According to a new poll, Matthew Perry’s Chandler Bing ranks as the best character on Friends and the second funniest TV character of all time.
The late Matthew Perry’s Chandler Bing has been ranked as the best character on Friends of the main six, also emerging as the second-funniest TV character ever. First airing in 1994, the hit show is now widely regarded as one of the best sitcoms of all time, following a group of six 20-somethings as they navigate life in New York City. The Friends casting is a big reason for its success, with the six main characters including Perry’s Chandler, Matt LeBlanc’s Joey, Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel, Courteney Cox’s Monica, David Schwimmer’s Ross, and Lisa Kudrow’s Phoebe.
Now, after Perry’s tragic death on October 28, a Ranker poll (via Variety) has voted Chandler the best Friends character, with a total of 169,000 total votes. Joey takes the number two spot, followed by Rachel, Phoebe, Ross, and Monica. Chandler was also voted the second-funniest TV character of all time, beaten only by Steve Carell’s Michael Scott from The Office.
Why Matthew Perry’s Friends Performance Is So Memorable
Crucial to any sitcom’s longevity is its characters. Friends excelled in this regard, with each actor bringing life to their unique character to great effect. Chandler is immediately memorable in this regard, and it’s established early on that he is the sarcastic, funny one of the group.
While the lines on the page themselves are funny, it’s Perry’s performance that really makes the character sing. The actor was well known for his unique phrasing and his stressing of unexpected words in a sentence. This manner of speaking is perhaps best exemplified by his frequent usage of the phrase, “Could you BE any more…” (and its many variations), in which he would poke fun at others (and himself) for various qualities and decisions .
Perry’s line deliveries are especially memorable, but so too is his chemistry with his costsars. Chandler and Joey’s friendship, in particular, remains one of the most beloved aspects of Friends, with both Perry and LeBlanc truly coming across as brothers on the show, despite their characters’ occasional squabbles. Although Perry’s sudden passing this past weekend is shocking and tragic, the actor will obviously continue to delight audiences for years to come as more people revisit Friends or check it out for the first time.
