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Friends (1994)

There never has been a sitcom that truly pictures life among the singles (twenty-something) as good as this show does. It's not just comedy, it presents the episodes in such a way that one can truly identify with the situations they face so the audience has something to talk about in coffee shops too. The humor is universal. I feel like I'm part of the group every time I watch it because I feel the different emotions they go through. Plus, of course, it is so much fun because it's fast-paced. Every scene and every moment is relative to what is going to happen next so you don't feel like it is dragging you onto nothing. Just like how a sitcom should be. Funny!
Unlike the one-dimensional blackhearts that peopled Seinfeld, this was a sitcom about nothing that was resolutely about something: friendship, of course. It veered dangerously close to soap opera territory at times (particularly in this final season, as the thuddingly dull Ross/Rachel saga twisted and turned unconvincingly), but the key to Friends was empathy: we genuinely cared for these characters as they developed.

We’ve watched the emasculation of Chandler; the cunning development of Ross from a whiner into an über-whiner, bringing David Schwimmer’s physical comedy gifts to the fore; Phoebe’s transformation from slightly sluttish kook into loyal wife; and Joey’s subtle relocation as the heart and conscience of the show (which won Matt LeBlanc his forthcoming spin-off).

For its resolute perkiness and mainstream appeal, Friends will never be as critically celebrated as the more mean-spirited likes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and there were times when the standard dipped alarmingly — Season Five, anyone? — but we always had the Chandler-Joey double act, Monica in a fat suit and innumerable catchphrases — "I know!", "We were on a break!", "How yoo doin’?" — to bring us back. Simply put, it made us laugh like hell for ten years straight. Could there be a better epitaph than that?