By HUNTER JONES
With 62 Emmy nominations, including six wins, Friends will go down as one of the greatest sitcoms in television history.
The cast featured David Schwimmer (Ross Geller), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing), Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay) and Courteney Cox (Monica Geller).
The show follows six friends living in Manhattan as they navigate life and relationships while approaching their 30s. Most of them live in the same apartment building, often just across the hall from one another.
My favorite episode is Season 4, Episode 24, “The One With Ross’s Wedding: Part II.” It marks the beginning of Monica and Chandler’s relationship, revealed when the two emerge together from under the covers on the morning of Ross’ wedding. The live studio audience’s reaction was genuine, as producers wanted to test how fans would respond to the pairing. The overwhelmingly positive response led writers to continue the storyline.
In later seasons, after Monica and Chandler married in Season 7, writers planned for Chandler to cheat on Monica. Perry strongly disagreed with the idea, saying fans would never forgive the character. That decision reinforced why Chandler remains my favorite character on the show and why Perry is one of my favorite actors of all time. May he rest in peace.
Friends masterfully blends comedy, romance and heartfelt moments across 10 seasons. The series aired from 1994 to 2004, producing 236 episodes. Watching the entire series takes approximately 90 hours and 53 minutes.
Like most shows, Friends faced challenges during its first season and nearly looked very different due to casting uncertainties. Jennifer Aniston originally starred in another series called Muddling Through, which was filmed but later canceled before officially airing. Because the show still had a chance of being picked up, producers initially faced the possibility of having to replace Aniston if her contract required her return.
Schwimmer, Cox and Kudrow were all secure cast members, while Perry and LeBlanc nearly missed out on their roles. Perry had just filmed several episodes of LAX 2194, which never moved forward. Friends ultimately became the breakthrough that saved his career.
LeBlanc auditioned 10 times before landing the role of Joey. He later revealed that the first thing he purchased with his initial paycheck was a hot meal.
According to a 2022 Daily News survey, 43% of respondents ranked Friends as the greatest television show of all time. For six years, the series was the top-rated program on television, averaging 25 million viewers per week at its peak. Due to its massive popularity, Schwimmer helped negotiate contracts during later seasons that resulted in all six cast members earning $1 million per episode.
In many ways, Friends was ahead of its time. Modern audiences may not always fully appreciate its style of comedy or production, but the chemistry among the cast remains unmatched. With a different group of actors, the show would not have achieved the same level of success.
Featuring numerous celebrity guest appearances, 10 Thanksgiving episodes, 10 Christmas episodes and a Super Bowl–aired installment that drew 53 million viewers, Friends stands as one of the most dominant sitcoms ever created, a series whose cast came together almost by chance but produced television magic.
