Could this show be any funnier?
I get it. There’s a never ending feud between “Friends” and “Seinfeld.” I understand it wasn’t the first show to be centered around a group of friends and I know it will not be the last. But I have to tell you from the jump, it is my favorite.
Whether you believe Ross and Rachel were in fact on a break, love the story between Monica and Chandler or just stick around for Joey and Phoebe’s jokes, there’s a story for everyone.
In case you, somehow, don’t exactly know what “Friends” is about, five friends, made up of Ross, Chandler, Joey, Monica and Phoebe who all live in downtown New York. Years after their college graduation, Monica’s high school best friend, Rachel, comes barging into the infamous coffee shop, Central Perk, and the gang’s all together.
From there, relationships, heartache, career changes, weddings, children and the occasional dinosaur joke make up ten seasons the show ran.
Running from 1994 to 2004, the show was oddly progressive in its own right. The show featured single mothers, transgender individuals and even featured the first lesbian wedding on television—in a scene that waas so controversial some broadcasts didn’t bother to air it. In 2018, nearly 54 million hours (62,000 years) were spent watching the show on Netflix.
The show also had some fantastic cameos, such as Brad Pitt, who was married to star of the show Jennifer Aniston at the time, Christina Applegate, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts and recurring guest Paul Rudd.
The show eventually garnered so much attention that in the final season each of the friends was making $1 million an episode.
So, what exactly is it that makes this show so special to so many people?
I think there is an argument to be made that the sheer fact that the show was on for an entire decade does help with why people love it so much. But if you really want to know what makes the show so special, I would look at one of my favorite episodes: Season 2, Episode 14: The one with the prom video.
Nearly two seasons into “Friends,” the original on-again-off-again, will-they-won’t-they couple finally finds one another. After funny hurdles and horribly-timed incidents, Rachel finally realized her feelings for her highschool best friend’s older brother, Ross.
What makes this episode so charming, however, is not just the serotonin boost that comes with that resolution, but that it encompasses every good aspect of the show.
One of the greatest lines to come from “Friends” happens in the episode when Phoebe explains that Ross and Rachel are like lobsters, because lobsters mate for life once they find each other.
This very sentimental moment is also a catalyst for many jokes throughout the episode.
As the episode progresses, an old high school video of Monica and Rachel getting ready for the prom reveals that when Rachel’s date was about to stand her up, Ross was prepared to take her, only to be let down at the last moment when her date does show up.
Jokes are made about how severely obese Monica was in high school, and about the hairstyles and dresses of the time. Meanwhile, Chandler and Joey get into a sort of tiff about a friendship bracelet—which provides much of the comic relief of the episode.
While we see the unparalleled friendship between Chandler and Joey play out, we watch two people fall in love and are encouraged by the ability for friendship to transcend so many years.
Even though there are some unbelievable moments—such as two young women paying NYC rent—“Friends” simply provides a little bit for everything. There’s comedy and love. Heartbreak and friendship. Real life problems and outlandish solutions.
The show is simply funny. They didn’t push narratives or political takes. There were simply just six friends going through life. It is somehow both entirely a possible reality, and yet fiction enough to enjoy.
Just before the pilot episode aired, the cast was taken to a nice dinner at Caesar’s Palace in Vegas to enjoy their final moments of anonymity.
Who would have thought that a silly show about six friends would have reminded the entire world that the most important words you can share with someone are, “I’ll be there for you”?
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