A Tribute To F.R.I.E.N.D.S

In 1994 a sitcom called F.R.I.E.N.D.S was premiered on the US TV screens and it instantly became a phenomenon. For 10 years, everyone laughed with the group of six individuals. But not only laughed but sometimes also cried with them (the one episode I think I nearly cried was the episode in season 3 when Ross and Rachel break up). You could always see in them a reflection of your own group or your reflection in one of the six characters.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S is based on six friends living in New York. It tells the story of the ups and downs of their lives, both personal and professional. Let’s do a character sketch of the six friends:

1) Rachel Green (played by Jennifer Anniston): Rachel is the little spoilt, little bitchy girl of the group. She leaves a man on the altar and comes to the city and starts her life afresh. From working as a waitress at Central Perk to working as fashion consultant with Ralph Lauren, she comes a long way in 10 years.

2) Monica Gellar (played by Courteney Cox Arquette): Monica is the most organized person you will ever meet. She has a cleaning fetish. She’s a Chef and loves it. She’s the den mother of the group. She loves to be the host of the group. Makes excellent thanksgiving dinner and is extremely competitive.

3) Phoebe Buffay (played by Lisa Kudrow): Phoebe is most outlandish character of the show. She’s quirky, and strange in a good sense of way. She knows how to play a guitar and has given out some really good tracks like “smelly cats”. She has had a hard life as her mother had committed suicide when she was a kid. She works as a masseur.

4) Joey Tribbiani (played by Matt Le Blanc): Joey is an actor of Italian origin. He’s really a mediocre actor but he is the ladies man. He can take down any woman he wants to. He is a bit dumb and takes his own sweet time to reach to the conclusion. The line “How You Doing?” maybe the pick up line of the century.

5) Chandler Bing (played by Matthew Perry): He is my favorite character. The most sarcastic of all. The king of sarcasm, if you may. He is the joker of the group. He is really unlucky in love and can’t stand silence. He finally finds love in Monica. His sarcasm becomes more subtle towards the later seasons. But if you want to see him in full flow, catch the first few seasons. Could he BE more sarcastic?

6) Ross Gellar (played by David Schwimmer): Ross is the nerd of the group. The dinosaur guy as Joey calls him. His first wife turns lesbian and divorces him. He is in love with Rachel since 9th grade and finally gets her by the time he is 26-27. But the thing is he finally gets the girl. He has the annoying habit of correcting everyone’s English.

Now there’s always something in the characters to which you can relate to. For me it’s Chandler. He is sarcastic, and let me tell you I am also pretty sarcastic. But he cares for his friends no matter what. He has this bad habit of cracking a joke at the most inappropriate moment just like me.

Anyway people who have seen F.R.I.E.N.D.S will always love it, and those who haven’t seen it till now, I would suggest them to start watching it. I assure you that you will love it.

Now all of you must be wondering that why I am suddenly paying tribute to a show that ended in 2004? The simple answer to that will be we need some laughs in the current times when we still are recovering from the terrorist attacks that shook the whole country. When 9/11 happened, the TRP of F.R.I.E.N.D.S went through the roof. People of US wanted something to laugh at and forget their worries for that half an hour. And F.R.I.E.N.D.S provided them with that.

Looking at the current landscape of Indian television serials I don’t think there’s any good comedy series. It’s really slapstick humor in which Indian comedy prides itself specially TV comedy.

So I would suggest whenever you want a laugh, watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S. At least for half an hour you will laugh and forget your worries or escape the depressing times we all are living in.

I would like to take this opportunity to salute all the brave people who lost their lives in Mumbai terror attacks. May their souls rest in peace.