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 descriptor used by the writers to pitch Friends to NBC.
A little more than 25 years ago, when Rachel Green, a runaway bride, barged into a Manhattan cafe named Central Perk in her wedding dress, looking for her high school friend Monica Geller, only to eventually move in with her and set off a six-pronged tale of friendship, few could have predicted that Friends would not only play out for 10 years and over 236 episodes, but also become one of the most successful sitcoms in television history. Today, more importantly, the show has become a global pop-culture phenomenon whose relevance and unprecedented popularity has endured over two-and-a-half decades.
The story of six pals navigating their way through the ups and downs of relationships and their respective careers in the 1990s, struck a chord with Gen X and millennial viewers growing up at that time, but Friends is a rare TV show — and yet much more than a TV show — that attracts viewership across generations. Case in point, ahead of the much-anticipated Reunion episode, that aired on May 27, the Netflix Top 10 chart in many countries, including India, saw Friends making a comeback, with fans tuning in to journey once more with Rachel and Monica, Phoebe and Ross, Joey and Chandler.
Staying with Netflix, let’s look at some figures to illustrate how Friends continues to be a money-making marvel for global television. Along with The Office and Grey’s Anatomy, Friends has remained one of the most-watched shows on Netflix, with viewers around the world spending 54.3 million hours (the equivalent of 62,000 years) watching it in 2018. The streaming service reportedly paid $80 million to the show’s producers to keep it streaming throughout 2019. Even now, Friends reportedly earns Warner Bros $1billion in syndication revenue. The series finale, broadcast on May 6, 2004, notched up a viewership of 52.46 million viewers. The series, during its 10-season run, was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards.
FRIENDS AS FAMILY
The numbers, of course, are mindboggling. But the reason why Friends has endured through the ages is simple — its inherent simplicity. Friends harks back to a less complicated time, a time where we didn’t have social media and smartphones and where having friends meant having them in life, and not just as a Facebook statistic.
Originally titled ‘Insomnia Cafe’ and with the plan to set it solely in a coffee shop, creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman decided to expand its arc to make Friends into a show in which friends represented family in young peoples’ lives, a fact that resonates even today. “This was one of those things where the idea was very clear to us,” Crane told Dateline in 2004 on the occasion of the show’s 10th anniversary. “And the writers still make fun of us because it’s like, ‘Oh, when you’re in your 20s, your friends are your family’. But for us, that’s the show!”
For many, then and now, Friends scores for being a feel-good watch, representing a life which is far more carefree than it is now. It plays out mostly in an insulated world, showing the six principal characters living in a version of New York where they inhabit rent-controlled swanky apartments (“Look around, you guys,” said Chandler to his newly adopted twins, as his friends and family left his apartment for the last time. “This was your first home. And it was a happy place, filled with love and laughter. But more important, because of rent control, it was a friggin’ steal!”) and have all the time to just hang out with each other. Stuff that may not be a realistic dynamic in many friendship circles, but which never fails to bring a smile on the faces of its audience, cutting across generations.
This was a sitcom which showed us a world where parents were largely out of the picture. Through sunshine or storm, the six friends learnt to rely on each other, and even if slightly clueless, they more or less found their way through relationships, jobs and life, delivering many laughs and a few life lessons along the way.
“Friends was pioneering in defining people’s 20s, often aimless and uncertain, as a distinct phase of adulthood, in which platonic friendships can provide a kind of structure lacking in romances or careers,” is how Michael Schulman aptly summed it up in the New Yorker.
WE TOO
Despite the fact that Friends plays out in a bubble-like setting which seems far away from reality, the show has always remained relatable. Most of us have grown up with Monica’s neurosis, Rachel’s passion for fashion, Joey’s charming stupidity, Chandler’s sarcastic jokes, Ross’s bad-luck-stricken love life and Phoebe’s obsession with Smelly Cat, among other things....
Friends fans, now and then, relate the quirks and qualities of these beloved characters to their own lives and their equations with their friends. Ask anyone, of nearly any age, which Friends character they are, and most will have the answer down pat. One only needs a whiff of Smelly Cat before bursting into song. And ‘How you doin?’, in any part of the world, will, in all likelihood, make Joey flash before your eyes.
The theme song — I’ll Be There For You by The Rembrandts — is a friendship staple around the globe, and in India, perhaps second only to Yeh dosti. Data shared with The Telegraph by Spotify India indicates that India is the top country globally to stream the official Friends playlist and that in the run-up to the Reunion episode, the playlist has witnessed an 80 per cent uplift. I’ll Be There For You has amassed more than 137 million streams globally on Spotify, with Smelly Cat witnessing a sizeable spike in the last few days. Zee5 says the Reunion special had more than one million views on Day One.
A big reason why Friends has held on — and also built on — its popularity over the decades is that its devoted fan base of nostalgic 30 and 40-somethings not only go back to the show, or at least a few episodes or seasons now and again, they have now started introducing their children to the show, in what can be considered everything from a nostalgic full-circle moment to an obligatory rite of passage.
The fact that Gen Z is hooked to Friends is illustrated by some interesting statistics shared with The Telegraph by the Indian arm of global dating app Tinder. There was a 3.5 times increase in mentions of ‘Friends Reunion’ on Tinder India in April 2021 as compared to April 2020. About 93 per cent of the mentions on Tinder bios are from Gen Z in India, with Rachel (played by Jennifer Aniston) and Joey (played by Matt LeBlanc) ruling the mentions.
And then, there are the rest of us. For most of us growing up in the ’90s, going back to Friends is not only a source of nostalgia and comfort, but the fact that we know how it’s all going to play out gives us a feel of familiarity in a world which is fast changing, and now inhabited by a virus that just refuses to leave, is very unfamiliar. For the record, Jennifer Aniston’s first Instagram post — featuring the grey-haired and slightly wrinkled group of six and captioned, ‘And now we are Instagram FRIENDS too’ caused her page to crash.
POP-CULTURE PHENOMENON
No other show has perhaps influenced pop culture in quite the way Friends has. From giving a boost to the culture of buddies crowding coffee shops for hours as a hangout (Friends-themed cafes, with or without that familiar orange couch, are found in all corners of the world) to inspiring the haircut that’s gone down in history as ‘The Rachel’. First debuted in 1995, the bouncy, face-framing layers of the hairstyle, sported by Aniston on the show, was one of the most trend-setting looks that was not just limited to the ’90s. ‘The Rachel’ became an overnight sensation, with Aniston herself surprised at its popularity. In 2010, ‘The Rachel’ was declared the most requested hairstyle of all time, with almost 11 million British women alone trying out the look. The haircut has now made a comeback, with actor Renee Zellweger sporting a version of it as recently as this year’s Golden Globes red carpet.
Jennifer Aniston sporting ‘The Rachel’
Rachel being the show’s resident fashionista had a major influence on the style sense of that time, and even beyond, but so did the others, whether it was pairing white tank tops with Levi’s jeans, slip-dresses, starter jackets and platform flip-flops.
Friends has also been credited in helping non-English-speaking students to learn the language. A 2012 poll by Kaplan International English Colleges found that more than a quarter of its students cited the sitcom as the reason for helping them improve their English.
And then there are the show’s catchphrases that have crept into our daily vocabulary. From the aforementioned ‘How you doin’?’ to ‘Joey doesn’t share his food!’ From ‘Hi, I’m Chandler. I make jokes when I’m uncomfortable’ to ‘I wish I could, but I don’t want to’. And of course, the classic, ‘We were on a break’. More than a quarter of a century later, you will find them on posters, coffee mugs and T-shirts. In India, on the day the Reunion episode dropped, every major brand — Amul to Swiggy — jumped on to the Friends bandwagon, smart captions to cool discounts, to cash in on the craze.
PROBLEM POINTS, BUT....
On hindsight, however, not everything about Friends leaves a pleasant taste in the mouth. For one, it presented a New York City which was #TooWhite, with only one major Black character — Charlie Wheeler, played by Aisha Tyler — in its 10 seasons. “The Fat Monica” running joke and the transphobic taunts about Chandler’s father are also cringe-inducing, along with some instances of fragile masculinity.
But Friends, still incredibly funny, easy to watch and one that goes straight to our hearts, compels us to look much beyond its flaws and faults. This is a relationship with viewers across the world that will endure for many, many more years. Yes, ‘I’ll be there for you (Cause you’re there for me too)’....
WHY THEY LOVE IT...
I am really excited about the reunion. It made me so nostalgic. After so many years, they are now coming back as mature individuals... they have seen so much of life, gone through so many experiences and have emerged as beautiful human beings. Friends was one of my fave shows. I used to look forward to each and every episode. Their friendship had a certain kind of spunk to it... and they had a very strong sense of bonding. They had this amazing sense of humour too. Each character was so endearing, and everything was treated with a lightness of touch. It was so much fun, in the way they would navigate through life and look on its bright side always. They became so close to us. It felt like we were also a part of the group — Koel Mallick
I think Friends is a timeless show. A group of friends getting together and sharing their lives to this extent is a very important message. More so today when we are so “connected” online that we are totally disconnected from the offline life — the life that gives us real treasured memories. My brother Gaurav (Chakrabarty) introduced me to it, and thanks to Sreeja (wife) I’m watching it all over again. It just makes you feel so good, so warm. My fave is Joey. They’re all funny but Joey is a different kind of funny. I feel like he’s the one guy who can diffuse any situation and make you forget any worry, even if it’s with some outrageous advice. It would be lovely to see how they’ve aged and what their equations are like, now. I believe there’s going to be plenty of revisiting and nostalgia, not to mention untold stories of what actually went on behind the scenes — Arjun Chakrabarty
The show Friends has become a part of my life. Once you watch it, you cannot let it go. You are hooked. I keep watching different episodes of Friends. It just makes me so happy. I love it because it shows a kind of friendship that is so authentic, so true and genuine. They always have your back. It touches a chord. I have seen the show so many times that I remember all the moments, the dialogues, the laughs and the quirks of the characters. I can relate to Monica at times because of her OCD. But my fave characters are Joey and Rachel! — Mimi Chakraborty
For me it is nostalgia. I grew up watching Friends. It is my happy space. On days that I’m feeling a little low, I just put on an episode and almost immediately start smiling. Phoebe is my absolute favourite, for her carefree, hippie nature, her empathy, optimism, goofy beliefs. Lisa Kudrow nails it and how. Every year I end up doing a re-run of all the seasons, ’cause it just reminds me of simpler times — Anindita Bose
As told to Arindam Chatterjee
Some lines we’ve be-Friended
○ I’m not so good with advice... Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?
○ Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You’re going to love it.
○ Smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you? Smelly cat, smelly cat, it’s not your fault.
○ I hate his underwear. One timeI brought a pair marked XS and let me tell you there’s no room for anything excess in there.
○ It’s like all of my life, everyone has always told me, ‘You’re a shoe, you’re a shoe, you’re a shoe, you’re a shoe.’ And then today, I just stopped and I said, ‘What if I don’t want to be a shoe? What if I want to be a purse, you know? Or a hat?
○ Isn’t that just kick-you-in-the-crotch, spit-on-your-neck fantastic?
○ Pivot! Pivot! Pivot!
○ I wish I could, but I don’t want to
○ We were on a break!
○ It tastes like feet!
○ Well, maybe I don’t need your money. Wait, wait, I said maybe.
○ Could I be wearing any more clothes?
○ This is all a moo point
○ How you doin’?
○ They don’t know that we know they know we know.
Which Friends character do you identify with the most? Tell t2@abp.in
