Why did a sitcom like “Friends” take so long? The first episode of “Friends” was broadcast on NBC on September 22, 1994 (in Italy on Rai3 on June 23, 1997). Another 235 followed, spread over ten squadrons. Written by Marta Kauffman and David Crane, the series has endured over time and become a global phenomenon because it immediately established itself as a kind of cross-generational manifesto. The six protagonists talk about themselves and their dissatisfaction (is there anything more universal than dissatisfaction?), but they do so in a polite, casual and ironic way, as if they seem content with the dissatisfaction on which they feed. Also because they belong to a generation that has experienced neither war nor economic crisis.
Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Ross, Chandler and Joey, before they are varied characters through psychology, are stories, they are six narrative strands that progress simultaneously: Narrating the events of a large cast that develop hand in hand helps to emphasize the unpredictability of life rather than its regularity. On the one hand, the viewer is reassured by some canonical locations (the house, which seems to be ignorant of the bedroom, and the sofas of the Central Perk Café) where speeches can be staged; On the other hand, he is fascinated by a continuous and unpredictable search for something that has to do with happiness, with security, with the future.
“Friends” has endured because it consciously avoids the problems of current events and reality, preferring the comfort zone of metastory, the ideal place to cultivate “characters.” For example, Chandler (it is the death of Matthew Perry that suggests these reflections to us) is described as the most cynical and sarcastic of the six, but his manner, his face, his smile were all marked by a gentleness that could dull any sharpness. As Wesley Morris wrote in the New York Times, “Friends” is “easy TV at the highest level.” Lots of jokes, lots of physical comedy, lots of surprises and emotions and screams of joy from the studio audience.” Simplicity is not an easy thing, it takes Talent to achieve them.