Friends

Friends was a long-running American television sitcom centered on the lives of a group of six twenty-somethings (eventually thirty-somethings) consisting of three men and three women living in New York City.

The program was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television for NBC in the US, first broadcast on that network and followed by other broadcast networks in numerous countries throughout the world. In the US, its first episode was aired on September 22, 1994, the last on May 6, 2004.

Overview

Friends is one of the most successful sitcoms in the US. By the end of the series the six main cast members were each paid US$1,000,000 per episode. Advertisements during the series finale, which attracted an audience of over 52 million viewers, cost $2,000,000 for a 30-second spot in the United States and CAD$190,000 in Canada. The last episode was released on DVD 5 days after its broadcast.

The show focused on the lives of a group of six friends living in a state of arrested development: spoiled Daddy's girl Rachel Green; compulsively clean chef Monica Geller; wise-cracking, perennially unlucky-in-love, underconfident office drone Chandler Bing; oversexed, clueless actor Joey Tribbiani; divorced paleontologist nerd Ross Geller; and flaky, positive, masseuse, and aspiring folk singer-songwriter Phoebe Buffay. As the pilot begins, Rachel has just left her fiancé Barry at the altar and moves in with her childhood best friend, Monica. The pair live across the hall from Chandler and Joey. They hang out with Monica's brother, Ross – who recently divorced his lesbian wife – and Phoebe, the "free spirit" of the bunch and Monica's old roommate. The settings for the show include Monica's apartment, Chandler and Joey's apartment and the coffee shop downstairs, Central Perk.

After cutting herself off from her father's money, Rachel got her first job as a waitress in the coffee shop and later becomes a personal shopper at Bloomingdale's, then a buyer for Ralph Lauren. Monica struggled for the first several seasons for success, and later became head chef at a well-respected restaurant. Chandler eventually switched to a career in advertising by the last few seasons. After on-and-off success as a soap opera actor Joey's career eventually stabilized with a regular part on a soap opera from which he was initially fired earlier in the series' run. Paleontologist Ross eventually becomes a college professor. Phoebe makes out a living as a singer-songwriter and a masseuse.

A constant story line throughout the series was the on-again/off-again romance between Ross and Rachel, and later in the series, the developing relationship between Chandler and Monica.

The show's theme song, "I'll Be There For You" by The Rembrandts, became a major hit after a Tennessee disc jockey looped it into a full length track and played it on the radio. The band's record label required them to write additional material and re-record the track as a full-length song, which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #17.

Cast members

Main characters

See also: List of significant others of Friends and List of guest stars on Friends

Running gags

Friends had many running gags throughout the span of the show. Some of the most famous include:

• The One With/Where [episode name]: Almost every episode name starts with these three words.
• Fat Monica: Monica, now slim and attractive, was obese as a child.
• Gay Chandler: Chandler was often painted with the possibility of being gay, despite his determination to prove himself as the heterosexual he actually was.
• Gunther likes Rachel: When Gunther appeared in an episode it usually involved his anything-but-secret crush on Rachel, who however remains oblivious to his feelings throughout most of the show's run.
• Ross' tendency to marry: Ross marries a total of three times throughout the course of the show, all of which end in divorce.
• Phoebe's music: Phoebe was often a musician at Central Perk and was known for her rather unusual, original songs.
• Oh...My...God!: Janice's catchphrase; used as her introductory line in her later guest appearances.
• Chandler's speech: Chandler has a strange way of speaking, in which he emphasizes the wrong word in his sentences. One exaggerated example, where Ross was mocking Chandler's speech pattern: "The hills are alive with the sound (pause) OF music".
• How You Doin'?: This is Joey's pick-up line.
• The Magna Doodle: The Fisher-Price Magna Doodle almost always had something humorously written or drawn on it. They also wrote respectful slogans to the 9/11 victims after the September 11 attacks.
• The Grandma Killer: In several episodes, usually when one of the cast was reading a newspaper or watching TV, someone refers to a serial killer who strangles grandmas and shoves them in ovens. This was first referred to in the episode 'The One With The Baby In The Bus'.

For a full list of gags, see Running gags in Friends.

Cultural legacy

Friends has, in some areas, made a notable contribution to language, fashion, and (to a lesser extent) women's attitudes. The use of “so” to mean “very” or “really” was not invented by any Friends writer, but it is quite arguable that the extensive use of the phrase in the series encouraged its use in everyday life. [1] Also commonly said by the characters, particularly Monica, was the loud “I know!” The series has also been noted for its impact on everyday-fashion and hair-styles. Jennifer Aniston, in particular, had her hair-style copied by many women. Along with this, Joey Tribbiani's catchphrase, “How you doin'?” has become a popular part of American slang, often used as a pick-up line or when greeting friends. The show also inspired the cultural meme of the laminated list.

Spinoffs

Joey premiered September 9, 2004 on NBC. It centres on the Friends character Joey Tribbiani, still played by LeBlanc, who moved to Los Angeles to advance his career as an actor. Past Friends cast members are expected to have cameo appearances on the show from time to time, though as of December 2005, none have, and none have been asked. It has been hinted at that Matthew Perry will be the first to, however.

The spinoff debuted to strong ratings, but its numbers have sunk since then, and there is speculation that it will not be renewed after its second season, ending in spring 2006.

It has been rumoured that NBC will produce a pilot for another spin-off from the series entitled It's a Guy Thing featuring Joey, Chandler and Ross. However, NBC has not yet confirmed this rumour, but has said that "Negotiations on future projects are going on all the time." [2]

Season synopsis

Season one (1994-1995)

Phoebe, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Ross meet up in Central Perk shortly after Ross's wife Carol realizes she is a lesbian and divorces him. Monica, Phoebe and Ross all live alone, while Chandler and Joey live together. Monica's old school friend, Rachel, enters Central Perk wearing a wedding dress, having just run away from her wedding to Barry Farber. She moves in with Monica, gets a job as a waitress at Central Perk, and struggles to work for a living, having previously lived a rich life. Ross discovers his ex-wife Carol is pregnant. and she gives birth to a boy, named Ben, who is subsequently raised by Carol and her partner, Susan.

Ross reveals he had a crush on Rachel in high school (unbeknownst to Rachel), and he still has feelings for her. Throughout the season he fails to make his feelings known to her, and eventually Chandler and Joey persuade him to move on. On Rachel's birthday, Ross leaves for a paleontological trip to China. While he is gone, Chandler accidentally reveals to Rachel that Ross is in love with her. Rachel decides she would like to start a romantic relationship with Ross, and goes to meet him at the airport when he returns from China, unaware that he is getting off the plane with another woman..

Season two (1995-1996)

Unaware that Rachel likes him, Ross starts a relationship with Julie, whom he met in China. While drunk, Rachel leaves a message on Ross's answer machine saying she is over him. Ross hears the message and becomes confused over his own feelings. He and Rachel kiss. Ross is unable to choose between Rachel and Julie and decides to make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of both women. He decides he loves Rachel, and breaks up with Julie. Unfortunately, Rachel discovers this list, becomes angry, and rejects Ross. They later get back together when Rachel sees how sincere Ross is.

Joey gets an acting job as Dr. Drake Ramoray on the soap Days of our Lives, and earns enough money to move into his own apartment. Left on his own, Chandler gets a new roommate, Eddie, who is insane. When Joey states in an interview that he writes his own lines, the show's writers kill off his character. With no income Joey moves back into Chandler's apartment and Eddie leaves. Phoebe finds she has a half brother called Frank and they start building a relationship. Monica dates Richard Burke, a friend of her parents who is significantly older than her, but break up when Richard tells her he doesn't want to have children.

Season three (1996-1997)

Rachel quits her job at Central Perk for a job at Bloomingdale's. Ross becomes convinced her new boss wants to date her, and becomes increasingly jealous. Tension between Ross and Rachel culminates on their anniversary, and Rachel suggests they take a break. After hearing a phone call between Rachel and her boss, he assumes Rachel is dating him. Feeling depressed, he sleeps with another woman. He tries to resume his relationship with Rachel without telling her, but she finds out and they break up.

Joey and Chandler buy a chick and a duck as pets. Joey's acting career continues to fail. Phoebe finds a woman who knew her parents. She invites the group to go with her to the beach. Rachel becomes upset when Ross starts dating Bonnie, who unexpectedly comes to the beach. Rachel is unhappy and persuades Bonnie to shave her head so Ross will be less attracted to her. Ross and Rachel argue about this and start to feel like they still love each other. Ross must decide between Rachel and Bonnie.

Season four (1997-1998)

Ross decides to get back together with Rachel, and breaks up with Bonnie. However, when Ross insists that they were on a break, they break up again. Phoebe learns the older Phoebe is her real mother. Phoebe tells her twin sister Ursula, who knew all along. Phoebe agrees to be a surrogate mother for her half brother Frank and his wife Alice. She becomes pregnant with triplets.

Joey begins dating Kathy, but Chandler likes her too. Joey and Kathy break up after Kathy kisses Chandler. Joey is angry, but forgives Chandler when he sees that Chandler and Kathy love each other. Chandler suspects that Kathy is sleeping with a fellow cast member after watching one of her plays. She does sleep with him, and they break up. Monica and Rachel switch apartments with Joey and Chandler after losing a bet. The girls hate their new apartment, so Joey and Chandler agree to switch apartments when Monica and Rachel make out.

Ross dates a British woman, Emily, and they become engaged. The group travels to London for the wedding, except Phoebe, who is in her last trimester, and Rachel, who doesn't want to see Ross get married. At the wedding rehearsal dinner, Monica becomes depressed because she's not married. Chandler comforts her and they end up sleeping together. Rachel realizes she still loves Ross and goes to London to tell him. When she gets there, she sees him with Emily and decides it wouldn't be right to ruin the wedding. The wedding goes ahead, but comes to an abrupt halt when Ross says "I take thee, Rachel" instead of "I take thee, Emily".

Season five (1998-1999)

Ross and Emily's wedding continues despite Ross' faux pas and they are married, but Emily disappears at the reception. The group goes back to New York where Emily calls Ross and tells him that she will only stay married if he promises he will never see Rachel again. Ross agrees, but Emily continues to make unreasonable demands and they divorce. Ross moves into Ugly Naked Guy's apartment when he leaves.

Phoebe gives birth to triplets. She tries to keep one after becoming attached to them, but finds out that Frank and Alice are unwilling to give up a child. Chandler and Monica continue an intimate relationship in secret. Eventually everybody finds out, and they're all happy about it. Rachel starts a new job at Ralph Lauren. Joey gets the lead in a movie, but travels to Las Vegas to find production has shut down. Everyone goes to Vegas to see him. Ross and Rachel get drunk and they get married.

Season six (1999-2000)

After finding out that they are now married, Ross and Rachel agree to get an annulment, but Ross doesn't want to have been divorced three times and lies to Rachel, telling her he has had the marriage annulled when he actually hasn't. Rachel finds out and forces Ross to go ahead with the annulment, but they are ineligible for one and file for divorce. Ross gets a new job teaching paleontology at New York University, and dates Rachel's sister and one of his students

Chandler and Monica move in together, and Rachel moves in with Phoebe. Joey gets a female roommate, Janine, and they start dating. When Janine reveals she doesn't like Chandler and Monica, Joey breaks up with her. Out of a job and desperate for money, Joey gets a job at Central Perk and tries out other acting gigs until he lands a permanent (but short-lived) role as the main star of Mac and Cheese. A fire wrecks Phoebe and Rachel's apartment. Rachel moves in with Chandler and Monica, Phoebe moves in with Joey. They eventually swap, so Rachel lives with Joey instead. Chandler and Monica become engaged.

Season seven (2000-2001)

Monica and Chandler begin planning their wedding. Rachel gets a promotion in Ralph Lauren and hires an assistant, Tag, whom she begins dating. They later break up. Phoebe's apartment is repaired, but Rachel likes living with Joey so much she doesn't move back in with Phoebe. Joey's new show Mac and Cheese is cancelled and so is his role there but he is able to return to Days of Our Lives. The night before his wedding, Chandler disappears. While he is gone, Phoebe finds a positive pregnancy test in Monica's bathroom, and assumes Monica is pregnant. Phoebe and Ross find Chandler at his office and persuade him to come back, but Chandler overhears Phoebe and Rachel talking about Monica's "pregnancy" and disappears again. He quickly returns on his own, however, deciding that a baby wouldn't be so bad. Chandler and Monica get married, but when Chandler tells Monica he knows about the baby, she says she isn't pregnant, and it wasn't her pregnancy test that Phoebe found.

Season eight (2001-2002)

Rachel confirms she is pregnant and Ross is the father. They secretly slept together before Chandler and Monica's wedding. Ross meets Mona at the wedding and goes out with her for a few months but they break up because of complications arising from his impending fatherhood with Rachel's child. As Rachel and Joey continue living together, Joey starts to develop feelings for her. Feeling that Ross is missing out on his fatherly duties, Joey reluctantly suggests that Rachel move in with Ross, and she does so. Joey later reveals his feelings to Rachel, who politely rejects him.

Rachel goes into labor, and while she's in the hospital Ross's mother approaches him with a ring to give to Rachel. Ross keeps the ring in his coat pocket, even though he doesn't want to propose to Rachel. After Rachel gives birth to their daughter, Emma, Joey finds the engagement ring. He bends down to pick it up. Rachel, seeing Joey on one knee with an engagement ring, thinks that he's proposing to her, and says "yes". Monica and Chandler decide to have a baby.

Season nine (2002-2003)

Rachel finds out that Joey wasn't proposing to her, and neither was Ross. Rachel decides to move back in with Joey and takes Emma with her. Chandler's job requires him to be in Tulsa. He puts up with this for a while, but when he finds himself working in Tulsa over Christmas. When a female associate comes on to him, he quits and starts a new job in advertising. Chandler and Monica cannot conceive a baby, so decide to adopt. Phoebe starts dating Mike Hanigan. They move in together, but when he tells Phoebe he doesn't want to get married they break up. Rachel begins to develop feelings for Joey.

The group goes to Barbados. Phoebe takes her boyfriend David (whom she first met in the first season) and Joey takes his girlfriend Charlie. Monica learns David is planning on proposing to Phoebe, and calls Mike to tell him to get back together with her. Mike comes to Barbados and gets engaged to Phoebe. Joey and Charlie break up. Joey learns Rachel likes him, but refuses her advances. However, when Joey sees Charlie and Ross kissing he changes his mind. He kisses Rachel.

Season ten (2003-2004)

Joey and Rachel's relationship doesn't last and Charlie goes back to an old boyfriend. Mike and Phoebe get married, and decide to have a baby. Chandler and Monica apply to adopt the baby of a pregnant woman named Erica and also decide to move out of their apartment into a house in the suburbs. Erica gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl, who are named Jack (after Monica's dad) and Erica (after Erica). Rachel accepts a job in Paris. The group holds a going-away party for her and she says goodbye to each of them in turn, except Ross. He is upset about this until Rachel tells him it was too hard to say goodbye to him. They then sleep together.

In the final episode, Ross realizes he still loves Rachel, and after she leaves for Paris, he goes after her. However, she rejects him. Ross gets back to his apartment and finds a message from Rachel on his answering machine, telling him she does still love him and is trying to get off the plane. As the message ends, she arrives at Ross' apartment, and they kiss. The episode ends with Chandler and Monica moving out of their apartment, and everyone going for one last coffee at Central Perk.

Ratings

The 66-minute series finale was named by Entertainment Tonight as the biggest US TV moment of the year 2004, and was the second highest rated show in 2004 beaten only by the Super Bowl. However, it did not surpass the ratings received by series finales for M*A*S*H (106m), Cheers (80.4m) or Seinfeld (76.3m), nor was it the most watched episode of Friends—that accolade remains with the season two episode The One After the Superbowl, which aired on January 28, 1996 and drew 52.9m viewers. During the 2001–2002 season, Friends was the highest rated show in America according to the Nielsen Ratings.

Ratings by country for the finale:

• United States: 52.5m (Nielsen)
• Canada: 5.159m (BBM Canada)
• United Kingdom: 8.6m (BARB)
• Australia: 2.54m (OZTAM)

Possible return to television

In January 2006, NBC was reported to have announced that the six stars of Friends, including Jennifer Aniston, would reunite to make four "double episode" special editions of the series. The cast were apparently receiving $5 million per cast member for their participation in the specials, which were rumoured to air some time in 2007. [3] [4]

An NBC spokesperson later indicated that these rumours were untrue. [5]

But the rumours continued after that, with Kathleen Turner claiming that NBC bosses approached her about reprising her role as Chandler's father within the sitcom: [6]

Trivia

• The character of Ursula (Phoebe's twin sister) first appeared in the sitcom Mad About You as a waitress. Lisa Kudrow played Ursula on both Mad About You and Friends. Phoebe was not originally envisioned as having a twin, but the show's creators added the fact to explain why Kudrow was appearing on two different shows, at one point on the same night.

• James Michael Tyler's character (Gunther) came into the series by accident. He can be seen as an extra throughout the first season, and when given a line in the second, the directors were adequately impressed that they created a full-time part for him. He was hired because he was the only extra on the set of the pilot who knew how to operate an espresso machine.

• Central Perk, the coffee shop on the show, is based on Chomondley's (pronounced Chumley's), a coffee shop/lounge in Usen Castle at Brandeis University, the alma mater of the show's creators.

• Although the show was filmed in California, it took place in the West Village in Manhattan, New York City. The exterior shot of the Friends' apartment building is actually located at Grove and Bedford streets in the Village.

• The picture frame around the peep hole in Monica and Rachel's apartment originally was a framed mirror, but a crew member accidentally broke it. The producers liked the look and decided not to replace the mirror.

• 55 people were paid to come to the studio and watch the first four episodes of "The Six of Us"; the title was thereafter changed to "Friends."

• Not all episodes were filmed in front of a studio audience. Most episodes were filmed with a laugh track, particularly those featuring Ursula and Phoebe together.

• Alternate titles were "Six Of One", "Across The Hall", "Insomnia Cafe" and "Friends Like Us".

• In the first six episodes of Season 1, Chandler and Joey's apartment number was 4, and Monica and Rachel's was 5. Shortly after production began, it was decided that the apartment building where much of the show takes place was too big to have upper apartments with numbers as low as 4 and 5, so the numbers were changed to 19 and 20, respectively.

• Courtney Cox was originally approached for the role of Rachel, but convinced the producers that her personality was more suited for the character of Monica—which, amusingly, is the role producers first approached Jennifer Aniston for.

• Behind the scenes, the show was known for its unusually cohesive and unified cast. The six main actors made deliberate and conscious efforts, from early on, to keep the show's ensemble format and to not allow any one of them to dominate. This included requesting that all actors on the show be nominated either for the same category (mostly "Supporting Actor") or not at all, and entering collective instead of individual salary negotiations. The actors became such close friends that at least one guest star, Tom Selleck, reported sometimes feeling left out.

Trivia game

A few trivia games have been released over the years as well as a trivia book. The trivia book spans seasons 1-8. There have been two version of a board game relased, one being a carboard box version with fewer question and the other a die cast collector editon with more questions. Recently, a Scene It version of Friends was released with actual show clips, trivia questions and other puzzles on screen. The trivia includes questions from all ten seasons. A new PS2, PC and Xbox game called "Friends: The One with All the Trivia" was released simultaneously with the Season 10 box set. It includes the voices of characters Janice, Gunther and Jack & Judy Geller as hosts.

Controversy

The television series prompted some criticism from cultural commentators on both the political left and right. Among the controversies where:

• The fact that the show is suppose to take place in New York City even though persons of color almost never appeared in the series and that only two non-white characters were given temporary guest-starring roles in the series, reportedly at the demand of actor David Schwimmer.

• The characters lived in upper-middle class apartments, despite the fact that throughout the series the characters had jobs that could never afford such an apartment. At the end of the series, the show addressed this quip, with the joke that the characters were able to afford the nice apartments through rent control.

• Social conservatives were upset when Friends became the first network show on American television to feature a lesbian wedding ceremony, and social liberals often felt that the lesbian characters in the show were unfairly sidelined.