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Draft:Cultural Impact of Friends

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Friends logo

Friends is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from 22 September 1994 to 6 May 2004. The show ran for ten seasons and centred on the lives of six friends living in Manhattan, New York through their 20s and early 30s. Friends starred Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Courtney Cox as Monica Gellar, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, and David Schwimmer as Ross Gellar.

Since its broadcast, Friends has been ranked highly in lists of the most popular television shows of all time. The show ranked no. 21 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and no. 5 on Empire magazine's The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 1997, the episode "The One with the Prom Video" was ranked no. 100 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time. In 2013, Friends ranked no. 24 on the Writers Guild of America's 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time, and no. 28 on TV Guide's 60 Best TV Series of All Time. The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002 for its eighth season.

Reception

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Ratings

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At the time of airing in the United States, the highest recorded viewing figures are for the second season, with an average of 30 million viewers.[1] The most watched episode that season was "The One After the Superbowl" aired in January 1996, with a viewership of 52.9 million.[2] The final episode, "The Last One", reached a viewership of 52.46 million.[3]

Studio Warner Bros. TV licensed Friends to Netflix in 2014 for $30 million a year, and all episodes became available on Netflix in January 2015 in the United States and Canada.[4] In 2018, Friends was the second-most streamed show on Netflix, according to Nielson 32.6 billion minutes were watched by users that year.[4] Friends was removed from Netflix in December 2019, and became available to stream in the United States on WarnerMedia's HBO Max in 2020.[5] There was an increase of 31 percent in views of Friends on HBO Max after Matthew Perry died, the week of October 23rd 2024, with 583 million minutes of viewing reported.[6]

Friends became available to stream on Netflix in the United Kingdom in January 2018.[7] Friends was the most streamed show on Netflix with 55.6 million streams by 1.9 million viewers in 2023.[8] A YouGov poll UK's most-streamed TV shows for January 2024, Friends was ranked second in a YouGov poll of the UK's most-streamed shows for January 2024 [9]

Honours and Accolades

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Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Friends

From 1995 to 2005, the show won Top Television Series at the ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards. Friends won a British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) in 1998 for Best International Programme. In 1995 the show won Outstanding Comedy Series at the GLAAD Media Awards. The show won a number of People's Choice Awards, including Favourite New Television Comedy Series in 1995, and Favourite Television Comedy Series in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Friends won Outstanding Comedy Series at the 2002 Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2018 the show won the Heritage Award at the Television Critics Association Awards.

In 2000, Lisa Kudrow won the American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a Television Series. Jennifer Anniston has won a Golden Globe in 2003, a People's Choice Award in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004, and a Primetime Emmy Award in 2002 for her performance as Rachel Green in the series.

Two members of the cast have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; Jennifer Anniston in 2013 and Courtney Cox in 2023.[10] [11]

Friends ranked no.24 on the Writer's Guild of America West 101 Best Written TV Series in 2013.[12] Empire rated Friends no.6 on its list of The 100 Best TV Shows Of All Time in 2024.[13] Friends was rated no.29 on Variety's list of The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2023.[14] IGN placed the show no.32 on its list of Top 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[15]

Fandom

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Merchandise

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LEGO - Friends: The Television Series - Central Perk

The distribution rights for Friends are owned by Warner Bros. TV, who produced the show.[16] Warner Bros has its own official Friends Collection where people can buy trademarked merchandise. Licenses are granted to other companies and retailers to sell trademarked Friends merchandise. In the United States stores such as Old Navy, Hot Topic, Forever 21, PacSun, Target, and H&M sell trademarked products. [17] In the United Kingdom stores such as Primark and Asda have sold licensed Friends clothing, stationery and homeware.

In 2015, Funko Inc., an American company manufacturing licensed and limited pop culture collectible vinyl figurines, released a Friends collection of Funko Pops.[18] [19] In 2019, Lego released a Friends Lego set of the central perk coffee shop.[20] A number of licensed Friends board games have been released including, Monopoly, Scene it, Trivial Pursuit, Friends Apartment Game and Friends Race to Central Perk game. [citation needed]

Fan events and experiences

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Monica's Apartment, FriendsFest, Leeds (2016)

In 2015, Comedy Central UK launched 'FriendsFest', an interactive touring festival experience in which visitors are able to walk around full scale sets of the show. It started as a pop up event in London at the Boiler House in September 2015. [21] The opening of FriendsFest was launched by actor James Michael Tyler who played Gunther on the show.[22] FriendsFast last toured in 2021 touring venues across the UK, including London and Manchester.[citation needed]

In 2019, a pop-up Friends Experience was launched in New York City to celebrate the show's 25th anniversary. This event included re-creations of the set, props and costumes, and the event was created by Superfly, Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Warner Bros. Television Group.[23][24] The Friends Experience was made a permanent exhibit in NYC and in 2024 a permanent Las Vegas exhibit was launched, and in London.[25][26]

HBO Max have begun development of a new Friends fan challenge tv show called Fast Friends.[27] It is reported to take place at the flagship Friends Experience in NYC. [28]

Parodies

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Friends has been parodied in a number of theatre shows. In 2017 Bob and Tobly McSmith created Friends! The Musical Parody premiered in 2017 in New York.[29] The show has been toured internationally, playing in the United Kingdom and Europe. In 2019, a parody musical Friendsical written by Miranda Larson premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before a UK tour.[30] In 2023, Friend (The One With Gunther) premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before a UK tour. The show was created by comic actor Brendan Murphy. [citation needed]

References in television and music

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Animated tv shows
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Friends is referenced in the Futurama episode "Love and Rocket" in which Lrrr and Ndnd watch Friends on TV and are confused why Ross has not eaten the other five characters as he is "the largest."

There are a number of references to Friends in The Simpsons. In the episode "Midnight Rx" Homer wonders if the Friends cast need another member and when Lisa mentions the show is no longer on air, Homer says he would've been a good Irish cousin to Rachel. In the episode "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade", Bart watches a Japanese version of Friends. Marge references Rachel's hairstyle in Friends, in the episode "Homer the Father", to Homer, and he says she is like Chandler by criticising.

In the Bob's Burgers episode "Die Card, or Card Trying" Gene references Friends saying "why have a fountain if you don't expect people to do a "Friends" in it."

In Family Guy, Stewie talks to the TV about an episode of Friends where Ross and Rachel get back together in the episode "Petergeist". Peter mentions Friends in the episode "Baby Got Black" as an example to Jerome. The episode "Peter & Lois' Wedding" parodies several set designs and plotlines from Friends.

Sitcoms
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How I Met Your Mother references Friends in the episode "Swarley" when Barney, Marshall and Ted are hanging out in a coffee shop and Barney says it is a boring place to hang out.

In the Parks and Recreation episode "Telethon", Leslie talks about her second favourite episode Friends when Chandler is in a box at Thanksgiving.

Brooklyn Nine Nine references Friends in the episode "Chocolate Milk" when Jake describes himself as all of the Friends characters and calls Terry a "Ross-head."

In The Office episode "Sexual Harassment", Michael says he is both Chandler and Joey, and Pam is Rachel.

Cultural Impact

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Learning English as a foreign language

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Friends is a common tool used to learn the English language. [31][32][33] A 2012 poll by Kaplan International English rated Friends the most popular show for learners to watch because of its international syndication and plotlines.[34] Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said he used Friends to learn English. [35]

Understanding social generations

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Friends has been associated with Generation X, after the Baby Boomers and before Millennials, people born between 1965 and 1980. [36] There is debate within popular culture as to what social generation Friends actually belongs to.[37] Friends is often cited as a "comfort show" for Generation Xers and Millennials because of it's "rose-tinted memory of "the good old days" and it "captures the optimism of the 90s, along with the privileged ignorance" writes Dani Di Placido in Forbes Magazine in 2023.[38] In an article for Orange County Register in 1994, Matt Le Blanc said he didn't like the label of Generation X because it was associated with being "lazy, unfocused or drifty." [39]

In a 2016 article for the New York Magazine, Adam Sternbergh reflected on the intergenerational popularity of Friends and argued its popularity could be the relationship between the main characters. [40]

Influence on sitcoms and comedy

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Friends influenced sitcoms by not having one central character and consisted of an ensemble cast where each of the six characters could have a main storyline throughout the series. [41] [42] Friends has been credited with creating the "hangout comedy" which and this genre of sitcom became popular with shows like My Boys', How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory and New Girl. [43]

The Friends cast, as an ensemble cast, renegotiated their contracts together so that they were all paid equally.[44]

References

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  1. ^
    • Season 1:"TV Season Rankings 1994-95". spokesman.com. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 2:"How Twitter is Changing Television". Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 3:"A Milestone Year". Los Angeles Times. 23 May 1997. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 4: "What Ranked and What Tanked". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 6 "Nielson Ratings for 1999-2000". Sfgate. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 8 "How Did Your Favourite Show Rate?". usatoday.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-15. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 9 "A Look at the Good Ol' Days of Broadcast Primetime TV: You Know, 2003". 14 March 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 10 "Nielson TV Index Ranking 2003-04". quigleypublishing.com. Archived from the original on 2015-08-18. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  2. ^ "You Won't Believe What America's Favourite "Friends" Episodes Are". Buzzfeed.com. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b Jarvey, Natalie (2019-12-31). "The One Where 'Friends' Disappears From Streaming (for Now)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  5. ^ Spangler, Todd (2020-01-01). "'Friends' Drops Off Netflix in U.S., Leaving Frustrated Fans With No Streaming Option for Now". Variety. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  6. ^ Porter, Rick (2023-11-28). "'Friends' Streaming Rises Following Matthew Perry's Death". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  7. ^ Richards, Alexandra (2018-01-01). "Friends is now available for streaming on UK Netflix". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  8. ^ "UK's most-streamed TV, March 2023: Friends, Big Bang Theory and You". business.yougov.com. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  9. ^ "Fool Me Once, Friends and The Big Bang Theory: The UK's most-streamed TV, January 2024". business.yougov.com. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  10. ^ "Jennifer Aniston receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame". Los Angeles Times. 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  11. ^ Gardner, Chris (2023-02-28). "Courteney Cox Fights Back Tears at Walk of Fame Event With 'Friends' Stars Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  12. ^ "101 Best Written TV Series". www.wga.org. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  13. ^ "The 100 Best TV Shows Of All Time". Empire. 2024-06-27. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  14. ^ Vary, Daniel D'Addario,Kate Aurthur,Clayton Davis,Selome Hailu,Alison Herman,Emily Longeretta,Jennifer Maas,Joe Otterson,Michael Schneider,Jazz Tangcay,Aramide Tinubu,Adam B. (2023-12-20). "The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". Variety. Retrieved 2024-09-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Top 100 TV Shows of All Time - IGN.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28 – via www.ign.com.
  16. ^ Adalian, Josef (2018-12-05). "Why Netflix Spent $80 Million to Keep Friends for Another Year". Vulture. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  17. ^ Jennings, Rebecca (2019-10-07). "Why the Friends logo is suddenly on T-shirts everywhere". Vox. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  18. ^ "Exclusive first look: All six 'Friends' become Funko Pops!". EW.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  19. ^ Peralta, Diego (2023-10-16). "Join the Central Perk Gang With New 'Friends' Funko Pop! Collection". Collider. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  20. ^ Moore, Sam (2019-09-02). "You can now get your hands on a 'Friends' LEGO set". NME. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  21. ^ Evans, Rhiannon (2015-09-16). "FriendsFest: the one where fans wander around Monica's apartment". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  22. ^ Deen, Sarah (2015-09-15). "Actual Gunther James Michael Tyler helps launch FriendsFest in London". Metro. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  23. ^ Ralph, Owen (2019-07-30). "Friends pop-up experience coming soon to New York City". Blooloop. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  24. ^ Berman, Marc. "'Friends' Pop-Up Experience Opens In New York City In September". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  25. ^ "Friends Experience Announces Second Permanent U.S. Location in a Spot That Will Make Total Sense to Fans". People.com. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  26. ^ Yossman, K. J. (2024-06-11). "'Friends' Themed Experience Sets Up Permanent Home in London – Global Bulletin". Variety. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  27. ^ Block, Michael (2024-09-29). "Could We Be Any More Competitive? Max's 'Friends' Game Show Is Exactly What I Needed". Collider. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  28. ^ Porter, Rick (2024-09-23). "'Friends' Game Show Set at Max to Mark Series' 30th Anniversary". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  29. ^ "Friends Musical Parody Tickets | Official NY Theatre Guide". New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
  30. ^ "New parody musical Friendsical announces UK tour". Official London Theatre. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
  31. ^ Ives, Mike (29 May 2021). "How 'Friends' Helps People Around the World Learn English". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  32. ^ Nurain Mudawe, Osama Mudawe (2020-07-31). "Enhancing EFL Students' Cultural Awareness through Friends Sitcom". International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature. 9 (4): 76. doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.9n.4p.76 (inactive 1 November 2024). ISSN 2200-3452.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  33. ^ Valizadeh, Mohammadreza (2022-04-30). "Sitcoms and EFL Learners' Foreign Language Anxiety and Motivation for Learning". Advances in Language and Literary Studies. 13 (2): 33–41. ISSN 2203-4714.
  34. ^ "Students Learn English from 'Friends' on American TV". Voice of America. 2018-07-30. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  35. ^ Hunt, Elle (2019-08-09). "How Friends taught the world to speak English – from Jürgen Klopp to Korean pop megastars". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  36. ^ Chaney, Jen (2019-09-17). "Friends Is a Gen X Show. Why Don't We Ever Call It That?". Vulture. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  37. ^ Arangua, Michael (2024-05-20). "What Generation Was "Friends" Anyway? GenX, Boomers, or Millennials?". TV Fanatic. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  38. ^ Placido, Dani Di. "Jennifer Aniston Thinks That 'Friends' Is Too Edgy For Gen Z". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  39. ^ Register, Michael Hewitt | Orange County (2014-09-22). "TV Rewind: 'Friends' brewed up loyalty". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  40. ^ Sternbergh, Adam (2019-09-17). "Is Friends Still the Most Popular Show on TV?". Vulture. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  41. ^ Littlefield, Warren (2012-04-26). "Friends Oral History: Inside the Ratings Juggernaut's Secret Past". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  42. ^ Harrison, Andrew (2023-10-30). "How Friends changed the way we laugh". New Statesman. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  43. ^ "How Friends changed the sitcom landscape". AV Club. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  44. ^ Singh, Olivia. "Matthew Perry says 'Friends' costar David Schwimmer suggested the cast negotiate their contracts together so they'd all be paid equally". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
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