Friends TV Series! 1994-2004

Friends is a comedy based sitcom that won many awards and was nominated for 63 Primetime Emmy Awards. The series was a hit, right from the first episode, always ranking in the top ten in the final primetime ratings! Friends soon became one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, constantly receiving positive reviews throughout its ten year run.

Friends started under the title Insomnia Cafe in 1993, then became Friends Like Us. The series was finally named Friends and made its first airing on NBC, on Thursday, September 22nd, 1994, in the 8:30pm time slot. It is now regarded as one of the best television shows in history, ranking #21 with TV Guide. Friends was originally aired on NBC during its run, but is now seen on TBS and Nick @ Nite daily. TBS and Nick @ Nite have contracts to run the show through 2017.

The series is set in Manhattan, in New York City, where six young people, on their own and struggling to survive in the real world, find the companionship, comfort and support they get from each other to be the perfect antidote to the pressures of life

(from Wikipedia )

For those of you that loved Friends, and still do to this day, you know there was six main characters.

Monica Geller which was played by Courteney Cox. We all knew her for her obsessive-compulsive nature! She grew up as an overweight child, and although she lost the weight as an adult, still got teased for it. Her brother on the show was Ross Geller. Monica was a Chef, and she changed jobs quite often throughout the show. She eventually marries her longtime friend Chandler Bing in season seven. Cox was originally discovered in a Bruce Springsteen music video.

Rachel Green played by Jennifer Aniston. She was a fashion enthusiast, becoming an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale's, and a buyer at Ralph Lauren. Her first job was working at the coffee house Central Perk as a waitress. Rachel and Ross were involved in an on-off relationship throughout the entire series. Rachel and Monica knew each other as they were best friends from high school!

Phoebe Buffay played by Lisa Kudrow. We all knew Phoebe for being that ditzy blonde, but she was very street smart! We also knew her for singing "Smelly Cat" at Central Perk. Phoebe did hold a job for a little while as a masseuse, but we will always remember her as the ditzy but yet street-smart girl that always made me laugh.

Joey Tribbiani played by Matt Le Blanc Joey was the womanizer on the show, hence having many girlfriends throughout the series. We all knew his pick up line: "How you doin?" with that accent of his! Joey was always auditioning for roles as an actor on the show, and eventually became Dr. Drake Ramoray, on the show Days of our Lives. Some of us remember Matt Le Blanc from Married with Children in his early days, and of course he soda commercials!

Chandler Bing played by Matthew Perry. We remember Chandler as the funny guy, that could always make a bad situation good with a funny joke! He told hundreds of jokes throughout the ten seasons of Friends. Chandler was an executive in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration for a large corporation. He eventually quit his job and became a junior copywriter at an advertising agency. He marries longtime friend Monica, who end up adopting twins.

Ross Geller played by David Schwimmer. I always remembered Ross as the "smart" guy on the show. He did hold a Ph.D., and was a paleontologist working at a museum of Prehistoric History. He then later became a professor at New York University. Ross didn't hold the women well though, he ended up having three failed marriages during the series. We remember one of them, his wife had left him for another women! Between marriages and girlfriends, Ross had an on-off relationship with Rachel Green throughout the series ten year run.