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The One Where I Binged
I recently binge-watched the TV series Friends, one of the most popular TV comedies of all time running for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. Every episode title begins with ‘The One…’.
According to Wikipedia, Friends was nominated for 62 Emmys, and 52.5 million viewers in the U.S. watched the finale. Even today, the series is being shown on Netflix. IMDB gives Friends an 8.9 rating (should be 10 #justsaying).
The series revolves around the lives of six people in their 20s living in New York namely Chandler Bing (played by Matthew Perry), Monica Geller (Courtney Cox), Ross Geller (David Schwimmer), Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan* (Lisa Kudrow) and Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc). Phoebe has a twin sister played by Lisa Kudrow.
The supporting characters of Gunther (James Michael Taylor) and Janice (Maggie Wheeler) are also highly memorable.
Over the years, I’ve watched all the episodes on TV, then on VCD (disc technology between laser discs and before Blu-ray and DVDs) and finally watched every episode on Netflix again.
Story Line
Shot in front of a live audience, the story line revolves around Monica, who lives in an apartment across the hallway from Chandler. Then Rachel moves in with Monica after dumping her fiance at the altar, and Joey moves in with Chandler. Ross lives on his own following his divorce, and Phoebe lives in another apartment. They all meet for coffee regularly.
Series 1 – 3 Solid
My view is the first three series are solid, while the following seven producing a high level of humour but never quite getting to the same level. Each character has their own arcs and there are a few running jokes which become tiresome when binge watching the show.
I liked all the characters, with my favourites being Joey and Rachel. The interplay between the full cast is cleverly done and is a testament to the writers; a true masterpiece by all those involved.
Celebrity Appearances
As the show became more famous, it attracted dozens of celebrity appearances (some cameos, others with multiple appearances) including Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Ben Stiller, Charlie Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and many, many more.
Negatives
My one bone of contention with the series (apart from bloody Marcel the monkey and the Emily character) was the dumbification of Joey from the fourth season onwards. And all that ‘we were on a break!’ (Ross and Rachel date, all good, they argue, they split, one sleeps with someone else, fireworks and then constant references to ‘we were on a break’ ever afterwards).
Apart from this, Friends was groundbreaking then and even now evidenced by being watched by a whole new generation of peoplestill watched by millions around the world.
Endearing Qualities
The show has many endearing qualities and is testament to the skills of the writing room to produce and develop each character’s personality and storylines over the years. If you were ever looking for an uplifting, humorous TV show, this is it.
Friends is watchable because of the believable and extremely well written plot lines, relatable characters, exceptional spoken and situational comedy that made the cast internationally famous and attracted many celebrity guest appearances.
Even now the cast hold a revered status and although they all went off and made movies and other stuff, they are best remembered for starring in a sitcom from 1994 to 2004.
*It never registered that Phoebe’s character had a double-barrelled surname, and I only ever knew her surname as Buffay on Friends.
Check out my other TV series reviews at www.chrisabbotsford.com/category/tv-series/
