We can all picture Joey Tribbiani screaming “Why, God, why?” – and if the series is now 30 years old, imagine him! In 2024, we celebrate three decades of Friends, one of the most iconic TV shows of all time and the reason why many of us love sitcoms to this day.
Friends is not only Chandler, Joey, Monica, Phoebe, Rachel and Ross, we are all Friends, we learned, laughed, cried and screamed with the characters. We all felt the urge to drink some coffee at Central Perk (even if, like me, you don’t drink coffee). And, it doesn’t matter if we are younger than the series, it still resonates with us.
But these are not the only reasons why, even after 30 years, it continues to be such a hit. Get to know a few of them below.
Iconic Scenes and Episodes
“The One with the Proposal”
The most-watched episode of season 6, and one of the most beloved by the public, represents the development of Chandler and Monica’s characters and relationship.Â
This episode (especially because it is divided in two parts) leaves us on edge, thinking everything is going down, but it ends in the most Friends way possible: Chandler and Monica get engaged, they celebrate with Joey, Phoebe and Rachel and when they see that Ross is not there, they realize that after three marriages he can afford to miss one engagement party. And while the credits roll, the very much in love couple dance to “Wonderful Night”, by Eric Clapton.
All of Ross and Rachel’s Plotline
Even if it’s not your favorite couple, they were meant to be the whole series, so their relationship is important for the storyline. It’s difficult to decide between episodes focused on Ross and Rachel because there are many great ones. But, for me, some of them stand out, like “The One Where Rachel Finds Out” which sparks the beginning of their relationship, “The One Where Ross Finds Out” with the magnificent first kiss, “The One With The List”, “The One With The Prom Video”, “The One Where Ross and Rachel Take a Break”, “ The One At The Beach”, “The One with Ross Wedding”, “The One In Vegas”, “The One With The Red Sweater”, “The One Where Rachel Has a Baby” and “The Last One”.
“The One Where Everybody Finds Out”
I can already hear Phoebe screaming “CHANDLER AND MONICA! CHANDLER AND MONICA!! MY EYES! MY EYES!” or “they don’t know that we know they know we know!”Â
After Chandler and Monica get together in London, the other characters start to figure their relationship out. First Joey, then Rachel and, in this episode, Phoebe and Ross find out. It’s one of the funniest of all and so iconic that the actors even reread the script of the scene in the Friends Reunion.
Christmas, New Years and Thanksgiving
The show has different episodes during holidays and they always have a little twist. In “The One With The Holiday Armadillo”, for example, the gang tries to explain to Ross’ son Ben about Hanukkah. In “The One Where Rachel Quits” it’s still Christmas and Joey starts to sell Christmas trees. And let’s not forget about “The One With The Routine”, which portrays Christmas and New Year’s and we get to see the famous Geller Brother’s Dance.Â
These are great ones, but the Thanksgiving-themed episodes are my personal favorite, like “The One With The Rumor”, where Brad Pitt makes a cameo as Ross’ friend from high school, who was part of the “I Hate Rachel Green” club, “The One With The Late Thanksgiving”, where everyone’s late to dinner and they apologize putting their heads in between the door (also the episode that Mondler discover they are getting a baby), and the epitome of Thanksgiving episodes “The One Where Ross Got High”.
“The One After SuperBowl”Â
The most-watched episode of the whole series and the highest-rated SuperBowl lead-out program of all time, “The One After SuperBowl” had many guest stars as Brooke Shields, Chris Isaak, Julia Roberts, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Fred Willard, and Dan Castellaneta. And we have an acapella version of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by our favorite friends.
In some of the most memorable episodes of all, we have Ross and the whole Marcel (his former pet monkey), Joey who is stalked by a woman who thinks he IS Doctor Drake Ramoray and they invent a good/bad twin story, Phoebe and her inappropriate songs for children, Chandler and his former childhood friend Susie (portrayed by Julia Roberts), who is trying to get revenge at him and Monica and Rachel fighting for Jean-Claude Van Damme.
A little bit of laugh and a little bit of tears
Friends is not all about laughter, we also have very special and emotional moments. After all, life is not always easy (life is not a strawberry) even if you are in a sitcom.Â
Everything that revolves around Chandler and Monica fertility issues is very emotional, the scene where they discover they can’t have children and they apologize to each other is heartbreaking. And when they decide to adopt, they are chosen, but the baby’s biological-mother, Erica, has second thoughts after meeting them. When this happens, Chandler begs her to give them the baby. My heart breaks everytime I watch him say “I love my wife more than anything in this world. And it kills me that I can’t give her a baby. (…) She’s a mother… without a baby”.
Phoebe’s character is both hilarious and the center of emotional takes, especially in the episode of the triplets’ birth. “Everyone said labor was the hardest thing I’d ever have to do, but they were wrong, this is”, she says. When Phoebe delivers the babies, she wants to keep one of them but knows she can’t. Her conversation with them is so cute and heartbreaking because she has to hand them over, even not wanting to do it.
Another beautiful plotline is Phoebe and Mike’s love story. Paul Rudd’s character appears in the show when we are least expecting, and, at the beginning, we couldn’t believe he was actually staying, but he did and his relationship with Phoebe is so pretty. Their wedding is quirky and not what they expected, but exactly what you imagine for her, he accepts her even when she wants to be “Princess Consuela Bananahammock”.
“The Last One”
It is a bittersweet feeling to talk about the series finale. After talking about many memorable episodes, I cannot leave the last one out of this list. We accompany their stories, and their growth, and the series ends with a conclusion: Ross and Rachel finally got together, in their own dramatic way, with lots of misunderstanding, but a lot of love for each other (SHE GOT OFF THE PLANE). Phoebe and Mike are now each other’s family. And last, but not least, Chandler and Monica have twins and they are moving out of the apartment into the suburbs to raise their family in their new house (that, of course, has a “Joey room” in it).
In the final scene, they leave the apartment keys on the counter and take off to one last cup of coffee together, obviously ending with a joke made by Chandler. A simple “where?” is the perfect ending to the ten seasons story.Â
The show starts with them in Central Perk in their late twenties, just growing up and making decisions. In the end, they have families, careers and new homes. It’s a full circle of life. Over 10 years (1994 – 2004), 236 episodes, and 86 hours of television, Friends taught us the meaning of a ‘found family.’ While they weren’t all related by blood, their bond was unshakable. After 30 years, new generations are still falling in love with the show, and in our toughest moments, we can always press play, knowing they’ll ‘…be there for you like you’ve been there for me too‘.
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The article above was edited by Giulia Howard.Â
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