Friends is an American television sitcom, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons.[1] With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, the show revolves around six friends in their 20s and 30s who live in Manhattan, New York City. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The original executive producers were Kevin S. Bright, Kauffman, and Crane.
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 title changes to Six of One[2] and Friends Like Us, the series was finally named Friends.[3]
Filming of the show 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; it ultimately reached the number-one spot in its eighth season. The series finale aired on May 6, 2004, and was watched by around 52.5 million American viewers, making it the fifth most-watched series finale in television history,[4][5][6] and the most-watched television episode of the 2000s decade.[7][8]
Friends received acclaim throughout its run, becoming one of the most popular television shows of all time.[9] The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002[10] for its eighth season. The show ranked no. 21 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time,[11] and no. 7 on Empire magazine's The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[12][13] In 1997, the episode "The One with the Prom Video" was ranked no. 100 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.[14] In 2013, Friends ranked no. 24 on the Writers Guild of America's 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time,[15] and no. 28 on TV Guide's 60 Best TV Series of All Time
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 group of single people in their mid-20s: Struggling actor Joey Tribbiani, business professional Chandler Bing, masseuse and musician Phoebe Buffay, and newly divorced palaeontologist Ross Geller, Monica's older brother. Rachel becomes a waitress at Manhattan coffee house Central Perk; when not there, the group is 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. Ross briefly marries Emily. Ross and Rachel have a child together after a one-night stand, Chandler and Monica date and marry each other, and Phoebe marries Mike Hannigan. Other frequently recurring characters include Ross and Monica's parents Jack and Judy Geller from Long Island; Ross's ex-wife Carol Willick, their son Ben Geller as well as Carol's wife Susan Bunch; Central Perk barista Gunther; Chandler's ex-girlfriend Janice Goralnik; and Phoebe's twin sister Ursula.
Cast and characters
Main article: List of Friends characters
Jennifer Aniston as 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. 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 neighbour, 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 coffee house 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 confess their love for each other, and Rachel gives up a job in Paris to be with him.
Courteney Cox as Monica Geller:
The mother hen of the group and a chef,[17] known for her perfectionist, bossy, competitive, and obsessive-compulsive nature.[18][19] Monica was overweight as a child. She works as a chef in various restaurants throughout the show. Monica's first serious relationship is with a 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. 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 as Phoebe Buffay:
A masseuse and self-taught musician. As a child, Phoebe lived in upstate New York with her mother, until she committed suicide and Phoebe took to the streets. She writes and sings her own strange songs, accompanying herself on the guitar. She has an identical twin named Ursula, who shares Phoebe's traits. 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.[20][21]
Matt LeBlanc as 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 has many short-term girlfriends. Despite his womanizing, Joey is innocent, caring, and well-intentioned.[22] 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,[23] 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 Rachel's complicated relationship with Ross, they return to being friends.
Matthew Perry as 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.[24] 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.
David Schwimmer as Ross Geller:
Monica Geller's older brother, a palaeontologist working at the Museum of Natural History, and later a tenured professor of palaeontology at the New York University. 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 Geller; Emily Waltham, who divorces him 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 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.
James Michael Tyler appears as Gunther, a barista at Central Perk in every season of the show, but is only ever credited as a guest star. Gunther, at one point, becomes the manager of the coffee house. It is revealed that Gunther speaks Dutch in addition to English.
In their original contracts for the first season, cast members were paid $22,500 per episode.[25] The cast members received different salaries in the second season, beginning from the $20,000 range to $40,000 per episode.[25][26] Before their salary negotiations for the third season, the cast decided to enter collective negotiations, despite Warner Bros.' preference for individual deals.[27] The actors were given the salary of the least paid cast member, meaning Aniston and Schwimmer had their salaries reduced.The stars were paid $75,000 per episode in season three, $85,000 in season four, $100,000 in season five, $125,000 in season six, $750,000 in seasons seven and eight, and $1 million in seasons nine and ten, making Aniston, Cox, and Kudrow the highest-paid TV actresses of all time.[28][29][30] The cast also received syndication royalties beginning in 2000 after renegotiations. At the time, that financial benefit of a piece of the show's lucrative back-end profits had only been given out to stars who had ownership rights in a show, like Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Cosby.[31]
Series creator David Crane wanted all six actors to be equally prominent,[32] and the series was lauded as being "the first true 'ensemble' show."[33] The cast members made efforts to keep the ensemble format and not allow one member to dominate;[33] they entered themselves in the same acting categories for awards,[34] opted for collective salary negotiations,[33] and asked to appear together on magazine cover photos in the first season.[35] The cast members also became best friends off-screen,[36] so much so that recurring guest star Tom Selleck reported that he sometimes felt left out.[37]
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.[38] In the official farewell commemorative book Friends 'Til the End, each separately acknowledged in interviews that the cast had become their family.
Season 1
Main article: Friends (season 1)
The first season introduces the six main characters: Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross. Rachel arrives at Central Perk after leaving her fiancé Barry standing at the altar. She moves into an apartment with her high school friend Monica. Ross, who has had a crush on Rachel since high school, constantly attempts to declare his feelings for her. However, many obstacles stand in his way, including the fact that he is expecting a baby with his lesbian ex-wife, Carol. She gives birth later in the season and names the child Ben. Joey is a bachelor and struggling actor. Phoebe is working as a masseuse; she is slightly crazy because her mother committed suicide when she was a child. However, the rest of the group loves her regardless. Chandler breaks up with his girlfriend, Janice (Maggie Wheeler). Near the end of the season, Chandler accidentally reveals that Ross loves Rachel, who then realizes that she feels the same way. The season ends with Rachel waiting at the airport for Ross, who is returning from a trip.
Season 2
Main article: Friends (season 2)
The second season begins with Rachel waiting at the gate for Ross so she can declare her love for him. However, she discovers that he is dating Julie (Lauren Tom), someone he knew from graduate school. Rachel's attempts to tell Ross she loves him initially mirror his failed attempts in the first season, but the characters do eventually begin a relationship. Joey gets cast in a fictional version of the soap opera, Days of Our Lives, but his character is killed off after he begins to claim that he writes many of his own lines, bringing him into conflict with the show's writers. Chandler gets back together with Janice, his ex-girlfriend from Season One. Monica begins dating Richard (Tom Selleck), a recently divorced family friend 21 years her senior, but they eventually break up.
Season 3
Main article: Friends (season 3)
Season Three takes on a significantly greater serialized format. Rachel begins working at Bloomingdale's, an upscale department store chain, and Ross becomes jealous of her colleague, Mark. Rachel decides to take a break from their relationship. Ross, hurt and drunk, sleeps with Chloe, "the hot girl from the Xerox place," causing Rachel to break up with him. Chandler has a hard time dealing with their breakup because it reminds him of his parents' divorce. Although Phoebe initially believes she has no family except her twin sister Ursula (Lisa Kudrow), she becomes acquainted with her half-brother Frank Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi) and birth mother Phoebe (Teri Garr) over the course of the season. Joey begins a relationship with his acting partner Kate (Dina Meyer). Monica begins a relationship with millionaire Pete Becker (Jon Favreau), which ends because of disagreements between the two.
Season 4
Main article: Friends (season 4)
In the Season Four premiere, Ross and Rachel briefly reconcile after Ross pretends to read a long letter that Rachel wrote for him. However, Ross continues to insist that the two were on a break when he slept with Chloe, so they break up again. Joey dates Kathy (Paget Brewster), a girl that Chandler has a crush on. Kathy and Chandler later kiss, which causes drama between Chandler and Joey. Joey only forgives Chandler and allows him to date Kathy after Chandler spends a day in a box as punishment. Chandler's relationship with Kathy ends after discovering she cheated on him due to an argument. Phoebe becomes a surrogate mother for her brother and his wife Alice (Debra Jo Rupp). Monica and Rachel are forced to switch apartments with Joey and Chandler after losing a bet during a quiz game, but manage to switch back by bribing them with Knicks season tickets and a one-minute kiss (off-screen) between Rachel and Monica. Ross begins dating an English woman named Emily (Helen Baxendale), and the season finale features their wedding in London. Chandler and Monica sleep together, and Rachel decides to stop Ross and Emily's wedding. While saying his vows, Ross says Rachel's name at the altar, shocking his bride and the guests.
Season 5
Main article: Friends (season 5)
Season Five starts with Ross and Emily's wedding in London. The season features Monica and Chandler trying to keep their new relationship a secret from their friends. Phoebe gives birth to triplets in the show's 100th episode. She gives birth to a boy, Frank Jr. Jr., and two girls, Leslie and Chandler. Emily threatens to leave Ross unless he breaks off all communication with Rachel. Ross agrees, but later attends a dinner with all his friends, Rachel included. Emily phones Ross, discovers Rachel is there, and realizes she does not trust him. This ends the marriage. Phoebe begins a relationship with a police officer, Gary (Michael Rapaport), after finding his badge and using it as her own. Monica and Chandler go public with their relationship, to the surprise and delight of their friends. They decide to get married on a trip to Las Vegas, but change their plans after witnessing Ross and Rachel drunkenly stumbling out of the wedding chapel.
Season 6
Main article: Friends (season 6)
In the Season Six premiere, Ross and Rachel's marriage turns out to be a drunken mistake that Rachel does not remember. Ross tries to get an annulment because he does not want to have had three divorces. However, when he realizes an annulment is impossible, he then tries to keep their wedding a secret from Rachel. She finds out and divorces him several episodes later. Monica and Chandler move in together, causing Rachel to move in with Phoebe. Joey lands a role on a cable television series called Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E., where he stars alongside a robot. Ross gets a job lecturing at New York University and starts dating one of his students, Elizabeth (Alexandra Holden). The relationship ends because of Elizabeth's immaturity. Phoebe and Rachel's apartment catches fire, and Rachel moves in with Joey, while Phoebe moves in with Chandler and Monica. Chandler proposes to Monica, who says yes even though her ex-boyfriend Richard confesses his love for her.
Season 7
Main article: Friends (season 7)
The seventh season mainly follows the various antics of Monica and Chandler, who begin to plan their wedding and run into financial problems which are quickly fixed by Chandler's secret funds. Joey's television series Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E is cancelled, but he is offered his job back on Days of Our Lives. Meanwhile, Ross tries to introduce Ben to Hanukkah with the help of an Armadillo costume. Phoebe's apartment is rebuilt, but it now has only one large bedroom instead of the original two, so Rachel decides to stay with Joey. The season ends just prior to Monica and Chandler's wedding, with Phoebe and Rachel finding a positive pregnancy test in the bathroom of Monica and Chandler's apartment.
Season 8
Main article: Friends (season 8)
Season 8 begins at Monica and Chandler's wedding reception. It turns out that the positive pregnancy test found in their bathroom belongs to Rachel. Rachel takes another pregnancy test, which Phoebe initially pretends is negative, in order to find out how Rachel feels about being pregnant. Rachel becomes sad when she thinks she's not pregnant, so Phoebe tells her the truth. Rachel, Phoebe, and Monica then rejoice in the bathroom. The season revolves around Rachel's pregnancy, especially once Ross is revealed to be the father. Rachel and Ross decide to have the baby but do not resume their romantic relationship. Joey develops romantic feelings for Rachel, but she does not reciprocate them. Rachel gives birth to baby Emma in the season finale. At the hospital, Ross's mother offers him an engagement ring because she wants him to marry Rachel. Ross does not intend to ask Rachel to marry him, but he takes the ring anyway and puts it in his jacket pocket. Meanwhile, in the post-delivery room, Joey picks up Ross's jacket while looking for some tissue. The ring falls to the floor. He kneels to pick it up and turns to Rachel, still on his knees and still holding the ring. Rachel accepts what she thinks is his proposal of marriage.
Season 9
Main article: Friends (season 9)
Season nine begins with Ross and Rachel living together as roommates with their daughter Emma. Monica and Chandler try to have a baby of their own but find out that they are physically unable to conceive. Phoebe begins dating Mike Hannigan (Paul Rudd) and chooses to be with him over her ex-boyfriend David (Hank Azaria). Rachel and Emma move in with Joey in the middle of the season, and Rachel develops a crush on him, while the rest of the "friends" try hard to get Ross and Rachel back together. The group travels to Barbados in the finale to hear Ross give a keynote speech at a paleontology conference. Joey and his girlfriend Charlie (Aisha Tyler) break up, and she begins a relationship with Ross. Upon seeing Ross and Charlie kiss each other, Joey goes to Rachel's hotel room, and the finale ends with the two of them kissing.
Season 10
Main article: Friends (season 10)
The tenth season brings several long-running storylines to a close. Charlie breaks up with Ross to get back together with her ex-boyfriend. Joey and Rachel try to contend with Ross's feelings about their relationship and decide it would be best to remain friends. Phoebe and Mike get married mid-season outside the Central Perk coffee house. Monica and Chandler apply to adopt a child and are chosen by Erica (Anna Faris). In the series finale, Erica gives birth to fraternal twins, to Monica and Chandler's surprise. Monica and Chandler prepare to move to the suburbs. Joey becomes upset with the changes in his life. Rachel gets fired from her job and accepts a new job offer in Paris. Ross tries to get Rachel her job back by secretly meeting with her boss but eventually gives up after realizing that the Paris job is her dream job. Rachel says a tearful goodbye to everyone but Ross. A hurt and angry Ross confronts Rachel, and they end up sleeping together. Rachel leaves, and Ross—who now realizes he is in love with her—chases her to the airport. When he reaches her, Rachel realizes she loves him too, and cancels her flight to Paris. The series ends with all the friends, plus Monica and Chandler's new babies, leaving the apartment together for a final cup of coffee. Chandler makes a final joke. The show ends first with a shot of the keys to Monica and Chandler's apartment, on the counter table, and then with a shot of the apartment's purple door.
Production
Conception
It's about sex, love, relationships, careers, a time in your life when everything's possible. And it's about friendship because when you're single and in the city, your friends are your family.
— The original treatment used by Crane, Kauffman and Bright to pitch the series to NBC.[42]
David Crane and Marta Kauffman began developing three new television pilots that would premiere in 1994 after their sitcom Family Album was cancelled by CBS in 1993.[43] Kauffman and Crane decided to pitch the series about "six people in their 20s making their way in Manhattan" to NBC since they thought it would fit best there.[44] Crane and Kauffman presented the idea to their production partner Kevin Bright, who had served as executive producer on their HBO series Dream On.[45] The idea for the series was conceived when Crane and Kauffman began thinking about the time when they had finished college and started living by themselves in New York; Kauffman believed they were looking at a time when the future was "more of a question mark."[42] They found the concept to be interesting, as they believed "everybody knows that feeling",[42] and because it was also how they felt about their own lives at the time.[42] The team titled the series Insomnia Cafe and pitched the idea as a seven-page treatment to NBC in December 1993.[42][44]
At the same time, Warren Littlefield, the then-president of NBC Entertainment, was seeking a comedy involving young people living together and sharing expenses. Littlefield wanted the group to share memorable periods of their lives with friends, who had become "new, surrogate family members."[20] However, Littlefield found difficulty in bringing the concept to life and found the scripts developed by NBC to be terrible. When Kauffman, Crane and Bright pitched Insomnia Cafe, Littlefield was impressed that they knew who their characters were.[20] NBC bought the idea as a put pilot, meaning they risked financial penalties if the pilot was not filmed.[46] Kauffman and Crane took three days to write the pilot script for a show they titled Friends Like Us.[42][47] Littlefield wanted the series to "represent Generation X and explore a new kind of tribal bonding", but the rest disagreed. Crane argued that it was not a series for one generation, and wanted to produce a series that everyone would enjoy watching.[20] NBC liked the script and ordered the series. They changed the title to Six of One, mainly because they felt Friends Like Us was too similar to the ABC sitcom These Friends of Mine.[48]
Casting
Once it became apparent that the series was a favored project at NBC, Littlefield reported that he was getting calls from every agent in town, wanting their client to be a part of the series.[20] Auditions for the lead roles took place in New York and Los Angeles.[49] The casting director shortlisted 1,000 actors who had applied for each role down to 75. Those who received a callback read again in front of Crane, Kauffman and Bright. At the end of March, the number of potential actors had been reduced to three or four for each part, and were asked to read for Les Moonves, then-president of Warner Bros. Television.[50]
Having worked with David Schwimmer in the past,[49] the series creators wrote the character of Ross with him in mind, and he was the first actor cast.[51] Cox wanted to play the role of Monica because she liked the "strong" character, but the producers had her in mind to play Rachel because of her "cheery, upbeat energy", which was not how they envisioned Monica; after Cox's audition, though, Kauffman agreed with Cox, and she got the role.[42][52] When Matt LeBlanc auditioned for Joey, he put a "different spin" on the character.[42] He played Joey more simple-minded than intended and gave the character heart. Although Crane and Kauffman did not want LeBlanc for the role at the time, they were told by the network to cast him.[42] Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow were cast based on their auditions.[49]
More changes occurred to the series's storylines during the casting process. The writers found that they had to adjust the characters they had written to suit the actors, and the discovery process of the characters occurred throughout the first season. Kauffman acknowledged that Joey's character became "this whole new being", and that "it wasn't until we did the first Thanksgiving episode that we realized how much fun Monica's neuroses are."[53]
Writing
In the weeks after NBC's pick up of Friends, Crane, Kauffman and Bright reviewed sent-in scripts that writers had originally prepared for other series, mainly unproduced Seinfeld episodes.[54] Kauffman and Crane hired a team of seven young writers because "When you're 40, you can't do it anymore. The networks and studios are looking for young people coming in out of college."[55] The creators felt that using six equal characters, rather than emphasizing one or two, would allow for "myriad storylines and give the show legs."[32] The majority of the storyline ideas came from the writers, although the actors added ideas.[49] Although the writers originally planned the big love story to be between Joey and Monica, the idea of a romantic interest between Ross and Rachel emerged during the period when Kauffman and Crane wrote the pilot script.[42]
During the production of the pilot, NBC requested that the script be changed to feature one dominant storyline and several minor ones, but the writers refused, wanting to keep three storylines of equal weight.[48] NBC also wanted the writers to include an older character to balance out the young ones. Crane and Kauffman were forced to comply and wrote a draft of an early episode that featured "Pat the Cop." who would be used to provide advice to the other characters. Crane found the storyline to be terrible, and Kauffman joked, "You know the kids [sic] book, Pat the Bunny? We had Pat the Cop." NBC eventually relented and dropped the idea.[42]
Each summer, the producers would outline the storylines for the subsequent season.[56] Before an episode went into production, Kauffman and Crane would revise the script written by another writer, mainly if something concerning either the series or a character felt foreign.[54] The hardest episodes to write were always "the first one and the last one of each season."[57] Unlike other storylines, the idea for a relationship between Joey and Rachel was decided on halfway through the eighth season. The creators did not want Ross and Rachel to get back together so soon, and while looking for a romantic impediment, a writer suggested Joey's romantic interest in Rachel. The storyline was incorporated into the season; however, when the actors feared that the storyline would make their characters unlikable, the storyline was wrapped up, until it again resurfaced in the season's finale. For the ninth season, the writers were unsure about the amount of storyline to give to Rachel's baby, as they wanted the show neither to revolve around a baby nor pretend there to be none.[56] Crane said that it took them a while to accept the idea of a tenth season, which they decided to do because they had enough stories left to tell to justify the season. Kauffman and Crane would not have signed on for an eleventh season, even if all the cast members had wanted to continue.[53]
The episode title format—"The One ..."[58]—was created when the producers realized that the episode titles would not be featured in the opening credits, and therefore would be unknown to most of the audience. Episode titles officially begin with "The One ..." except the title of the pilot episode and the series finale "The Last One."
Filming
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 title changes to Six of One[2] and Friends Like Us, the series was finally named Friends.[3]
Filming of the show 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; it ultimately reached the number-one spot in its eighth season. The series finale aired on May 6, 2004, and was watched by around 52.5 million American viewers, making it the fifth most-watched series finale in television history,[4][5][6] and the most-watched television episode of the 2000s decade.[7][8]
Friends received acclaim throughout its run, becoming one of the most popular television shows of all time.[9] The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002[10] for its eighth season. The show ranked no. 21 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time,[11] and no. 7 on Empire magazine's The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[12][13] In 1997, the episode "The One with the Prom Video" was ranked no. 100 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.[14] In 2013, Friends ranked no. 24 on the Writers Guild of America's 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time,[15] and no. 28 on TV Guide's 60 Best TV Series of All Time
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 group of single people in their mid-20s: Struggling actor Joey Tribbiani, business professional Chandler Bing, masseuse and musician Phoebe Buffay, and newly divorced palaeontologist Ross Geller, Monica's older brother. Rachel becomes a waitress at Manhattan coffee house Central Perk; when not there, the group is 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. Ross briefly marries Emily. Ross and Rachel have a child together after a one-night stand, Chandler and Monica date and marry each other, and Phoebe marries Mike Hannigan. Other frequently recurring characters include Ross and Monica's parents Jack and Judy Geller from Long Island; Ross's ex-wife Carol Willick, their son Ben Geller as well as Carol's wife Susan Bunch; Central Perk barista Gunther; Chandler's ex-girlfriend Janice Goralnik; and Phoebe's twin sister Ursula.
Cast and characters
Main article: List of Friends characters
Jennifer Aniston as 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. 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 neighbour, 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 coffee house 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 confess their love for each other, and Rachel gives up a job in Paris to be with him.
Courteney Cox as Monica Geller:
The mother hen of the group and a chef,[17] known for her perfectionist, bossy, competitive, and obsessive-compulsive nature.[18][19] Monica was overweight as a child. She works as a chef in various restaurants throughout the show. Monica's first serious relationship is with a 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. 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 as Phoebe Buffay:
A masseuse and self-taught musician. As a child, Phoebe lived in upstate New York with her mother, until she committed suicide and Phoebe took to the streets. She writes and sings her own strange songs, accompanying herself on the guitar. She has an identical twin named Ursula, who shares Phoebe's traits. 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.[20][21]
Matt LeBlanc as 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 has many short-term girlfriends. Despite his womanizing, Joey is innocent, caring, and well-intentioned.[22] 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,[23] 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 Rachel's complicated relationship with Ross, they return to being friends.
Matthew Perry as 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.[24] 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.
David Schwimmer as Ross Geller:
Monica Geller's older brother, a palaeontologist working at the Museum of Natural History, and later a tenured professor of palaeontology at the New York University. 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 Geller; Emily Waltham, who divorces him 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 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.
James Michael Tyler appears as Gunther, a barista at Central Perk in every season of the show, but is only ever credited as a guest star. Gunther, at one point, becomes the manager of the coffee house. It is revealed that Gunther speaks Dutch in addition to English.
In their original contracts for the first season, cast members were paid $22,500 per episode.[25] The cast members received different salaries in the second season, beginning from the $20,000 range to $40,000 per episode.[25][26] Before their salary negotiations for the third season, the cast decided to enter collective negotiations, despite Warner Bros.' preference for individual deals.[27] The actors were given the salary of the least paid cast member, meaning Aniston and Schwimmer had their salaries reduced.The stars were paid $75,000 per episode in season three, $85,000 in season four, $100,000 in season five, $125,000 in season six, $750,000 in seasons seven and eight, and $1 million in seasons nine and ten, making Aniston, Cox, and Kudrow the highest-paid TV actresses of all time.[28][29][30] The cast also received syndication royalties beginning in 2000 after renegotiations. At the time, that financial benefit of a piece of the show's lucrative back-end profits had only been given out to stars who had ownership rights in a show, like Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Cosby.[31]
Series creator David Crane wanted all six actors to be equally prominent,[32] and the series was lauded as being "the first true 'ensemble' show."[33] The cast members made efforts to keep the ensemble format and not allow one member to dominate;[33] they entered themselves in the same acting categories for awards,[34] opted for collective salary negotiations,[33] and asked to appear together on magazine cover photos in the first season.[35] The cast members also became best friends off-screen,[36] so much so that recurring guest star Tom Selleck reported that he sometimes felt left out.[37]
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.[38] In the official farewell commemorative book Friends 'Til the End, each separately acknowledged in interviews that the cast had become their family.
Season 1
Main article: Friends (season 1)
The first season introduces the six main characters: Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross. Rachel arrives at Central Perk after leaving her fiancé Barry standing at the altar. She moves into an apartment with her high school friend Monica. Ross, who has had a crush on Rachel since high school, constantly attempts to declare his feelings for her. However, many obstacles stand in his way, including the fact that he is expecting a baby with his lesbian ex-wife, Carol. She gives birth later in the season and names the child Ben. Joey is a bachelor and struggling actor. Phoebe is working as a masseuse; she is slightly crazy because her mother committed suicide when she was a child. However, the rest of the group loves her regardless. Chandler breaks up with his girlfriend, Janice (Maggie Wheeler). Near the end of the season, Chandler accidentally reveals that Ross loves Rachel, who then realizes that she feels the same way. The season ends with Rachel waiting at the airport for Ross, who is returning from a trip.
Season 2
Main article: Friends (season 2)
The second season begins with Rachel waiting at the gate for Ross so she can declare her love for him. However, she discovers that he is dating Julie (Lauren Tom), someone he knew from graduate school. Rachel's attempts to tell Ross she loves him initially mirror his failed attempts in the first season, but the characters do eventually begin a relationship. Joey gets cast in a fictional version of the soap opera, Days of Our Lives, but his character is killed off after he begins to claim that he writes many of his own lines, bringing him into conflict with the show's writers. Chandler gets back together with Janice, his ex-girlfriend from Season One. Monica begins dating Richard (Tom Selleck), a recently divorced family friend 21 years her senior, but they eventually break up.
Season 3
Main article: Friends (season 3)
Season Three takes on a significantly greater serialized format. Rachel begins working at Bloomingdale's, an upscale department store chain, and Ross becomes jealous of her colleague, Mark. Rachel decides to take a break from their relationship. Ross, hurt and drunk, sleeps with Chloe, "the hot girl from the Xerox place," causing Rachel to break up with him. Chandler has a hard time dealing with their breakup because it reminds him of his parents' divorce. Although Phoebe initially believes she has no family except her twin sister Ursula (Lisa Kudrow), she becomes acquainted with her half-brother Frank Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi) and birth mother Phoebe (Teri Garr) over the course of the season. Joey begins a relationship with his acting partner Kate (Dina Meyer). Monica begins a relationship with millionaire Pete Becker (Jon Favreau), which ends because of disagreements between the two.
Season 4
Main article: Friends (season 4)
In the Season Four premiere, Ross and Rachel briefly reconcile after Ross pretends to read a long letter that Rachel wrote for him. However, Ross continues to insist that the two were on a break when he slept with Chloe, so they break up again. Joey dates Kathy (Paget Brewster), a girl that Chandler has a crush on. Kathy and Chandler later kiss, which causes drama between Chandler and Joey. Joey only forgives Chandler and allows him to date Kathy after Chandler spends a day in a box as punishment. Chandler's relationship with Kathy ends after discovering she cheated on him due to an argument. Phoebe becomes a surrogate mother for her brother and his wife Alice (Debra Jo Rupp). Monica and Rachel are forced to switch apartments with Joey and Chandler after losing a bet during a quiz game, but manage to switch back by bribing them with Knicks season tickets and a one-minute kiss (off-screen) between Rachel and Monica. Ross begins dating an English woman named Emily (Helen Baxendale), and the season finale features their wedding in London. Chandler and Monica sleep together, and Rachel decides to stop Ross and Emily's wedding. While saying his vows, Ross says Rachel's name at the altar, shocking his bride and the guests.
Season 5
Main article: Friends (season 5)
Season Five starts with Ross and Emily's wedding in London. The season features Monica and Chandler trying to keep their new relationship a secret from their friends. Phoebe gives birth to triplets in the show's 100th episode. She gives birth to a boy, Frank Jr. Jr., and two girls, Leslie and Chandler. Emily threatens to leave Ross unless he breaks off all communication with Rachel. Ross agrees, but later attends a dinner with all his friends, Rachel included. Emily phones Ross, discovers Rachel is there, and realizes she does not trust him. This ends the marriage. Phoebe begins a relationship with a police officer, Gary (Michael Rapaport), after finding his badge and using it as her own. Monica and Chandler go public with their relationship, to the surprise and delight of their friends. They decide to get married on a trip to Las Vegas, but change their plans after witnessing Ross and Rachel drunkenly stumbling out of the wedding chapel.
Season 6
Main article: Friends (season 6)
In the Season Six premiere, Ross and Rachel's marriage turns out to be a drunken mistake that Rachel does not remember. Ross tries to get an annulment because he does not want to have had three divorces. However, when he realizes an annulment is impossible, he then tries to keep their wedding a secret from Rachel. She finds out and divorces him several episodes later. Monica and Chandler move in together, causing Rachel to move in with Phoebe. Joey lands a role on a cable television series called Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E., where he stars alongside a robot. Ross gets a job lecturing at New York University and starts dating one of his students, Elizabeth (Alexandra Holden). The relationship ends because of Elizabeth's immaturity. Phoebe and Rachel's apartment catches fire, and Rachel moves in with Joey, while Phoebe moves in with Chandler and Monica. Chandler proposes to Monica, who says yes even though her ex-boyfriend Richard confesses his love for her.
Season 7
Main article: Friends (season 7)
The seventh season mainly follows the various antics of Monica and Chandler, who begin to plan their wedding and run into financial problems which are quickly fixed by Chandler's secret funds. Joey's television series Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E is cancelled, but he is offered his job back on Days of Our Lives. Meanwhile, Ross tries to introduce Ben to Hanukkah with the help of an Armadillo costume. Phoebe's apartment is rebuilt, but it now has only one large bedroom instead of the original two, so Rachel decides to stay with Joey. The season ends just prior to Monica and Chandler's wedding, with Phoebe and Rachel finding a positive pregnancy test in the bathroom of Monica and Chandler's apartment.
Season 8
Main article: Friends (season 8)
Season 8 begins at Monica and Chandler's wedding reception. It turns out that the positive pregnancy test found in their bathroom belongs to Rachel. Rachel takes another pregnancy test, which Phoebe initially pretends is negative, in order to find out how Rachel feels about being pregnant. Rachel becomes sad when she thinks she's not pregnant, so Phoebe tells her the truth. Rachel, Phoebe, and Monica then rejoice in the bathroom. The season revolves around Rachel's pregnancy, especially once Ross is revealed to be the father. Rachel and Ross decide to have the baby but do not resume their romantic relationship. Joey develops romantic feelings for Rachel, but she does not reciprocate them. Rachel gives birth to baby Emma in the season finale. At the hospital, Ross's mother offers him an engagement ring because she wants him to marry Rachel. Ross does not intend to ask Rachel to marry him, but he takes the ring anyway and puts it in his jacket pocket. Meanwhile, in the post-delivery room, Joey picks up Ross's jacket while looking for some tissue. The ring falls to the floor. He kneels to pick it up and turns to Rachel, still on his knees and still holding the ring. Rachel accepts what she thinks is his proposal of marriage.
Season 9
Main article: Friends (season 9)
Season nine begins with Ross and Rachel living together as roommates with their daughter Emma. Monica and Chandler try to have a baby of their own but find out that they are physically unable to conceive. Phoebe begins dating Mike Hannigan (Paul Rudd) and chooses to be with him over her ex-boyfriend David (Hank Azaria). Rachel and Emma move in with Joey in the middle of the season, and Rachel develops a crush on him, while the rest of the "friends" try hard to get Ross and Rachel back together. The group travels to Barbados in the finale to hear Ross give a keynote speech at a paleontology conference. Joey and his girlfriend Charlie (Aisha Tyler) break up, and she begins a relationship with Ross. Upon seeing Ross and Charlie kiss each other, Joey goes to Rachel's hotel room, and the finale ends with the two of them kissing.
Season 10
Main article: Friends (season 10)
The tenth season brings several long-running storylines to a close. Charlie breaks up with Ross to get back together with her ex-boyfriend. Joey and Rachel try to contend with Ross's feelings about their relationship and decide it would be best to remain friends. Phoebe and Mike get married mid-season outside the Central Perk coffee house. Monica and Chandler apply to adopt a child and are chosen by Erica (Anna Faris). In the series finale, Erica gives birth to fraternal twins, to Monica and Chandler's surprise. Monica and Chandler prepare to move to the suburbs. Joey becomes upset with the changes in his life. Rachel gets fired from her job and accepts a new job offer in Paris. Ross tries to get Rachel her job back by secretly meeting with her boss but eventually gives up after realizing that the Paris job is her dream job. Rachel says a tearful goodbye to everyone but Ross. A hurt and angry Ross confronts Rachel, and they end up sleeping together. Rachel leaves, and Ross—who now realizes he is in love with her—chases her to the airport. When he reaches her, Rachel realizes she loves him too, and cancels her flight to Paris. The series ends with all the friends, plus Monica and Chandler's new babies, leaving the apartment together for a final cup of coffee. Chandler makes a final joke. The show ends first with a shot of the keys to Monica and Chandler's apartment, on the counter table, and then with a shot of the apartment's purple door.
Production
Conception
It's about sex, love, relationships, careers, a time in your life when everything's possible. And it's about friendship because when you're single and in the city, your friends are your family.
— The original treatment used by Crane, Kauffman and Bright to pitch the series to NBC.[42]
David Crane and Marta Kauffman began developing three new television pilots that would premiere in 1994 after their sitcom Family Album was cancelled by CBS in 1993.[43] Kauffman and Crane decided to pitch the series about "six people in their 20s making their way in Manhattan" to NBC since they thought it would fit best there.[44] Crane and Kauffman presented the idea to their production partner Kevin Bright, who had served as executive producer on their HBO series Dream On.[45] The idea for the series was conceived when Crane and Kauffman began thinking about the time when they had finished college and started living by themselves in New York; Kauffman believed they were looking at a time when the future was "more of a question mark."[42] They found the concept to be interesting, as they believed "everybody knows that feeling",[42] and because it was also how they felt about their own lives at the time.[42] The team titled the series Insomnia Cafe and pitched the idea as a seven-page treatment to NBC in December 1993.[42][44]
At the same time, Warren Littlefield, the then-president of NBC Entertainment, was seeking a comedy involving young people living together and sharing expenses. Littlefield wanted the group to share memorable periods of their lives with friends, who had become "new, surrogate family members."[20] However, Littlefield found difficulty in bringing the concept to life and found the scripts developed by NBC to be terrible. When Kauffman, Crane and Bright pitched Insomnia Cafe, Littlefield was impressed that they knew who their characters were.[20] NBC bought the idea as a put pilot, meaning they risked financial penalties if the pilot was not filmed.[46] Kauffman and Crane took three days to write the pilot script for a show they titled Friends Like Us.[42][47] Littlefield wanted the series to "represent Generation X and explore a new kind of tribal bonding", but the rest disagreed. Crane argued that it was not a series for one generation, and wanted to produce a series that everyone would enjoy watching.[20] NBC liked the script and ordered the series. They changed the title to Six of One, mainly because they felt Friends Like Us was too similar to the ABC sitcom These Friends of Mine.[48]
Casting
Once it became apparent that the series was a favored project at NBC, Littlefield reported that he was getting calls from every agent in town, wanting their client to be a part of the series.[20] Auditions for the lead roles took place in New York and Los Angeles.[49] The casting director shortlisted 1,000 actors who had applied for each role down to 75. Those who received a callback read again in front of Crane, Kauffman and Bright. At the end of March, the number of potential actors had been reduced to three or four for each part, and were asked to read for Les Moonves, then-president of Warner Bros. Television.[50]
Having worked with David Schwimmer in the past,[49] the series creators wrote the character of Ross with him in mind, and he was the first actor cast.[51] Cox wanted to play the role of Monica because she liked the "strong" character, but the producers had her in mind to play Rachel because of her "cheery, upbeat energy", which was not how they envisioned Monica; after Cox's audition, though, Kauffman agreed with Cox, and she got the role.[42][52] When Matt LeBlanc auditioned for Joey, he put a "different spin" on the character.[42] He played Joey more simple-minded than intended and gave the character heart. Although Crane and Kauffman did not want LeBlanc for the role at the time, they were told by the network to cast him.[42] Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow were cast based on their auditions.[49]
More changes occurred to the series's storylines during the casting process. The writers found that they had to adjust the characters they had written to suit the actors, and the discovery process of the characters occurred throughout the first season. Kauffman acknowledged that Joey's character became "this whole new being", and that "it wasn't until we did the first Thanksgiving episode that we realized how much fun Monica's neuroses are."[53]
Writing
In the weeks after NBC's pick up of Friends, Crane, Kauffman and Bright reviewed sent-in scripts that writers had originally prepared for other series, mainly unproduced Seinfeld episodes.[54] Kauffman and Crane hired a team of seven young writers because "When you're 40, you can't do it anymore. The networks and studios are looking for young people coming in out of college."[55] The creators felt that using six equal characters, rather than emphasizing one or two, would allow for "myriad storylines and give the show legs."[32] The majority of the storyline ideas came from the writers, although the actors added ideas.[49] Although the writers originally planned the big love story to be between Joey and Monica, the idea of a romantic interest between Ross and Rachel emerged during the period when Kauffman and Crane wrote the pilot script.[42]
During the production of the pilot, NBC requested that the script be changed to feature one dominant storyline and several minor ones, but the writers refused, wanting to keep three storylines of equal weight.[48] NBC also wanted the writers to include an older character to balance out the young ones. Crane and Kauffman were forced to comply and wrote a draft of an early episode that featured "Pat the Cop." who would be used to provide advice to the other characters. Crane found the storyline to be terrible, and Kauffman joked, "You know the kids [sic] book, Pat the Bunny? We had Pat the Cop." NBC eventually relented and dropped the idea.[42]
Each summer, the producers would outline the storylines for the subsequent season.[56] Before an episode went into production, Kauffman and Crane would revise the script written by another writer, mainly if something concerning either the series or a character felt foreign.[54] The hardest episodes to write were always "the first one and the last one of each season."[57] Unlike other storylines, the idea for a relationship between Joey and Rachel was decided on halfway through the eighth season. The creators did not want Ross and Rachel to get back together so soon, and while looking for a romantic impediment, a writer suggested Joey's romantic interest in Rachel. The storyline was incorporated into the season; however, when the actors feared that the storyline would make their characters unlikable, the storyline was wrapped up, until it again resurfaced in the season's finale. For the ninth season, the writers were unsure about the amount of storyline to give to Rachel's baby, as they wanted the show neither to revolve around a baby nor pretend there to be none.[56] Crane said that it took them a while to accept the idea of a tenth season, which they decided to do because they had enough stories left to tell to justify the season. Kauffman and Crane would not have signed on for an eleventh season, even if all the cast members had wanted to continue.[53]
The episode title format—"The One ..."[58]—was created when the producers realized that the episode titles would not be featured in the opening credits, and therefore would be unknown to most of the audience. Episode titles officially begin with "The One ..." except the title of the pilot episode and the series finale "The Last One."
Filming
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