A show focusing on a group of six 20-somethings living in the Big Apple and going about their daily lives took off in the 90s, reaching sky-high ratings. Watching a set of characters with unique and contrasting personalities deal with generic life problems such as job troubles, paying rent, and dating resonated with audiences nationally and globally.
This now iconic TV show, NBC’s ‘Friends,’ was simultaneously relatable, funny, warm-hearted, and simply fun. The show gained massive viewership and traction at the time of release, throughout its ten seasons, and has reached a whole new level of viewership through online binge-watchers in the present.
What is the reason behind this widespread popularity? Was it Rachel’s fashionable haircuts and outfits that soon became trendsetters, Chandler’s characteristic sarcasm, or Matt Le Blanc’s lovable portrayal of goofball Joey Tribianni? From any of these aspects, the show had intrinsic value that turned it into a go-to comfort viewing for many individuals.
One of the contributors to this comfort that people associate with the show is the fact that the characters portrayed were surprisingly ordinary. None of them were billionaires or very high-achieving individuals, nor did any of them particularly excel at their job. In fact, two of the six friends struggled to find their true professional passion for a long time in the series. Moreover, like ordinary people, the six friends faced everyday problems like financial troubles and dating crises.
This tone set by ‘Friends’ was instrumental for viewers to relate and sympathize with these characters, while also celebrating their occasional successes since they appeared non-threatening in terms of achievement.
Each episode of the show was structured as a story within itself, unlike many modern TV shows. People can pick any episode from any season and start watching without having to miss out on major developments. The writers of the show also ensured that all six characters were equally balanced across the show in terms of story arcs and the number of jokes, one-liners, or dramatic lines said by each character. These factors paired with an amazing cast, each of whom owned their roles, set up ‘Friends’ to be an all-time classic. It was not until three years after the last season of the show had aired that another sitcom came along and managed to meet, if not surpass, ‘Friends’ in popularity.
‘The Big Bang Theory’ aired its first episode in 2007 and was reasonably ambitious for its time. Featuring a relatively diverse main cast, the show found its niche in science, popular culture, superheroes and everything in between. Positioning its smart, yet socially awkward characters as cool, the show set itself apart from other sitcoms at the time such as ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ ‘Parks and Recreation’ and ‘Two and a Half Men’.
Unlike ‘Friends’ which equally balanced all six main characters, ‘The Big Bang Theory focused primarily on its three main characters — Sheldon, Penny, and Leonard — with the inclusion of the rest of the supporting characters in almost every episode. Also unlike many shows at the time, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ expanded its primary cast up until its fourth season to include two more regular characters.
A success of the series, which led to the show’s popularity, was its inclusion of scientific and pop-culture references. The showrunners ensured that there was a heavy focus on pop-culture references and scientific accuracy, so much so that they hired actual scientists and university professors to fact-check all scientific portions of their scripts. Audiences who understood these references were positively rewarded as they too felt smart and could then in turn relate to the characters of the show. Additionally, the show became known for its cameos of real-life geniuses and industry leaders such as Stephen Hawking, Steve Wozniak, Bill Nye, Elon Musk and more. ‘The Big Bang Theory’ was ambitious in its attempt to synonymize genius and nerdy with cool and succeeded for the most part. The show also aired at a time when superheroes were becoming household names, propelled by the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Sitcoms such as ‘Friends’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ have become rewatchable classics with surprisingly high viewership even though many years have passed since their original airing. These sitcoms built upon the formula and pretext set up by sitcoms that came before them like ‘Seinfeld’ and improved upon it with the incorporation of relatable stories, lovable characters and a general feeling of comfort and happiness in each episode.
This has led to modern sitcoms such as ‘The Other Two’ and ‘Abbott Elementary’ also incorporating similar writing and storytelling in order to connect with audiences. A peculiar characteristic of TV shows such as ‘Friends’ is that it’s still finding newer generations of audiences that are presently able to connect with the show’s topics and themes, despite the fact that the references are dated and many of the jokes do not stand the test of time. Given this unique trend, it is likely that today’s sitcoms will continue to be relatable and loved by audiences far into the future.
Ishan Varshney is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the spring 2023 quarter. He can be reached at ivarshne@uci.edu.