FRIENDS (WEB SERIES REVIEW)

INTRODUCTION:
Friends is an American sitcom about a group of friends in the area of
Manhattan, New York City. It was originally broadcast from1994 to 2004 in a
total of 236 episodes. It was created by David Crane and Martha Kauffman, and
produced by Kevin S. Bright for Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions. The
Friends Corporations LLC, and Warner Bros. Television. The show has been
broadcast in dozens of countries and still continues to attract good ratings for
its episodes in syndication. The final episode of the show was watched by an
estimated US audience of 51.1 million. During the show’s 10 year run, it won 7
Emmys (Including one for Outstanding Comedy Series), a Golden Globe, 2 SAG
Awards, and 56 other various awards with 152 nominations.

Cultural Impact

Friends has made a notable contribution to some areas of popular culture – in

particular fashion. The series has been noted for its impact on everyday
fashion and hairstyles. Aniston’s hairstyle was nicknamed “The Rachel” and
copied around the world. In the episode “Speechless” during the 6 th season of
Will and Grace, Will is cutting Jack’s hair and comments that Jack had initially
wanted The Rachel.

Joey Tribbiani’s catchphrase “How you doin’?” has become a popular part of
Western English Slang, often used as a pick-up line or when greeting friends.
The show also popularized the idea of the “laminated list”, a list of celebrities
that a person’s partner will permit them to sleep with if they to were ever
meet them. In “The One with Frank Jr.” the characters exchange “lists”
verbally, while Ross creates a physical list and laminates it, making his choices
permanent. The concept of the laminated list has been adopted by the
Hollywood Stock Exchange website.
The phrase “Ross and Rachel” has appeared as a joke in Scrubs: the janitor
describes J.D’s relationship with Elliot as “not exactly Ross and Rachel.” Friends
has been referenced again in Scrubs episode, “My Cold Shower”; Carla
describes J.D and Elliot’s relationship as being, “On and off more than Ross and
Rachel, from Friends.” On the 100th Episode of the television show One Tree
Hill (Lucas’ and Lindsay’s wedding), Skills reference Ross saying the wrong
name at the altar when he was marrying Emily. In one episode of the British
show Skins, a Russian girls learns English from Friends, and uses many of the
catchphrases (such as “How you doin’” and “we were on a break”) as a
recurring joke. In The Nanny Margaret Sheffield protests by saying "but I'll
never know if Ross and Rachel will be together again!" In the 30 Rock episode
"Jack-Tor", Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) says he is watching Friends to learn
about comedy. He asks "What happens with Ross and Rachel?" but then asks
not to be told, he then tells Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) that's she's "such a Monica".
In the "Family Guy" episode Petergeist, Stewie is in a conversation with the TV
people saying "Yeah. Uh-huh. I don't know. I don't know. Oh, you didn't see it?
Uh, Ross and Rachel got back together. It wasn't that great... What? No, they
did a spin-off. Um, he's still playing Joey, but... ehhh, it's not doing so well."

The Central Perk coffee house, one of the principal settings of the series, has
inspired various imitations worldwide (the coffee house is based on
Cholmondeley's, a coffee shop and lounge in Usen Castle at Brandeis
University, the alma mater of the show's creators), including the now-defunct
"Phoenix Perk" in Dublin (named for the park in the city) and the "Riverdale
Perk" in Toronto. In 2006 Iranian businessman Mojtaba Asadian started a
"Central Perk" franchise, registering the name in 32 countries. The decor of his
coffee houses is inspired by that in Friends. James Michael Tyler, who plays
Gunther, the Central Perk waiter in love with Rachel, attended the grand
opening of the flagship Dubai café and is the spokesman for the company.

The name of every Friends episode, with the exception of the very last and
very first episodes (titled 'The Pilot' and 'The Last One'), starts with 'The One...',
e.g. 'The One with Ross's Inappropriate Song', though the Pilot is sometimes
called 'The One where Monica gets a Roommate', or 'The One Where It All
Began'. In continuing with this tradition, a boxed set containing all ten seasons
on DVD was called "The One With All Ten Seasons". This tradition is based on
 the way people, when unable to remember the actual title of an episode of a
TV show, will describe it as "it's the one with..." and then state the main
storyline of the episode.

SYNOPSIS OF THE SERIES

Comedy series about a tight-knit group of friends living in Manhattan. It also

covers their interactions with their families, their lovers, and various colleagues
over a period of several years.

The series opens with runaway bride Rachel Green, who has just abandoned her
fiance Barry Farber at the altar. Having no place to stay in New York City, she
manages to locate Monica Geller. Monica used to be Rachel's best friend during
their high school year, though they have not seen each other in several years.
Rachel convinces Monica to take her in as her new roommate. They rekindle their
friendship.

Rachel used to be a "daddy's girl" who relied entirely on her wealthy father to
cover her expenses. Having lost his favor, she gets her first real job as a waitress at
the coffeehouse Central Perk. She has no actual skill at her job, but her manager
Gunther has fallen for her and never fires her. In later seasons, Rachel is able to
find a more lucrative job in a fashion company.

Monica is a hardworking chef, who owns her own apartment. She is good at her
job, but has men-related problems in her personal life. She also has her share of
psychological problems, including an obsession with cleanliness, unreasonable
levels of competitiveness and frequent signs of obsessive-compulsive behavior.
Additional issues explored in the series involve her traumatic memories of her
childhood obesity, and her poor relationship with her mother, who always
criticizes her.

The third member of the group is Ross Gellar, Monica's older brother. He is a
paleontologist, who is trying to recover from the abrupt end of his first marriage.
His wife Carol Willick came out as a lesbian, and moved in with her lover Susan
Bunch. Ross and Carol have a son, Ben. Ross tries to be a good parent, but does
not have full custody over him. Meanwhile, he pursues relationships with various
women, and tries to advance his career.

In later seasons, Ross impulsively marries twice, leading to two more divorces. His
string of failed marriages somewhat damages his self-esteem. As explored
throughout the series, he was always his parents' favorite and he had an inflated
ego.

The fourth member of the group is Chandler Bing, a lifelong friend of Ross. He
works as a statistical analyst at a company. He resents his job, though it pays well
and he is typically more affluent than his friends. He has a sarcastic sense of a
humor. He is rather effeminate in behavior, though he is upset when people keep
assuming that he is homosexual.

As explored in the series, Chandler is the son of celebrity parents. His father is
drag queen performer Charles Bing, a fixture of Las Vegas show business. His
mother is erotic novelist Nora Tyler Bing, highly successful in her field. He grew up
exposed to their respective sex lives, and their eccentricities. He has had more
than his share of traumatic experiences and personal insecurities, and typically
uses humor as a self-defense mechanism.

The fifth member of the group is struggling actor Joey Tribbiani. He starts the
series as Chandler's roommate and the two have a closer relationship to each
other than anyone else. Joey experiences the unsteady nature of his profession,
with relatively few high-profile roles and frequent periods of unemployment.

Joey is depicted as rather dim-witted, but gregarious and quite charming. He is a

ladies' man, and typically picks up dates or has sex more frequently than anyone
else in the group. He has relatively few serious relationships. In his relations to
others, he demonstrates a protective streak. He can act as a surrogate brother to
his friends.

The sixth member of the group is Phoebe Buffay, Monica's former roommate. She
works as a masseuse and self-taught folk musician. Phoebe's mother committed
suicide when Phoebe was 14-years-old. Phoebe has mostly fended for herself ever
since, and reportedly committed a few crimes while living as a street kid. Grown-
up Phoebe has instead become a pacifist, a vegetarian, and a tree hugger. She has
picked up a few New Age ideas and superstitions, such as believing in spirits and
reading in tea-leaves. To Ross' annoyance, Phoebe does not believe in the theory
of evolution. Despite having little formal education, Phoebe is apparently fluent in
French and Italian.
Subplots involving Phoebe involve her relations with surviving members of her
family, such as the father who abandoned her, and a kid brother who relies on her
for help. Phoebe also has an identical twin sister, Ursula, who seemingly hates
Phoebe for unknown reasons.