‘I watched Friends for the first time — and I must have cracked a smile once’

September 22, 2023

It’s been nearly three decades since Friends aired for the first time – and I’m one of a mere few who has never watched the so-called hilarious sitcom.

Despite the programme wrapping in 2004, you’d think it was *still* going… For some reason unbeknownst to me, I can’t get away from it.

A cheeky trip to Primark has resulted in me dodging the shelves neatly stacked with the show’s endless merchandise (they’ve even built a replicate cafe in its stores). And one scroll on Facebook and I’m seeing a meme shared by the locals about two characters being “on a break” (?).

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So with the award-winning show turning 29 on Friday (September 22) I thought why not sit down and watch it. Armed with a cup of tea, I loaded up the pilot episode on my Neflfix and begrudgingly clicked the play button.

Opening credits here we go and straight away, it’s hard to not notice the all-white cast. (This is something the show’s creators did acknowledge recently, claiming if they were to make Friends today, the racial makeup of the cast would be a lot different.)

Around 15 minutes in and I surprisingly already have a favourite character; definitely Phoebe. And my least favourite? Chandler – (reminds me of that one person who just *always* has to say something they think is hilarious…)

A few episodes in and Chandler is still as annoying as ever, and Joey most definitely needs a haircut. (Although, when Chandler tried to pack in his ciggy habit in episode three, I did kind of relate, and even kind of cracked a smile).

As the episodes go on, it seems the six pals Ross and Monica, Chandler, Rachel, Joey and Phoebe were *the* people you wanted to hang out with at the Central Perk cafe back in the day. But would I want to hang out with them now at Spoons? I’ll pass.

It’s only when I get to episode 12 that things seem to be getting a bit better. (That or I’ve just become used to the deadpan studio laughter, Rachel’s winging and Chandler’s cringe one-liners).

But watching Friends in 2023, it’s kind of hard to ignore the slew of storylines practically laced with borderline homophobia and sexism.

Monica as a teenager was overweight (which was *the* joke). Ross’ ex-wife Carol is a lesbian – which is relentlessly brought up to make her the butt of several jokes throughout the series. And Chandler was appalled at the thought of someone thinking he was gay…

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It’s not *all* bad though – the show does has some funny moments – mainly involving the ladies to be honest. In episode four the trio have a cocktail-filled slumber party where they fret over their future (relatable). And in episode fourteen, they spend Valentine's Day burning all the sh*t from their exes. (Again, relatable).

But still, it might have taken me 26 years to watch a full Friends episode let alone full season, but I don’t regret it. And will I watch another? No thanks.

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