Friends
- Other meanings: Religious Society of Friends (Quaker); Friends (climbing), a brand name of a spring loaded camming device.
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Friends is a long-running American television situation comedy revolving around a group of friends (aged somewhere between their mid-twenties and early thirties) who share neighboring apartments in Manhattan. The program is broadcast on NBC in the US, where the first episode was aired on September 22, 1994, the last on May 6, 2004.
It is possible to regard Friends as a spinoff of the sitcom Mad About You, as the character Phoebe Buffay on Friends is the twin sister of Ursula the waitress on Mad About You, although this tie-in was established later into the series.
The initial premise of the series has "the friends" in their mid-twenties. Monica Geller and Phoebe Buffay stay together in Monica's apartment. Chandler Bing is looking for a new roomie, Rachel runs away from her wedding altar and later moves in with her high-school friend Monica. Joey Tribbiani becomes Chandler's new roomie; interestingly, Chandler wasn't too keen to have Joey move in with him, but the guy who he chose "never shows up" because Mr. Heckles, who lives in the apartment immediately below Monica and Phoebe (and subsequently Monica and Rachel), falsely claims he is Chandler's new roommate, causing Chandler's real new roommate to leave. The friends hang out a lot at the nearby coffee shop, Central Perk.
Ross, or rather "Dr. Geller" (Monica's brother) is a paleontologist and works at a nearby museum. Chandler is a data processer for his company. Joey is a stereotypical struggling New York actor. Rachel Green was a spoiled Daddy's girl who later works as a waitress in the coffeeshop, so she could be more independent and stand on her own two feet. Monica is a chef, who for the first several seasons struggles to get her big "break."
The characters have developed and grown since the show's inception, which probably has contributed greatly to its popularity. The character of Rachel, for instance, began the show as a bratty girl who has just broken off from the financial support of her family. By season 10 she has worked as a personal shopper at Bloomingdale's and is now a buyer for Ralph Lauren, has been married and divorced, and is the mother of a baby girl.
Much of the show's plotline has revolved around the off-again, on-again romance of characters Ross and Rachel. The writers have successfully (and believably) brought them in and out of a romantic relationship with great humor and strife.
However, it has come to some fans' attentions that the writers have been losing their creative edge in the later seasons. Complaints concerning a lack of maintaining continuity with earlier episodes (many would cite the inconsistent dumbing down of Joey as an example), as well as the actors' performances occasionally treading into broad caricatures rather than actual characters, have made some fans question whether the series has gone past its prime.
Nine seasons of the show have been broadcast, and a tenth season was in doubt. But the tenth season has recently been commissioned at a fee of US$10,000,000 per episode. Currently (2003), the main cast members earn $1,000,000 an episode.
It has been revealed that Matt LeBlanc has signed a contract to continue playing Joey in a sitcom of that name starting in Fall 2004.
Main cast members:
- Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Karen Green)
- Courteney Cox Arquette (Monica Geller) from season 8 (Monica Geller Bing)
- Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), also occasionally her twin sister Ursula
- Matt LeBlanc (Joey Francis Tribbiani)
- Matthew Perry (Chandler Muriel Bing)
- David Schwimmer (Ross Geller)
- June Gable (Estelle Leonard)
- Elliott Gould (Jack Geller)
- Jessica Hecht (Susan Bunch)
- Christina Pickles (Judy Geller)
- Jane Sibbett (Carol Willick)
- James Michael Tyler (Gunther)
- Maggie Wheeler (Janice)
See: List of guest stars on Friends
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