Friends Like Us

“Friends Like Us” was the title before producers chose “Friends” for one of the most watched sitcoms of all time. It also happens to be my favorite show, and anyone who has ever lived with me knows I watch at least an episode a day. Usually more.

I was watching the very first season yesterday and realized the whole series began with the characters experiencing their own, albeit fictional, QLCs. Since I was 9 when those episodes originally aired, I completely missed half the jokes and didn’t understand their lives at all. Now I am 24, nearly 25, and I’m the same age the characters are during that first season. All of the episodes make so much more sense – I feel like it could be my group of friends sitting at Central Perk.

In terms of their careers, 1994 has Rachel serving coffee and years away from a giant office at Ralph Lauren. Ross works late nights at the museum and hasn’t once mentioned that he wanted to be a professor at NYU. Monica has to wear fake boobs and a wig to her job at the diner, only dreaming of being the head chef at a hip restaurant. Chandler types away at a cubicle doing god knows what, and Joey is in bad plays since he hasn’t been on Days of Our Lives yet. I don’t know what to say about Phoebe, she’s really out there in the beginning, but she does plays guitar on subway platforms instead of at Central Perk like in later seasons.

I’ve already written about some of the career dilemmas my friends are going through at the moment. I can only hope that within 10 years we are in those large offices with companies chasing us down to offer us fabulous jobs. It would also be nice if we had a friend organize a trip to the Bahamas, or a wedding in London. Actually, I think if we are placing bets, I’ll be the one to have my wedding in a foreign country. But hey, that’s just a guess.

Speaking of weddings, let’s glance at the characters’ relationships. In 1994 Ross is going through a divorce, Rachel runs out on her wedding, Chandler barely has any dates, Joey has too many dates, Phoebe is totally kinky, and Monica sleeps with all the wrong guys (remember Young Ethan?). In fact, the first episode shows Monica going out with Paul the Wine Guy. She ends up sleeping with him on the first date because he claims he hasn’t been able to perform since his divorce. As someone who has dealt with guys afflicted with that particular problem, I don’t really understand why she jumps at the chance to sleep with him – it doesn’t exactly scream this will be fantastic baby! Nevertheless, she ends up in bed with him, and subsequently upset when she realizes he lied to have sex with her.

I have friends in all of these situations. A good friend going through a divorce, several friends who have ended serious relationships or engagements, friends with no dates, friends with too many dates, friends who tell me way too much about their sex lives, and don’t even get me started on the friends who sleep with all the wrong men. In short, the writers got the situation right; they rounded up all the real life dating scenarios of twenty somethings and wrote a show about it. Granted, they could have given one character a stable(ish) relationship to represent that one couple we all know who have been together since college and will be together until they die. But maybe they didn’t want to throw that in our face any more than we already see it at dinner parties.

In just the second episode Rachel sums up the relationship aspect of the QLC. She says, “Remember when we were in high school? I thought I would just meet a guy, fall in love, and that would be it. When did it get so complicated?” I don’t have an answer to that, but yes, it is complicated. In high school I also thought that after college I would find a great job, start an exciting career, and that would be it. Also a fallacy and instead, complicated. Jen’s profile says, “Nothing in this world that’s worth having ever comes easy…” but still, wouldn’t it be nice?