a group of different characters with different points in their lives makes the show so funny. cant wait for the next show to air.

Beyond The Pilot : Friends With Better Lives

[abhinnkhanna · 10/10 · 5 April 2014]

Beyond The Pilot : Friends With Better Lives The show Friends with Better Lives premiered just after the season finale of How I Met Your Mother. The show revolves around six 30 something friends each of whom think that the other has it better. The show revolves around Bobby and Jules – the married couple with a child, Will – a divorcée, Kate – a single woman who has not been able to find the right person yet and Andi and Lawll who just got engaged.

The pilot of the show showed more of Bobby, Will and Kate than the other cast thus it relied on the comedic timing of Kevin Connolly (Bobby), James Van Der Beek (Will) and Zoe Lister Jones (Kate) and they never missed a beat to entertain us and make us laugh. Kevin Connolly of Entourage fame was spot on in his dialogues and delivered them with excellence. The pilot belonged to Zoe Lister Jones (Kate) who was the highlight of the episode and would be the one person this show could revolve around on. The show needs to have more character development in the next few episodes for us to relate and care for them. Sitcoms do not usually garner a positive response in their pilots because of the sheer disability of the people to understand the characters and jokes. The basic problem with this show was the sky high expectations people had going in to view the pilot which was because of the way it has been marketed - from the makers of Friends and using the tag lines of Friends and How I Met Your Mother which resulted in low ratings. FWBL could overcome the familiar storyline and plot which they are on and could be something special if the group solidifies and strengthens into a strong dynamic. The actors especially Zoe Lister Jones and Van Der Beek certainly have the ability to do that. Watch it as an independent comedy not drawing comparisons to any of the classics and you will not be disappointed. CBS has not been successful with their new shows but FWBL with some excellent writing not going for the obvious jokes and gags could be the next big thing.

Best New Comedy of 2014

[DMan_76 · 9/10 · 28 May 2014]

I know everyone is hating on this show. I am personally not a Van Der Beek fan either. But the truth is that it is a great show. The humor is a little crewed and that is why there a lot negative reviews. Sorry that we are not all Bible thumping Republicans that can't here the word vagina without thinking that the devil is about to get them for watching this on TV. For most of us, we here and see worse than this type of behavior everyday of our lives. But of course this show has already been canceled and will not continue after this season. I guess it's OK that we here this stuff from animation on Family Guy and South Park but not if it comes out of real people's mouths. It's a shame that this show is on CBS and not a more understanding network. This is why me and a lot of other individuals out there are canceling our cable and moving to Netflix and/or Hulu. We are very tired of watching the same old crap all of the time and being dictated to about what type of content we are allowed to watch. But anyway, love the show, hate the critics...

Meh

[she_talks_angels2000 · 2/10 · 3 April 2014]

This feels like they are trying to be too much like HIMYM, or Friends. Didn't really capture my attention at all. The characters are pretty shallow and need more depth.

Needed to be a stand out show if it was going to take the place of HIMYM. It bordered on the last two seasons of HIMYM, which I stopped watching because it seemed like they were struggling for new story lines.

I think maybe with the next few shows if there was more character development they might be able to pull this off, but as of right now I feel it will be a struggle to keep most people interested.

Friends should not let friends watch Friends wit Better Lives

[mhooghuis · 2/10 · 1 February 2021]

When I'm watching a comedy and I'm more interested in what watches the actors are wearing, you have a problem. The jokes are childish and unfunny, the characters are cliché with zero personality and there is no story to speak of.

Funny writing and cast

[TVFilmReviewer · 17 May 2014]

I FINALLY caught this show and I really enjoyed it! The cast works well together and I think it's a strong sitcom. I never liked James Van Der Beek on Dawson's creek. I actually wasn't a big fan of that show. On this, I think he's come into his own. His comic timing is very good. I first noticed his comedy skills on an episode of How I Met Your Mother, which I liked until the last season. Actually the entire cast of FWBL does a terrific job. The writing is solid. The premise is fun and I think has the potential to catch on in a similar way as the cast of friends were relatable to so many. I have hopes for this one. I have already set my PVR for more.

It's not terrible

[cherold · 5/10 · 15 July 2021]

I watched the first episode of FWBL, and for the most part I found it unobjectionable, and it had some amusing jokes. It's a very conventional sitcom, and it's at that place where I'm on the fence about whether to keep watching. But with so much good TV in the world, on the fence means no. Still, if it got just a little bit cleverer and more original, this would be a keeper.

The can hardly be worse show than this

[bikasv · 1/10 · 16 April 2014]

Adult humor, it's not. The show tries to make audience laugh on sexual *jokes* which are far from funny, and actually are quite embarrassing. The show has absolutely nothing else to offer apart from these *jokes*. When a 22 minutes show is hard to watch, you can understand the quality of show. The show which is promoted as F.R.I.E.N.D.S. sequel, really worsen the cause. Now it's failing on that expectation badly.

Force-fed sexual-only jokes and zero storyline takes the show nowhere. There's zero character building. All actors' have expression like they said some funny jokes and audience must laugh. This really makes one wish they never have seen any scene of this show.

On personal take, it's a must avoid show.

Third Generation of 'Friends'

[virzana_virzana · 3 January 2016]

Okay, so i think it's a quite good sitcom, they planned it to be the third generation of "Friends" sitcom. So the first generation was "Friends" itself, it was a very great success, and the second was "How I Met Your Mother" it was a big success as their upper generation, the third comes out in 2014, it's "Friend With Better Lives" it's a big deal for CBS to continue their success for 'plagiarizing' "Friends", it's very clear, because the three of it tell the story 'bout a group of friends!

Look carefully, both Joey in Friend and Barney in HIMYM are womanizer and in FWBL Kate is a manizer and many character are slighty the same. So it's an unsucces series in the generation, because maybe people think it's boring or somewhat. The rating is not increasing, so they think they should stop the sitcom.

I feel so sorry about you FWBL fans. NB : I didn't mean to mock Friends, HIMYM, or FWBL

nothing new ....

[Rori93 · 3/10 · 31 May 2014]

well, I gave it a try my cousin said this show is so great and funny so i had my hopes up ... maybe too high ? It really bothers me , that there is nothing original in this show, I tried not to compare and I watched 7 episodes to see if it gets any better. but no ..

I dunno who to blame , the whole idea may have been good but this is so poorly written , not funny ... maybe in this whole 22 min i laugh once.

you get this cafe where they go where it's like the one's of friends (setting wise), even HIMYM had something new there, of course they will hang out in the married couple place ... most of the time ... and you see no baby there, they have a child whom they never talk about or worry about ... or even slightly mention ... they are coupled who has been married for \ years or i don't remember exactly but that house seems too empty and they don't even have any true conversation ..

it's too disturbing for me to watch .. too shallow , no one can relate to any of the characters .. they present no good problems or a point in each episode ..

so if you have too much time and you want to waste it and you don't care with what ... this show is the one :S ..

Good bye :) .~

Do yourself a favor and GET NEW WRITERS.

[yadil22 · 2/10 · 16 April 2014]

The casting director did a great job. I was actually looking forward to seeing the pilot. I have seen a lot of these actors before and I like there work. The overall feeling of the show is that there are better thing on TV. You shouldn't have gotten writers straight of school. Most of the time, things that come at a discount become more expensive later on if you have to write severance checks later on. I have episode 2 of the show and I'm conflicted on whether it's worth the time to submit myself to the same quality writing as episode 1 or just use the same time to delete the episode and get some of my DVR real estate back.

Conclusion.

Get new writers or no one will be surprised when they announced that they won't be bringing you back for a second season.

Just a reflection of how bad TV has become

[bttf-3 · 1/10 · 28 May 2014]

With the rare exceptions of new good shows like "The Black List" and......like I said, rare exceptions, TV is getting dumber and dumber relying on the latest new word to get by the censors. A few years ago, a friend pointed out to me that "suck" had been showing up repeatedly more and more. For this show, it's "vagina" to the point of nausea even for a sex crazed teen-aged boy. It's a shame that a show with 6 fairly decent good looking actors has writers and producers that approve scripts with exploitative dialog instead of plot, character development, and any semblance of creativity. But what can you expect when the bar has been lowered to a basement level of competing with reality TV using "actors" with no acting talent or training and with stars like the Kardashians. Even B actors from the past must be rolling over in their graves.