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Draft:Cultural Impact of Friends

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Friends is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from 22 September 1994 to 6 May 2004. The show ran for ten seasons and centred on the lives of six friends living in Manhattan, New York through their 20s and early 30s. Friends starred Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Courtney Cox as Monica Gellar, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, and David Schwimmer as Ross Gellar.

Since its broadcast, Friends has been ranked highly in lists of the most popular television shows of all time. The show ranked no. 21 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and no. 5 on Empire magazine's The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 1997, the episode "The One with the Prom Video" was ranked no. 100 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time. In 2013, Friends ranked no. 24 on the Writers Guild of America's 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time, and no. 28 on TV Guide's 60 Best TV Series of All Time. The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002 for its eighth season.

Reception

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Ratings

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Friends consistently ranked within the annual top ten of the final television season ratings.[1] At the time of airing in the United States, the highest recorded viewing figures are for the second season, with an average of 30 million viewers. [1] The most watched episode that season was "The One After the Superbowl" aired in January 1996, with a viewership of 52.9 million. [2] The final episode, "The Last One", reached a viewership of 52.46 million. [3]

Friends has received high ratings on the streaming platform Netflix. Studio Warner Bros. TV licensed Friends to Netflix in 2014 for $30 million a year, and all episodes became available on Netflix in January 2015 in the United States and Canada. [4] Friends was removed from Netflix in December 2019, and became available to stream in the United States on WarnerMedia's HBO Max in 2020. [5] There was an increase of 31 percent in views of Friends on HBO Max after Matthew Perry died, the week of October 23rd 2024, with 583 million minutes of viewing reported. [6]

In 2018, Friends was the second most-streamed show on Netflix, according to Nielson, with 32.6 billion minutes watched by users that year. [4] Friends became available to stream on Netflix in the United Kingdom in January 2018. [7] In March 2023, YouGov released data from YouGov Stream, which collects global viewership data, and Friends was the most streamed show on Netflix with 55.6 million streams by 1.9 million viewers. [8] In another YouGov poll of the UK's most-streamed TV shows for January 2024, Friends was second with 66.2 million views by 2.3million viewers. [9]

Honours and Accolades

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Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Friends

Friends has received a number of awards and nominations. From 1995 to 2005, the show won Top Television Series at the ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards. Friends won a British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) in 1998 for Best International Programme. In 1995 the show won Outstanding Comedy Series at the GLAAD Media Awards. The show won a number of People's Choice Awards, including Favourite New Television Comedy Series in 1995, and Favourite Television Comedy Series in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Friends won Outstanding Comedy Series at the 2002 Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2018 the show won the Heritage Award at the Television Critics Association Awards.

The cast have also received a number of awards and nominations. In 2000, Lisa Kudrow won the American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a Television Series. Jennifer Anniston has won a Golden Globe in 2003, a People's Choice Award in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004, and a Primetime Emmy Award in 2002 for her performance as Rachel Green in the series.

Two members of the cast have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Jennifer Anniston received hers in 2013. [10] Courtney Cox was honoured with a star on the Walk of Fame in 2023, where she was joined for the ceremony by her Friends co-stars Jennifer Anniston and Lisa Kudrow. During the ceremony, Kudrow said that Cox had a significant influence on the cast of Friends, saying "that really set us up to become one of the closest, most loving and supportive casts in, I'll say, the history of television." [11]

Friends ranked no.24 on the Writer's Guild of America West 101 Best Written TV Series in 2013. [12] Empire rated Friends no.6 on its list of The 100 Best TV Shows Of All Time in 2024. [13] Friends was rated no.29 on Variety's list of The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2023. [14] IGN placed the show no.32 on its list of Top 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. [15]

Fandom

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Merchandise

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The distribution rights for Friends are owned by Warner Bros. TV, who produced the show. [16] Warner Bros has its own official Friends Collection where people can buy trademarked merchandise. However, other companies and retailers sell licensed Friends merchandise, licenses are granted to manufacturers who sell to a number of retailers. For example, clothing stores in the United States have sold licensed and trademarked Friends merchandise including Old Navy, Hot Topic, Forever 21, PacSun, Target, and H&M. [17] In the United Kingdom stores such as Primark and Asda have sold licensed Friends clothing, stationery and homeware. [18]

In 2015, Funko Inc., an American company manufacturing licensed and limited pop culture collectible vinyl figurines, released a Friends collection of Funko Pops. [19] A new collection of Friends Funko Pops were released in October 2023. [20] In 2019, for the 25th anniversary of the show, Lego released a Friends Lego set of the central perk coffee shop. [21] A number of licensed Friends board games have been released including, Monopoly, Scene it, Trivial Pursuit, Friends Apartment Game and Friends Race to Central Perk game. [citation needed]

Monica's Apartment, FriendsFest, Leeds (2016)

Fan events and experiences

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In 2015, Comedy Central UK launched 'FriendsFest', an interactive touring festival experience where visitors can walk around full scale sets of the show. It started as a pop up event in London at the Boiler House in September 2015 and tickets sold out within minutes with more than 250,000 people trying to get tickets. [22] The opening of FriendsFest was launched by actor James Michael Tyler who played Gunther on the show. [23] FriendsFast last toured in 2021 touring venues across the UK, including London and Manchester. [24]

The Friends Experience - Toronto (2022)

In 2019, a pop-up Friends Experience was launched in New York City to celebrate the show's 25th anniversary. This event included re-creations of the set, props and costumes, and the event was created by Superfly, Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Warner Bros. Television Group. [25] [26] The Friends Experience was made a permanent exhibit in NYC and in 2024 a permanent Las Vegas exhibit was launched, and in London. [27] [28]

HBO Max have begun development of a new Friends fan challenge tv show called Fast Friends. [29] It is reported to take place at the flagship Friends Experience in NYC and in a press release by Warner Bros. "fans will relive their favourite moments while being put to the test with trivia, puzzles and games." [30]

Parodies

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Friends has been parodied in a number of theatre shows. In 2017 Bob and Tobly McSmith created Friends! The Musical Parody premiered in 2017 in New York. [31] Music was composed by Assaf Gleizner, and the show is an off-Broadway parody of Friends in which the main characters are involved in a runaway bride's wedding day. The show has been toured internationally, playing in the United Kingdom and Europe. In 2019, a new parody musical Friendsical written by Miranda Larson premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before a UK tour. [32] In 2023, Friend (The One With Gunther) premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before a UK tour. The show was created by comic actor Brendan Murphy and told from the perspective of the character Gunther, performed by Joseph Maudsley. [citation needed]

References in television and music

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Animated tv shows
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Friends is referenced in the Futurama episode "Love and Rocket" in which Lrrr and Ndnd watch Friends on TV and are confused why Ross has not eaten the other five characters as he is "the largest."

There are a number of references to Friends in The Simpsons. In the episode "Midnight Rx" Homer wonders if the Friends cast need another member and when Lisa mentions the show is no longer on air, Homer says he would've been a good Irish cousin to Rachel. In the episode "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade", Bart watches a Japanese version of Friends. Marge references Rachel's hairstyle in Friends, in the episode "Homer the Father", to Homer, and he says she is like Chandler by criticising.

In the Bob's Burgers episode "Die Card, or Card Trying" Gene references Friends saying "why have a fountain if you don't expect people to do a "Friends" in it."

References

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  1. ^ a b
    • Season 1:"TV Season Rankings 1994-95". spokesman.com. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 2:"How Twitter is Changing Television". Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 3:"A Milestone Year". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 4: "What Ranked and What Tanked". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 6 "Nielson Ratings for 1999-2000". Sfgate. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 8 "How Did Your Favourite Show Rate?". usatoday.com. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 9 "A Look at the Good Ol' Days of Broadcast Primetime TV: You Know, 2003". Retrieved 27 September 2024.
    • Season 10 "Nielson TV Index Ranking 2003-04". quigleypublishing.com. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  2. ^ "You Won't Believe What America's Favourite "Friends" Episodes Are". Buzzfeed.com. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b Jarvey, Natalie (2019-12-31). "The One Where 'Friends' Disappears From Streaming (for Now)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  5. ^ Spangler, Todd (2020-01-01). "'Friends' Drops Off Netflix in U.S., Leaving Frustrated Fans With No Streaming Option for Now". Variety. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  6. ^ Porter, Rick (2023-11-28). "'Friends' Streaming Rises Following Matthew Perry's Death". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  7. ^ Richards, Alexandra (2018-01-01). "Friends is now available for streaming on UK Netflix". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  8. ^ "UK's most-streamed TV, March 2023: Friends, Big Bang Theory and You". business.yougov.com. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  9. ^ "Fool Me Once, Friends and The Big Bang Theory: The UK's most-streamed TV, January 2024". business.yougov.com. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  10. ^ "Jennifer Aniston receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame". Los Angeles Times. 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  11. ^ Gardner, Chris (2023-02-28). "Courteney Cox Fights Back Tears at Walk of Fame Event With 'Friends' Stars Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  12. ^ "101 Best Written TV Series". www.wga.org. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  13. ^ "The 100 Best TV Shows Of All Time". Empire. 2024-06-27. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  14. ^ Vary, Daniel D'Addario,Kate Aurthur,Clayton Davis,Selome Hailu,Alison Herman,Emily Longeretta,Jennifer Maas,Joe Otterson,Michael Schneider,Jazz Tangcay,Aramide Tinubu,Adam B. (2023-12-20). "The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". Variety. Retrieved 2024-09-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Top 100 TV Shows of All Time - IGN.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28 – via www.ign.com.
  16. ^ Adalian, Josef (2018-12-05). "Why Netflix Spent $80 Million to Keep Friends for Another Year". Vulture. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  17. ^ Jennings, Rebecca (2019-10-07). "Why the Friends logo is suddenly on T-shirts everywhere". Vox. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  18. ^ Riley, Jowena (2024-09-25). "Primark fans go wild as huge noughties TV show gets its own range". Mail Online. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  19. ^ "Exclusive first look: All six 'Friends' become Funko Pops!". EW.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  20. ^ Peralta, Diego (2023-10-16). "Join the Central Perk Gang With New 'Friends' Funko Pop! Collection". Collider. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  21. ^ Moore, Sam (2019-09-02). "You can now get your hands on a 'Friends' LEGO set". NME. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  22. ^ Evans, Rhiannon (2015-09-16). "FriendsFest: the one where fans wander around Monica's apartment". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  23. ^ Deen, Sarah (2015-09-15). "Actual Gunther James Michael Tyler helps launch FriendsFest in London". Metro. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  24. ^ Taylerson, Russ; Bhanot, Manisha (2021-06-17). "FriendsFest is coming to Manchester and tickets are selling out fast". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  25. ^ Ralph, Owen (2019-07-30). "Friends pop-up experience coming soon to New York City". Blooloop. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  26. ^ Berman, Marc. "'Friends' Pop-Up Experience Opens In New York City In September". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  27. ^ "Friends Experience Announces Second Permanent U.S. Location in a Spot That Will Make Total Sense to Fans". People.com. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  28. ^ Yossman, K. J. (2024-06-11). "'Friends' Themed Experience Sets Up Permanent Home in London – Global Bulletin". Variety. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  29. ^ Block, Michael (2024-09-29). "Could We Be Any More Competitive? Max's 'Friends' Game Show Is Exactly What I Needed". Collider. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  30. ^ Porter, Rick (2024-09-23). "'Friends' Game Show Set at Max to Mark Series' 30th Anniversary". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  31. ^ "Friends Musical Parody Tickets | Official NY Theatre Guide". New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
  32. ^ "New parody musical Friendsical announces UK tour". Official London Theatre. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
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