If you don’t already know, Friends is a sitcom that follows six friends living in New York in their 20s as they try to navigate their lives, relationships, and careers. The show aired from 1994 to 2004 on NBC. Friends has had a lasting impact on TV as a whole and on me. My mom and I always watched Friends together growing up. It was one of the shows that got me thinking about going into the film and TV field.
Warner Bros. Television and Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions
The show stars Courteney Cox as Monica, whose apartment is one of the most iconic locations in the show just behind the group’s favorite coffee shop, Central Perk; Ross, played by David Schwimmer, who is Monica’s older brother; Chandler, played by Matthew Pery, is Ross’s college roommate and, spoiler alert, Monica’s future husband; Chandler’s roommate, Joey, played by Matt LeBlanc; Pheobe, played by Lisa Kudrow; and Rachel, played by Jennifer Aniston. The show begins with Rachel running away from her wedding and moving in with Monica.
The show had incredible success after its first season, and this success continued for the next ten years. The original series had over 15 million viewers per season, and now, in reruns, the series draws 16 million weekly viewers (Today Show). Starting the third season, all six cast members negotiated together, meaning that each of them would be paid the same or they would all leave the show together. This did require Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer to take a pay cut, as they had been paid more than the rest of the cast in season two as their love story took center stage (Business Insider). To have not only each of the main cast being paid equally but to especially have the three female leads be paid equally to the three male leads was a huge thing in the TV industry and one that still is not the standard today. By 2002, the show was averaging 24.7 million viewers a week, which was about two million viewers more than any other show on TV (Business Insider).
By the final season, the cast was paid $1,000,000 per episode. Today, that is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1,714,380.21 (per episode), which makes them the highest-paid sitcom cast ever. The cast also negotiated syndication payments during their sixth season. In 2016, USA Today reported that each of the six cast members receives $20 million a year in syndication payments. This comes from the billion dollars Friends makes Warner Brothers a year in reruns and streaming (USA Today).
Warner Bros. Television and Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions
The show made more than just financial waves in the industry; they were the first show on broadcast to have a lesbian wedding. The wedding of Carol, Ross’s ex-wife, and Susan was a big moment for LGBTQ+ representation in TV. By the 90s, multiple shows included gay characters, but Friend‘s popularity made the inclusion of Ross’s ex-wife Carol and her partner Susan even more important. The inclusion of the couple throughout the ten seasons of the show produced a representation of lesbian characters that was rare for the time.
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Friends also pushed boundaries in terms of pregnancy representation. While most shows up to this point had focused on traditional nuclear families, Friends showed how a family could take many forms. The first pregnancy on the show was Ross’s ex-wife, Carol’s. The dynamic of Carol, Susan, and Ross created comedic moments but also showed how even in an untraditional situation, a baby would still be loved by all of its parents. The next pregnancy was Pheobe’s. Pheobe acted as a surrogate for her brother and his wife, who couldn’t conceive children on their own. Next, Rachel decided to have her baby on her own when she discovered she was pregnant with Ross’s baby. She also did not try to rekindle a relationship with Ross but still let him be as involved as he wanted to be as the father. Finally, in the last season of the show, Monica and Chandler faced fertility issues and ultimately decided to adopt. Each of the women handled pregnancy in a unique way that normalized what had been considered alternative routes to motherhood.
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While Friends may seem like a typical sitcom, it pushed boundaries with its financial success and its representation of LGBTQ+ relationships and pregnancy. Friends continues to have a lasting impact on TV, even twenty years after its last episode. After all, it has been watched over 100 billion times, according to James Corden in the Friends reunion special, which I highly recommend if you want a deeper dive into the cast’s stories on and off the screen.