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Friends

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This article is about the television show; Friends can also refer to Quakers or, more esoterically, a brand name of a spring loaded camming device.

File:Friends intro.jpg
Ending still from the series' title sequence

Friends was a long-running American television situation comedy centered on lives of six twenty-somethings (eventually thirty-somethings) (3 male, 3 female) living in Manhattan. 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

In monetary terms, Friends is the most successful sitcom of all time. By the end of the series the six main cast members were each paid $1,000,000 per episode. Advertisements for 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 less than a week after its broadcast.

The show focused on the lives of a group of six friends: Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey, Ross, and Phoebe. As the show begins, Rachel leaves her fiancé at the altar and moves in with Monica, who lives across the hall from Chandler and Joey. They all hang out with Monica's brother Ross, and Phoebe, the "free spirit" of the bunch. The settings for the show include Monica's apartment, Chandler and Joey's apartment and the coffee shop downstairs, "Central Perk."

Rachel was a spoiled Daddy's girl who gets 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 is a chef, who for the first several seasons struggles for success. Chandler is a data processor who eventually switches to a career in advertising. Joey is a struggling New York actor. Ross is a paleontologist who works at a museum; in later years, he became a college professor. Phoebe eked out a living as a singer-songwriter and a masseuse.

A constant story line throughout the series is the off-again, on-again romance between Ross and Rachel.

Finale

Template:Spoiler

In the Friends finale, which was seen by 56 million people, Ross and Rachel decide to get back together, shortly after Rachel almost leaves for Paris to get a better job. Monica and Chandler's adopted child is born. They didn't realize that it was going to be twins. Pheobe and Mike decide that they want to have kids.

Cast members

Chandler and Monica share a kiss (episode: The One After Ross Says Rachel)
Chandler and Monica share a kiss (episode: The One After Ross Says Rachel)

Main characters

Recurring characters

See also: List of significant others of Friends

Relations

Other

Guest stars

The show has had many well-known celebrities as guest stars, including Bruce Willis, Tom Selleck, Brad Pitt, Elle MacPherson, and Charlie Sheen.

See: List of guest stars on Friends

Pre-broadcast audience research

After the finale was broadcast, The Smoking Gun made available the May 27, 1994 "Program Test Report" summarizing the audience reaction to a version of what became the pilot episode. Overall reactions to the pilot were "not very favorable"; most viewers felt the show was "not very entertaining, clever, or original." The report recommended:

  • Broadening the show to include some older characters
  • Adding more humor
  • Changing the pilot so that the audience could become more involved emotionally with the show's characters
  • Toning down the sexual situations, at least at the beginning of the series
  • Having Chandler talk about his dreams on a recurring basis
  • Incorporating Phoebe more into the stories
  • Make the coffee shop less "funky"

Spinoff

Joey premiered September 9, 2004 on NBC. It centers around the Friends character, actor Joey Tribbiani, still played by LeBlanc. Past Friends cast members are expected to have cameo appearances on the show from time to time.

"Tribbiani in this comedy spin-off that continues the beloved Friends tradition. Joey, an aspiring actor, is off to Los Angeles to pursue his dream and begin a new chapter in his life. In this new town he's sure to face new challenges, both professional and personal. After reuniting with his sister, Gina, Joey moves in with his 20-year-old genius nephew, Michael, who is literally a rocket scientist. What Joey lacks in book smarts, however, he makes up for with people smarts, making him the best new friend his nephew could ask for. Cast: Matt LeBlanc, Drea deMatteo, Paulo Costanzo, Ashley Scott, Jennifer Coolidge."
-Quoted From the NBC homepage

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" 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 extensively. 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.

Trivia

  • The character of Ursula (Phoebe's twin sister) first appeared in the sitcom Mad About You.
  • James Michael Tyler's character came into the series by accident. He can be seen as an extra throughout the first series, and when given a line in the second, the directors were adequately impressed that they created him a full-time part: Gunther.
  • Central Perk, the coffee shop on the show, is based on Chomondley's, a coffee shop/lounge in Usen Castle at Brandeis University, the alma mater of the show's creators.

Further trivia can be found in the series' IMDb entry.

"Friends" in other countries

Broadcasters

First-run

Reruns/syndication

Caveats

In the UK, seasons 7 to 10 were first aired on E4, except for the season 10 finale which was broadcast on Channel 4 first, then aired an hour later on E4. This was the first time Channel 4 had broadcast an episode of Friends before the pay-tv channels since 1996.

See also

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