Friends (1994-2004, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman) was an iconic sitcom of the 1990s and a cornerstone of NBC's "must-see TV" Thursday night lineup for ten years. In a similar vein to Seinfeld, its airing partner for many years, Friends is a show more or less about nothing, but rather than crotchety thirtysomething misanthropes, the show was about six young hip singles who spend a lot of time hanging around the coffee shop and talking. There's Rachel, raised rich but committed to making it on her own; Monica, a type A chef with a rent-controlled apartment; Ross, Monica's brother, a whiny paleontologist; wiseacre Chandler; beautiful but dumb actor Joey; and woo-woo new-agey Phoebe. The show ran for a full decade, taking the characters from finding themselves in their mid-twenties to marrying and having children in their mid-thirties.
Ongoing Storylines (Spoilers)
The biggest ongoing storyline through the series was the on-and-off romance between Ross and Rachel. The pair love each other unrequitedly at different times, finally getting together midway through season 2, only to break up in a spectacular fashion midway through season 3 (the famous "WE WERE ON A BREAK" storyline). They continue to occasionally pine for each other for awhile, but for a good stretch, the show seems to have moved on. Then in season 8, it is revealed that Rachel is pregnant due to a random one-time hookup with Ross. Ross and Rachel attempt to parent baby Emma while broken up, but end up finally getting together in the series finale.
The group's other surprise romance was Monica and Chandler, who appeared to have zero interest in each other for the first four seasons, abruptly and drunkenly slept together in the season 4 finale, and spent season 5 gradually and sweetly moving from friends with benefits to a loving relationship. They marry in the season 7 finale, and the series finale sees them adopting twin babies and moving to the suburbs.
Joey and Phoebe never date, although many fans wished they would, for symmetry. Joey was always the ladies' man dating a lot of different girls, although in the final seasons, there is a long storyline in which he falls in love with Rachel. His feelings are not requited, but are the most serious he has ever felt about a woman, making him realize he wants to settle down.
Phoebe has a few different romances with big-name guest stars, but her biggest storyline doesn't concern romance but family. She meets her long-lost half-brother, and winds up serving as a surrogate mother so that her brother can have children with his new wife (who is also his ex-home ec teacher). Toward the end of the series, she embarks on a long-term relationship with Paul Rudd, whom she ends up marrying.
Key Episodes
1.1 Pilot: The first episode is a good setup and point of comparison for the rest of the show, though it's paced oddly. The pilot centers around Rachel, who has just left her fiance at the altar and broken away from the privileged, scripted life that her family has planned for her. She now has to make it on her own in New York, with help from her old friend Monica and Monica's group of kooky friends.
The look of the show changed so much over the years that it's fun to go back to season 1 and see how very, very 90s it is. It's kind of hard to watch, actually. There's an old-yearbook, "is that what we looked like back then?!?" quality. Everyone has enormous fluffy hair, except for Ross, whose helmet of hair is flattened onto his head with about eight tons of gel. Monica wears lipstick the color of her brunette locks. Everyone wears experimental outfits. Chandler looks like Kyle Maclachlan.
2x15 "The One Where Ross and Rachel… You Know": Though Ross and Rachel have their first kiss in the previous episode, this one features their iconic first date, a makeshift picnic in the museum after hours because Ross had to work late. This is also the episode where Monica launches a major romance storyline, dating her 20-year-older, mustachioed ophthalmologist (Tom Selleck).
3x25 "The One at the Beach" & 4x1 "The One with the Jellyfish": The season 3 finale/season 4 premiere two-parter has the friends taking a trip to the beach so Phoebe can meet her birth mother. Ross and Rachel are on the cusp of getting back together but it devolves into another important but soul-deadening fight, as Rachel writes Ross a lengthy letter about their relationship which he does not read. (This is where I would have put the nail in the coffin of their relationship, personally.) Some sweet, light Monica and Chandler flirtation is killed when Chandler has to pee on Monica's jellyfish sting. Along the way, there's plenty of quirky hangout time at the beach cabin, which is full of sand after a flood. The gang plays strip Happy Days game, makes a Joey sand mermaid, etc.
4x23-4x24 "The One With Ross's Wedding" & 5x1 "The One After Ross Says Rachel": The end of season 4 and beginning of season 5 extended sequence concerns Ross's disastrous wedding to Emily, in which Ross says "I take thee, Rachel" instead of "I take thee, Emily" in the vows and explodes the relationship mid-ceremony. I'm not a huge fan of this storyline as it's (a) ridiculous and (b) brings the Ross/Rachel drama back into our lives, but this set of episodes is undeniably memorable and plot-important; aside from its importance in the Ross and Rachel saga, it notably kicks off Monica and Chandler's relationship.
Bonus Episodes
3x2 "The One Where No One's Ready": This isn't a key episode plot-wise, but it's probably my favorite episode of the series. The writing is just top notch. The whole episode takes place more or less in realtime as Ross tries to persuade everyone to get dressed and out the door for an event at the museum. But Rachel is mad at him, Monica is freaking out about a message she left on Richard's answering machine post-breakup, and Joey and Chandler are having a turf war about a chair, leading to increasingly un-ready antics.
3x13 "The One Where Monica and Richard Are Just Friends": Monica and Richard run into each other post-breakup and decide to be friends with benefits, but realize they still have feelings for each other… and still have the same problems that led them to break up. I found this to be a sweet and romantic, if ultimately tragic, episode. The B-plot is also a classic: Rachel and Joey agree to reach each other's favorite books, which leads to Rachel getting freaked out by The Shining and Joey getting the feels over Little Women.
3x15 "The One Without the Ski Trip": It's hard to pinpoint which episode you should watch for the "we were on a break" thing. It happens over several. This episode features the worst of Ross and Rachel's fighting about the issue, as they compete for the attention of their friends post-breakup. Things to note: Ross being a huge asshole; Rachel having legitimate points (why does she want to be with him again?); character-revealing behavior for Chandler as he increasingly shows off like a divorced kid as the couple's fighting intensifies.
4x8 "The One with Chandler in a Box": This is probably my second-favorite episode. To apologize to Joey for stealing his girlfriend (a guest appearance by the always great Paget Brewster), Chandler spends Thanksgiving inside a shipping crate. Monica has an eye emergency and winds up spending Thanksgiving wearing an eyepatch and flirting with the stand-in opthalmologist, Richard's son. This is just classic Friends Thanksgiving where the gang is hanging out at the apartment trying to accomplish a normal holiday but everything is keeps getting more chaotic.
4x12 "The One with the Embryos": The gang has a trivia game to see who knows who better: Monica and Rachel or Joey and Chandler. The stakes keep getting higher, and in the end, they stake the apartment, leading to an extended period of time where the pairs have swapped apartments. Meanwhile, the episode's title refers to Phoebe's storyline. Having agreed to be a surrogate mom for her brother's family, Phoebe is implanted with the embryos, and worries that they won't stick. This lends a seriousness to the episode, but really, I'm recommending it for the trivia game.
5x3 "The One with the Triplets": Phoebe gives birth to her brother's triplets. The "episode in a hospital where someone is giving birth" trope gets really weary (and this is the second time Friends has done it, the first being the birth of Ross's son Ben in season 1), but this is well done, especially the scene where Phoebe has to say goodbye to the babies. Meanwhile, Chandler and Monica have to make decisions about their relationship.
6x25 "The One with the Proposal": This episode is pretty bad, actually, as is the entirety of season six, but the actual scene where Monica proposes to Chandler is really sweet.
8x12 "The One Where Joey Dates Rachel": Joey takes Rachel on a "date" to cheer her up as she's having trouble dating while pregnant. This is the one where Joey realizes he has feelings for Rachel. It's kind of a bummer storyline ultimately, but Joey's appreciation for Rachel is genuinely sweet. I thought I didn't care about the show by the time, but, darn it, the show made me kind of ship them.
10x18 "The Last One": I heard the finale talked up so much that I was expecting a lot, and I have to say I didn't think it was that great. That said, it's important if you want to know what happens to all the characters. And seeing Monica move out of the apartment is really weird.
