Friends
| Friends | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | David Crane Marta Kauffman |
| Starring | Jennifer Aniston Courteney Cox Lisa Kudrow Matt LeBlanc Matthew Perry David Schwimmer |
| Theme music composer | Michael Skloff Allee Willis |
| Opening theme | "I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 236 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | David Crane Marta Kauffman Kevin S. Bright Michael Borkow (season 4) Michael Curtis (season 5) Adam Chase (seasons 5–6) Greg Malins (seasons 5–7) Wil Calhoun (season 7) Scott Silveri (season 8–10) Shana Goldberg-Meehan (season 8–10) Andrew Reich (seasons 8–10) Ted Cohen (seasons 8–10) |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 20–22 minutes (per episode) 22–65 minutes (extended international TV & DVD episodes) |
| Production company(s) | Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions Warner Bros. Television |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | 480i (4:3 SDTV) (original broadcast) 1080p (16:9 HDTV) (2012 remaster) |
| Audio format | Dolby Surround 2.0 (original broadcast) Dolby Digital 5.1 (2012 remaster) |
| Original release | September 22, 1994 – May 6, 2004 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Joey |
| Related shows | Caroline in the City Hope and Gloria Mad About You The Single Guy |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Kauffman and Crane began developing Friends under the title Insomnia Cafe between November and December 1993. They presented the idea to Bright, and together they pitched a seven-page treatment of the show to NBC. After several script rewrites and changes, including a title change to Six of One[1] and Friends Like Us, the series was finally named Friends.[2]
Filming took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. All ten seasons of Friends ranked within the top ten of the final television season ratings; ultimately reaching the No. 1 spot with its eighth season. The series finale on May 6, 2004, was watched by around 52.5 million American viewers, making it the fifth most watched series finale in television history,[3][4][5] and the most watched television episode of the 2000s decade.[6][7]
Friends received acclaim throughout its run, becoming one of the most popular television shows of all time.[8] The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002 for its eighth season. The show ranked no. 21 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time[9] and no. 7 on Empire magazine's The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[10][11] In 1997, the episode "The One with the Prom Video" was ranked no. 100 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.[12] In 2013, Friends ranked no. 24 on the Writers Guild of America's 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time[13] and no. 28 on TV Guide's 60 Best TV Series of All Time.[14]
Contents
[hide]Premise
Rachel Green flees her wedding day and finds childhood friend Monica Geller, a New York City chef. They become roommates, and Rachel joins Monica's social circle of single people in their mid-20s: struggling actor Joey Tribbiani, business professional Chandler Bing, masseuse and musician Phoebe Buffay, and newly divorced paleontologist Ross Geller, Monica's older brother. To support herself, Rachel becomes a waitress at Central Perk, a Manhattan coffeehouse where the group often hangs out; when not there, the six are usually at Monica and Rachel's nearby West Village apartment, or Joey and Chandler's across the hall.Episodes depict the friends' comedic and romantic adventures and career issues, such as Joey auditioning for roles or Rachel seeking jobs in the fashion industry. The six characters each have many dates and serious relationships, such as Monica with Richard Burke and Ross with Emily Waltham. Ross and Rachel's intermittent relationship is the most often-recurring storyline; during the ten seasons of the show they repeatedly date and break up, even while Ross briefly marries Emily, he and Rachel have a child, Chandler and Monica date and marry each other, and Phoebe marries Mike Hannigan. Other frequently recurring characters include Ross and Monica's parents in Long Island, Ross's ex-wife and their son, Central Perk barista Gunther, Chandler's ex-girlfriend Janice, and Phoebe's twin sister Ursula.
Cast and characters
The series featured six main characters throughout its run:- Jennifer Aniston portrays Rachel Green, a fashion enthusiast and Monica Geller's best friend from childhood. Rachel first moves in with Monica in season one after nearly marrying Barry Farber, whom she realizes she does not love. Rachel and Ross Geller are later involved in an on-again-off-again relationship throughout the series. Rachel dates other men during the series, such as an Italian neighbor, Paolo, in season one; Joshua Bergin, a client from Bloomingdale's, in season four; Tag Jones, her assistant, in season seven; and Joey Tribbiani in season ten. Rachel’s first job is as a waitress at the coffeehouse Central Perk, but she later becomes an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale's in season three, and a buyer at Ralph Lauren in season five. Rachel and Ross have a daughter named Emma in "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, Part Two" at the end of season eight. In the final episode of the series, Ross and Rachel finally confess their love for each other, and Rachel gives up a job in Paris to be with him.
- Courteney Cox portrays Monica Geller, the mother hen of the group and a chef,[15] known for her perfectionist, bossy, competitive, and obsessive-compulsive nature.[16][17] Monica is often jokingly teased by the others for having been extremely overweight as a child, especially by her brother Ross. Monica works as a chef in various restaurants throughout the show. Monica’s first serious relationship is with long-time family friend Richard Burke, who is twenty-one years her senior. The couple maintains a strong relationship for some time, until Richard expresses that he does not want to have children, much to Monica’s dismay. Monica and Chandler Bing later start a relationship after spending a night with each other in London in the season four finale, leading to their marriage in season seven and adoption of twins at the end of the series.
- Lisa Kudrow portrays Phoebe Buffay, an eccentric masseuse and self-taught musician. As a child, Phoebe lived in uptown New York with her mother, until she committed suicide and Phoebe took to the streets. Phoebe is ditsy but street smart. She writes and sings her own quirky songs, accompanying herself on the guitar. She has an "evil" identical twin named Ursula, who shares Phoebe’s quirkiness, but, unlike Phoebe, seems to be selfish and uncaring. Phoebe is childlike and innocent in disposition. She tends to use her past misfortunes such as her mother’s suicide as sympathy ploys – or rather, to mock others' self-indulgent self-pity. Phoebe has three serious relationships over the show's run: David, a scientist, in season one, whom she breaks up with when he moves to Minsk on a research grant; Gary, a police officer whose badge she finds, in season five; and an on-and-off relationship with Mike Hannigan in seasons nine and ten. In season nine, Phoebe and Mike break up due to his desire not to marry. David returns from Minsk, leading to the two getting back together, but she eventually rejects him for Mike when both of them propose to her. Phoebe and Mike marry in season ten.[18][19]
- Matt LeBlanc portrays Joey Tribbiani, a struggling actor and food lover who becomes famous for his role on soap opera Days of Our Lives as Dr. Drake Ramoray. Joey is a simple-minded womanizer with many short-term girlfriends. Despite his womanizing, Joey is innocent, caring, and well-intentioned.[20] Joey often uses the catchphrase pick-up line "How you doin'?" in his attempts to win over most of the women he meets. Joey rooms with his best friend Chandler for years, and later with Rachel. He falls in love with Rachel in season eight,[21] but Rachel politely tells Joey that she does not share his feelings. They eventually date briefly in season ten, but after realizing it will not work due to their friendship and, more importantly, Rachel's complicated relationship with Ross, they return to being friends.
- Matthew Perry portrays Chandler Bing, an executive in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration for a large, multinational corporation. Chandler hates this job, although it pays well. He attempts to quit during season one, but is lured back with a new office and a pay raise. He eventually quits this job in season nine due to a transfer to Tulsa. He becomes a junior copywriter at an advertising agency later that season. Chandler has a peculiar family history being the son of an erotic novelist mother and a gay, cross-dressing Las Vegas star father. Chandler is known for his sarcastic sense of humor and bad luck in relationships.[22] Chandler marries Monica in season seven, and they adopt twins at the end of the series. Before his relationship with Monica, Chandler dated Janice Hosenstein in season one and subsequently broke up with her many times. Matthew Perry has expressed his similarities to the character, such as his need to break an awkward silence with a joke and difficulties with women when first joining the show.[23]
- David Schwimmer portrays Ross Geller, Monica Geller's older brother, a paleontologist working at the Museum of Natural History, and later a tenured professor of paleontology at New York University. Ross is a sweet-natured man of good humor, although he is often clumsy and socially awkward. Ross is involved in an on-again-off-again relationship with Rachel throughout the series. He has three failed marriages during the series: Carol Willick, a lesbian who is also the mother of his son, Ben; Emily Waltham, who divorces Ross after he accidentally says Rachel's name instead of hers during their wedding vows; and Rachel, as the two drunkenly marry in Las Vegas. His failed love life is potentially due to his paranoia and jealousy in relationships, and his divorces become a running joke within the series. Following a one-night stand, he and Rachel have a daughter, Emma, by the end of season eight. They finally confess that they are still in love with each other in the series finale.
Cast
| Primary cast of Friends | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Series creator David Crane wanted all six actors to be equally prominent,[31] and the series was lauded as being "the first true 'ensemble' show."[32] The cast members made efforts to keep the ensemble format and not allow one member to dominate;[32] they entered themselves in the same acting categories for awards,[33] opted for collective salary negotiations,[32] and asked to appear together on magazine cover photos in the first season.[34] The cast members also became best friends off-screen,[35] so much so that recurring guest star Tom Selleck reported that he sometimes felt left out.[36]
The cast remained good friends after the series run, most notably Cox and Aniston, with Aniston being godmother to Cox and David Arquette's daughter, Coco.[37] In the official farewell commemorative book Friends 'Til the End, each separately acknowledged in interviews that the cast had become their family.[38]
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Nielsen ratings[39] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Rank | Rating | Tied with | ||||
| 1 | 24 | September 22, 1994 | May 18, 1995 | 8 | 15.6 | Murder, She Wrote | ||
| 2 | 24 | September 21, 1995 | May 16, 1996 | 3 | 18.7 | N/A | ||
| 3 | 25 | September 19, 1996 | May 15, 1997 | 4 | 16.8 | The Naked Truth | ||
| 4 | 24 | September 25, 1997 | May 7, 1998 | 4 | 16.1 | N/A | ||
| 5 | 24 | September 24, 1998 | May 20, 1999 | 2 | 15.7 | N/A | ||
| 6 | 25 | September 23, 1999 | May 18, 2000 | 5 | 14.0 | |||
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