Friends TV Show

Friends TV show is a classic sitcom which is a representation of the lives of six

friends : three men and three women who live in New York. This show is meant to examine

certain universal themes including falling in---or out of love, finding a job opportunity and

interacting with or becoming parents. The cast of the popular TV show include David

Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney

Cox, James Michael Tyler, Elliott Gould, Christina Pickles, Jane Sibbett, Paul Rudd,

Jessica Hecht and Tom Selleck. David Schwimmer represents the character of Ross Geller,

Courteney Cox represents the character of Monica Geller, Matthew Perry represents the

character of Chandler Bing, Matt LeBlanc represents the character of Joey Tribbiani,

Jennifer Aniston represents the character of Rachel Karen Green, and Lisa Kudrow

represents the character of Phoebe Buffay. Friends TV show was a great success when it

was first launched and it is still viewed today as a great success.

The amazing and inspiring TV show started on the 22nd of September 1994 when

Rachel, Monica, Ross, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe were introduced to America on the

sitcom Friends. It didnt take long till this TV show became quickly a TV hit and a hair-

style-inspiring cultural phenomenon. This TV show lasted successfully for 10 seasons and

its success could be ascribed mainly to the chemistry of its tight-knit cast that struck

together onscreen and off as well. Another reason for the success of the TV show is that

young people could see themselves in the six main characters represented in the TV show.

The third reason for the massive success of this sitcom TV show is that it addresses all

matters of prime importance to most if not all the audience including relationships, carving

careers, as well as settling down. According to Brett Mills, who works as senior lecturer in
film as well as TV studies at the university of East Anglia, The key thing about friends is

that it is about people working out how they are going to live their lives - - what kind of

relationship are they going to have, what kind of job, the difficulties of settling down. You

are engaged in all those questions about escaping from your family, becoming an adult and

working out what you want to be. Moreover, Devon Armstrong who is 16 years old said

that she used to watch Friends TV show every day after school. The reason that drove her

to watch it was either to cheer herself up, calm down or just to get a good laugh. Due to

watching the episodes more than once, her mother insisted that she should stop watching

them because she thought that her love for the show might become an obsession ( Davis,

2013).

While it was first broadcasted twenty years ago, the TV show friends is still famous,

loved and watched by thousands and millions of adults who are still in their twenties and

older. So, it could be argued that Friends TV show is timeless and this is one of the

significant evidences on its success. Moreover, the audience could relate to the TV show

for many years to come in the future. This indicates how the show is very realistic and

touching to many aspects and themes of the viewers. In other words, Friends TV show

focuses on the most popular and recurrent problems encountering young people at their

twenties or thirties and also provides jokes which never get old. This encourages people to

watch the episodes over and over again because they find themselves in any one of the

characters and they find amusement at the jokes which make them constantly laugh. One

of the impressive techniques that was used in the TV show was that of recording the show

in front of a live audience which enabled them to evaluate which jokes were funny and
which of them were not funny. Moreover, this technique enabled the audience to work off

the audiences energy.

Another reported reason behind the massive success of the show was that the

characters themselves were very interesting and each character of them had a unique

personality. For example, Joey was attractive whereas Ross was smart and wealthy. In

addition, Monica was strong, Phoebe was carefree, Chandler was funny and Rachel was

outgoing.

The rating was another significant reason for the success of this show as it remained

on air for nearly 10 seasons as it started on September 22nd 1994 on NBC till the 6th of May

2004. Therefore, it was ranked number 6 for most watched season finale. This is in addition

to cultural impact of the show as well as its character development which were basic keys

to the audience attraction to watch it.

All in all, the TV show is a great success because of its concern with issues of great

concern to the audience and its funny nature. Moreover, the characters portray unique

personalities which represent many of the audience. In addition, character development

and the cultural impact of the show were among the significant reasons behind its massive

success. The fact that the show remains for 10 seasons is a significant evidence on its

success and attraction of the audience.

References :

Bukszpan, D. (2016). Friends Reunion : How the TV Show Made Them Stars and Insanely

Rich, retrieved from http://fortune.com/2016/02/21/friends-reunion-nbc-careers-cast/

Davis, M. (2013). Friends For Ever : Why Were Still Loving the Hit TV Show 20 Years on,

Mail Online, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2465332/Friends-Why-loving-hit-

TV-20-years-on.html

http://www.friends-tv.org/faq.html#2.01

French, L. (2017). Friends Cast : What Are They Now ?, Biography.com

TV Guide.com, Friends TV Show, retrieved from

http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/friends/100168/