IMDb user comments for
"Girlfriends" (2000)

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51 comments in total

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23 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
An Outstanding, Beautifully Written Show, 16 May 2004
Author: edhuds0n

I cannot say enough good things about this show.

It is so funny, but so realistic at the same time. Not since Living Single has there been a show that captures the life of the Black middle class as well Girlfriends.

Some say this show is stereotypical, but to build likeable characters, sometimes you have to start with a framework everyone easily can understand. The story arc has taken these basic stereotypes and built full characters that diehard viewers have come to really love. We really did care when William quit his job at the firm, as we did when Joan was stuck trying to decide between her actor boyfriend and his agent.

Anyone open-minded person who appreciated Frasier would love this show.

I only hope that it a) enjoys a much longer life with the same or better quality of writing and b) old episodes are made available on DVD.

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18 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
Fabulous!, 30 September 2004
Author: dcohn (glamcandy@yahoo.com) from LA

The sitcom is a dying art. There's hardly any narrative TV left in general, and there are way fewer quality comedies than dramas. Girlfriends deserves way more attention, and though it is good for their ratings to be herded in with the rest of the "urban" comedies on UPN, I think it's heads and shoulders above any of the other shows. In fact, and no offense to fans of other UPN fare, I think this show is surrounded on all sides by just plain awful programs - the writing on the other shows is a notch above Saved by the Bell. (maybe that's a *little* too harsh).

The dialogue and the acting on Girlfriends is sophisticated and natural at the same time. The five leads have great chemistry and timing. I think it's taken a few seasons (and the smart decision to get rid of Joan's lame voice-over fantasy bites) for the comedy to become less broad and for the characters to develop past "types", but that's always the case when you have to set up a sitcom world. Every sitcom I can think of starts out with stereotypes and builds character depth as the seasons goes on.

Even in my position as a white chick (maybe a little more attuned to African American culture than the average), I think I can say that most shows about middle-class black people are terrified of seeming "too black", they've got Cosbyitus. Girlfriends seems to be more on the inside-track.

Maybe the show isn't representative of every woman in the black community, or the black everywoman, but who says it has to? Sex in the City sure as hell wasn't representative of 30something white women in New York. We want a little escapism, and Girlfriends offers all the pretty people and the pretty houses and the pretty clothing (the BEST-DRESSED show on TV by far! Who is their stylist??), *and* the polished writing and performances.

Oh, yeah, and it's ***hella funny***.

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19 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Grows stronger with each season, 14 May 2003
Author: budikavlan from Irving, TX

This show started out good, and has gotten better and more assured throughout its run. Comparisons to "Sex and the City" and "Living Single" are fair, but only tell half of the story. As the show has developed, it has made such comparisons necessarily reductive: "Girlfriends" combines the best of both of those predecessors and throws in other elements to make a series which is both thought-provoking and one of the most raucously funny projects on TV today. Its location in UPN's Monday night "ghetto" is both a blessing and a curse: it gives "Girlfriends" a firm foundation within the target African-American audience, but it limits the show's ability to reach out to other audiences. I wish more people would seek it out; I'm pretty sure they'd love it as much as I do. During the third season, scripts have continued to tackle serious subjects with greater and greater success, while keeping the laugh count as high as ever (much higher than 90% of comedies on the air). The performances remain strong as the characters are taken through much more than usual sitcom paces. This show actually has the nerve to tell real stories, rather than growing stale out of fear of change. The producers have managed to keep the viewers laughing while becoming the leading fictional forum for racial issues and simultaneously earning its feminist bona fides (including an A+ rating from NOW).

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17 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
A Sophisticated Comedy, 27 October 2004
Author: (cubria@aol.com) from New York, New York

This show is, in my opinion, a very funny well written well acted program. I find it to be sophisticated and not your typical "urban" comedy. The chemistry between the four actresses is wonderful and believable. I must admit that there is a familiar feeling to the format of the show but, so what there are many sitcoms that are "like" other sitcoms that doesn't necessarily mean they are bad. Girlfriends brings a fresh approach to a old format. I like the fact that all the characters are in different places in their lives and that they are different in their approach to life, I find most of the story lines to be very truthful and realistic. This show is worth your time!

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
a great comedy, 6 October 2005
Author: niidalai from Ghana

Lynn, Joan, Tony and Mya and sometimes William. All i can say is that the chemistry is great the acting is great and the show is also great. It is as if each episode is funnier than the previous. The producers are really doing a good job. In fact if i compare it to the parkers and soul food which i believe were also great..i think this out shines them By far. I just hope the ending ..if there is to be an end ..will not be rushed and messed up ...just like that of soulfood and parkers.

Man this is a comedy for any race.....do not miss out on it....as a Ghanian living in Africa....i don't have any issues with any of the Topics being discussed in this comedy so therefore i am in the best position to judge this programme...and like the majority of the reviewers wrote..this is definitely a "must see" show. I also hope it Comes out on DVD soon, so that i can have my very own copy. I think it is one of the best comedies ever...and it has good plots and the Characters are well defined.

Dalai..Ghana - West Africa

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Funny show, 24 May 2004
Author: Trish (trishystar) from England

This show is really funny but sadly underrated. The lead actors are good though the changing supporting cast is not fantastic. I'll be very sad if this show gets cancelled because I stay up till late to watch it and its definitely worth it.

The show lasts about 20 minutes minus ad breaks and tackles some real-life issues like children, marriage, career aspirations, therapy. I wouldn't compare it to Sex and the City though that may have been how the concept for the show began.

I await its move from late night television show to prime time sitcom but doubt it will be happening too soon. All four female leads are quite beautiful...contrary to previous comments.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Great, 24 June 2005
Author: r_armenteros from United States

Many of you are taking this show way too critically. Yes some of the characters on this show are stereotypical but it is an excellent show. It is funny and all of this happens in everyday life with both women and men and now that it is being reflected on TV this becomes an issue? Every single woman of color and maybe women in general can identify with each of these characters on one day or another. I would rather see professional women on TV that make me laugh than other shows where women are sleeping with each others man and disrespecting each other all the time, and I am not being stereotypical but that is television. Joan is an excellent character and though she is anal about everything she means well and so do all of the other women. I think everyone should watch it at least once.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Good Show, 26 April 2002
Author: Michelle (mikki727) from Chicago, IL

I love Girlfriends!! I hope it's around for a long time. It's good to see black women in good roles and not playing the "Shaniqua w/ blue hair & long fake nails" type. A good show for black women. A little like Sex & The City, but with a little more sassiness.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
The sista version of Sex In The City, 13 August 2002
Author: raysond from Chapel Hill,North Carolina

When I first saw this show when it premiered in the fall of 2000,the first thing that came through my mind was this..."Could this be another Living Single"? and it came to me as though it wasn't but to make a long speech short I thought it was a very well written and well acted show. It made not have the spunk of "Living Single",but the full charmastic charm and wit of HBO's "Sex In The City" and it shows. The minute I saw this show I was immediately hooked.`The show did have some flaws in its first season,but as the second season progressed,it improved totally. This concerns three well educated sistas living and working in L.A. as we explore there ups and downs on relationships and etc. As for the characters themselves are a trip and each week they can't figured out why they can't keep in man in company let alone dissect him in pieces. First off,you have Joan(Tracee Ellis Ross)who is always interfearing in somebody else's concerns as well as her own and can't keep a man in check. One episode in particular shows how Joan gets a taste of her own medicine here in which she talks down to a guy she loves but he walks out on her after she says something pathetic in front of him. Second, the golddigger Toni(Jill Jones)who is always dead broke but is always high class,but is always begging a guy for attention especially when it comes to money or in other cases stealing someone else's guy for her own greedy self,but is dead broke and she is part country too. Third, miss ghetto fabulous equals attitude Maya(Golden Brooks) who is married to Darnell(Khalil Khan)and has a 8 year old and has martial problems but she is also cheating on her husband with another guy behind his back and sometimes is the leader of the girl group and the one with the most common sense some of the time. Finally,the freeloader and sometimes lazy as hell Lynn(Persia White)who is a lot like Lisa Bonet who always talks down to a guy but will sleep with anyone she claims with and like Toni also wants attention for her own selfish greed,but also she has a hatred for guys and is the bisexual part of the group(One episode dealt with Lynn coming to terms with her own sexuality when one of the girls catches her in bed with another lover---a woman!)...Lynn is a vagabond and will make a home whenever she fits. These inconsistencies in their personalitites make the characters come alive and it makes the show very watchable as we see girls go through the motions each week. The casting is excellent here and it comes to my attention that the only brother on the show (Reginald Hayes) is just a joke in between the girls,but he does help them out in tight situations. Let's hope that UPN keeps this one for several seasons,because its one of the many shows the many sides of women working together through good times and bad. Not to be missed.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Its about time., 10 July 2002
Author: brothaneptune@aol.com from Durham, NC

I totally disagree with the last comment. When I watch Girlfriends, I see four black women in roles that weneed more of. This show is not a living single knock-off. The Lynn, Joan, Toni, and Mya have more complex personalities and backgrounds than the ladies of living single, and the comedy is just a little bit more cerebral--not a slapstick as living single. Dont get me wrong, I love L.S. but those writers took the easy way out. I think Tracy Ross and Persia White are wonderful acctresses and they fit their characters like gloves. Golden Brooks is great, but she's gonna be type casted if she takes on another character thats almost exactly idenical in personality to her role on Link's. And Iwanna marry Jill Jones, so I won't comment on her work cause it'll be extremely biased. Alot of people say this show isunrealistic, but what's so unrealistic about four(ok 3 cause i don't think lynn has a job) professional sistas, with different backgrounds good educations, bangin bodies and totally different personlities being down for each other and living life to its fullest. I love this show, It similar to but better than friends in my opinion, but not quite as good as sex in the city. But to let those two shows tell it one would be hard pressed to find black folk in NYC. Now, whose being unrealistic. Everyone please check girlfriends out. UPN MOnday nights prime time(10pm EST).

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