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FRIENDS Theme – I’ll Be There For You – by The Rembrandts (easy piano solo arr. sheet music)

F R I E N D S

Friends (stylized F·R·I·E·N·D·S), also known in Latin America as Amigos, is an American television series created and produced by Marta Kauffman and David Crane. It was broadcast for the first time on September 22, 1994 on NBC and lasted until May 6, 2004.

The series is about the lives of a group of friends —Chandler Bing, Phoebe Buffay, Monica Geller, Ross Geller, Rachel Green, and Joey Tribbiani— who reside in Manhattan, New York. Both good and bad moments happen, but with a comical critique of the most transcendental events of today.

Immediately after the success in the USA, the program began its diffusion all over the world with similar results. In March 2019, it was considered by The Hollywood Reporter as the best series in history, also being voted in 2018, according to Ranked, as the best sitcom of all time.

The series has ten seasons of about 24 episodes each —except for the third and sixth seasons, which had 25 episodes, and the last one, which had 17 episodes—3. Once finished, Joey, a sequel about the life of the eponymous character in Los Angeles, was shot. It also had a brief crossover with the series Mad About You, when Jamie and Lisa entered Central Perk and mistook Phoebe Buffay for her twin sister Ursula.

The cast members returned for a reunion special that premiered on HBO Max on May 27, 2021.

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Influences

Although the producers thought of Friends as ‘just a TV show’, numerous psychologists investigated the cultural impact during the series. Aniston’s hairstyle was nicknamed ‘The Rachel’ and was copied around the world. Joey’s catchphrase, ‘How are you?’, became a popular part of Western English slang, often used as a pickup line or to greet friends.

The series also influenced the English language, according to a study from the University of Toronto, which found that characters used the highlighted word ‘so’ to modify adjectives more frequently than any other intensifier. Although the preference had already made its way into the American vernacular, the use of the series may have hastened the change. Chandler’s habit of ending a sentence unfinished for sarcasm also influenced viewers’ speech. After the 9/11 attacks, ratings increased 17% over the previous season.

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Friends is parodied in the twelfth season of Murder, She Wrote, in the episode ‘Murder Between Friends’, where amateur detective Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) investigates the murder of a writer for Buds, a fictional television series about the life daily life of a group of friends from the city.

The episode was devised after CBS moved Murder, She Wrote from its regular Sunday night time slot to a Thursday night time slot directly opposite Friends on NBC; Angela Lansbury, quoted by Bruce Lansbury, his brother, and Murder, the supervising producer of Murder, She Wrote, had ‘a bit of an attitude’ about the move to Thursday, but saw the plot as ‘a friendly setup, no evil spirits.’ . Jerry Ludwig, the episode’s writer, researched the ‘taste’ of Buds by watching episodes of Friends.

The Central Perk coffee shop, one of the main settings in the series, has inspired various imitations around the world. In 2006, Iranian businessman Mojtaba Asadian started a Central Perk franchise, registering the name in 32 countries.

The decoration of the cafés is inspired by Friends, with replica sofas, counters, neon signs and bricks. The cafes also contain paintings of various characters from the series and televisions playing episodes of Friends. James Michael Tyler, who plays Central Perk manager Gunther on the series, attended the grand opening of the Dubai café where he worked as a waiter.

Central Perk was reconstructed as part of a museum exhibit at Warner Bros. Studios, and was displayed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in October 2008. Jennifer Aniston revisited the set for the first time since the series finale in 2004. From September 24 to October 7, 2009, a replica of Central Perk was placed in Broadwick Street, Soho, London.

The cafeteria sold coffee to customers and displayed memorabilia and accessories from friends, such as the Geller Cup from the season three episode ‘The One With the Football.’ In Beijing, a company owner Du Xin opened a cafe named Central Perk in March 2010.

In India, there are six Friends themed cafes, located in Chandigarh (named Central Perk), Kolkata (named FRIENDS Café) featuring Lots of icons from the original TV series, for example, Chandler and Joey’s ugly dog ​​statue, the orange couch, the purple door to Monica and Rachel’s apartment, and Phoebe’s pink bike. The other three cafés are located in Delhi, Gurgaon, Bhubaneswar and Pune.

There are also two Friends-themed cafés in Pakistan, one in Lahore, known as Friends Café, and the other in Peshawar, called Central Perk. Both cafés have an iconic sofa, a guitar and foosball table, quotes from the show on the walls, and even episode recaps on a projector. They also plan to have their own Gunther at the bar.

Friends has also developed an alternative family lifestyle by depicting young people living unconventional domestic lives. It presents the idea that ‘all you need is good friends’ and can build families by choice. The public can identify with the show through the issues seen in the weekly episodes. It describes a new way of living life and developing relationships not normally seen in conventional society.

According to a pop culture expert at the University at Buffalo, Friends is ‘one of those rare shows that marked a change in American culture.’ The images of young people and the roles they represent are better defined and represent a lifestyle that focuses on creating and maintaining relationships between friends who manage their own lives and seek help from each other.

The Guardian television and radio blog stated that Friends has impacted the creation of other television shows such as How I Met Your Mother. The similarities between the two consist of both sitcoms taking place in Manhattan, a group of white adults who are funny and have similar character traits.

TV Guide readers voted the cast of friends their best comedy cast of all time, garnering 29% of the vote, beating out Seinfeld, which recorded 18%. A poll conducted by 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair named Friends the third-best sitcom of all time.

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