We’ve got three questions. What’s Monica’s pet peeve? What is Joey’s favourite food? What is Chandler Bing’s job? Ok, we’re still not sure on that last one, but if you yelled the answers for the first two, then you’re in welcome territory. If not, then…hey, how you doin’? It’s time to introduce you to a little-known phenomenon, Friends.
Don’t worry if the answer to that question was “not well”, because a few episodes of this is just the thing to lift your mood and have you chuckling along to jokes you’ve heard eight-hundred times already. And that’s probably why Friends has become one of – if not the – most loved sitcoms of all time, still being binge-watched by fans some 17 years after it came off air.
If you’re a Friends fan, you’ll likely love Seinfeld
Following the lives of six tight-knit friends who live in the same area of New York, we laugh along as they journey through their twenties and into their thirties, via failed marriages, bad haircuts, leather trouser related incidents and turkeys stuck on heads. And even though we may not live in our granny’s old New York apartment which has stayed impossibly cheap thanks to rent control, somehow this show is just one of the most relatable things out there. But then again, we all know a Monica, the neurotic and spiky clean freak, and at some point in their lives, everyone must come across a class clown like Chandler. It’s testament to the superb writing of David Crane and Marta Kauffman, that each of the main characters has an incredibly annoying trait and yet remains completely likeable. There’s the two we’ve already mentioned, then there’s uptight and possessive Ross, womanizer and sandwich scoffer Joey, spoiled princess Rachel, and then Phoebe…well, she’s just Phoebe.
Together they’re great fun, and the laughs keep coming every episode. Unlike many sitcoms, this one didn’t really have a dull period, or a bad season – apart from the weird few episodes where the writers tried to make Joey and Rachel a thing, what were they thinking? And it stayed great right until that emotional final episode. No matter how many times we watch it, the words “I got off the plane” still get us a bit teary. But not as teary as the cast were when they finally got back together for the reunion special.
Grab your tissues this reunion was seriously emotional
We probably don’t need to refer to the critics to persuade you that this show is genuinely good, as Friends’ reputation speaks for itself. So, if you’re not already among the millions of people who ask, “could we BE any more obsessed with this series?” Then get watching, you won’t regret it.
First shown September 1994. You can watch the trailer for the reunion show by pressing play on the show image, or by clicking here.