As everybody knows Friends is an all time popular and iconic tv series sitcom. Aired first in 1994 it is still in 2022 widely watched and loved around the world. I myself must have seen Friends numerous times.
The series is about lives of six friends. Known as Monica Geller, Ross Geller, Rachel Green, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribbiani and Chandler Bing. Who are in their twenties and live in New York city. The first episodes start with Rachel green a woman who flees from her wedding and wealthy yet unhappy life. And finds her childhood school friend Monica Geller a compact yet caring chef.
Rachel then becomes a waitress in a coffee shop called Central Perk after she moves into Monica’s apartment right above the coffee shop. And becomes close with Monica’s group of friends in their twenties. Previous roommate Phoebe Buffay a masseuse and part time musician. Joey Tribbiani a dim witted struggling actor and womanizer, Joey’s roommate Chandler Bing a sarcastic with social anxiety data processor and Monica’s brother Ross Green a geeky and nerdy paleontologist.
As other situational comedies Friends also shows us episodes of their daily lives. And the twist and turns, the comedy, the sudden situations they go through. But what I think that makes Friends different from other tv series is their relatable characters. But the life lessons the series gave us and how the growth of characters was visible. And without someone leaving the series between all ten seasons.
Like Monica’s character was overbearing, lowkey obsessed with keeping everything clean but caring at the same time. Rachel’s was rich and privileged, sometimes clueless but a nice friend. Pheobe’s was someone with not so good childhood but grew in a responsible person, a fun person and never taking anything too serious.
For the boys, Chandler’s was a funny and sarcastic guy who used to get nervous and sweaty while talking in front of people. Ross’s was the geeky and intelligent one, grew up nerdy and who had a bad luck in relationships and marriages. Joey’s was a grown guy still in a endless childhood who did everything and anything according to his desires.
Some of the life lessons Friends gave I believe is how much your real friends make your life easy and loving. The theme song of Friends called “I’ll be there for you” itself tells us about importance of good friends in our lives.
Also it may look not look like a major difference but ending one of the main character’s role. And between the show affects a lot on views rating and the storyline. Sometimes people even stop watching that series, because it may have been their favorite character. And they may not like the new storyline without that character. So in my opinion all Friends characters being there till the last season was one the reasons why people loved that sitcom.
At the end what I believe is the thing which makes Friends so popular and loved and different from other tv series/sitcoms is none other than Friends and their characters themselves.
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FRIENDS TV SERIES RATINGS
Friends without a doubt got really good ratings. Some of them are
- 9/10 by IMDb
- 4/5 by COMMON SENSE MEDIA
- 8/5 by audience rating in google
- 79% by ROTTEN TOMATOES
If talking about age rating, Friends is rated 13+ and PG under 13
HOW TO WATCH FRIENDS
Friends have 236 episodes and 10 seasons in total. If you looking for some sites and channels to watch Friends here are some
- Hbo tv
- Google play
- Amazon instant video
- Netflix
- Vudu
IS FRIENDS STILL POPULAR?
In 2018 along with some other series Friends was one of the most watched shows in Netflix with viewers around the world watching it for 54.3 million hours.
As I said above Friends’ relatable characters, life lessons and growth of characters in series throughout ten seasons are the causes why it is still popular and watched. Few more reasons why it is popular even for new generations can because it takes us back to simpler times, times before technology, phones and internet took over our lives and friendships. And undeniably the plot and story line of Friends are also the causes of its popularity.
On top of that some of the major awards Friends got are Primetime Emmy awards (winning six in total) Aniston and Kudrow were the two main cast who also got Emmy. The series also won American Comedy Award, GLAAD Media Award, Golden Globe Award, three Logie Awards, six People’s Choice awards, Satellite Award and Screen Actors Guild Award.
Friends also have had a visible cultural impact on its viewers. Though the makers and producers thought of Friends as “only a tv series”, psychologists revealed otherwise. Aniston’s hairstyle was started to get called “The Rachel” and was copied all over the world. Joey’s famous “how you doin’?” also became a frequently used English slang. Friends has also helped non- English speakers people in speaking the language better. Some of the famous personalities who have got help in speaking English are Liverpool F.C manager jürgen Klopp, BTS member RM and Belgian professional golfer Thomas Pieters.
The central perk coffee shop, one of the main set of the series (a part of Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood) attracts many visitors every year. Fans sometimes propose marriage on that couch, sometimes get teary eyes when they sit on the couch. The central perk coffee shop has inspired many imitations worldwide.
In 2006 Iranian businessman Mojtaba Asadian started a central perk franchise, registering the name in 32 countries. The decor of the coffee shops is inspired by Friends, including replica couches, counters, neon signage and bricks. The coffee houses contain paintings of the various characters from the series, they also have televisions playing Friends episodes. James Michael Tyler who plays the central perk manager famously known as playing Gunther attended the grand opening of the Dubai café, where he worked as a waiter.
In India, there are six Friends themed cafes, located in Chandigarh (named central perk), Kolkata and West Bengal (named F.R.I.E.N.D.S. café ) it features many icons from the original tv series, including Chandler and Joey’s ugly white dog statue, the orange couch, the purple door of Monica’s apartment and Phoebe’s pink bicycle. The other three cafes are located in Delhi, Pune and Odisha.
FRIENDS REUNION
A Friends reunion also took place on may 27 2021 called Friends: The Reunion. This reunion was hosted by James Corden and executive produced by tv series’ creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, the series’ cast and Ben Winston. The reunion shows the main cast (Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer) revisit the sets of the original show including, the Friends’ apartments, the central perk coffee shop and the signature water fountain. Hey also meets the guests who appeared on the tv series as celebrity guests, they also do the table reads and some re-enactments of the Friends episodes and share behind the scene footages. You can watch the reunion on HBO Max and its networks around the world also on OTT platform called ZEE5.
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CONCLUSION
So what we get to know from this is that Friends is still very much popular and loved, no matter what generation or age. It will always remain a classic tv series in sitcom history and will never be forgotten.
