Friends

For other uses, see Friends (disambiguation).

Friends
Friends title card
Created by	David Crane Marta Kauffman
Starring	Jennifer Aniston Courteney Cox Arquette Lisa Kudrow Matt LeBlanc Matthew Perry David Schwimmer
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	236
Production
Running time	approx. 0:22 (per episode)
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 22, 1994 – May 6, 2004

Friends was one of the longest-running and most popular sitcoms in American television history while managing to instantly gain millions of fans all over the world. The show was centered on the lives of a group of six twenty-somethings (eventually thirty-somethings) consisting of three men and three women living in Greenwich Village, New York City.

The program was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television for NBC in the US, and was first broadcasted on that network. It was followed by a host of other broadcast networks in numerous countries throughout the globe. In the US, the first episode was aired on September 22, 1994, and the last on May 6, 2004.

Overview

The popularity of the show was such that, by the end of the series, the six main cast members were each paid US$ 100,000 per episode. Advertisements during the series finale, which attracted an audience of over 52 million viewers, cost $2,000,000 for a 30-second spot in the United States and CAD$190,000 in Canada. The last episode was released on DVD 5 days after its broadcast.

The show focused on the lives of a group of six friends: spoiled daddy's girl Rachel Green, learning to make it on her own; compulsively clean chef Monica Geller; wise-cracking, perennially unlucky-in-love, underconfident office drone Chandler Bing; oversexed, uneducated actor Joey Tribbiani; paleontologist nerd Ross Geller who goes through three failed marriages; and quirky, positive masseuse and aspiring folk singer-songwriter Phoebe Buffay.

File:Chandlerandjoey'sapartment.jpg

Joey (left) and Chandler in their appartment

As the plot begins, Rachel has just left her fiancé Barry at the altar and moves in with her childhood best friend, Monica. The pair live across the hall from Chandler and Joey and hang out with Monica's brother, Ross – who recently divorced his lesbian wife. Then there is Phoebe - the "free spirit" of the bunch and Monica's old roommate. The settings for the show include Monica's apartment, Chandler and Joey's apartment, Ross's apartment, Phoebe's apartment and the local coffee shop, Central Perk (a flash back episode later reveals that the coffee shop was originally a bar that was also frequented by Chandler, Monica, Phoebe and Ross before Joey and Rachel joined the group). Template:Spoiler After cutting herself off from her father's money, Rachel got her first job as a waitress in the coffee shop. She later became an assistant and personal shopper at Bloomingdale's, and later a buyer for Ralph Lauren. Monica struggled for the first several seasons for success but later became head chef at a well-respected restaurant. Chandler worked his way up in data processing and eventually switched to a career in advertising (by the last few seasons) after a mid-life crisis. After on-and-off success as a soap opera actor, Joey's career eventually stabilized with a regular part on a soap opera from which he had been fired earlier in the series' run. Palaeontologist Ross eventually became a college professor. Phoebe made a living as a singer-songwriter and a masseuse.

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Rachel and Ross

Constant story lines throughout the series are the on/off romance between Ross and Rachel and, later in the series, the developing relationship between Chandler and Monica.

The show uses non-stop exaggerated, deadpan humor. Some jokes are related to sexual activity and innuendo, sometimes non-sequiturs. The show also occasionally developed on serious angles such as relationship breakups.

The show has provided an opportunity for consistent work by actors who were more active in the past. Elliott Gould played Monica's and Ross' father. Marlo Thomas (the star of That Girl) played Rachel's mother.

The show's theme song, "I'll Be There For You" by The Rembrandts, became a major hit after a Tennessee disc jockey looped it into a full length track and played it on the radio. The band's record label required them to write additional material and re-record the track as a full-length song, which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #17.

Cast members

Primary characters

File:TV The One After Ross Says Rachel.jpg

Chandler and Monica share a kiss (episode: The One After Ross Says Rachel)

Role	Actor
Rachel Green	Jennifer Aniston
Monica Geller	Courteney Cox Arquette
Phoebe Buffay	Lisa Kudrow
Joey Tribbiani	Matt LeBlanc
Chandler Bing	Matthew Perry
Ross Geller	David Schwimmer

Secondary characters

Further information: [[:List of recurring characters in Friends, List of significant others of Friends, and List of guest stars on Friends]]

Role	Actor
Gunther	James Michael Tyler
Janice	Maggie Wheeler
Jack Geller	Elliott Gould
Judy Geller	Christina Pickles
Mike Hannigan	Paul Rudd
Richard Burke	Tom Selleck

Running gags

File:Phoebe Buffay 1.jpg

Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay in Friends. In this picture she is playing a guitar in a New York coffee shop named Central Perk.

Main article: Running gags in Friends

Friends had many running gags throughout the span of the show. Some of the most famous include:

The One... (episode titles)

Almost every episode name starts with these two words. This is in reference to the fact that most sitcoms do not display the title of their episodes, so fans must discuss the main plot points with each other when referring to specific episodes.

Fat Monica

Monica, now slim and attractive, was obese as a child. She and the other characters would often refer to her "fat past" and several flashbacks throughout the series allowed us to see just how she looked then.

Gay Chandler

Chandler was often painted with the possibility of being gay, despite his determination to prove himself as the heterosexual he actually was.

Gunther likes Rachel

When Gunther appeared in an episode, it usually involved his anything-but-secret crush on Rachel, who remains oblivious to his feelings throughout the show until the series finale.

Ross' tendency to divorce

Ross is married a total of three times throughout the course of the show, all of which end in divorce.

Phoebe's music

Phoebe was often a busking musician at Central Perk and was known for her rather unusual, original songs, especially "Smelly Cat".

"Oh...My...God!"

Chandler's hard-to-get-rid-of girlfriend, Janice's catchphrase "Oh...My...God!" is used as her introductory line in her guest appearances.

Chandler's sarcasm

Chandler would often drop snide remarks, typically in response to the actions of his friends. His particular brand of sarcasm is also often based on the phrase "Could this [object] be any more [description]?"

"How You Doin'?"

This is Joey's pick-up line. It has an identical effect on the majority of women he uses it on; they giggle uncontrollably and instantly warm to him.

We were on a break!

When Rachel and Ross breakup temporarily, Ross sleeps with another woman and there is a constant argument between the two about their subsequent breakup being of good cause. This was a common running gag in the series.

Cultural legacy

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Friends handbags, on sale at a mall in Florida.

Friends has, in some areas, made a notable contribution to language, fashion and, to a lesser extent, women's attitudes. The use of "so" to mean "very" or "really" was not invented by any Friends writer, but it is quite arguable that the extensive use of the phrase in the series encouraged its use in everyday life. Also commonly said by the characters, particularly Monica, was the loud "I know!" The series has also been noted for its impact on everyday-fashion and hair-styles. Jennifer Aniston, in particular, had her hair-style copied by many women. Along with this, Joey Tribbiani's catchphrase, "How you doin'?" has become a popular part of American slang, often used as a pick-up line or when greeting friends. The show also inspired the cultural meme of the laminated list.

The phrase "Ross and Rachel" is used to describe a on/off relationship with a 'history', or in a situation like "Are you on a real break, or a Ross and Rachel break?" This is played on as a joke in Scrubs: The Janitor describes J.D.'s relationship with Elliot as "you're not exactly Ross and Rachel", which turns out to refer to two other employees in the hospital.

Spinoffs

Main article: Joey (TV series)

Joey premiered September 9, 2004 on NBC. It centered on the Friends character Joey Tribbiani, still played by LeBlanc, who moved to Los Angeles to advance his career as an actor. Past Friends cast members were expected to have cameo appearances on the show from time to time, but none ever did.

Although Joey debuted to strong ratings, its numbers steadily decreased. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Joey co-star Andrea Anders quit the show in early 2006 to work on a new CBS comedy. The show was confirmed as cancelled on 16th May 2006.

It has also been rumoured that NBC will produce a pilot for another spin-off from the series entitled It's a Guy Thing featuring Joey, Chandler and Ross. However, NBC has not yet confirmed this rumour, but has said that "Negotiations on future projects are going on all the time."

Season synopses

Further information: List of Friends episodes

Season One (1994-1995)

Phoebe, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Ross meet up in Central Perk shortly after Ross's wife Carol realizes she is a lesbian and divorces him. Monica and Ross are both living alone, Chandler and Joey live together and Phoebe lives with her grandmother. Monica's old high school friend, Rachel, enters Central Perk wearing a wedding dress, having just run away from her wedding to Barry Finkle. She moves in with Monica, gets a job as a waitress at Central Perk but struggles to work for a living, having previously lived a rich life. Ross discovers his ex-wife is pregnant and she gives birth to a boy, named Ben, who is subsequently raised by Carol and her partner, Susan.

Joey and Chandler have many flings with different women. Chandler gets involved with a woman named Janice who repeatedly shows up in every season through the series.

Ross reveals he had a crush on Rachel in high school and he still has feelings for her. Throughout the season, he fails to make his feelings known to her and Chandler and Joey eventually persuade him to move on. On Rachel's birthday, Ross leaves for a paleontological trip to China. While he is gone, Chandler accidentally reveals to Rachel that Ross is in love with her. Rachel decides she would like to start a romantic relationship with Ross and goes to meet him at the airport when he returns from China, unaware that he is getting off the plane with another woman.

Season Two (1995-1996)

Unaware that Rachel is in fact interested in him, Ross has started a relationship with an old friend, Julie, whom he met in China. Rachel does not take a liking to Julie because she is involved with Ross. While drunk, Rachel leaves a message on Ross' answering machine telling him she's over him. Ross hears the message and becomes confused over his own feelings. He and Rachel soon meet and kiss. Ross is unable to choose between Rachel and Julie and decides to make a pro and con list of both women. He decides he loves Rachel and breaks up with Julie. Unfortunately, Rachel discovers the list, becomes angry and rejects Ross. However, the friends eventually watch a video from Rachel and Monica's prom where it seems Rachel's prom date, Chip, has stood her up. The teenage Ross decides he will take her. While Ross is coming down the stairs in a tuxedo, Rachel runs off with Chip, who has arrived late. Ross looks shattered. Back in the present day, Rachel kisses Ross when she sees how sincere he is and they start dating.

Joey gets an acting job as Dr. Drake Ramoray on the soap Days of our Lives and earns enough money to move into his own apartment (leaving Chandler behind). Left on his own, Chandler gets a new roommate, Eddie, who is insane. When Joey states in an interview that he writes his own lines, the show's writers kill off his character by making him fall down an elevator shaft. With no income, Joey moves back into Chandler's apartment after Chandler finally gets rid of the psychotic Eddie. Phoebe finds she has a half brother named Frank and they start building a relationship. Monica dates Richard Burke, an ophthalmologist and a friend of her parents who is almost twice as old as her, but they break up when Richard tells her he does not want to have children. When Chandler meets the woman he's been talking to online he sees that it is his ex, Janice, and they kiss.

Season Three (1996-1997)

Rachel quits her job at Central Perk for a job at Bloomingdale's. Ross becomes convinced her new co-worker, Mark, wants to date her and becomes increasingly jealous. Tension between Ross and Rachel culminates on their anniversary and Rachel suggests they take a break. After hearing Rachel's co-worker in the background during a phone call, Ross assumes she is dating him. Depressed and under the influence of alcohol, he sleeps with another woman. When Rachel indicates that she still want Ross, he tries to resume their relationship without telling her about his fling but she finds out from Gunther and, after a long emotional night, they break up. Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, and Joey are stuck in Monica's room and hear the whole fight.

Monica has to work at a disco restauraunt where she has to wear a blonde wig and flame retardent breasts. Soon she starts to date a customer named Pete without realizing that he is a millionaire. Monica avoids kissing him for a while because she doesn't feel attracted to him but after they kiss she instantly finds him attractive. Eventually Pete begins to wrestle in a fighting competion and gets severely injured in every fight but says he won't stop fighting until he wins. Monica can't stand to see him keep hurting himself, so they break up.

Chandler breaks up with Janice and he and Joey buy a chick and a duck as pets. Joey's acting career continues to fail. Phoebe finds a woman, also named Phoebe, who knew her parents. She invites the group to go with her to the beach. Rachel becomes upset when Ross starts dating Bonnie, who unexpectedly comes to the beach. Rachel is unhappy and persuades Bonnie to shave her head so Ross will be less attracted to her. Ross and Rachel argue about this and start to feel like they still love each other. Ross must decide between Rachel and Bonnie. Meanwhile it is revealed that the older Phoebe is Phoebe's birth mother.

Season Four (1997-1998)

Ross decides to get back together with Rachel and breaks up with Bonnie. However, Rachel wants him to take responsibility for "cheating" on her, whereas Ross insists that they were on a break. Unable to agree on whether or not Ross cheated, they break up again. After Phoebe learns the older Phoebe is her real mother, she tells her twin sister, Ursula, who knew all along. Phoebe agrees to be a surrogate mother for her half-brother Frank and his wife Alice. Luckily, after having fertility treatments and a nice talk with Frank and Alice's embryos in a petri dish she becomes pregnant . . . with triplets!

Joey begins dating Kathy but Chandler likes her too. Joey and Kathy break up after Kathy kisses Chandler. Joey is angry, but forgives Chandler when he sees that Chandler and Kathy love each other. Chandler suspects that Kathy is sleeping with a fellow cast member after watching one of her plays. He then proceeds to confront directly and accuse her. She is insulted and later she does sleep with him, so she and Chandler break up. Monica and Rachel switch apartments with Joey and Chandler after losing a bet. The girls hate their new apartment, so they convince Joey and Chandler agree to switch apartments in exchange for season passes to the Knicks and an opportunity to watch Monica and Rachel kiss for one minute.

Ross dates a British woman, Emily, and they become engaged. The group travels to London for the wedding, except Phoebe, who is in her last trimester, and Rachel, who doesn't want to see Ross get married. At the wedding rehearsal dinner, Monica becomes depressed because she was approached to as 'Ross's mum', and the fact that she wasn't married. Chandler comforts her and they end up sleeping together. Rachel realizes she still loves Ross and goes to London to tell him. When she gets there, she sees him with Emily and decides it would not be right to ruin the wedding. The wedding goes ahead, but comes to an abrupt halt when Ross says "I take thee, Rachel" instead of "I take thee, Emily".

Season Five (1998-1999)

Ross and Emily's wedding continues despite Ross's faux pas and they are married, but she disappears at the reception. The group goes back to New York where Emily calls Ross and tells him that she will only stay married if he promises he will never see Rachel again. Ross agrees, but Emily continues to make unreasonable demands, like making him move out of his apartment, since Rachel had been there. She also made him sell all of his stuff and get new stuff since Rachel had touched everything. Ross begins to see that she is asking too much and proceeds to have dinner with his friends including Rachel. When Emily finds out she is angry but Ross assures her that nothing is going on between them and that they are just friends. He says she has to trust him and asks if she can do that but Emily feels too threatened and says no, and they decide to get a divorce. Ross moves in with Joey and Chandler since he sold his apartment, but eventually moves into Ugly Naked Guy's apartment.

Phoebe gives birth to triplets: Frank Jr. Jr., Leslie, and Chandler (Phoebe originally chose to name the baby after Chandler thinking the baby was going to be a boy, but even after the baby turned out to be a girl Frank and Alice still kept the name as Chandler). She tries to keep one after becoming attached to them, but finds out that Frank and Alice are unwilling to give up a child.

Chandler and Monica continue an intimate relationship in secret. They have this secret relationship for more than half of the season but each character eventually finds out about their relationship separately at different parts of the season. Joey figures it out first but agrees to keep it a secret, followed by Rachel when she hears Chandler and Monica talking very naughty on the phone. Soon Phoebe finds out when she sees Monica and Chandler doing it against the window from Ugly Naked Guy's apartment. Chandler and Monica don't know that Rachel and Phoebe know and the girls decide to mess with them. To Joeys dismay they play a series of tricks on Monica and Chandler, who find out and respond with some tricks of their own(which leads to Chandler and Phoebe making out). Finally after Chandler caves and admits he can't take the game any farther because he is in love with Monica, Monica and Chandler reveal their secret affair to everyone but Ross. Later that night Ross sees Monica and Chandler kissing through his window (while talking to his boss from the museum. Ross had been suspended from his job earlier due to anger issues and they were finally considering having him come back but this new discovery didn't help matters) and is furious, but once he finds out they arent just messing around he is ok with it. They all accept their relationship and the story moves on. Rachel starts a new job at Ralph Lauren.

Joey gets the lead in a movie, but travels to Las Vegas to find production has shut down. Everyone goes to Vegas to see him, but find out that he is working as a gladiator for the Caesar's Palace casino. On the plane ride over, Ross and Rachel play pranks on each other (Ross starts it to prove Rachel can be embarrassed) until it gets out of hand and Ross scribbles over Rachel's face (when she is asleep) with a permanent marker. Afterwards, Rachel finds out and becomes enraged. She and Ross then get drunk and run to the nearest chapel and get married. Monica and Chandler nearly get married but have doubts when they see Ross and Rachel coming out of the chapel.

Season Six (1999-2000)

After finding out that they are now married, Ross and Rachel agree to get an annulment so Ross doesn't have a third divorce, but he decides it is still a failed marriage. He lies to Rachel, telling her he has had the marriage annulled when he actually has not. Rachel finds out and forces Ross to go ahead with the annulment, but they are ineligible for one and file for divorce. Ross gets a new job teaching palaeontology at New York University. He eventually dates Rachel's sister Jill and afterwards one of his students named Elizabeth.

Chandler and Monica don't get married but move in together, and Rachel moves in with Phoebe. Joey gets a female roommate, Janine, and they start dating. When Janine reveals she does not like Chandler and Monica, Joey breaks up with her. Out of a job and desperate for money, Joey gets a job at Central Perk and tries out other acting gigs until he lands a permanent (but short-lived) role as the main star of Mac and Cheese. A fire (started by Rachel's hair straightener) ruins Phoebe and Rachel's apartment. Rachel moves in with Chandler and Monica, and Phoebe moves in with Joey. They eventually swap, so Rachel lives with Joey instead. Bruce Willis makes a three episode cameo appearance as Elizabeth's father and Rachel's boyfriend. Reese Witherspoon also makes a two episode cameo appearance as Rachel's younger sister Jill, who dates Ross. Towards the end of the season, Chandler decides to propose to Monica, but wants it to be a surprise. He worries that she suspects something so he creates a plan to throw her off by pretending his is against marriage and everything to do with it. He makes a weird analogy about how relationships ought to be and pig sex. It seems to be working and Chandler is about to propose but things don't go smoothly as her ex-boyfriend Richard comes in and announces to Monica that he is still in love with her during the finale to almost ruin Chandler's plan. Richard offers her marriage and children and everything she's ever wanted. In a dramatic climax, Monica is torn between wanting Chandler and wanting a more mature relationship than he is seemingly willing to give her and doesnt know what to do. When Chandler finds out he is angry and distressed and tries to confront Richard who finally sees how in love with her Chandler is and backs down. Meanwhile Joey tells Monica about Chandler's plan. When Chandler arrives, however, Joey tells him that Monica didnt believe it was all a plan and was so upset that she left and told him not to call her. Chandler is heartbroken and goes into his appartment, only to find the lights out, candlers everywhere, and Monica in the middle of the floor waiting to propose. In a tearful but romantic encounter, Chandler and Monica finally become engaged.

Season Seven (2000-2001)

Monica and Chandler begin planning their wedding. Rachel gets a promotion in Ralph Lauren and hires an assistant, Tag, whom she begins dating. They later break up when Rachel turns 30.

Phoebe's apartment is repaired, but has been converted back into a one bedroom (Phoebe's grandmother had put up a wall to make it a two bedroom apartment) so Rachel continues to live with Joey.

Joey's new show Mac and Cheese is cancelled but he is able to return to Days of Our Lives when his character, Dr. Drake Ramoray, gets a new brain from a character named Jessica Lockheart after she falls off a horse into an electric fence, his character then wakes from his coma.

The night before his wedding, Chandler gets scared and disappears. While he is gone, Phoebe and Rachel find a positive pregnancy test in Monica's bathroom, and Phoebe assumes Monica is pregnant. Rachel makes Phoebe promise to not tell anyone what they have found. Phoebe and Ross find Chandler at his office (while Rachel keeps Monica distracted) and persuade him to come back, but Chandler overhears Phoebe and Rachel talking about Monica's "pregnancy" and disappears again. He quickly returns on his own, however, and decides that a baby would not be so bad. Chandler and Monica get married, but when Chandler tells Monica he knows about the baby, she says she is not pregnant, and it was not her pregnancy test that they found. Meanwhile Phoebe tells Rachel how excited she is about Monica's pregnancy, Rachel slowly agrees looking very emotional. The camera then zooms in on her and she takes a deep breath. The audience is left with the question: "Could Rachel be pregnant?".

Season Eight (2001-2002)

In this season the clips of New York's World Trade Center were removed because of the terrorist attacks. Rachel confirms she is pregnant but doesn't tell anyone who the father is. Unfortunately for her, Joey finds a sweater that the baby's father left at his apartment. Phoebe suspects that it is Tag's sweater but Ross finds it and says that it's his. After Rachel tells Ross he is the father (and Ross learns the hard way that condoms are only 97% effective) they tell everyone that they secretly slept together about a month before Chandler and Monica's wedding. After Ross meets Mona at the wedding he goes out with her for a few months but they break up because of complications arising from his impending fatherhood of Rachel's child. As Rachel and Joey continue living together, Joey starts to develop feelings for her. Feeling that Ross is missing out on his fatherly duties, Joey reluctantly suggests that Rachel move in with Ross, and she does so. Joey later reveals his feelings to Rachel, who politely rejects him.

After a passionate kiss with Ross, Rachel goes into labor, and while in the hospital, Ross's mother approaches him with a ring to give to Rachel. Ross keeps the ring in his coat pocket, even though he does not want to propose to Rachel. Rachel remains in labor for about 21 hours and shares her room with five different women (including Janice) that all have their babies before her. Rachel gives birth to their daughter, Emma. Joey finds the engagement ring after it falls out of Ross' coat. He bends down to pick it up. Rachel, seeing Joey on one knee with an engagement ring, thinks that he is proposing to her, and says "okay". Monica and Chandler decide to have a baby.

Season Nine (2002-2003)

Rachel finds out that Joey was not proposing to her, but neither was Ross. After Ross doesn't pass on a message to Rachel from a potential date, the two realise that having a child and living together while not actually being together is too complicated, therefore Rachel decides to move back in with Joey and takes Emma with her. Chandler's job requires him to be in Tulsa, OK. Monica decides not to come after she is offered a dream job in New York. He puts up with this for a while, but he begins to consider quitting when he finds he has to work in Tulsa over Christmas. When a female associate comes on to him over Christmas in Tulsa, he quits and starts a new job in advertising. After trying all season to get pregnant to no avail, fertility tests prove that Chandler and Monica cannot conceive a baby, so they decide to adopt. Phoebe starts dating Mike Hanigan (Paul Rudd). They move in together, but when he tells Phoebe he does not want to get married, they break up. Rachel begins to develop feelings for Joey.

The group goes to Barbados. Phoebe takes her new boyfriend David (Hank Azaria), whom she first met in Season One and has been in love with off and on throughout the show, and Joey takes his girlfriend Charlie. Chandler accidentally gives David some bad advice and David decides to propose to Phoebe. Monica finds out, and calls Mike to tell him to get back together with Phoebe. Mike comes to Barbados and proposes to Phoebe. She turns him down, but - knowing their relationship has a future - agrees to take him back, leaving David. Joey and Charlie break up. Joey learns Rachel likes him, but refuses her advances because he feels he would be betraying Ross. However, when Joey sees Charlie and Ross kissing he changes his mind and kisses Rachel.

Season Ten (2003-2004)

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Promotional shot of the cast of Friends during their tenth and final season.

The producers did not think Friends' tenth season would be its last; there were even talks about a movie. However, after contracts could not be agreed upon, it was announced that the tenth season would indeed be the last. Joey and Rachel's relationship does not last and Charlie goes back to an old boyfriend. Mike and Phoebe get married in the middle of a street on a very cold snowy day. Chandler and Monica apply to adopt the baby of a young pregnant woman named Erica and also decide to move out of their apartment into a house in the suburbs of New York. Erica gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl, who are named Jack (after Monica's dad) and Erica (after their mother). Chandler and Monica agree that having two may be a good thing (Chandler had mentioned in an earlier season that he wanted twins). Rachel accepts a job in Paris. The group holds a going-away party for her and she says goodbye to each of them in turn, except Ross. He is upset about this until Rachel tells him it was too hard to say goodbye to him. They then sleep together.

In the final episode, Ross realizes he still loves Rachel and, after she leaves for Paris, goes after her, driven by Phoebe on a crazy ride where many obstacles present themselves before he can get to Rachel. Meanwhile Joey bought Chandler a new chick and duck since the other two had died (though Joey doesn't know this, the gang told him they were moved to a special farm), but they get stuck in the foosball table. The table was bought in one of the earlier seasons when Joey and Chandlers actual table broke and they couldn't decide on a new one so they bought a foosball table instead. They know they have to break it open but neither of them have the heart to do it. Finally Monica comes and destroys it and the chick and duck are recovered. They decide to keep them at Joey's. Ross finds Rachel and tells her he is in love with her and begs her not to go, however, she is overwhelmed by this new information on top of everything else and leaves anyway. Ross was sure she would stay and is crushed. When gets back to his apartment and finds a message from Rachel on his answering machine, telling him she does still love him and is trying to get off the plane, but they won't let her leave. Ross listens intently as Rachel tries to explain to the flight attendant that she needs to get off the plane, but the message ends before he can tell whether or not she got off. Ross frantically runs to the answering machine pressing buttons and screaming "DID SHE GET OFF THE PLANE? DID SHE GET OFF THE PLANE?!" Suddenly a voice from behind Ross says "I got off the plane" and he turns to see her at the door of his apartment and they kiss and assure each other that this is the real thing, no more messing around, they want to be together. The episode ends with Chandler and Monica moving out of their apartment with their new twins, Mike and Phoebe deciding to have kids, and Ross and Rachel becoming a family with Emma. As they look around their apartment one last time, Chandler and Monica realize they need to leave their key on the desk. One by one, each friend follows with his or her own key to the apartment. They decide to go out for one last cup of coffee before Monica and Chandler move, then Chandler asked where. After the show ended, Joey moved to Los Angeles in the spin-off show, "Joey" (it's ironic that Joey was the one to move since he was always the most upset by the thought of the group growing apart), and no one really knows what happened to the chick or the duck.

Ratings

The 66-minute series finale was named by Entertainment Tonight as the biggest US TV moment of the year 2004, and was the second highest rated show in 2004 beaten only by the Super Bowl. However, it did not surpass the ratings received by series finales for M*A*S*H (106m), Cheers (80.4m) or Seinfeld (76.3m), nor was it the most watched episode of Friends —that accolade remains with the season two episode The One After the Superbowl, which aired on January 28, 1996 and drew 52.9m viewers. During the 2001–2002 season, Friends was the highest rated show in the United States. Throughout the rest of the seasons Friends largely remained in the prestigious top 5 most popular network broadcast programs.

Awards

Emmy Awards

• 2003 - Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - Christina Applegate
• 2002 - Outstanding Comedy Series
• 2002 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Jennifer Aniston
• 2000 - Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series - Bruce Willis
• 1998 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - Lisa Kudrow
• 1996 - Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series - Michael Lembeck (for "The One After the Superbowl")

Golden Globe Awards

• 2003 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy - Jennifer Aniston

People's Choice Awards

• 2004 - Favorite Television Comedy Series
• 2004 - Favorite Female Television Performer - Jennifer Aniston
• 2003 - Favorite Television Comedy Series
• 2003 - Favorite Female Television Performer - Jennifer Aniston
• 2002 - Favorite Television Comedy Series
• 2002 - Favorite Female Television Performer - Jennifer Aniston
• 2001 - Favorite Television Comedy Series
• 2001 - Favorite Female Television Performer - Jennifer Aniston
• 2000 - Favorite Television Comedy Series
• 2000 - Favorite Female Television Performer - Jennifer Aniston
• 1999 - Favorite Television Comedy Series
• 1995 - Favorite New Television Comedy

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• 2000 - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series - Lisa Kudrow
• 1996 - Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Possible return to television

• On November 20, 2003, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey early in season 10, Kevin Bright said; "I've learned so much from you in so many ways, we at least owe you one promise, and that will be: we will never do a reunion movie."

• In January 2006, NBC was reported to have announced that the six stars of Friends, would reunite to make four "double episode" special editions of the series. The cast were apparently receiving $5 million each for their participation in the specials, which were rumoured to air some time in 2007.

• An NBC spokesperson later indicated that these rumours were untrue. The cast have stated (in their exit interviews for The Official Farewell Commemorative) that it will be years before they shoot a reunion show.

• However, the rumours continued after that, with Kathleen Turner claiming that NBC bosses approached her about reprising her role as Chandler's drag queen father within the sitcom.

• Nick at Nite is supposedly claiming Friends for syndication in 2011 or announcing that it is just being added to their programming schedule. However, the likelihood of a deal this far in advance is low.

• On The Paul O'Grady Show, Lisa Kudrow stated when asked about a possible return for Friends that it "wasn't even a little bit true, absolutely none of it."

• On April 7, 2006, Jennifer Aniston appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and said that the rumors were untrue and that she would not want to do a reunion even if it was offered.

• However, when ET Canada spoke with Matt LeBlanc on April 14, 2006, he did not comment on these rumours, only hinting that "Joey's going to find a surprise in his house next season. Just keep watching." LeBlanc has hinted that his former co-stars would make a guest appearance on Joey, rather than appear on a Friends reunion episode. These claims, though, are still only rumours, and Joey was cancelled in May 2006.

• On 17 July 2006 Jennifer Aniston admitted on Richard and Judy "The only thing I can think of doing is maybe for fun doing a Thanksgiving episode". Courtney Cox had earlier hinted the same thing when she said "I can see us coming together for something like a Thanksgiving show. I think they see each other every year."

Errors and inconsistencies

• Only Rachel has birthday parties.

• Chandler tells Monica he loves her for the first time twice, once where she has the turkey on her head and also when Phoebe is trying to "seduce" him. Both times Monica acts shocked but clearly can't be both times. Although, the first time, he says "BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH MONICA!" to explain why he won't do anything sexual with Phoebe, thus making the second time the first time he actually tells Monica specifically.

• In the episode "The One With The Bullies" Phoebe goes to see her Dad, but is attacked by a dog. At the part when the dog is half way through the window you can see the top of the dog controller's head in the window behind Joey.

• In the episode "The One Where Estelle Dies" Ross's hairstyle is different from where the episode left off.

• In the episode "The One Where Everybody Finds Out", just before Phoebe and Chandler kiss, Phoebe says, "Our first kiss." This ignores a previous episode, "The One With All the Kissing", when Chandler gives Monica a passionate kiss, not fully comprehending that Rachel and Phoebe are also in the room. To cover, he gives Rachel and Phoebe similar kisses, to their amazement. But this is their first consenting kiss together as Phoebe did not know that first kiss was coming.

• In "The One With Phoebe's Dad" Phoebe states that her father left her and her mother and sister before she was born, but in "The One With Joey's Bag" Phoebe's dad, Frank, tells how he was a terrible father and sang a lullaby, "Sleepy Girl", that he wrote himself to her and Ursula ("Sleepy Girl" is sung to the same tune as "Smelly Cat"). That would imply that he left after Phoebe and Ursula were born. This could of course mean that Phoebe's mother lied to her after Frank left to make it easier on her daughters.

• In the first episode of Friends, Rachel said Barry's last name was Finkle, but later on, Barry's last name became Farber. In "The One With the Flashback" Barry's last name is said to be Barber by one of Rachel's friends.

• In "The One With the Mugging" Joey is raiding Monica's fridge for drinks. In one shot he has two sodas in his left hand. In the next shot he has two bottles of health drinks instead of the sodas in the same hand.

• In "The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs", Chandler is criticised by his friends for not liking dogs. However, in a previous episode, "The One With Joey's Porsche". Phoebe asks Monica and Chandler if they would mind watching "three incredibly cute little puppies" and Chandler agrees. In the episode where he doesn't like dogs, he refuses to even be in the same room as a dog that Phoebe is watching for her friend. But he did say that he was unsure when it was puppies.

• In Season 9, "The One With Ross's Inappropriate Song", when Joey pulls Monica down to avoid seeing the sex tape, it can be seen that Monica is wearing knee pads.

• In Season 9, Phoebe says to Mike that she has never lived with another guy, but in Season 5 she moved in briefly with Gary.

• In the episode "The One With the Kips" Monica says that she and Chandler had their first fight. This is ignoring the two previous fights Monica and Chandler had in the episodes "The One With the Triplets" and "The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS".

• In Season 3, "The One With the Flashback" Rachel and Chandler clearly act as if they've never met when they meet each other at the bar (later turned into the coffee house) - this is set a year before the beginning of the show. Later on in episodes such as "The One With All the Thanksgivings" and "The One Where the Stripper Cries" it shows that Rachel and Chandler were introduced to each other during their high school/college days, and they even kissed at a college party. This is also true in "The Pilot" when Monica introduces Chandler as a new friend whilst saying "and you remember my brother Ross." She would also remember Chandler. Although, the pilot can be considered non-canon to some degree, since there are many things within it that changed later on. Jasmine, Phoebe's friend at the massage place, worked at Central Perk in the first episode. Other things like Barry's last name were changed (as stated above).

• In "The One Where Joey Dates Rachel", when Ross runs to his class he tries to hang up his coat but misses the hanger, and when the cameras look to the class and back to Ross, the coat is hanging neatly on the hanger showing they hung it up afterward.

• In the first six episodes of Season 1, Chandler and Joey's apartment number was 4, and Monica and Rachel's was 5. Shortly after production began, it was decided that the apartment building where much of the show takes place was too big to have upper apartments with numbers as low as 4 and 5, so the numbers were changed to 19 and 20, respectively.

• When Joey is writing out the hospital-form for Ross's broken hand in Season 9, he says that his birthday is October 18th, but in previous episodes he once told Rachel; "Mine is December...?" and once that it is in May.

• In the last episode of Season 6, you can see Chandler is significantly bigger than in episode one of Season 7.

• Ross remains the same age (29) for three years. In Season 3, he tells Chandler "No thanks, I'm 29" when offered chocolate milk, in Season 4 when the guys try to party without Gandalf they all say they're 29, and in Season 5 when he's trying to reconcile with Emily he says either he does or he would get divorced for the second time before age 30.

• The show is set in New York City. Joey was a cast member on Days of Our Lives, which is filmed in Los Angeles, but is still always around.

• In Season 2 when Monica, Rachel and Phoebe are into Be-Your-Own-Goddess, Rachel points out that Phoebe once betrayed a "lightningbearer" (woman) for a "leafblower" (man) by sleeping with Jason Hurley an hour after he and Monica broke up. Monica gets really surprised and angry at Phoebe, even though Pheobe in fact once in Season 1 (in the episode "The One With George Stephanopoulos"), told Monica and Rachel that she did sleep with Jason Hurley, and that it happened an hour after he and Monica broke up.

• In a later season, Monica says to Chandler that he is jealous of Richard Burke (Monica's boyfriend) because he cannot grow a mustache. However, in Season 2, when Chandler and Joey want to be exactly like Richard, Joey has a cigar, and Chandler grows a mustache. He also grew a goatie towards the end of season 3, although he shaved it off before the events of the final episosed of season 3.

• In "The One with the Butt" (Season 1), Joey is showering naked during filming, however, upon close inspection of his shadow cast onto the shower tiles, you can clearly see he is wearing shorts.

Trivia

• Alternate titles considered by the show's producers for the series include "Six of One", "Across The Hall", "Insomnia Café", and "Friends Like Us".

• During the opening credits, the six main actors appear alphabetically by last name: Aniston, Cox-Arquette, Kudrow, LeBlanc, Perry, and Schwimmer. Coincidentally, the three girls of the group come first, then the three guys.

• The episode title format ("The One With/Where/etc ...") 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. They believed that sitcom audiences generally refer to specific episodes of a show by the most memorable event of the episode (e.g. "Did you see the one where the monkey gets away?") and decided to name their episodes in that format.

• The character of Ursula (Phoebe's twin sister) first appeared in the sitcom Mad About You as a waitress. Kudrow played Ursula on both Mad About You and Friends. The shows creators did not originally intend for Phoebe to have a twin, but they added the character to explain why Kudrow was appearing on two different shows on the same network, at one time as a part of the same Thursday night line-up.

• James Michael Tyler's character, Gunther, came into the series by accident. He was an extra throughout the first season, and when given a line in season two, the directors were impressed enough to create a full-time part for him. He was hired because he was the only extra on the set of the pilot who knew how to operate an espresso machine.

• Central Perk, the coffee shop on the series, is based on Cholmondley's (pronounced Chumley's), a coffee shop/lounge in Usen Castle at Brandeis University, the alma mater of the show's creators.

• Although it seems that most of the action of the series took place in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, New York City, the series was filmed in California. The exterior shot of the Friends' apartment building is located at Grove and Bedford streets in the Village. No scenes featuring cast members were filmed in New York; even the show's opening is shot around a fountain in California.

• Cox was originally approached for the role of Rachel, but convinced the producers that her personality was more suited for the character of Monica, which is the role producers first pitched to Jennifer Aniston.

• Behind the scenes, the show was known for its unusually cohesive and unified cast. The six main actors made deliberate and conscious efforts, from early on, to keep the show's ensemble format and to not allow any one of them to dominate. This included requesting that all actors on the show be nominated either for the same category of award (mostly "Supporting Actor") or not at all, and entering collective instead of individual salary negotiations. The actors became such close friends that one guest star, Tom Selleck, reported sometimes feeling left out.

• Schwimmer directed several episodes.

• The fictional addresses of the Friends' apartments are:

Joey - 495 Grove St. Apt. 19, New York, NY 10001

Monica - 495 Grove St. Apt 20, New York, NY 10001

Phoebe - 5 Morton St. Apt. 14, New York, NY 10001

• All of the characters have kissed the other five characters, although some of the kisses were mentioned and not seen.

• Janice (Maggie Wheeler), Chandler's ex-girlfriend, has appeared at least once in each season (although in season six she did not appear herself; she did only voice acting).

• Many middle names for the characters have been revealed: Rachel's is Karen, Ross' is Eustace, Joey's is Francis, Chandler's is Muriel, Monica's has been revealed to begin with the letter E, Phoebe doesn't know hers, it was on her birth certificate which her twin sister sold.

• Every character had lived in both Monica's apartment (Ross only mentioned to have lived there in the finale, where it is revealed he attempted to make it as a dancer, which was mentioned in an earlier season) and Joey's apartment.

• In the opening sequence in early seasons, Perry (Chandler) is seen at the fountain turning his head side to side with his mouth full and then spitting water upwards. In several episodes in later seasons, this clip is reversed so that he appears to take falling water into his mouth and then turning his head from side to side.

Trivia game

A few trivia games have been released over the years, as well as a trivia book. The trivia book spans Seasons 1-8. There have been two versions of a board game released, one being a cardboard box version with fewer questions and the other a die cast collector editon with more questions. Recently, a "Scene It" version of Friends was released with actual show clips, trivia questions and other puzzles on screen. The trivia includes questions from all ten seasons. A new PS2, PC and Xbox game called "Friends: The One with All the Trivia" was released simultaneously with the Season 10 DVD box set. It includes the voices of characters Janice, Gunther and Jack & Judy Geller as hosts.

References in other television series

• In an episode of King of the Hill, when Connie tries to get away from her family, she goes to her room and turns on the TV; you can hear the Friends theme song in the background when she turns on the TV.
• In an episode of Futurama, Lrrr and his wife are watching Friends. We know this because while watching he says, "This is by far the most absurd of Earth's shows. Why doesn't Ross, the largest of the friends, not simply eat the others?" Then, his wife says, "Perhaps, they're saving that for sweeps."
• In a later episode of Roseanne, the family is sitting around the living room, bored and not talking to each other, prompting Dan Conner to remark "Just think, this was the Friends of the early '90s."
• In an episode of Half & Half, Mona remarks "Friends don't do friends, except on Friends"
• In one episode of Ellen, which was launched in mid-season the previous year to Friends, the title character tells somebody that she owns a bookstore with a coffee shop. The response "Very cool, very Friends" prompts her to complain "Yeah, but we were here first!"
• In The Simpsons episode "Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade", Bart watches the Japanese version of Friends, while in another episode, Homer, searching for a job, attempts to become Rachel's Irish cousin Seamus, with the line, "So yer all doin' each other are ya? Well who's gonna put out for old Seamus", only to be disappointed to learn that Friends has now been cancelled.
• In one episode of South Park, Shelly (Stan's sister) while babysitting Cartman, is shown watching Friends; you can hear the theme song in the background.
• In another episode of South Park, Eric Cartman loses his 'Funny Fuse', and Mr.Mackey, the school counselor asks him not to worry and that he can be a writer for Friends.
• Episode 93 of Animaniacs parodied of Friends called "Acquaintances", right down to the theme song (We Won't Ever Leave). Some of the Friends cast reprised their role in the short.
• In one episode of Married... with Children, Kelly walked into the room while Al was watching Friends, asking why he is watching, knowing that he dosn't like Friends. Al replied saying that if you mute the volume and watch with binoculars, you can see that Jennifer Aniston is not wearing a bra.
• In one episode of Family Guy where the movie Poltergeist is parodied, Stewie Griffin talks to the TV, obviously talking about the season finale of Friends and the situation between Ross and Rachel. He also talks about the Friends Spin-off, Joey.
• Second-season promotions for the show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia parody the Friends fountain dance, with members of the cast assaulting one another.
• In the UK Saturday morning children's program, SMTV, the hosts filmed sketches of a sitcom called Chums, which is a parody of the show. The opening credits show the hosts playing in the fountain, which is also the opening of Friends.

External links

• Official Friends site
• Friends at TV.com
• Negative 1994 NBC research report about the pilot
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