Friends: is the series worth watching or has it aged badly?

One thing is certain: the world of comedy series would not be the same without Friends. Launched in 1994, the work was on the air for 10 seasons, until 2004, and conquered millions of fans around the world by exploring the adventures of a group of friends, resident of New York, who get involved in several comic situations. and dramatic.

The series, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, was originally shown in the United States through the NBC channel. In Brazil, Friends made its debut in 1996 through the pay TV channel Sony, however, it had its rights acquired by Warner Channel in 2001, when it became even more popular in terra verde e alma. In 2021, the production stopped being shown on television and can now only be watched on HBO Max streaming.

  • Friends: actor says he felt nothing at the end of the series; understand!

Friends, incidentally, was responsible for leveraging important names in the entertainment industry, especially the group of protagonists of the series: Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), Courteney Cox (Monica), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe), Matt LeBlanc (Joey), Matthew Perry (Chandler ) and David Schwimmer (Ross). Throughout the narrative, several other stars even made special appearances, such as Brad Pitt and Paul Rudd, for example.

But the unanswered questions are: Friends aged well? Is the series worth watching in 2023 or is the magic already lost? In this text, we will try to bring arguments so that you can draw your own conclusions. Check out!

In 2021, Friends won a special episode on HBO Max called Friends: The Reunion, which reunited the main cast of the series.Source: HBO Max

Friends: positive points

Friends was very successful for presenting a light comedy, based on everyday situations, which generate easy identification between the audience and the narrative. This is one of the reasons why the series has a long life and continues to win hearts, even after almost 20 years since its closure.

After all, who never suffered for love? Who never got involved in confusion with friends? Who never had problems at work? Who never needed to change their perceptions and opinions over time? Well, that’s all seen in Friends and, regardless of who is in front of the small screen, these are questions common to all and, consequently, make the series last.

Another thing that draws attention to Friends it’s its cast, which, despite not showing diversity (I’ll talk more about that in a moment), brings charismatic characters, each in their own way. We have Monica and her perfectionism; Rachel and her maturation process; Chandler and his quirky humor; Joey and his naivety; Phoebe and her eccentricity; and Ross and his knowledge.

  • Friends: Jennifer Aniston says that the cast reunion was melancholic

In short, it is possible to find personality traits in each of the central elements of Friends that resemble ours, or those of our friends, family and acquaintances. What I mean is that it’s simple to see ourselves in the skins of those characters, because they are like that: simple. And this contributes a lot to the success of the comedy, because not every project needs highly complex characters.

Another commendable point of Friends goes through the setting of the series, which has New York as a backdrop and the Central Perk coffee shop almost as a main character in the plot (who never wanted to have a coffee there, right?). That is, in addition to good characters (not great, but good), the narrative creates a very inviting atmosphere by presenting scenarios that live rent-free in the minds of fans.

Putting all this together, we have a recipe for success, which led Friends to have 236 episodes loved by many fans.

Friends: negative points

As not everything is flowers, Friends It does have, as well as many other productions, downsides and certain aspects that haven’t aged so well. First, something that many fans don’t know: Friends is accused having copied other series with the same premise. Their biggest example would be living singlefrom Fox, which premiered a year before the NBC work.

In living single, a group of friends (aged between 20 and 30 years old) living in New York brings a contemporary portrait of life in the Big Apple, while navigating relationships, friendships, work, among other issues. Some of these friends even share apartments and become romantically involved. Sound familiar? The only difference is that the cast of living single is entirely made up of black people.

One of the stars of the Fox series, Queen Latifah, even spoke about the situation in an interview, “joking” that she was already doing what Friends did well before.

Queen Latifah On A ‘Living Single’ Comeback? | WWHL

Do you remember when I talked about the lack of diversity in Friends? Well, this is another negative point of the series, which was even recognized by Kauffman. In an interview with the newspaper Los Angeles Times, the producer said she had learned a lot over the past 20 years. “Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy. It’s painful to look in the mirror. I’m ashamed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago,” she revealed.

  • Friends creator donates $4 million to diversity studies

In Friends, the six main characters are white and belong to the same social “bubble”. And it’s strange to think that, in a city as diverse as New York, there wouldn’t even be a black character to participate in the narrative more often. Throughout the entire story, we only have the presence of Aisha Tyler, who acted in just nine episodes in the role of paleontology professor Charlie.

Finally, there are those who also argue that the humor of Friends it is a little weak, without great insights or surprises, leaning too much on the personalities of its characters. This would make the series a bit repetitive as we would already know what to expect. But then, of course, it’s already a matter of taste.

And you, do you think Friends aged well? Do you intend to rewatch the series or has the moment passed? All seasons of the series are available in Brazil on HBO Max, which also released a special about the program in 2021.

Exit mobile version