F.R.I.E.N.D.S anniversary: Mumbai superfans on why they love the show decades later

Mumbai-based communications professional Shweta Mehrotra has been a F.R.I.E.N.D.S fan for over 24 years now. "Today, I can mouth the dialogues before the characters utter it. That's how hooked I am," says Mehrotra, who started it out just watching the show in the early 2000s. "I started slowly realising how people in my college social circle were talking about certain episodes, so I used to catch up with those episodes to make sure I was prepared to participate the next time they spoke about it. This is similar to Joey's situation when he buys the encyclopedia book volume ‘V', so he could start participating in his F.R.I.E.N.D.S conversation and appear clever," she adds.

American television sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S premiered its first episode on September 22, 1994. Over the last three decades, the show has developed a cult following and has gone down in pop-culture history as one of the most popular television shows. Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, its popularity led it to continue for 10 seasons and finally ended on May 6, 2004. While the show ended 20 years ago, it has left a lasting impression on fans, who watch it even though. While millennials like Mehrotra do re-runs, Gen-Z and the generations after that are only introduced to it because of its popularity that has trickled online on social media through posts, reels and meme pages.

Watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S for more than 20 years
Mehrotra shares, "The show is the perfect way to unwind. It is a conversation starter, a means to break the ice with someone or even find a connection on the first date. It's silly, emotional, funny, comforting and all the things you want in a ‘friend'." It is no different for Swati Pandit, who has been a fan for more than 25 years now, who started watching it because she enjoyed the humour and characterisation. She says, "It has timeless humour and relatable portrayal of friendships and the ups and downs of navigating life, love, and relationships through your 20s and 30s."

Just like Mehrotra and Pandit, ask Radhika Banta, another Mumbaikar about her fandom and she is quick to reply, "I have been a fan for 20 years and not counting. Could I be more of a fan?" imitating Chandler Bing, one of the six characters in the series, who was played by the late Matthew Perry, who passed away earlier this year. So, it is no wonder when we ask her who her favourite character is. "It is hard to pick, but if I had to choose, Chandler is my favourite. While sarcasm is legendary, I also definitely identify with his awkward humour."

Interestingly, Banta started watching Friends while she was typically on a break from other shows. She narrates, "I started watching it casually during a break from another show, and before I knew it one episode turned to one season and then a fan was born. If my girl math is right, I have spent 5,192 hours approximately of my life watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S, which is equivalent to 2.5 years of my full-time work or enough time to read 865 books or equal to two years of sleep. "The themes of friendship, love, and navigating life's ups and downs are timeless, and that's why F.R.I.E.N.D.S is still so beloved today," she quickly adds for anybody who wonders how much of her life she has spent on the show.

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Unlike Mehrotra, Pandit and Banta, Michelle Simon, another Mumbaikar joined the bandwagon a little later almost 17 years ago. "I started watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S when I was 13 years old. I used to see my mom and cousin watch the show, and I wasn't allowed to when I was younger. So, when I became a teen, I wanted to know what all that hype was about. It all makes sense now," says an excited Simon. Just like Banta, even Simon loves Chandler for more than one reason. "I love Chandler because he is not perfect, flaunts his flaws and bad habits. He also expresses love, he is insecure and makes mistakes, plans his finances, is always there to help Joey out, loves his pets and he is perfectly imperfect," she describes him to perfection.

Even Mehrotra adds, "Chandler Bing is my favourite because of his wisecracks and sarcasm. But then he also is the perfect partner a woman seeks - he is not scared to be vulnerable, happy to stay in Monica's shadow, he's her biggest cheerleader and reality check. Kudos to him because he went as far as looking for Clunkers the dog, he thought he lost even though he hated dogs."

However, beyond Chandler, who is a clear favourite, she also identifies with Monica Geller, a role immortalised by Courtney Cox, who eventually becomes Chandler's partner on the show. She is known for her quirks along with her brother Ross Geller, played by David Schwimmer. "I identify the most with Monica because I am organised and I take charge of get-togethers, I love cataloguing, and I think I am slowly becoming a control freak. And yes, like her I love to wear big dial watches," she adds to the last detail, that only a super fan would know. While they were some of the popular characters, it would be hard to miss out on Joey Tribbiani, played by Matt LeBlanc; Phoebe Buffay, played by Lisa Kudrow, and even Rachel Green, played by Jennifer Aniston, who launched her career with the performance in the show.

Gulnoor Kaur joined the F.R.I.E.N.D.S fan culture only much later in 2016, almost 14 years after it officially ended. By that time most people had already watched the show once and had even gone through several re-runs. However, it did not take long for the Mumbaikar to become a fan. She explains, "I discovered it right after I completed my college degree. I had watched it in bits and pieces over the years before that but never took to it. However, I kept getting asked by people if I had watched it. So, I watched the show and then liked it very much. Their friendship is aspirational."

It is no wonder then that Chandler is her favourite character like the others this writer spoke to and finds their lives, jobs, and the things they find joy in, that make it relatable to most people that go beyond generations like Millennials and Gen-Z.

Finding hope in F.R.I.E.N.D.S
Even though many people from many quarters dislike the show for different reasons including being an all-white show, there are fans like Kaur who found Carol and Susan's wedding episode to be quite heartwarming. As Banta likes to put it, the discussion is a "moo point". "While F.R.I.E.N.D.S was a product of its time and has some outdated moments, I think we can appreciate the humour and still acknowledge where it could've done better," she explains.

Even Pandit, who agrees with Banta, chimes in, "Some might argue that the show has outdated humour, with certain jokes that reflect the norms of the 90s, which are now viewed with a more critical lens. However, at the time when the show began or was aired, I thought it was progressive capturing themes in homosexuality and transgender community."

It was a different time then, adds Mehrotra. "We didn't know what qualifies as a joke and what doesn't because we all made fun of a lot of things back then. However, the show also supported gay marriage like that of Carol and Susan, child out of wedlock between Rachel and Ross, massive age gap marriage (Frank Jr Jr and Mrs. Knight), Transgender parent (Charles Bing) and surrogacy (Phoebe Buffay), and all of it in good jest. We wouldn't know of these terms if it wasn't for the show and the way it was portrayed. Why aren't we talking about that?," she asks as she goes through her collection of F.R.I.E.N.D.S paraphernalia that not only include T-shirts and posters but also badges and more.