essay about tv show friends

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"Friends": More than Just a Tv Show

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Published: Sep 16, 2023

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The cultural impact of "friends", the enduring appeal of "friends", the lessons of "friends", 1. iconic catchphrases, 2. fashion trends, 3. the central perk phenomenon, 1. timeless humor, 2. relatable characters, 3. themes of friendship and family, 1. the value of loyalty, 2. embracing diversity, 3. coping with life's ups and downs.

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They’ll be there for me: Why “Friends” is my favorite TV series of all time

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Sociology of Television: An Analysis of the Show Friends

Friends was a major part of many millennials’ lives in their early years. In more recent years, it has become a classic example of many “isms” in mainstream television—an example to look to of our less-than-diverse 90s television years. But despite more recent critiques of the show, it was, and remains to be, a cultural phenomenon. The show gave us depictions of bromance, romantic relationships, friendship—of course—and even style. Can anyone forget “the Rachel?!” With that said, we have compiled this sociology of television blog where we choose a few sociological themes and apply them to the classic series “Friends.”

Support Networks

The series revolves around a close-knit group of friends who provide each other with emotional support, companionship, and help in time of need. This theme illustrates the significance of social support networks in people’s lives and how they can serve as a source of stability and comfort.

Social Identity

In “Friends,” the characters each have distinct social identities based on their personalities, occupations, and interests. The show explores how their individual identities intersect with the identity of their friend group, highlighting the importance of social identity in shaping one’s place in society.

Social Norms

Social inequality.

“Friends” touches on economic disparities among the characters, with some being more financially privileged than others. This theme highlights how economic inequality can affect friendships, lifestyle choices, and access to opportunities, reflecting broader issues of social inequality in society.

Gender Roles and Stereotypes

Final thoughts on the sociology of television and the show friends.

It’s easy to look at a piece of culture that was created over twenty years ago and disregard its importance because of outdated and insensitive references and jokes. What’s more difficult, but also more rewarding, is to critique it while acknowledging the positive impact it may have had on you and your peers.

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Critic’s Notebook

‘Friends’ Is Turning 25. Here’s Why We Can’t Stop Watching it.

With one of the best casts in TV history, “Friends” makes excellent comedy look easy.

Credit... Rozette Rago for The New York Times

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• Share full article

By Wesley Morris

• Published Sept. 5, 2019 Updated Feb. 21, 2020

Once upon a time, we made do with less television. Three broadcast networks dominated everything. (Channels weren’t flipped so much as triangulated.) We had a local public station and whatever oldies a UHF signal could tune in. Now? Now, we romanticize our cable-assisted, internet-borne so-called golden age and carp about the galactic girth of the streaming era. Somebody even lent the girth a fretful name: “peak TV” — the “money can’t buy happiness” of screen life.

In retrospect, less television has come to imply lesser — by volume, by value, by verisimilitude. But what was “Friends” lesser than? There are 236 episodes of it, merely one fewer than a combined tally of “Game of Thrones,” “House of Cards,” and “ Orange Is the New Black .” Most of those episodes are perfect as tidy comedies. Maybe it’s hard to think of “Friends” as perfect, let alone as great, because it looked easy.

Most “old TV” looked easy — even when characters broke up, bled and died. That’s because, even when they did, they were obviously not in a movie. TV now is the movies, so we love it more. We believe it more. For its entire existence, the American sitcom was anti-cinematic, beholden to the demands of advertisers.

Before there was too much TV, there was simply a lot, including a lot of NBC’s “Friends.” Think about the effort required to make about 24 episodes in a nine-month season (certain scripted shows somehow made more ). This was impossible work that we at home took for granted. A network like NBC could turn “granted” into “mandatory” with maximal FOMO threat. “Let’s all be there,” it demanded in the 1980s. A decade later, we had to be there for “Must See TV.” Technologically, it was an uncertain age. If you missed an episode, who knew when you’d be able to catch it again?

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The “Friends” TV Show as a Cultural Artifact Essay

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The cultural artifact selected for this assignment is the TV show “Friends,” which aired in the 1990s. The intended audience is men and women between the ages of 15 and 20 or the ones who were born after the 2000s. The intended audience is of different ethnicities and can differ culturally. The reason for this is that “Friends” is a relatable show for adolescents. In it, the authors show the everyday struggles of young men and women, which can make it easier for the audience members to understand how to deal with challenges. Although “Friends” itself is not culturally diverse, since all of the main characters are white, people of different ethnicities can still benefit from watching this TV series. The lack of cultural diversity was considered normal in the 1990s when the show was filmed (Morris; Smith). Culturally, people who were born and grew up in America, and especially those who live in big cities such as New York, would be the intended audience because the main characters live in a large city. Linguistically, those whose native language is English would be the intended audience. “Friends” are a culturally significant artifact since this show was one of the most viewed when it aired and it should be seen by younger generations.

The rhetorical strategy to reach the intended audience would be antagonage. An antanagoge is a combination of negative and positive remarks. This rhetorical method can be used to portray a problem and its eventual remedy (“10 Commonly Used”). This tactic may allow one to have a well-developed and convincing approach to communication, both in writing and in speech. In the case of “Friends,” the anatagonage would mean explaining the issues with representation and diversity on the show and then addressing its positive elements. Next, for structure, it is best to use the standard approach of an introduction with some background information, main part, and conclusion. The conclusion should summarize the remarks made in the main part of the text. The main body should contain references to the show’s episodes and the current social problems. The language should be simple English to ensure that the audience can easily understand the text. This approach will be the most effective for reaching the audience because “Friends” has already been criticized in popular media. Additionally, using a standard structure and simple language is suitable for the audience between the ages of 15 and 20.

Works Cited

Morris, Wesley. “‘Friends’ Is Turning 25. Here’s Why We Can’t Stop Watching it.” The New York Times.

Smith, Kristin. “There For Us? Why Friends Is Still Culturally Relevant.” Plugged In, 2019.

“10 Commonly Used Rhetorical Strategies (With Examples).” Indeed Career Guide , 2022.

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IvyPanda. (2023, May 8). The "Friends" TV Show as a Cultural Artifact. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-friends-tv-show-as-a-cultural-artifact/

"The "Friends" TV Show as a Cultural Artifact." IvyPanda , 8 May 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/the-friends-tv-show-as-a-cultural-artifact/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'The "Friends" TV Show as a Cultural Artifact'. 8 May.

IvyPanda . 2023. "The "Friends" TV Show as a Cultural Artifact." May 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-friends-tv-show-as-a-cultural-artifact/.

1. IvyPanda . "The "Friends" TV Show as a Cultural Artifact." May 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-friends-tv-show-as-a-cultural-artifact/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The "Friends" TV Show as a Cultural Artifact." May 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-friends-tv-show-as-a-cultural-artifact/.

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How ‘Friends’ became a cultural phenomenon and top moments to see ahead of the reunion special

Entertainment ott.

Fans from UAE can watch the ‘Friends’ reunion special on May 27 on OSN

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The One Where They Become Famous

By Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor

It’s hard to recall a time when ‘Friends’ wasn’t a part of our lives. First aired on September 22, 1994, the sitcom opened to negative reviews before turning into a cultural phenomenon and changing television history forever.

At its peak, the six lead stars of the series, namely Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing), and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller), were the highest paid actors on television, famously negotiating their contracts together for a better and equal pay out.

When the series finally bowed out on May 6, 2004, more than 52 million Americans watched the finale, with countless others watching ‘Friends’ even today through reruns on TV and across streaming platforms in several markets across the globe, including Netflix in the UAE.

While the answer perhaps lies somewhere in between the reasons shared, the series made the stars overnight sensations, while sparking trends including Aniston’s hairstyle that became ‘The Rachel’ and Joey’s catchphrase ‘How you doin’? catapulting itself into one of the most used pick-up lines around.

With the much-delayed cast reunion coming at a time when the world needs a bit of cheer on the tails of a global pandemic, here’s a look at everything we know about the unscripted episode and our favourite moments from ‘Friends’ over 10 seasons.

The One with the Reunion

‘Friends: The Reunion’, which is titled ‘The One Where They Get Back Together’, will reunite the six lead cast members in an unscripted special that is being hosted by actor-comedian James Corden.

Aniston, Cox, Perry and the gang have reunited for the first time in 17 years on the original Warner Bros soundstage, Stage 24 for the one-time special.

The trailer has given fans a glimpse of what is to come, with the cast doing a walkthrough the set that served as Monica’s loft in New York, while also appearing to play a version of that infamous quiz in season 4 of the show that saw the Geller sibling and her roommate Rachel lose the apartment to Chandler and Joey.

The cast also appear to do a reading from one of the most famous episodes of the show, ‘The One Where Everyone Finds Out’ that saw the group learn that Monica and Chandler were secretly dating.

Along the way, some cast regulars do make an appearance, including Tom Selleck who played Monica’s much older boyfriend Richard Burke, along with Maggie Wheeler who played the annoying Janice “Oh my god” Hosenstein.

Several celebrity guests are also set to make an appearance including Cara Delevingne, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Reese Witherspoon, Lady Gaga, BTS and many more.

Gulf News editors pick their favourite moments from ‘Friends’

I’m not quite sure when ‘Friends’ became a part of my life. Maybe it was a familiar face that gave me comfort when I was studying thousands of miles away from home. Or perhaps when they got me laughing till I cried, when the only option available was to curl up and weep. They became my friends, somehow, sharing hope, joy and little bit of snark as the years went by. Today, life has come full circle with ‘Friends’ giving me a reason to bond with my 12-year-old niece who is just discovering that bit of magic that has held millions under its spell.

The One with the Cop: Ross Geller screaming “Pivot, PIVOT!” is pure television gold that continues to draw the laughs even today with equal abandon. The scene, which aired on season five of the series, is also perhaps one of the most real moments of ‘Friends’. Three friends struggling to carry a too-large couch up a narrow flight of stairs in New York; what could go wrong? With Chandler Bing and Rachel Green in on the struggle, the endless command to ‘Pivot’ by Ross leaves us in splits even today. David Schwimmer went on record to say that was the funniest moment of ‘Friends’ he ever shot.

The One With Unagi: Chandler Bing probably had the wittiest lines on the show but it was Schwimmer who emerged as the funniest actor. ‘The One With Unagi’, which aired on season six of the series, saw Rachel and Phoebe all charged up after returning from a self-defence class. But Ross being Ross thought it was time to take matters into his own hands, what with his own expertise in “Ka-Ra-Tay”. Which is when he decides to got into the concept of “Unagi”, which he describes as a state of complete awareness. A few scenes later, watching him get beaten up by the girls is a riot.

The One Where No One’s Ready : One of the best moments in season three. Ross is anxious to reach a work function on time and is eager for the friends to get ready for the big event. But that’s the night Chandler decides to hide all of Joey’s underwear. In retaliation, Joey puts on all of Chandler’s clothes that he can get his hands on. The chemistry between Joey and Chandler is pure perfection. And watching Joey mouth that famous line: “Could I be wearing any more clothes?” still leaves us in splits.

By Jennifer Barreto, Assitant Editor, Features

Would I be considered a fan of ‘Friends’? Maybe not. I can’t recall exact quotes from the series nor can I tell you what happened in particular seasons. However, whether I like it or not, the show has been a part of my life in some way or the other. It was the one show that was always playing on TV as reruns so it was my constant friend when I was bored and had nothing else to watch. When I was stressed out and wanted to give my brain a break, I knew I could watch any random episode and get a few laughs out it. Also, as someone who has a fascination for the 80s and 90s, the show is a source of wonder for me — I want to see all the fashion, the kitschy interior decor and — of course — the hairstyles. I wouldn’t say that ‘Friends’ has impacted my life in a major way, but it’s certainly always there for me when I need it.

The One on the Last Night: In this episode, Rachel is packing her stuff to prepare to move out of the apartment she shares with Monica. In typical BFF fashion, they end up arguing. However, they quickly make up as they remember all the things they love about each other. It’s touching and special because we’ve seen their relationship bloom through the show in that very apartment and things are going to change. We know Monica is preparing to enter her new life with Chandler and that her friendship with Rachel will still be strong, but it’s hard not to tear up as they close this chapter as flatmates.

The One Where Ross Got High: Who can forget the epic fail that was Rachel making the beef trifle? It all begins with Monica letting Rachel make the dessert for Thanksgiving. What the culinary challenged Rach was not prepared for, however, was the cookbook pages to be stuck together leading to her adding the wrong ingredients to the layered dish. Need a reminder of when went into the trifle-Shepherd’s pie hybrid? There were ladyfingers, jam, custard, raspberries, beef sauteed with peas and onions, bananas and then whipped cream. The episode is a comedy of errors and you can see the gags coming from a mile away, but it’s still so much fun to watch.

By Manjusha Radhakrishnan Assistant Editor, Features

There’s an adage that goes something on the lines of ‘You can never choose your family, but you can always choose your friends’. I couldn’t agree more as I chose to spend a good part of my 20s in the company of ‘Friends’, the fictional but fabulous sextet. It’s safe to say that ‘Friends’ ruined it for me as I began to look for these fabulous six — Ross, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey or Chandler — prototypes in the potential friends I meet. This good-looking bunch, who entertained us for a whopping 10 seasons, may have lacked boundaries in their friendship, but their series made us realise that it’s OK if your friends are your soulmates for life. Their camaraderie and the way they used to pull each other’s chains with a mix of sarcasm and genuine love for each other made them the portrait of how fulfilling comrades in life can get. Thank you universe, for gifting us ‘Friends’. Family may shape our identity, but they taught us how wonderful companions and camaraderie can be.

The One Where Everybody Finds Out: Monica and Chandler are secretly dating, but Rachel and Phoebe are intent on making them admit that they are seeing each other clandestinely. The scenes in which Phoebe pretends to be attracted to Chandler to arm-twist him into admitting that he’s romantically involved with her best friend Monica is comic gold. When Chandler eventually caves in and declares that he loves Monica and is not merely dating her will melt even the most hardened, cynical hearts. Plus, Phoebe’s questionable art of seduction and her idea of feminine wiles will just make you laugh. “The messers becomes the mess-ies” is my favourite one-liner as Phoebe manages to win the battle of wills.

The One With The Embryos: Ross as this stoic and wicked quiz master who puts together questions for his friends on how well they know each other is hilarious. Monica and Rachel are in one team, while Chandler and Joey are in the opposition. The manner in which the quiz heats up and the stakes become high — when a super-aggressive Monica puts her fancy apartment as a winner is one of the highlights. The questions are smart and funny and makes you wonder how is that none of his friends know what job Chandler holds? Their collective dynamic, their co-dependence, their chemistry with each other is what shone through.

By Shyama Krishna Kumar, Pages Editor

Although the ‘Friends’ originally aired at a time when I absolutely should have been all over a show like that, somehow the cultural zeitgeist completely passed me by. It was only as a full-grown almost-30-year-old that I finally found myself being pulled into the superhit show that almost anyone and everyone was constantly quoting stuff from. And it’s safe to say I’ve never looked back. What’s not to like about a show that tells the story of six friends who through the ups and downs of fresh adulthood together? Whether its work, love or just plain goofing around, the nostalgia for a time when we had fewer cares and a cup of coffee with friends could make everything right is definitely strong.

The One With All The Resolutions: I will forever stand by the fact that no one on the ‘Friends’ cast can be funnier than David Schwimmer. In this episode, Ross is still dealing with his divorce with Emily, and decides to start the New Year by making the resolution to try something new every day. On this particular day, he tries leather pants on his first date with one Elizabeth Hornawaggle, only to use the bathroom at one point in the date and realise he can’t get his pants back on. The ensuing hilarity features Ross desperately calling Joey for help, and some of the best physical humour of the entire show.

The One with the Rumor: ‘Friends’ was always known for its impressive roster of guest stars. But no other guest generated quite as much hype as Brad Pitt, who at the time was married to Jennifer Aniston. Appearing in the show as one of Ross’ old schoolmates, Will Colbert, the Thanksgiving episode revealed that Ross and Colbert were on a ‘I Hate Rachel’ club in high school, and that the two were responsible for spreading the rumour that Rachel was a hermaphrodite (the show was later criticised for deeply insulting the intersex community). However, the episode stands out for Pitt’s standout performance and playing completely against type as he rages against his real-life wife. A memorable quote from his character: “Look at her standing there with those yams. My two greatest enemies, Ross. Rachel Green and complex carbohydrates”.

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Why “Friends” is still the world’s favourite sitcom, 25 years on

Loveable characters and an idealised version of life in your 20s remain a winning combination.

“LOOK AROUND, you guys,” says Chandler Bing to his newly adopted twins, as his friends and family leave his apartment for the last time. “This was your first home. And it was a happy place, filled with love and laughter. But more important, because of rent control, it was a friggin’ steal!” The Bing twins would be 15 now, and September 22nd marks a quarter of a century since the “Friends” gang made their debut on NBC. Their floppy haircuts, enormous phones and quaint dating rituals belong to a distant past, in which coffee was seldom pumpkin-spiced and people jotted down their contact details on napkins. Yet somehow, decades on, the happy place that Chandler describes—and the 236 episodes of love and laughter that occurred there—remains the world’s favourite location for an evening’s entertainment.

For proof of the enduring charm of “Friends”, consider that in late 2018 Netflix paid the programme’s owner, WarnerMedia, about $100m for the right to stream it for the next 12 months. That is not far shy of the $130m that it reportedly spent producing “The Crown”, its most expensive original show. Netflix is secretive with its data, but estimates from Nielsen, a research firm, suggest that “Friends” was the second-most watched programme among American subscribers in 2018, with an average of more than 20 episodes per account. Devoted fans might have to switch next year to HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s new streaming service, which will have exclusive rights to “Friends” in the United States.

In Britain figures released by Ofcom, a broadcasting watchdog, disclose that twice as many people watch the comedy on Netflix as stream any other show on any other service. And data from Google reveal that, even though “Friends” is now available on subscription services, more people around the world use the search engine to look for it than for any other sitcom. (Google identifies whether people are seeking the show, rather than “friends” in general, from the context of other keywords, such as “watch” or “episode”. A spokesperson confirmed that the data in our chart, below, accurately represented the relative popularity of various shows.) Other sitcoms released since “Friends” finished have briefly overtaken it, including “The Office”, “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory”. But eventually viewers break up with them, and return to the gang in Central Perk.

What has made the popularity of “Friends” so long-lasting? The show is certainly funny, but no more so than its rivals. Critics often point out that the humour of “Seinfeld” is more sophisticated in the way that it contorts everyday situations into hilarious episodes. The cringe-inducing interactions of a boss and his employees in “The Office” induce more belly laughs. By contrast, “Friends” gets most of its gags from its characters’ foibles: a pretentious one (Ross), a vain one (Rachel), an insecure one (Chandler), an uptight one (Monica), a stupid one (Joey) and an eccentric one (Phoebe).

Plenty of sitcoms before and since have relied on such a clash of personalities to make the audience chuckle. Where “Friends” stands out is its ability to make viewers care about those characters. It achieved this partly by weaving them together romantically. The decade-long “will-they-won’t-they” intrigue between Ross and Rachel at times turned the comedy into a soap opera. Chandler and Monica began the show as acquaintances and ended it as spouses and parents.

But the scriptwriters did not merely develop these relationships over the series’ ten years. The best-reviewed episodes on IMDb, a ratings website , tend to be those which delved into the past: either through flashbacks, recovered video-tapes or interactions with parents. By the time the last episode aired in 2004, the 50m Americans who tuned in had learned almost everything there was to know about the six characters. (The strength of the series finale, which has the highest rating on IMDb of any episode, has undoubtedly helped its legacy.)

The other great appeal of “Friends” is its idealistic portrait of 20-something life. The theme tune claims to be about a quarter-life crisis: “So no-one told you life was gonna be this way / Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love-life’s DOA [dead on arrival]”. Yet none of the characters spends much time at work, or worries too keenly about their income. The rent control that Chandler describes in the final episode is rarely mentioned, but it means that Monica can pay $200 a month for her flat in the West Village, rather than the estimated $8,000 it would cost today. All of the characters have exciting romantic lives—and with much funnier and more attractive partners than the audience could ever hope for.

This is surely why the show continues to find new, young fans. A survey this year of British children aged nine to 16 found that “Friends” was their favourite series, even though most of them were born after the final episode aired. What could be more captivating than a vision of your future in which you are no longer weighed down by school, but instead spend most of your time larking around with close friends in an enormous apartment, while Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon flit in and out of your lives?

Some aspects of “Friends” have aged badly. A few jokes about gay characters now seem clumsily homophobic, and Chandler’s father, a trans woman, is often used as a punchline. But the warmth that the writing brings to viewers in search of light entertainment after an enervating day has endured. They’ll be there for you.

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Friends , popular American television sitcom that aired on the NBC network from 1994 to 2004. It won six Emmy Awards , including outstanding comedy series, and from its second season until the end of its run maintained a top five or better Nielsen rating, hitting number one in its eighth season.

Friends was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman and is about a group of six young adults who are either roommates or neighbours in New York City’s Greenwich Village . Much of the show takes place in the friends’ apartments as they visit one another. The program revolves around the characters’ individual and collective search for sex, commitment, and meaning. The friends consist of three men and three women, whose varied personalities and shortcomings allow for both broad audience identification and abundant comedic moments. At the beginning of the show, Monica Geller (played by Courteney Cox ) is a chef who often changes jobs and boyfriends in her search for the perfect match. Her brother, Ross ( David Schwimmer ), is a paleontologist and divorcé (three times over by the end of the series) with a child. He has a long-standing crush on Rachel Green ( Jennifer Aniston ), a fashion-minded woman who grew up in a wealthy family but works (for a time) as a barista at Central Perk, a café and popular meeting spot for the group. Eventually she lands a job with Ralph Lauren . Phoebe Buffay ( Lisa Kudrow ) is a ditsy masseuse and would-be musician with a quirky outlook on life. Joey Tribbiani ( Matt LeBlanc ) is a mostly struggling actor and buffoon who often confides in Chandler Bing ( Matthew Perry ), a well-off statistics and data analyst who has terrible luck with women and in time develops an eye for Monica. Throughout the series, the friends live together or apart in different combinations.

As the show progressed, each character became a household name and each cast member a celebrity; they moved on to careers of varying success in motion pictures and television. The cast was renowned for its closeness and ensemble approach to their work on the series. The finale of Friends was watched by more than 52 million people. Joey (2004–06), a spin-off starring LeBlanc, was much less successful. The Friends theme song, “ I’ll Be There for You,” performed by the Rembrandts, was a minor pop hit in its own right. In 2021 the cast returned for Friends: The Reunion , a TV special in which they discussed the show.

5 ways you probably never knew the show 'Friends' influenced TV and the world

If you're a "Friends" fan, well then author Kelsey Miller has written an absolute gift for you!

Her new book, "I'll Be There For You," is thoroughly reported, researched and written in a fun and educational way for anyone who loved the show when it was on from 1994 to 2004 or caught on when it hit Netflix just a few years back.

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(MORE: 'DOUBLE TAP IF YOU’RE LONELY': Instagram influencer inspires women to get real about loneliness, making friends)

But it's not just fun, little tidbits about castings that almost or did happen, or how the gang stayed actual friends since the show went off the air.

Miller writes about the issues the show did and did not cover, how it and the cast influenced TV (for better or worse) and what viewers can learn from watching the series today.

From how it dealt with Chandler's transgender father to "fat Monica," the show was far more than just "We were on a break!" But yes, there was that too.

Don't worry, you'll still love the show after checking out her book, it will just open your eyes to TV's past, while influencing the future for the better.

Here are five ways "Friends" changed TV and the world.

1 - After 9/11, "Friends" helped to change how the world viewed America.

Miller tells "GMA" that there actually has been research on that and "'Friends' was having a stronger impact on positive attitudes toward views on America."

Yep, Ross, Rachel and the gang were actually influencing the world and shedding a silly, fun light on this country.

"Yeah, this is a show we can all kind of watch in our heads without thinking about it," she said. "But there really is a lot we can learn from it and it also stands as this huge historical marker from that era."

Miller dedicates a whole chapter on what happened to TV after 9/11, adding that after that national tragedy "everything kind of stopped and had to recalibrate."

"'Friends' was in a really unique position and they handled it in a unique way," she said. "Before the attacks happened, the show was probably going to wrap up after the next season. The audience was drifting away and it seemed like it was time to go, but afterwards, viewers came flooding back to it."

She said most viewers were glued to the news and also glued to "Friends," because it was "New York, it was unchanged, familiar and really good comedy."

The show organically added in tributes like New York Fire Department (FDNY) shirts and American flags in the background as well, without adding the attack into the storyline, but just letting it represent pride of New York and its heroes at the time.

"They made it so the show would be there for them, the same way it always had been," she said.

2 - 'The One Where Two Women Got Married'

Miller also has a chapter that focuses on the union between Ross's ex Carol and Susan.

The marriage took place in 1996 and definitely was ahead of its time for even having that on the air, but looking back, it also was very conservative in the way it was handled.

The two weren't allowed to kiss and the actually wedding scene only lasted about 60 seconds.

(MORE: LGBTQ characters at all-time high on TV, new study says)

And while the show had Ross' ex married to a woman, it also had a ton of gay jokes.

"When I was first writing about the revival of the show in 2014, 2015, everybody was talking about the homophobia," Miller said.

Even so, having this union on air, was an "envelope-pushing" moment.

"The one with the lesbian wedding was definitely a ground-breaking episode," she said, adding there are subtle moments as well, like "Newt Gingrich's sibling actually plays the officiant, which is kind of crazy if you think about Newt Gingrich in the 1990s on this topic."

3 - Let's talk about Chandler's family and 'fat Monica'.

So, "Friends" fans know very well that Chandler's father left his mother for the pool boy and later decided that she was a trans woman.

Another envelope-pushing moment, but she was played by Kathleen Turner and not a female trans actress.

And like the gay jokes, there were also some trans zingers thrown in when she would appear in the series.

Then there was "fat Monica," Ross' sister's old nickname, and it is easy to guess why -- she was overweight in her younger years. This was another polarizing issue, Miller said as she spoke to producers and fans.

"A lot of people were obviously offended by her and a lot loved her," she said. "It's not cut and dry, and it's the same with Chandler's dad."

"One woman I spoke to, a trans woman, who wasn't out yet while still in college, was saying, 'There was literally nothing else for me to watch.'"

So, while Chandler's family may have been offensive by today's standards, some say it was the representation that the trans community needed and deserved.

That trans woman admitted that she watched "Friends" and the trailer for the 2005 movie "Transamerica" over and over because there was just nothing else.

"She told me, 'Yeah looking back, it's horrible how they treat her and the fact she's such a joke,' but at that time, the only places you saw trans characters was on 'Law & Order' and they would be a murder victim," Miller explained.

4 - One for all and all for one

The cast of "Friends" is notorious in TV history as the one that made sure they all got equal pay and held out for huge numbers in later seasons: We're talking $1 million per episode.

The fact that both men and women stars were making the same was beyond progressive for the time.

And while all of Hollywood is starting to catch up in this regard, it actually has a long way to go. You can see the influence in unity in shows like "The Big Bang Theory" and more, where casts do the same thing and make sure the whole on-screen family is taken care of.

"Friends" also really created an archetype for this gang-type situational comedy. Not that it hadn't been around before, but shows like "New Girl" and "Big Bang" definitely take their cues from "Friends."

"There have been several really good shows centered on friendship," Miller said.

"A lot of people talk about 'How I Met Your Mother.' ... Even shows like 'Girls,' the whole concept really does mirror 'Friends' in a 21st century way," Miller said. "It's just about a group of girls going through the same period of their life that the characters on 'Friends' were."

5 - Did 'Friends' influence the Marvel Cinematic Universe?!

OK, OK -- this is a major stretch, but let's have fun with this one.

Did you know that Phoebe's sister Ursula pre-dates the show?

She was featured on "Mad About You" a full year before the show launched.

And the network decided to share her for "Friends" so that actress Lisa Kudrow could be part of the cast.

"It makes it seem like TV was such a quaint, tiny town back in the day," Miller admits. Actually the two shows aired on the same night and took place about 20 blocks apart in New York City.

"For awhile, there were times she'd be on both shows on the same night," she added.

There was also a famed blackout night, where all the shows in New York dealt with a blackout, further feeding into the unified little world.

"It was NBC [that] realized our entire Thursday night takes place in the same universe, why don't we do this?" she said. "They did a lot of fun crossovers, like the episode where the "ER" doctors just sort of fly in and they are fixing Rachel's sprained ankle. I love it, think they did a really great job."

So, long before Captain America and Iron Man were making cameos in Marvel films, the cast of "Friends" was doing some of the same things.

"I'll Be There For You" is out now in bookstores and on Amazon.

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• "Friends" Reflected Change in American Society, Among First TV Shows to Portray "Youth on Their Own," says UB Pop-Culture Expert

"Friends" Reflected Change in American Society, Among First TV Shows to Portray "Youth on Their Own," says UB Pop-Culture Expert

By john dellacontrada.

Release Date: April 16, 2004 This content is archived.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The sitcom "Friends," which is ending its 10-year run on TV next month, will be remembered as one of those rare shows that marked a change in American culture, according to a pop-culture expert at the University at Buffalo.

"'Friends,' stands out as a sign that we are now living in a culture where youth rules, where the image of youth has become the dominant image of our culture," says Elayne Rapping, Ph.D., professor of American studies in the UB College of Arts and Sciences.

"'Friends' will be remembered as the show that made America aware that being in your 20s is really being in the prime of life," Rapping adds.

Other cultural landmarks from TV-land include the Mary Tyler Moor Show, for its depiction of the single working woman, and the O.J. Simpson trial for the way it exposed race and class tensions in this country, says Rapping who teaches a course on "Television and Society" and is author of "Law and Justice as Seen on TV."

"Friends" and "Beverly Hills 90210," according to Rapping, were among the first shows to depict young people who were very much on their own, without significant parental interaction. Prior sitcoms were almost always centered on the lives of nuclear families, where father and mother knew best, Rapping says.

"The characters in 'Friends' and '90210' pretty much were running their own lives and looked to each other for moral guidance," Rapping says. "They constructed their own family among each other.

"This became a dominant theme on many sitcoms, and reflected a mainstream trend in our society," she says.

This theme, according to Rapping, grew partly from an awareness that, for the first time in American history, a generation of young people would not be better off than its parents.

"And so you had sitcoms like 'Friends' and 'Seinfeld,' where the characters lived in apartments, not in houses, where the characters were not upwardly mobile, and where they had the same friends forever and never grew up," Rapping points out.

The premise of these shows, Rapping says, often centered on trivial matters in the characters' lives -- sending the message that it's okay to not be serious about anything because nothing really bad is likely to happen in a young person's life.

Since 9/11 -- and with the country's current economic problems -- that attitude has changed, which may be one reason why sitcoms like "Friends" are not in style anymore and are in decline as a major ratings draw, Rapping says.

"What we are seeing now instead is the immense popularity of TV reality shows, with their depictions of corporate, cut-throat values, whose characters are concerned solely with competing and getting ahead of other people.

"That's the opposite of what 'Friends' was about," she says.

Media Contact Information

John Della Contrada Vice President for University Communications 521 Capen Hall Buffalo, NY 14260 Tel: 716-645-4094 (mobile: 716-361-3006) [email protected] Twitter: UBNewsSource

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A Critical Appraisal of the Television Show Friends

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