"I'll be there for you/'Cause you're there for me too"

Monday September 22, 2014 marked the 20^th anniversary of the series premiere of Friends. Even though I was not alive for the premiere, and was only ten years old when the series finale aired, Friends is one of my all time favourite TV shows.

Fans around the world are celebrating their love of Friends in all sorts of ways. In New York, Warner Bros and Eight O’Clock Coffee have set up a Central Perk pop-up, serving up free coffee and allowing guests to sit on the same orange couch that appeared in the show. Liz Borod Wright writing for the Travel section of BBC’s website states that the pop-up café is located in Soho and is about a mile east of the West Village, where Central Perk is located in the show. She also states, “There will also be weekly in-store performances in homage to Phoebe’s well-known “Smelly Cat” tune, in addition to frequent contests and giveaways” during the café’s run until mid-October. The space has been described as a mini-museum as it’s filled with memorabilia from the show.

Check it out! http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140917-friends-central-perk-cafe-finally-a-reality

For those of you that have never seen an episode of Friends (is that even possible!), the show is set in New York and centers around six friends trying to make their way in the world. Deadline.com writer Nellie Andreeva states “NBC’s comedy Friends premiered to 22 million viewers. In today’s multi-platform world, no new comedy could even dream about a premiere audience of that size, half of that would constitute a hit now.” In fact, Friends remains one of the most successful sitcoms in TV history.

So, how did Friends come to exist? Marta Kauffman and David Crane said in an interview released on the season 10 bonus disc, that the idea for the show is loosely based on a group of friends they had in their 20’s while living in New York.

Crane, in speaking about casting, said the six people casted were the only six people who nailed their respective auditions. He said, “What makes a great sitcom are great comedians.” The cast first met at a table read and each stated in their personal interviews that they felt like they just meshed together. They saw exactly what Crane and Kauffman saw – they were the ones meant to play these roles. To save money, they needed to stick to the sets they already had and so Monica and Rachel’s apartment became the staple of the show. Kevin S. Bright, the producer and sometimes director of the show, said, “The show was at its best when the six of them were in a room together.” At least once every season they shot an episode of just the six of them in the apartment.

The reason I love the show so much is because it’s very relatable. Throughout its ten year run, the show was able to really develop the six main characters and viewers got to watch them stumble through a lot of life’s hardships. There’s even a poster dedicated to all of the life lessons Friends has taught us. 

As my homage to the Friends 20^th anniversary, I will share some of my favourites.

1.     Always say the right name at the altar.

·      I think this one is fairly self-explanatory. I’m pretty sure you don’t even have to see the show to know how badly that turned out for Ross.

2.     When moving a couch upstairs, PIVOT!

·      Definitely one of Ross’s more memorable moments and a lesson in letting the movers do the heavy lifting.

3.     Never bet your apartment in a game of “who knows who”.

·      Even if you’re confident you’re going to win, it’s not worth the risk to give up something so valuable, especially when your apartment is as nice as Monica and Rachel’s.

4.     Always double-check your measurements when building an entertainment unit.

·      This just makes good sense unless you want to end up with a lot of ripped suits like Chandler.

5.     Everybody has a lobster.

·      This one might not make a lot of sense if you’re not familiar with Ross and Rachel’s relationship, but it’s just something I believe in.

Reading those over, you might think my favourite character is Ross. It’s not. I am a true Chandler fan. I especially love him in seasons one through four when his sarcastic humour is at its peak. Please feel free to comment on your favourite!

In the interview on the bonus disc from season ten, Matthew Perry says, “You know when you put on an episode of Friends you’re going to laugh. But the laughs still surprise you, like oh, did he really just do that. And that’s been the magic of it.” I think this quote describes exactly why I can re-watch the series over and over and never get tired of it, and why Friends is so memorable for so many people. There will never be another show like it.

I’d like to leave you now with a clip from one of my all time favourite episodes.

Let me know what your favourite episode is! I would love to read about it!

Thanks for reading!

-Emily