Friends has just turned 30: while it’s the perfect time for fans to go back and rewatch the first season of the beloved sitcom, there are many harsh realities that come to light when revisiting the series three decades on. First airing on NBC on September 22, 1994, Friends followed the lives of six twentysomethings living in New York City as they navigated ups and downs in their careers and relationships. The first episodes focus mainly on Monica Geller and her brother Ross, whose lives are altered when Monica’s high school best friend, Rachel, comes crashing back into them.
Friends explored the different personalities and upbringings that made up the main gang. Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel enters as an adorable yet spoiled rich girl who has no idea how the real world works. Her new, streetwise, city-dwelling friends become her tutors as she navigates adult life. While early critics derided Friends as a knock-off of the then more popular Seinfeld, the series soon became successful in its own right, quickly launching the cast of Friends into stardom. The iconic series was quite different in the first season, though.
10 Monica and Rachel Weren’t Close In The Pilot Episode
The Friends Had Drifted Apart After Highschool
Out of all the members of the Central Perk gang, Monica and Rachel’s friendship is the longest running. The duo were best friends in high school and rekindle that relationship as roommates in the series. Nonetheless, rewatching the pilot episode is a reminder that Monica and Rachel weren’t close at the beginning of the show. Monica is shocked when a bedraggled Rachel runs into the coffee shop, not just because she is soaking wet and still wearing her wedding dress – the friends hadn’t spoken to each other in years.
“Rachel sees Monica as the perfect guide as she strikes out on her own for the first time.”
Notably, Monica hadn’t even been invited to Rachel and Barry’s wedding. Rachel mentions the fact that they drifted apart after high school. Clearly, their lives took different directions: as Monica found her independence in the city, Rachel returned to the world she grew up in. But this is exactly why Rachel seeks Monica out after she flees her old life. Rachel sees Monica as the perfect guide as she strikes out on her own for the first time.
9 Ross’ Crush On Rachel Was A Rebound From His Failed Marriage
Ross Is Still In Love With Carol When He Falls For Rachel
Ross and Rachel’s relationship is the emotional core of Friends. The duo’s on-again-off-again romance made them one of television’s most iconic couples, though modern viewers note a toxic turn in their dynamic in later seasons. It’s possible to see elements of this even in the pilot. While Ross’ youthful crush on Rachel is established, he is still processing his break-up with Carol when Rachel re-enters his life. Following Joey’s advice to “grab a spoon” and re-enter the dating scene, Ross considers asking Rachel out: arguably, his initial infatuation with her is just a rebound from his marriage.
8 Friends Made Carol And Susan Unsympathetic In Season 1
Ross Is Portrayed As The Victim In His First Divorce
Friends’ depiction of LGBTQ characters is a controversial topic. On the surface level, the show’s depiction of alternative family structures is a positive – it includes storylines of co-parenting, surrogacy, and adoption. Still, Friends is rife with cheap jokes that snubbed its LGBTQ viewers, and season one’s depiction of Carol and Susan is particularly unsympathetic. Putting aside the problematic idea that Carol “turned” lesbian after marrying Ross, the tensions that arose following Carol’s pregnancy somewhat demonized his ex-wife and her new partner.
Ross’ initial resentment towards Susan is understandable, but rather than challenging this, the early episodes of Friends justified his contempt. The pair come across as callous and dismissive towards Ross’ involvement as a father, particularly in the sonogram scene. On his part, Ross struggles to come to terms with his ex-wife’s sexuality, even kissing her in “The One With The Candy Hearts” while she is on a date with Susan. While the three of them end up on better terms, season 1 validates Ross’ sense that he is the victim in their situation.
7 Some Of The Friends Feel More Like Side Characters In Season 1
Joey’s Role Was Particularly Undefined
While all the Friends gang would become fully fleshed-out characters throughout the show’s 10 season run, they weren’t all given equal stage time in season 1. The first season concentrated on Ross, Rachel, and Monica, perhaps understandably, given the close connection between these characters. For the other Friends characters, their roles were still being defined.
“Joey is especially underdeveloped.”
Chandler mainly served as a sardonic commentator on the group’s exploits in the first season. He was given a few great solo-storylines, though: “The One With The Blackout” is particularly memorable. Chandler and Phoebe initially exist as the male and female comic relief personas who support the overarching Ross, Rachel, and Monica storylines. Joey is especially underdeveloped. There is not much to distinguish Joey’s role from Chandler’s in season 1, and his character is almost unrecognizable.
6 Joey Is A Completely Different Person In Season 1
Joey Wasn’t Initially Written As The “Dumb” One
Joey is best known for two key attributes: he loves food, and he loves women. A forerunner of the pretty-yet-dumb “himbo” archetype, the character is also known for being ridiculously stupid, a characteristic that becomes emphasized over the course of the series until it becomes his defining trait. This isn’t the case in the first season, though. Joey’s initial character description described him as “macho” and “smug”, not stupid.
“By the end of the series, the characters’ defining traits had become over-emphasized.”
The positive audience response to Le Blanc’s portrayal of the character explains why Joey is so much dumber in later seasons. It also helped to make him distinct from Chandler, who was known for his sarcastic commentary. Still, Joey’s subtler characterization in the early seasons of Friends feels like a breath of fresh air in some ways. By the end of the series, the characters’ defining traits had become over-emphasized. The scene where Phoebe attempts to teach Joey French would never have occurred in season 1, which points to the eventual “Flanderization” that occurs with the Friends gang.
5 Monica Is Season 1’s Main Character
The Group Is Drawn Together Through Their Connections To Monica
Rachel is often remembered as the show’s best-developed female character, while some argue that Monica was better in Friends. Whichever side viewers land on, the first season is a reminder that Monica is actually the central character in the series. Not only do most of the scenes in Friends take place in Monica’s apartment: the whole friendship group revolves around Monica. As already mentioned, Rachel was Monica’s high school friend, and Ross is, of course, her brother, but the other characters are also connected to Monica in the first season.
How All The Friends Characters Met
How did all of the characters on Friends meet each other? Here’s a breakdown of how Monica, Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey became friends.
The original character descriptions describe Phoebe as “Monica’s former roomate”, while Joey “lives across the hall” with Chandler. While Ross and Chandler were friends in college, this isn’t emphasized in season 1. It isn’t mentioned until the season 1 finale, when Chandler says “Remember back in college, when he fell in love with Carol and bought her that ridiculously expensive crystal duck?” The writers fleshed out the main characters’ interconnections throughout the course of the show. Still, without Monica, the group would never have been brought together.
4 Season One Featured Friends’ Most Disturbing Relationship
Monica Dating Ethan May Have Been A Step Too Far
Given its age, there are a fair few Friends episodes that have aged poorly. The appropriately named season 1 episode “The One with the Ick Factor” is one of its most disgusting. The central joke revolves around Monica lying about her age in order to date a college senior. While this is gross in itself, it gets worse when Ethan reveals that he has also been deceiving her. He is actually a senior in high school – in other words, a teenager.
Many Friends storylines would never work in modern day, simply because their gags rely on now outdated 90s technology. Others wouldn’t work because of a change in audience sensibilities. Even in its day, though, the infamous Ethan storyline pushed the envelope of what the series could get away with in the name of comedy. Friends’ bizarre fascination with age-gap relationships would be memorably revived when Ross dated his student. At the very least, the Ethan episode recognizes the ethical issue of dating someone younger and less mature, which it fails to do in the case of Ross and Elizabeth.
3 The Paolo Storyline Was Worse Than You Remember
Rachel’s New Boyfriend Sexually Assaulted Phoebe
Another gross season 1 moment revolves around Rachel’s Italian boyfriend, Paolo. This minor character is introduced to further the Ross-Rachel storyline, fuelling Ross’ jealousy. Rachel is forced to break up with Paolo when he gropes Phoebe while she’s working as a massage therapist. At the time, the scene was played for laughs, but Friends’ lighthearted depiction of workplace sexual assault is hard to stomach on rewatch.
Part of the issue with Friends’ depiction of this scene is the fact that Phoebe is not its focus. Paolo clearly crosses a line here, and his actions finally bring home to Rachel that he is a scummy person who doesn’t really care for her. Focusing entirely on the impact this has on Rachel, Friends doesn’t explore the impact that Paolo’s demeaning behavior has on Phoebe herself. This is yet another season 1 storyline that wouldn’t hold up today.
2 One Season 1 Story Could Have Altered Phoebe’s Ending
Phoebe Originally Would Have Ended Up With David
Of the many Friends celebrity guest stars, Hank Azaria’s season one cameo as David The Scientist Guy is so memorable it’s hard to believe he didn’t return until season 7. David is instantly endearing, with his awkward demeanour and immediate infatuation with Phoebe. He only appears in one episode this season, but their relationship is so touching that his departure to Minsk is truly heartbreaking.
Their short-lived romance was so impactful, it felt like Friends was setting the stage for David’s later return. According to Hank Azaria, this could have been the case. In an interview with HuffPost, Azaria revealed that he and Phoebe were originally supposed to end up together. Nobody would oppose Phoebe’s eventual marriage to the equally loveable Mike, but this season 1 storyline could have completely changed her ending.
1 The Chandler And Joey Bromance Is Missing In Season 1
The Best Friends Weren’t So Co-dependent At First
Best buddies and chick and duck parents Chandler and Joey are BFF goals. Their heartwarming relationship hadn’t reached its peak yet in the first season, however. Partly due to Joey’s initial characterization, Chandler and Joey’s early dynamic is quite different. Joey is snarkier, and Chandler is a lot more irritated at him. Without his dimwitted persona, Joey is also far more independent, giving Chandler less opportunity to show his caring side. Season 1 is a reminder of just how co-dependent the pair become in the latter seasons, with Joey becoming almost like Chandler and Monica’s grown-up child.
“Season one’s more realistic tone makes it a fascinating starting point for a
Friends
anniversary rewatch.”
There are many differences that make Friends season 1 stand out among the rest. It’s clear that the series was still finding its feet: the writers were working out how to navigate a fairly large group of main characters, while the co-stars were still getting used to each other. For this reason, the first season feels slower in parts. Still, many elements make this season unique. Darker lighting, fluffy 90s hair, and a baby-faced cast give the debut season its particularly cozy feel. Season 1’s more realistic tone makes it a fascinating starting point for a Friends anniversary rewatch.
Source: HuffPost
