Thirty Years Ago: Six twentysomethings in a New York coffee shop called Central Perk.
Monica tells of a relationship with a "wine boy." Ross's wife left him for a woman. Rachel arrives, naked, in a wedding dress, having left at the altar the fiancé she doesn't love ...
These are the opening scenes from the first episode of the Friends series created by Martha Kaufman and David Crane, starring Monica (Courtney Cox); Ross (David Schwimmer); Rachel (Jennifer Aniston); Chandler (Matthew Perry, who died of ketamine poisoning last year, with trials yet to come); Joey (Matt LeBlanc); Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow). Upon re-watching the pilot, it's startling how young they look (who are these flashy kids?). But the real shock is what happens next.
The term "global phenomenon" seems almost inappropriate in this case. The "Friends" series lasted 10 years and 10 seasons and still generated millions of dollars through various streamers. Warner Bros. estimated its revenue at $4.8 billion. The last episode in 2004 drew 52.5 million viewers. The main cast's legendary "all-for-one" salary negotiation contract means that by the end they each get $1 million per episode.
We now reflect that when Friends was made, there were behind-the-scenes concerns about the then groundbreaking premise: a comedy created by a group of friends (love life gone wrong; turbosarcasm) rather than the traditional family milieu.
"Friends changed the very face of television comedy. It changed the way people talked to each other: comedic syntax (especially on the part of the wise-cracking Chandler Bing) became entrenched in the real world. Pushing boundaries shouldn't be overexposed: grunge had already happened (Nirvana's Kurt Cobain died just a few months before the pilot aired). Still, in sitcom terms, Friends delivers, if not the real (hard, dirty) 90s, at least a hilarious, jokey, idealized semblance of them.
The series has settled deep into the world's cultural consciousness. Ross and Rachel's "Were we?", "Were we?", "We were on holiday!". The brotherhood between Chandler and Joey. Rachel's haircut (sought after in salons around the world). Phoebe's song " Smelly Cat." The hordes of "supernova" guest stars: Brad Pitt (then married to Aniston), Sean Penn, Reese Witherspoon, Jeff Goldblum, etc.
With the festivities underway (line up for Friends: The One with The 30th Anniversary Auction (an auction of props from the set)), what happens now to the sitcom superbrand that just won't go away? Besides, it seems to have successfully protected itself from a "ghosted" or "canceled" ratings disappearance so far.
One of the oddities of the Friends phenomenon is its unwavering appeal to different generations. It's popular not just among loyal fans of the original. Millennials and members of Generation Z are downloading it via streaming sites, though that's not to say some of them don't find the series problematic. This is usually presented as a generational flaw of young people themselves (such as: judgmental; no sense of humor; not understanding comedy).
However, Friends was problematic, and in multiple ways. There was an undeniable lack of diversity, which some of the actors and writers involved already regret.
Friends' enduring popularity is also due to the show: the extremely high quality of the script and performances are not easily repeated. Alongside this, the attachment to the actors themselves is still maintained, as shown by the public grief over the death of Perry, who had long struggled with addiction and was the Shakespearean tragedy in Friends' history. | BGNES
