History Series / Friends

''Friends'' was an insanely popular and [[LongRunner long-running]] RoommateCom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman that ran for ten seasons (1994–2004) on Creator/{{NBC}}, centering around a circle of twentysomething (and by the end, thirtysomething) [[BigApplesauce Manhattan]] singles: siblings Monica (Creator/CourteneyCox) and Ross Geller (Creator/DavidSchwimmer), Monica's childhood friend (and Ross's longtime crush) Rachel Green (Creator/JenniferAniston), Ross's college roommate Chandler Bing (Creator/MatthewPerry), Chandler's current roommate Joey Tribbiani (Creator/MattLeBlanc), and Monica's former roommate Phoebe Buffay (Creator/LisaKudrow).

Light-hearted in tone, most of the show's jokes involved some problem or misunderstanding involving sex, work, money, family or personal quirks, though it did occasionally dip a toe into deeper waters involving parenting, the death of a loved one, or something about [[MistakenForGay Chandler looking gay]]. The show's most iconic location was the "Central Perk" coffee shop (a joke on New York's Central Park), though most of it took place in two studio-built apartments, and it was filmed in California.

While each episode is mostly self-contained, ''Friends'' was among the first prime-time comedies with an evolving status quo, something of a stepping stone to the HalfArcSeason that started becoming popular around the time that the show debuted. Most of the cast went through several jobs, all went through plenty of love interests, and four became parents. The show was also open about, if not dedicated to, continuity, recalling and building off of events from prior episodes.

Alongside ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' and ''Series/SexAndTheCity'', ''Friends'' reshaped and was utterly iconic to American romcoms/sitcoms in TheNineties, breaking ground in various ways. The show was more open about sex, including gay relationships ([[ButNotTooGay though never among the main cast]]), than was usual when it first aired. It was also almost the only show of its prominence ever to demand pay equity between the male and female stars. The principal cast demanded that the three female leads get the same pay as the three male leads, the result being that Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow were for several years the most highly paid women in Hollywood. On a similar note, the show was treated as a real ensemble; because there was no true "lead" character, the cast was always billed alphabetically,[[note]]this had a two-fold serendipitous effect where since the three women's surnames were first, they were billed first throughout its success, and when Aniston broke out as the film-star-in-waiting, she was toplining the show due to her surname starting with "A"[[/note]] and the cast and crew collectively agreed that for any awards submission, the actors would go into the same "Lead" or "Supporting" category, to avoid elevating one member over the others.

While each episode is mostly self-contained, ''Friends'' was among the first prime-time comedies with an evolving status quo, something of a stepping stone to the HalfArcSeason that started becoming popular around the time that the show debuted. Most of the cast went through several jobs, all went through plenty of love interests, and two became parents. The show was also open about, if not dedicated to, continuity, recalling and building off of events from prior episodes.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/friends_cast_photo.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:Not pictured: The [[OpeningCreditsCastParty fountain]].[[note]]Clockwise from the left: [[TeamMom Monica]], [[DeadpanSnarker Chandler]], [[LovableAlphaBitch Rachel]], [[NervousWreck Ross]], [[TheDitz Joey]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Phoebe]].[[/note]]]]

[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/friends_cast_photo.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:315:Not pictured: The [[OpeningCreditsCastParty fountain]].[[note]]Clockwise from the left: [[TeamMom Monica]], [[DeadpanSnarker Chandler]], [[LovableAlphaBitch Rachel]], [[NervousWreck Ross]], [[TheDitz Joey]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Phoebe]].[[/note]]]]

-->-- The opening verse to "I'll Be There for You" by '''The Rembrandts'''

''Friends'' is an insanely popular and [[LongRunner long-running]] RoommateCom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman that ran for ten seasons (1994–2004) on Creator/{{NBC}}, centering around a circle of twentysomething (and by the end, thirtysomething) [[BigApplesauce Manhattan]] singles: siblings Monica (Creator/CourteneyCox) and Ross Geller (Creator/DavidSchwimmer), Monica's childhood friend (and Ross's longtime crush) Rachel Green (Creator/JenniferAniston), Ross's college roommate Chandler Bing (Creator/MatthewPerry), Chandler's current roommate Joey Tribbiani (Creator/MattLeBlanc), and Monica's former roommate Phoebe Buffay (Creator/LisaKudrow).

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/friends_cast.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Not pictured: The [[OpeningCreditsCastParty fountain]].[[note]]Clockwise from the left: [[TeamMom Monica]], [[DeadpanSnarker Chandler]], [[LovableAlphaBitch Rachel]], [[NervousWreck Ross]], [[TheDitz Joey]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Phoebe]].[[/note]]]]

''Friends'' is an insanely popular and [[LongRunner long-running]] RoommateCom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman that ran on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1994 to 2004, centering around a circle of twenty-something (and by the end, thirty-something) [[BigApplesauce Manhattan]] singles: siblings Monica (Creator/CourteneyCox) and Ross Geller (Creator/DavidSchwimmer), Monica's childhood friend (and Ross's longtime crush) Rachel Green (Creator/JenniferAniston), Ross's college roommate Chandler Bing (Creator/MatthewPerry), Chandler's roommate Joey Tribbiani (Creator/MattLeBlanc), and Monica's former roommate Phoebe Buffay (Creator/LisaKudrow).

An insanely popular and [[LongRunner long-running]] RoommateCom that ran on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1994 to 2004, centering around a circle of twenty-something (and by the end, thirty-something) [[BigApplesauce Manhattan]] singles: siblings Monica (Creator/CourteneyCox) and Ross Geller (Creator/DavidSchwimmer), Monica's childhood friend (and Ross's longtime crush) Rachel Green (Creator/JenniferAniston), Ross's college roommate Chandler Bing (Creator/MatthewPerry), Chandler's roommate Joey Tribbiani (Creator/MattLeBlanc), and Monica's former roommate Phoebe Buffay (Creator/LisaKudrow). A light-hearted show, most of the jokes involved some problem or misunderstanding involving sex, work, money, family or personal quirks, though it did occasionally dip a toe into deeper waters involving parenting, the death of a loved one, or something about [[MistakenForGay Chandler looking gay]].

Its most iconic location was the "Central Perk" coffee shop (a joke on New York's Central Park), though most of it took place in two studio-built apartments, and it was filmed in California. It featured dozens of guest stars, including big names like the short run Creator/BruceWillis and one-off Creator/CharltonHeston, as well as more prominent guests like Tom Selleck (who famously was somewhat hurt by how close the series regulars were and how that shut out outsiders like him).

While each episode is mostly self-contained, it was among the first prime-time comedies with an evolving status quo, something of a stepping stone to the HalfArcSeason that started becoming popular around the time that ''Friends'' debuted. Most of the cast went through several jobs, all went through plenty of love interests, and two became parents. The show was also open about, if not dedicated to, continuity, recalling and building off of events from prior episodes.

The show was a unique long runner in that it had ''zero'' changes amongst the main cast despite the show's longevity and having a core sextet: no [=main character/actor=] left the show, nor were any added, and even with 236 episodes and the cast regularly working in film on the side, every actor appeared in every episode.

It was more open about sex, including gay relationships, though ([[ButNotTooGay never among the main cast]]), than was usual when it first aired. Alongside ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' and ''Series/SexAndTheCity'', it reshaped and was utterly iconic to American romcoms/sitcoms in TheNineties. It also spawned a short-lived spin-off, ''Series/{{Joey}}''. A reunion special, ''Friends: The Reunion'', aired May 27, 2021 on Creator/HBOMax. ''Friends! The Musical Parody'' has played Off-Broadway since its premiere on November 2, 2017.

The show was notable in that it was almost the only one ever to demand pay equity between the male and female stars. The principal cast demanded that the three female leads get the same pay as the three male leads, the result being that Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow were for several years the most highly paid women in Hollywood. On a similar note, the show was treated as a real ensemble; because there was no true "lead" character, the cast was always billed alphabetically,[[note]]this had a two-fold serendipitous effect where since the three women's surnames were first, they were billed first throughout its success, and when Aniston broke out as the film-star-in-waiting, she was toplining the show due to her surname starting with "A"[[/note]] and the cast and crew collectively agreed that for any awards submission, the actors would go into the same "Lead" or "Supporting" category, to avoid elevating one member over the others.

It also has an IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming in which every episode but [[BookEnds "The Pilot" and "The Last One"]] starts with "The One …" (usually "JustForFun/TheOneWith" or "The One Where..."), pre-empting what viewers would likely call them. Even the pilot was eventually later called "The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate", "The One Where It All Began", and "The First One".

An insanely popular LongRunner RoommateCom that ran on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1994 to 2004, centering around a circle of twenty-something (and by the end, thirty-something) [[BigApplesauce Manhattan]] singles: siblings Monica (Creator/CourteneyCox) and Ross Geller (Creator/DavidSchwimmer), Monica's childhood friend (and Ross's longtime crush) Rachel Green (Creator/JenniferAniston), Ross's college roommate Chandler Bing (Creator/MatthewPerry), Chandler's roommate Joey Tribbiani (Creator/MattLeBlanc), and Monica's former roommate Phoebe Buffay (Creator/LisaKudrow). A light-hearted show, most of the jokes involved some problem or misunderstanding involving sex, work, money, family or personal quirks, though it did occasionally dip a toe into deeper waters involving parenting, the death of a loved one, or something about [[MistakenForGay Chandler looking gay]].

An insanely popular LongRunner RoommateCom that ran on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1994 to 2004, centering around a circle of twenty-something (and by the end, thirty-something) [[BigApplesauce Manhattan]] singles: siblings Monica (Creator/CourteneyCox) and Ross Geller (Creator/DavidSchwimmer), Monica's childhood friend (and Ross's longtime crush) Rachel Green (Creator/JenniferAniston), Ross's college roommate Chandler Bing (Creator/MatthewPerry), Chandler's roommate Joey Tribbiani (Creator/MattLeBlanc), and Monica's former roommate Phoebe Buffay (Creator/LisaKudrow). A light-hearted show, most of the jokes involved some problem or misunderstanding involving sex, work, money, family or personal quirks, though it did occasionally dip a toe into deeper waters involving parenting, the death of a loved one, or something about [[QueerPeopleAreFunny Chandler looking gay]].

It also has an IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming in which every episode but [[BookEnds "The Pilot" and "The Last One"]] starts with "The One …" (usually "The One With…" or "The One Where…"), pre-empting what viewers would likely call them. Even the pilot was eventually later called "The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate", "The One Where It All Began", and "The First One".

It was more open about sex, including gay relationships, though ([[ButNotTooGay never among the main cast]]), than was usual when it first aired. Alongside ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' and ''Series/SexAndTheCity'', it reshaped and was utterly iconic to American romcoms/sitcoms in TheNineties. It also spawned a short-lived spin-off, ''Series/{{Joey}}''. A reunion special, ''Friends: The Reunion'', aired May 27, 2021 on Creator/HBOMax.

The show was also a unique long runner in that it had ''zero'' changes amongst the main cast despite the show's longevity and having a core sextet: no [=main character/actor=] left the show, nor were any added, and even with 236 episodes and the cast regularly working in film on the side, every actor appeared in every episode.

It was also more open about sex, including gay relationships, though ([[ButNotTooGay never among the main cast]]), than was usual when it first aired. Alongside ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' and ''Series/SexAndTheCity'', it reshaped and was utterly iconic to American romcoms/sitcoms in TheNineties. It also spawned a short-lived spin-off, ''Series/{{Joey}}''. A reunion special, ''Friends: The Reunion'', aired May 27, 2021 on Creator/HBOMax.

The show was also notable in that it was almost the only one ever to demand pay equity between the male and female stars. The principal cast demanded that the three female leads get the same pay as the three male leads, the result being that Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow were for several years the most highly paid women in Hollywood. On a similar note, the show was treated as a real ensemble; because there was no true "lead" character, the cast was always billed alphabetically,[[note]]this had a two-fold serendipitous effect where since the three women's surnames were first, they were billed first throughout its success, and when Aniston broke out as the film-star-in-waiting, she was toplining the show due to her surname starting with "A"[[/note]] and the cast and crew collectively agreed that for any awards submission, the actors would go into the same "Lead" or "Supporting" category, to avoid elevating one member over the others.

Your week, your month, or even your year"''