essay about friends tv show

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"Friends": More than Just a Tv Show

• Categories: Friendship Watching TV

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Published: Sep 16, 2023

Words: 696 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

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The cultural impact of "friends", the enduring appeal of "friends", the lessons of "friends", 1. iconic catchphrases, 2. fashion trends, 3. the central perk phenomenon, 1. timeless humor, 2. relatable characters, 3. themes of friendship and family, 1. the value of loyalty, 2. embracing diversity, 3. coping with life's ups and downs.

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They’ll be there for me: Why “Friends” is my favorite TV series of all time

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• WarnerBros.com - TV - Friends
• Television Academy Interviews - "Friends"

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Friends , popular American television sitcom that aired on the NBC network from 1994 to 2004. It won six Emmy Awards , including outstanding comedy series, and from its second season until the end of its run maintained a top five or better Nielsen rating, hitting number one in its eighth season.

Friends was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman and is about a group of six young adults who are either roommates or neighbours in New York City’s Greenwich Village . Much of the show takes place in the friends’ apartments as they visit one another. The program revolves around the characters’ individual and collective search for sex, commitment, and meaning. The friends consist of three men and three women, whose varied personalities and shortcomings allow for both broad audience identification and abundant comedic moments. At the beginning of the show, Monica Geller (played by Courteney Cox ) is a chef who often changes jobs and boyfriends in her search for the perfect match. Her brother, Ross ( David Schwimmer ), is a paleontologist and divorcé (three times over by the end of the series) with a child. He has a long-standing crush on Rachel Green ( Jennifer Aniston ), a fashion-minded woman who grew up in a wealthy family but works (for a time) as a barista at Central Perk, a café and popular meeting spot for the group. Eventually she lands a job with Ralph Lauren . Phoebe Buffay ( Lisa Kudrow ) is a ditsy masseuse and would-be musician with a quirky outlook on life. Joey Tribbiani ( Matt LeBlanc ) is a mostly struggling actor and buffoon who often confides in Chandler Bing ( Matthew Perry ), a well-off statistics and data analyst who has terrible luck with women and in time develops an eye for Monica. Throughout the series, the friends live together or apart in different combinations.

As the show progressed, each character became a household name and each cast member a celebrity; they moved on to careers of varying success in motion pictures and television. The cast was renowned for its closeness and ensemble approach to their work on the series. The finale of Friends was watched by more than 52 million people. Joey (2004–06), a spin-off starring LeBlanc, was much less successful. The Friends theme song, “ I’ll Be There for You,” performed by the Rembrandts, was a minor pop hit in its own right. In 2021 the cast returned for Friends: The Reunion , a TV special in which they discussed the show.

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Why “Friends” is still the world’s favourite sitcom, 25 years on

Loveable characters and an idealised version of life in your 20s remain a winning combination.

“LOOK AROUND, you guys,” says Chandler Bing to his newly adopted twins, as his friends and family leave his apartment for the last time. “This was your first home. And it was a happy place, filled with love and laughter. But more important, because of rent control, it was a friggin’ steal!” The Bing twins would be 15 now, and September 22nd marks a quarter of a century since the “Friends” gang made their debut on NBC. Their floppy haircuts, enormous phones and quaint dating rituals belong to a distant past, in which coffee was seldom pumpkin-spiced and people jotted down their contact details on napkins. Yet somehow, decades on, the happy place that Chandler describes—and the 236 episodes of love and laughter that occurred there—remains the world’s favourite location for an evening’s entertainment.

For proof of the enduring charm of “Friends”, consider that in late 2018 Netflix paid the programme’s owner, WarnerMedia, about $100m for the right to stream it for the next 12 months. That is not far shy of the $130m that it reportedly spent producing “The Crown”, its most expensive original show. Netflix is secretive with its data, but estimates from Nielsen, a research firm, suggest that “Friends” was the second-most watched programme among American subscribers in 2018, with an average of more than 20 episodes per account. Devoted fans might have to switch next year to HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s new streaming service, which will have exclusive rights to “Friends” in the United States.

In Britain figures released by Ofcom, a broadcasting watchdog, disclose that twice as many people watch the comedy on Netflix as stream any other show on any other service. And data from Google reveal that, even though “Friends” is now available on subscription services, more people around the world use the search engine to look for it than for any other sitcom. (Google identifies whether people are seeking the show, rather than “friends” in general, from the context of other keywords, such as “watch” or “episode”. A spokesperson confirmed that the data in our chart, below, accurately represented the relative popularity of various shows.) Other sitcoms released since “Friends” finished have briefly overtaken it, including “The Office”, “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory”. But eventually viewers break up with them, and return to the gang in Central Perk.

What has made the popularity of “Friends” so long-lasting? The show is certainly funny, but no more so than its rivals. Critics often point out that the humour of “Seinfeld” is more sophisticated in the way that it contorts everyday situations into hilarious episodes. The cringe-inducing interactions of a boss and his employees in “The Office” induce more belly laughs. By contrast, “Friends” gets most of its gags from its characters’ foibles: a pretentious one (Ross), a vain one (Rachel), an insecure one (Chandler), an uptight one (Monica), a stupid one (Joey) and an eccentric one (Phoebe).

Plenty of sitcoms before and since have relied on such a clash of personalities to make the audience chuckle. Where “Friends” stands out is its ability to make viewers care about those characters. It achieved this partly by weaving them together romantically. The decade-long “will-they-won’t-they” intrigue between Ross and Rachel at times turned the comedy into a soap opera. Chandler and Monica began the show as acquaintances and ended it as spouses and parents.

But the scriptwriters did not merely develop these relationships over the series’ ten years. The best-reviewed episodes on IMDb, a ratings website , tend to be those which delved into the past: either through flashbacks, recovered video-tapes or interactions with parents. By the time the last episode aired in 2004, the 50m Americans who tuned in had learned almost everything there was to know about the six characters. (The strength of the series finale, which has the highest rating on IMDb of any episode, has undoubtedly helped its legacy.)

The other great appeal of “Friends” is its idealistic portrait of 20-something life. The theme tune claims to be about a quarter-life crisis: “So no-one told you life was gonna be this way / Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love-life’s DOA [dead on arrival]”. Yet none of the characters spends much time at work, or worries too keenly about their income. The rent control that Chandler describes in the final episode is rarely mentioned, but it means that Monica can pay $200 a month for her flat in the West Village, rather than the estimated $8,000 it would cost today. All of the characters have exciting romantic lives—and with much funnier and more attractive partners than the audience could ever hope for.

This is surely why the show continues to find new, young fans. A survey this year of British children aged nine to 16 found that “Friends” was their favourite series, even though most of them were born after the final episode aired. What could be more captivating than a vision of your future in which you are no longer weighed down by school, but instead spend most of your time larking around with close friends in an enormous apartment, while Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon flit in and out of your lives?

Some aspects of “Friends” have aged badly. A few jokes about gay characters now seem clumsily homophobic, and Chandler’s father, a trans woman, is often used as a punchline. But the warmth that the writing brings to viewers in search of light entertainment after an enervating day has endured. They’ll be there for you.

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• "Friends" Reflected Change in American Society, Among First TV Shows to Portray "Youth on Their Own," says UB Pop-Culture Expert

"Friends" Reflected Change in American Society, Among First TV Shows to Portray "Youth on Their Own," says UB Pop-Culture Expert

By john dellacontrada.

Release Date: April 16, 2004 This content is archived.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The sitcom "Friends," which is ending its 10-year run on TV next month, will be remembered as one of those rare shows that marked a change in American culture, according to a pop-culture expert at the University at Buffalo.

"'Friends,' stands out as a sign that we are now living in a culture where youth rules, where the image of youth has become the dominant image of our culture," says Elayne Rapping, Ph.D., professor of American studies in the UB College of Arts and Sciences.

"'Friends' will be remembered as the show that made America aware that being in your 20s is really being in the prime of life," Rapping adds.

Other cultural landmarks from TV-land include the Mary Tyler Moor Show, for its depiction of the single working woman, and the O.J. Simpson trial for the way it exposed race and class tensions in this country, says Rapping who teaches a course on "Television and Society" and is author of "Law and Justice as Seen on TV."

"Friends" and "Beverly Hills 90210," according to Rapping, were among the first shows to depict young people who were very much on their own, without significant parental interaction. Prior sitcoms were almost always centered on the lives of nuclear families, where father and mother knew best, Rapping says.

"The characters in 'Friends' and '90210' pretty much were running their own lives and looked to each other for moral guidance," Rapping says. "They constructed their own family among each other.

"This became a dominant theme on many sitcoms, and reflected a mainstream trend in our society," she says.

This theme, according to Rapping, grew partly from an awareness that, for the first time in American history, a generation of young people would not be better off than its parents.

"And so you had sitcoms like 'Friends' and 'Seinfeld,' where the characters lived in apartments, not in houses, where the characters were not upwardly mobile, and where they had the same friends forever and never grew up," Rapping points out.

The premise of these shows, Rapping says, often centered on trivial matters in the characters' lives -- sending the message that it's okay to not be serious about anything because nothing really bad is likely to happen in a young person's life.

Since 9/11 -- and with the country's current economic problems -- that attitude has changed, which may be one reason why sitcoms like "Friends" are not in style anymore and are in decline as a major ratings draw, Rapping says.

"What we are seeing now instead is the immense popularity of TV reality shows, with their depictions of corporate, cut-throat values, whose characters are concerned solely with competing and getting ahead of other people.

"That's the opposite of what 'Friends' was about," she says.

Media Contact Information

John Della Contrada Vice President for University Communications 521 Capen Hall Buffalo, NY 14260 Tel: 716-645-4094 (mobile: 716-361-3006) [email protected] Twitter: UBNewsSource

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How ‘Friends’ became a cultural phenomenon and top moments to see ahead of the reunion special

Entertainment ott.

Fans from UAE can watch the ‘Friends’ reunion special on May 27 on OSN

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The One Where They Become Famous

By Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor

It’s hard to recall a time when ‘Friends’ wasn’t a part of our lives. First aired on September 22, 1994, the sitcom opened to negative reviews before turning into a cultural phenomenon and changing television history forever.

At its peak, the six lead stars of the series, namely Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing), and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller), were the highest paid actors on television, famously negotiating their contracts together for a better and equal pay out.

When the series finally bowed out on May 6, 2004, more than 52 million Americans watched the finale, with countless others watching ‘Friends’ even today through reruns on TV and across streaming platforms in several markets across the globe, including Netflix in the UAE.

While the answer perhaps lies somewhere in between the reasons shared, the series made the stars overnight sensations, while sparking trends including Aniston’s hairstyle that became ‘The Rachel’ and Joey’s catchphrase ‘How you doin’? catapulting itself into one of the most used pick-up lines around.

With the much-delayed cast reunion coming at a time when the world needs a bit of cheer on the tails of a global pandemic, here’s a look at everything we know about the unscripted episode and our favourite moments from ‘Friends’ over 10 seasons.

The One with the Reunion

‘Friends: The Reunion’, which is titled ‘The One Where They Get Back Together’, will reunite the six lead cast members in an unscripted special that is being hosted by actor-comedian James Corden.

Aniston, Cox, Perry and the gang have reunited for the first time in 17 years on the original Warner Bros soundstage, Stage 24 for the one-time special.

The trailer has given fans a glimpse of what is to come, with the cast doing a walkthrough the set that served as Monica’s loft in New York, while also appearing to play a version of that infamous quiz in season 4 of the show that saw the Geller sibling and her roommate Rachel lose the apartment to Chandler and Joey.

The cast also appear to do a reading from one of the most famous episodes of the show, ‘The One Where Everyone Finds Out’ that saw the group learn that Monica and Chandler were secretly dating.

Along the way, some cast regulars do make an appearance, including Tom Selleck who played Monica’s much older boyfriend Richard Burke, along with Maggie Wheeler who played the annoying Janice “Oh my god” Hosenstein.

Several celebrity guests are also set to make an appearance including Cara Delevingne, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Reese Witherspoon, Lady Gaga, BTS and many more.

Gulf News editors pick their favourite moments from ‘Friends’

I’m not quite sure when ‘Friends’ became a part of my life. Maybe it was a familiar face that gave me comfort when I was studying thousands of miles away from home. Or perhaps when they got me laughing till I cried, when the only option available was to curl up and weep. They became my friends, somehow, sharing hope, joy and little bit of snark as the years went by. Today, life has come full circle with ‘Friends’ giving me a reason to bond with my 12-year-old niece who is just discovering that bit of magic that has held millions under its spell.

The One with the Cop: Ross Geller screaming “Pivot, PIVOT!” is pure television gold that continues to draw the laughs even today with equal abandon. The scene, which aired on season five of the series, is also perhaps one of the most real moments of ‘Friends’. Three friends struggling to carry a too-large couch up a narrow flight of stairs in New York; what could go wrong? With Chandler Bing and Rachel Green in on the struggle, the endless command to ‘Pivot’ by Ross leaves us in splits even today. David Schwimmer went on record to say that was the funniest moment of ‘Friends’ he ever shot.

The One With Unagi: Chandler Bing probably had the wittiest lines on the show but it was Schwimmer who emerged as the funniest actor. ‘The One With Unagi’, which aired on season six of the series, saw Rachel and Phoebe all charged up after returning from a self-defence class. But Ross being Ross thought it was time to take matters into his own hands, what with his own expertise in “Ka-Ra-Tay”. Which is when he decides to got into the concept of “Unagi”, which he describes as a state of complete awareness. A few scenes later, watching him get beaten up by the girls is a riot.

The One Where No One’s Ready : One of the best moments in season three. Ross is anxious to reach a work function on time and is eager for the friends to get ready for the big event. But that’s the night Chandler decides to hide all of Joey’s underwear. In retaliation, Joey puts on all of Chandler’s clothes that he can get his hands on. The chemistry between Joey and Chandler is pure perfection. And watching Joey mouth that famous line: “Could I be wearing any more clothes?” still leaves us in splits.

By Jennifer Barreto, Assitant Editor, Features

Would I be considered a fan of ‘Friends’? Maybe not. I can’t recall exact quotes from the series nor can I tell you what happened in particular seasons. However, whether I like it or not, the show has been a part of my life in some way or the other. It was the one show that was always playing on TV as reruns so it was my constant friend when I was bored and had nothing else to watch. When I was stressed out and wanted to give my brain a break, I knew I could watch any random episode and get a few laughs out it. Also, as someone who has a fascination for the 80s and 90s, the show is a source of wonder for me — I want to see all the fashion, the kitschy interior decor and — of course — the hairstyles. I wouldn’t say that ‘Friends’ has impacted my life in a major way, but it’s certainly always there for me when I need it.

The One on the Last Night: In this episode, Rachel is packing her stuff to prepare to move out of the apartment she shares with Monica. In typical BFF fashion, they end up arguing. However, they quickly make up as they remember all the things they love about each other. It’s touching and special because we’ve seen their relationship bloom through the show in that very apartment and things are going to change. We know Monica is preparing to enter her new life with Chandler and that her friendship with Rachel will still be strong, but it’s hard not to tear up as they close this chapter as flatmates.

The One Where Ross Got High: Who can forget the epic fail that was Rachel making the beef trifle? It all begins with Monica letting Rachel make the dessert for Thanksgiving. What the culinary challenged Rach was not prepared for, however, was the cookbook pages to be stuck together leading to her adding the wrong ingredients to the layered dish. Need a reminder of when went into the trifle-Shepherd’s pie hybrid? There were ladyfingers, jam, custard, raspberries, beef sauteed with peas and onions, bananas and then whipped cream. The episode is a comedy of errors and you can see the gags coming from a mile away, but it’s still so much fun to watch.

By Manjusha Radhakrishnan Assistant Editor, Features

There’s an adage that goes something on the lines of ‘You can never choose your family, but you can always choose your friends’. I couldn’t agree more as I chose to spend a good part of my 20s in the company of ‘Friends’, the fictional but fabulous sextet. It’s safe to say that ‘Friends’ ruined it for me as I began to look for these fabulous six — Ross, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey or Chandler — prototypes in the potential friends I meet. This good-looking bunch, who entertained us for a whopping 10 seasons, may have lacked boundaries in their friendship, but their series made us realise that it’s OK if your friends are your soulmates for life. Their camaraderie and the way they used to pull each other’s chains with a mix of sarcasm and genuine love for each other made them the portrait of how fulfilling comrades in life can get. Thank you universe, for gifting us ‘Friends’. Family may shape our identity, but they taught us how wonderful companions and camaraderie can be.

The One Where Everybody Finds Out: Monica and Chandler are secretly dating, but Rachel and Phoebe are intent on making them admit that they are seeing each other clandestinely. The scenes in which Phoebe pretends to be attracted to Chandler to arm-twist him into admitting that he’s romantically involved with her best friend Monica is comic gold. When Chandler eventually caves in and declares that he loves Monica and is not merely dating her will melt even the most hardened, cynical hearts. Plus, Phoebe’s questionable art of seduction and her idea of feminine wiles will just make you laugh. “The messers becomes the mess-ies” is my favourite one-liner as Phoebe manages to win the battle of wills.

The One With The Embryos: Ross as this stoic and wicked quiz master who puts together questions for his friends on how well they know each other is hilarious. Monica and Rachel are in one team, while Chandler and Joey are in the opposition. The manner in which the quiz heats up and the stakes become high — when a super-aggressive Monica puts her fancy apartment as a winner is one of the highlights. The questions are smart and funny and makes you wonder how is that none of his friends know what job Chandler holds? Their collective dynamic, their co-dependence, their chemistry with each other is what shone through.

By Shyama Krishna Kumar, Pages Editor

Although the ‘Friends’ originally aired at a time when I absolutely should have been all over a show like that, somehow the cultural zeitgeist completely passed me by. It was only as a full-grown almost-30-year-old that I finally found myself being pulled into the superhit show that almost anyone and everyone was constantly quoting stuff from. And it’s safe to say I’ve never looked back. What’s not to like about a show that tells the story of six friends who through the ups and downs of fresh adulthood together? Whether its work, love or just plain goofing around, the nostalgia for a time when we had fewer cares and a cup of coffee with friends could make everything right is definitely strong.

The One With All The Resolutions: I will forever stand by the fact that no one on the ‘Friends’ cast can be funnier than David Schwimmer. In this episode, Ross is still dealing with his divorce with Emily, and decides to start the New Year by making the resolution to try something new every day. On this particular day, he tries leather pants on his first date with one Elizabeth Hornawaggle, only to use the bathroom at one point in the date and realise he can’t get his pants back on. The ensuing hilarity features Ross desperately calling Joey for help, and some of the best physical humour of the entire show.

The One with the Rumor: ‘Friends’ was always known for its impressive roster of guest stars. But no other guest generated quite as much hype as Brad Pitt, who at the time was married to Jennifer Aniston. Appearing in the show as one of Ross’ old schoolmates, Will Colbert, the Thanksgiving episode revealed that Ross and Colbert were on a ‘I Hate Rachel’ club in high school, and that the two were responsible for spreading the rumour that Rachel was a hermaphrodite (the show was later criticised for deeply insulting the intersex community). However, the episode stands out for Pitt’s standout performance and playing completely against type as he rages against his real-life wife. A memorable quote from his character: “Look at her standing there with those yams. My two greatest enemies, Ross. Rachel Green and complex carbohydrates”.

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Home / Essay Samples / Life / Friends / A Critical Appraisal of the Television Show Friends

A Critical Appraisal of the Television Show Friends

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