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Home , Chandler Bing, David Crane (producer), Friends, Friends (season 1), Friends (season 10), Friends (season 2)

I. Rationale

Everyone has their own way of spending their spare time, for example by reading a good book while enjoying a cup of tea, others by listening to music and singing along, or even by drawing. In my case, in the little spare time I have left, I choose to spend it discovering TV series with appealing plot and realistic characters. My search stopped the moment I played the first episode from .

You may wonder what has Friends so special that made me write about them. It’s simple. You never get tired of them, no matter how many times you have seen the series. I choose this theme because it can be funny and serious at the same time. It gives laughter at the same time with life lessons. The six friends Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross and Joey create different vibes that are hard to be worn off. They are put in everyday situations shaped in an amusing way. This TV series made me realize that friendship, love, fun and trust go hand in hand and are the most important values that someone could learn.

In the Introduction I will present a brief presentation about the evolution of “Friends”, the people that gave life to the six main characters and the great awards lying behind this TV series.

The first chapter talks about the six main characters, their habits, their funny moments and their relationship with each other. Their one big family that never failed to amuse us, to take us by surprise and even to make us cry is the family that people nowadays search in each of their friends.

The second chapter presents the synopses, season by season, which contains the story of the characters, their evolution and their best moments together.

In the third chapter I will discuss the impact over the worldwide public, the reactions of the people, the cultural value that was created through this TV series, and also some intresting facts that not all the lovers of “Friends” are aware of.

All in all, this paper is made to present one of the greatest ever made, in its simplicity and the values that teaches us.

4 II. Introduction

Friends is an American created by and , which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in . The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The original executive producers were Crane, Kauffman and Kevin S. Bright, with numerous others being promoted in later seasons.

Kauffman and Crane began developing Friends under the title Insomnia Cafe in November/December 1993. They presented the idea to Bright, with whom they had previously worked, and together they pitched a seven-page treatment of the series to NBC. After several script rewrites and changes, including a second title change to Friends Like Us, the series was finally named Friends and premiered on NBC's coveted Thursday 8:30 pm timeslot. Filming for the series took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, in front of a live . The series (the 236th episode), airing on May 6, 2004, was watched by 51.1 million American viewers, making it the fourth most watched in television history and the most watched episode of the decade.

Friends received positive reviews throughout its run, becoming one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. The series won many awards and was nominated for 63 Primetime . The series, an instant hit from its debut, was also very successful in the ratings, consistently ranking in the top ten in the final primetime ratings. Many critics now regard it as one of the finest shows in television history, including TV Guide, which ranked it No. 21 on their list of the 50 greatest TV shows of all time. In 1997, the episode "The One with the Video" was ranked No. 100 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time. The series made a large cultural impact, which continues today. The Central Perk coffee house that was featured prominently in the series has inspired various imitations throughout the world. The series continues in syndication worldwide. All ten seasons are available in standard definition on DVD and in high definition on Blu-ray. The spin-off series Joey was created to follow up with the series after .

5 CHAPTER I. The Characters

Jennifer Aniston portrays , a enthusiast and ’s best friend from childhood. Rachel first moves in with Monica in season one after nearly marrying Barry Farber whom she realizes she does not love. Rachel and are later involved in an on- again-off-again relationship throughout the series. Rachel dates other men during the series, such as an Italian neighbor, Paolo in season one, her client Joshua Bergin in season four, her assistant Tag in season seven, and in season ten. Rachel’s first job is as a waitress at the coffeehouse Central Perk, but she later becomes an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale’s in season three, and a buyer at in season five. Rachel and Ross have a daughter named Emma in “The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, Part Two” at of season 8.

Courteney Cox portrays Monica Geller, the mother hen of the group and a chef, known for her perfectionist, bossy and competitive nature. Monica is often jokingly teased by the others for having been extremely overweight as a child, especially by her brother Ross. Monica works as a chef in various restaurants throughout the show. Monica’s first serious relationship is with family friend Richard Burke who is 21 years her senior. The couple maintains a strong relationship until Richard expresses that he does not want to have children much to Monica’s dismay. Monica and later start a relationship after spending a night with each other in the season four finale, leading to their marriage in Season seven.

6 portrays , an eccentric masseuse and self- taught musician. Phoebe lived in uptown New York with her mother until her mother killed herself and Phoebe took to the streets. Phoebe is ditsy but street smart and writes and sings (badly) her own quirky songs, accompanying herself on the guitar. She has an “evil” identical twin named Ursula who shares Phoebe’s quirkiness but unlike Phoebe seems to be cruel and uncaring. Phoebe is childlike and innocent in disposition. Phoebe tends to use her past misfortunes such as her mother’s suicide as sympathy ploys. Phoebe has three serious relationships. Gary (the cop) in season five, an on and off relationship with Mike Hannigan () in seasons nine-ten and David () in season one, which ends when he moves to on a research grant. They reconcile whenever he returns but she eventually rejects him for Mike in season nine. In the last season, she marries Mike.

7 Matt LeBlanc portrays Joey Tribbiani, a struggling actor and food lover who becomes famous for his role on as Dr. Drake Ramoray. Joey is a simple- minded womanizer with many short-term girlfriends throughout the series. Despite his womanizing tendencies Joey is an innocent and caring character with good intentions. Joey often uses the catchphrase pick up line “How you doin’?” in his attempts to win over women. Joey rooms with his best friend Chandler for years and later a while with Rachel. He falls in love with Rachel in season eight. Rachel politely tells Joey that she does not share the same feelings. They eventually date briefly in season ten, but after realizing it will not work due to their friendship (and especially Rachel’s complicated relationship with Ross), they return to being friends as before.

Matthew Perry portrays Chandler Bing, an executive in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration for a large multi-national corporation. Chandler quits his job and becomes a junior copywriter at an advertising agency during season nine. Chandler has a peculiar family history being the son of an erotic novelist mother, and a cross-dressing star father. Chandler is known for his sarcastic sense of humor and bad luck in relationships. Chandler marries Monica in season seven, and they adopt twins at the end of the series. Before his relationship with Monica, Chandler dated Janice Hosenstein in season one and subsequently broke up with her many times. has expressed his similarities to the character such as his need to break an awkward silence with a joke and difficulties with women when first joining the show.

David Schwimmer portrays Ross Geller, Monica Geller’s older brother, a paleontologist working at the Museum of Natural History, and later a professor of paleontology at . Ross is sweet natured man of good humor, although he is often clumsy and socially awkward. Ross is involved in an on-again-off-again relationship with Rachel throughout the series. Ross has three failed marriages during the series: Rachel, Emily, and Carol, a who is also the mother of his son, Ben (). His failed love life is potentially due to his paranoia and jealousy in relationships and his divorces become a point of humor within the

8 series. He and Rachel have a daughter by the end of season eight and they confess that they are still in love with each other in the final episode.

CHAPTER II. Season Synopses

9 II. 1. Season One

The first season introduces the six main characters: Rachel Green, Monica Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribbiani, Chandler Bing and Ross Geller. Rachel, who left her fiancé at the altar on her wedding day, has come to New York and ends up living with Monica. It establishes early on in the season that Ross has been infatuated with Rachel since the two characters attended high school. Several episodes revolve around his attempts to tell her how he feels. Meanwhile, Ross's estranged lesbian ex-wife Carol is pregnant with his baby. This puts Ross and Carol's lesbian life partner, Susan, in an awkward position. Due to the loneliness, Ross brings home Marcel, a capucin monkey. When the baby is born at the end of the season, Ross, Carol, and Susan agree to name him Ben: after a name tag on a janitor's uniform worn by Phoebe. The episodic nature of the season sees the characters learning moral lessons about life and having multiple dates, many of which go wrong (Monica dates a minor in one episode), yet each episode still ended happily (think Saved By the Bell and early period ). The recurring character of Janice is introduced as a girlfriend Chandler breaks up with in an early episode but frequently returns to through the ensuing ten seasons. Ross leaves for a fossil dig in China at the end of the season, but when Chandler lets it slip about Ross's continuing feelings for Rachel on her birthday, she is shocked to find out. She rushes off to the airport to tell him about her feelings, only to find out that he has a new girlfriend. II. 2. Season Two

10 The second season features more serialized storylines. It begins when Rachel discovers that Ross is dating Julie, someone he knew from grad school. Julie returns for several episodes early in the season. Rachel's attempts to tell Ross she likes him mirror his own failed attempts in the first season, but she accidentally lets it slip out on a phone call. When Ross finds out, he dumps Julie, but Rachel is angry because of a list of bad things that he wrote about her to help him decide between the two of them. Eventually, a prom video reveals that Ross intended to take Rachel to the prom when her prom date was late. This makes Rachel forgive him and they begin a relationship that lasts into the following season.

Joey, a struggling actor in the first season, gets a part in a fictionalized version of the soap opera Days of Our Lives but loses the part soon after when he angers the writers by saying in an interview that he writes many of his own lines. begins a recurring guest role as Dr. Richard Burke. Richard, a friend of Monica and Ross's parents who is recently divorced and with grown children, is 21 years older than Monica but despite this they date for the second half of the season. In the season finale, they end the relationship when they realize that he does not want any more children and she does.

The second season also served to deepen Chandler and Joey's friendship. This becomes especially apparent in the episodes in which Joey temporarily moves out and a man named Eddie Menuek moves in. Chandler is disgusted that Eddie does not like what he likes, and has trouble bonding with the him, so he allows Joey to move in and pretends that Eddie never lived there. Eddie's mental illness causes him to believe that he really has never met Chandler when Chandler insists this is the case and leaves him alone. Another surprise comes when Chandler falls in love with a woman over the Internet and when he goes to meet her at Central Perk, Janice walks in. Despite this, they decide to get back together, for real.

II. 3. Season Three

Season three takes on a significantly greater serialized format. Rachel begins working at Bloomingdale's, an

11 upscale department store chain, and Ross becomes jealous of her colleague, Mark. Rachel decides to take a break; and Ross, hurt and drunk, sleeps with someone else, causing Rachel to break up with him. In the meantime, Chandler has a hard time dealing with their breakup because it reminds him of his parents' divorce. After believing she has no family except her twin sister Ursula (Lisa Kudrow), Phoebe becomes acquainted with her half-brother () and birth mother (). Joey develops a relationship with his acting partner Kate (), and Monica begins a relationship with millionaire Pete Becker () which shortly ends because of disagreements between the two.

II. 4. Season Four

In the fourth season premiere, Ross and Rachel briefly reconcile after Ross pretends to read a long letter that Rachel wrote for him, but continues to insist that the two were on a break so they break up again. Joey dates Kathy (), a girl that Chandler has a crush on. Kathy and Chandler later kiss, which causes drama between Chandler and Joey. Joey forgives Chandler only after he spends a day in a box as punishment. Phoebe becomes a surrogate mother for her brother and his wife Alice (). Monica and Rachel are forced to switch apartments with Joey and Chandler after losing a bet during a quiz game, but manage to switch back by bribing them with Knicks season tickets and a one-minute kiss (off-screen) between the girls. Ross begins dating an English woman named Emily (), and the season finale features their wedding in London. Chandler and Monica sleep together, and Rachel decides to attend Ross and Emily's wedding. While saying his vows, Ross uses the wrong name at the altar (Rachel's), to the shock of his bride and the guests. II. 5. Season Five

Season five features Monica and Chandler trying to keep their new relationship a secret from their friends. Phoebe gives birth to triplets in the show's 100th episode. She gives birth to a boy, Frank Jr. Jr., and two girls: Leslie, and Chandler. (They had originally thought that there were two boys and one girl, but decided to keep the name Chandler, despite the baby turning out a girl.) Emily

12 states that the only condition in which she would remain married to Ross is if he stops all communication with Rachel. Ross agrees, but during a last dinner with all six main characters together, Emily phones Ross and, upon discovering Rachel is there, realizes she does not trust him, which ends the marriage. Phoebe begins a relationship with a police officer, Gary (), after finding his badge and using it as her own. Monica and Chandler go public with their relationship, to the surprise and happiness of their friends. They decide to get married on a trip to Las Vegas, but change their plans after witnessing Ross and Rachel drunkenly stumble out of the wedding chapel.

II. 6. Season Six

In the sixth season premiere, Ross and Rachel's marriage is established to be a drunken mistake, and they divorce several episodes later. Monica and Chandler move in together, causing Rachel to move in with Phoebe. Joey lands a role on a cable television series called Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E., where he stars alongside a robot. Ross gets a job lecturing at New York University and starts dating one of his students, Elizabeth (). The relationship ends because of their maturity differences. Phoebe and Rachel's apartment catches fire, and Rachel moves in with Joey, while Phoebe moves in with Chandler and Monica. Chandler proposes to Monica, who says yes even though her ex-boyfriend Richard confesses his love for her. II. 7. Season Seven

The seventh season mainly follows various antics by Monica and Chandler, who begin to plan their wedding and run into financial problems which are quickly fixed by Chandler’s secret funds. Joey's television series Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E is cancelled, but he is offered his job back on Days of our Lives. Phoebe's apartment is fixed, but is rebuilt with only one large bedroom instead of the original two, so Rachel decides to stay with Joey. The season ends during Monica and Chandler’s wedding where Phoebe and Rachel find a positive pregnancy test in the bathroom.

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