You’ll come across a bunch of F.R.I.E.N.D.S fans either binge watching it over and over again, wandering in the streets wearing F.R.I.E.N.D.S t-shirt, putting up a Facebook cover, jamming on ”I’ll be there for you” or just jotting down notes on a small F.R.I.E.N.D.S notebook.
They’re very real, they exist, and they will laugh at every joke regardless of the fact that they have each line memorised.
F.R.I.E.N.D.S is timeless and it will be lauded for many many many more years to come.
This 90’s sitcom is still outrageously celebrated among adults and the youth alike, even after nearly 15 years (feel old, yet?) since it first aired on 1994. The size of its fandom is probably only challenged by the Potterheads, since they have been around in the same time frame, and yet it doesn’t seem to satiate the love of the steadfast community. It is still one of the highest rated sitcoms on IMDb, even after the era of some other recognizable sitcoms like Dawson’s Creek, The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory. But F.R.I.E.N.D.S discharged it all.
When life gets too mundane you just need some Chandler’s banters and Phoebe’s horrible songs.
Remembering Ten Years of Friends
People drool over the lives of Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Joey and Chandler, six friends, each one of whom is ‘one of a kind’. They live in the same apartment, hangout in ‘Central Perk’ and all of them are bounded by camaraderie: in other words they are BFF’s. The show revolves around the wry and twist on the BFF’s love, life and job issues in the most humorous ways.
Remember when Joey finds her role in an Al-Pacino movie? Or how everyone finds out the reality about Rachel’s Italian boyfriend, when Ross tried to get his skin tanned or when Joey learns French from Phoebe ……and the list goes on. We all cry-laughed on such episodes. And that’s the main thing about this series: it somehow adds sunshine to your gloomy days. It’s a pure classic, never gets old!
Lately Netflix conjectured to erase the entire series and the most feasible reason is Warner Bros. is launching their own subscription service presumably next year. But the responses they received through tweets, mails and DM’s were so huge that they just had to reconsider which eventually was a sigh of relief for the admirers.
People claimed that they’re going to cancel Netflix’s subscription in protest.
Question remains, though: whenever the question is raised, why the love is only getting bigger even after all these years? The answers I received from my friends and acquaintances were seemingly impossible to summarize the question concisely!
The majority gets stimulated by confluence of emotions when trying to portray the significance of their most favorite TV series. To them, it’s a series which touches every single one of your emotions. It’s the key to get through a bad day. It’s a way of rejoicing old school memories. This series has taught many about the importance of friendship.
While expressing awe or excitement, some crazy fans still don’t count like 1..2..3… Rather they go on like- one Mississippi, two Mississippi and so on.
Not Everything has Aged Well
On a separate note, many millennials think the humor is alright as long as it’s depicted according to the 90’s scenarios and ‘sexism’ also derives from time to time which loses the fidelity and makes it more patriarchal than apt for generation Z; some of the content is made forcibly dramatic for a comedy effect, majorly felt among the more aware viewers.
Despite any complaints about the fact that how all six friends are dumb and dense at certain situations, it is to be considered, that 90’s America had stereotypes that were a part of their daily jargon, which cannot be eradicated from sitcoms which basically fed off viewership. Moreover, most of these situations were often sarcastic and satirical, making it unclear whether or not it was intended to offend/ represent a group.
Many feel that the show is too sentimental.. too obvious and too pretentious.
Notwithstanding the critical ironies, that remain true for most parts, I can surmise that this sitcom will always be there for (I’ll be there for you, get it?) the devotees to serenade them with Chandler’s cute smile and sarcasms, Ross’s maudlin jokes, Phoebe’s honesty(and yummy raisin cookies), Joey’s chutzpah and optimism, Monica’s ruthless gratitude and Rachel’s unruly and bold nature. They live on, in hearts, re-runs and in the pages of Rachel’s 16-page letter.