Friends - The best TV show ever (Friends)

Member Name: Littledreamer

Product:	Friends
Date:	30/05/08 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny characters, great acting, good guests, They become part of your life, Funny funny funny!

Disadvantages: If you have never seen it before you won't understand the long running gags.

When I was growing up, I never thought that I would ever say that an American sitcom would become my favourite programme,how wrong could I be. I love Friends, it is clearly my favourite show, and I have watched each episode so many times I couldn't begin to guess how many. I own them all on video, and am going to upgrade them to DVD soon, although the show is on TV a lot! If there is nothing on the TV and I want to watch something, Friends wins everytime.

It started in 1994, a group of 6 Friends, Phoebe, Chandler, Rachel, Ross and his sister Monica and Joey are the show's main characters, and although each episode (with the exception of a few specials that run over a couple of episodes) has a different story, they do run on from each other in the sense of relationships, jobs etc. It is easy to pick one out and just watch it though without having seen the one before though.

When Friends was first on our screens, I hated it. I didn't like any American comedy shows, as I thought the laughter was so over the top and fake. I still don't like any others apart from Friends which is why it is so funny that it is my favourite show. The reason why I didn't like it was because I didn't understand the humour, there are gags that run through the whole ten series such as Ross and Rachels on/off relationship and Ross always says that when he slept with another women that "We were on a break!"

In that respect, if you have never seen the show, it is best to watch it from the beginning as you then begin to love them and feel as if they are almost a part of your life. You get to know the funny gags and understand what the characters are like. You see them grow up and some of them get married and have children - I won't tell you who though!

There are numerous special guests who appear all through the ten series such as Tom Selleck, Elle McPerson, Helen Baxendale to name a few, and the audience always cheers when they first appear on set.

The main meeting place for the six friends is Central Perk coffee shop that Rachel had a stint at working in and is run by Gunther who has a crush on Rachel. They all live nearby and most of them have been room mates or "roomies" as they call each other. There is some apartment swapping and room mate swapping, so best to watch from the beginning if you want to know who lives with who!

It is so hard to say who my favourite character is, as they all have their own funny qualities. I think it would probably have to be Joey, but they are all great. Here is a little insight into them all:

Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) is a bit on the unusual side, she is into all things alternative and makes up funny songs to sing in the coffee shop ( although they are not funny to her - they are serious songs!) accompanied by her guitar. Her most famous song is "Smelly Cat".

Chandler (Matthew Perry) is the guy who always has a joke as an answer especially if he find himself in awkward situations. He is always looking out for Joey.

Rachel is really into fashion, shopping and guys and has some high flying jobs with the likes of Ralph Lauren. Her and Ross have an on and off relationship all the way through.

Ross (David Schwimmer) is the slightly geeky one. He is a paleontologist and loves to talk about Dinosaurs and fossils. He has been in love with Rachel since High School.

Monica (Courteney Cox) is Ross' sister. She is a chef and loves to clean anything and everything she can. She lives in the big apartment that a lot of things happen in.

Joey (Matt LeBlanc) is very lovable but sometimes very stupid. He is a bit niave but always comes out with some really funny lines. He loves food, especially sandwiches, pizza and anything from Monica's fridge. He is an American-Italian actor.

I first got into Friends when I told one of my friends that I really didn't like it and couldn't find it funny. She let me borrow the complete first series, and I was hooked. I watched it from the beginning and loved it, soon I had watched all the series, by this point it was up to series 6, so I bought them all, and added to my collection as the series went on, right up until the very last episode which is very sad, and made me cry. The end of Friends was the end of an era, but the final episode was believable and drew it to a close in a realistic way, as we had seen the characters grow up, it was time for them to move on.

Summary: The only American comedy I like is my favourite TV show ever.