Five days and ten years ago, on May 6th, 2004, more than 50 million people tuned in to watch the finale of one of the most iconic shows ever made: Friends. The beloved show ended after a run of ten years, and the six main cast members (Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Courtney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, and Lisa Kudrow) have all enjoyed success afterwards. For example, LeBlanc was nominated for an Emmy last year, Cox currently stars on Cougar Town, and Schwimmer is the voice of Melman the giraffe in the Madagascar series. But even to this day, they are known for their roles in Friends. Why? Because even to this day, Friends is considered one of the best shows ever made, and in this article, we'll list ten reasons why.
1. The Cast- As I mentioned before, the main cast will always be remembered first and foremost for Friends. They fit their characters perfectly and acted extremely well. In fact, they garnered up a total of 16 Primetime Emmy nominations throughout the ten seasons, as well as five Golden Globe nominations. Interesting fact: Cox was the only main cast member who never received a Golden Globe or Emmy nomination and Aniston is the only one who won a Golden Globe.
2. The Guest Stars- Throughout the show, there were many supporting characters that contributed to the overall quality of the shows. Some of the more notable ones are Richard, Jill, Amy, Paul, and Will. Fortunately, their contributions did not go overlooked. In total, they have 11 Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor/Actress. Some of these actors: Brad Pitt, Christina Applegate, Bruce Willis, and Hank Azaria.
3. It's Legitimately Funny- A sitcom has to be funny, period. There's just no way around it. So when a sitcom isn't funny, it presents quite a bit of a problem. Luckily for Friends, this wasn't a problem. This was a genuinely funny show, mainly thanks to Chandler Bing's wise-cracks. But it just wasn't Chandler, the other characters did a great job being funny.
4. The Theme Song- Be honest: if you're not a Friends fan, you've probably never heard of The Rembrandts. If you are a fan, then the only song you know by them is probably "I'll be There for You", the iconic theme song for Friends. This song has truly stood the test of time, making it one of the most popular theme songs in history.
5. Central Perk- Central Perk was the coffee shop where the group hung out a lot. In fact, almost all of the opening scenes took place there. Many great shows have memorable settings: HIMYM had MacLaren's, That '70s Show had Forman's basement, and Community had their own study room. Central Perk was that for Friends. Whenever the cast was at Central Perk it gave a show a bit of a cozy feeling.
6. It's So Iconic- Make no mistake about it, Friends is one of the most iconic shows ever. This was especially true during its original run on the air. Every girl had to have her hair cut like Jennifer Aniston, Joey Tribbiani's line "How you doing" became common", and each actor was seen as a huge star. Very few shows can claim that each of their main cast members are seen in that light. Remember, at one point, each one of the cast members was making $1 million per episode. Only three actors (Charlie Sheen, Ray Romano, and Tim Allen) have made more.
7. Very Rewatchable- There's a reason that Friends is still on the air. No matter how many times you've seen an episode, you can watch it many times again. Not only that, but you can watch some scenes over and over again. Personally: I've seen at least twenty Chandler's best moment videos. Those never get old.
8. Great Storylines- If a show doesn't have good storylines, it's doomed to fail. That's a given. Some shows will run out of ideas and go stale after about five or six seasons; Friends had no problem with that, even through ten seasons. Each and every episode, they managed to give all of the main characters some sort of story. All of the main characters were seen as equal, and this helped back that claim up.
9. Critical Success- Fans may love a show, but for it to be seen as successful, it has to bring in the hardware. Friends definitely did that. In its ten years on the air, the show received 63 Emmy nominations (including six for Outstanding Comedy Series) and 10 Golden Globe Nominations (including five for Best Comedy or Musical). It's also received nominations for Kids' Choice Awards, People's Choice Awards, Satellite Awards, Logie Awards, PGA Awards, TV Guide Awards, TV Land Awards, TV Quick Awards, Teen Choice Awards, GLAAD Media Awards, American Comedy Awards, etc. If that doesn't convince you Friends is a good show, what will?
10. Withstood the Test of Time- Friends first aired in 1994, almost 20 years ago. Nonetheless, we're still talking about it now. That's truly incredible. Very few shows can claim that. Even with successful shows now, we have no way of knowing twenty years from now how popular they will be. But with Friends, we know that there will always be a devoted fan following.
Agree or disagree with anything in this article? Comment and let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment