Back in 1994, Friends burst onto TV screens in the United States and changed the face of television forever. It was so much more than just the new comedy on the block - eventually going on to become one of the most iconic TV shows of all time.
However, when you look back at that first season and try to draw comparisons between then and now, it’s a little bit odd. It’s even more odd, though, to take a glance at some of the storylines and compare them to what actually happened by the time the final episode aired around the world in 2004.
Rachel’s Persona
There’s certainly an argument to be made that Rachel is similar in the tenth season to how she is in the first season, and we can understand where fans would be coming from would that.
However, we think there’s a big shift in how vulnerable she seems – and especially with how few life skills she seems to have in comparison to the end of the series when she’s thinking about jetting off to Paris. She relies heavily on her parents and while she does step away from that, it takes some time for her to adjust.
A Different Carol
As bizarre as it may seem, recasting actually happens pretty frequently on television shows – and Friends isn’t immune to that.
The Carol that we see in the first few episodes of Friends is completely different from the Carol that we see for the remainder of the show’s run. Obviously they don’t reference it because that’d be odd, but new viewers of the show may sit back and question whether or not this is actually the same character. Behind the scenes, there’s always a whole lot more going on than meets the eye.
Marcel
Ross is one of the most mature members of the group throughout the core of the series (aside from a few moments of chaos), and that trend makes it even crazier that he once had a monkey named Marcel.
If you watched the first season religiously then there’s no way you would’ve been able to miss him, as he was such an integral part of Ross’ identity for so long. It’s weird to think that his shelf life didn’t really last beyond the first season, and in many ways, we hope that he could’ve been mentioned a few more times in the later seasons.
Fashion Sense
As we sit here writing this in 2020, it seems odd to think about just how many styles have been and gone over the years since Friends first hit our screens way back in 1994.
If you go back and look at some of the episodes, it’s wild to see the difference. From the shirts that were a few sizes too big to the hairstyles to the jazzy outfits and beyond, it’s like looking at a different world. For perhaps the biggest shift you only need to take one look at Joey who seems to take on a completely different look once the first season comes to an end.
Huge Phones
Cell phones are starting to get a little bit bigger these days, but they’re still nowhere near what they used to be. If you wanted to keep contact with people on a regular basis back in the 90s, you had to have the chunkiest ‘brick’ available to you at the time.
From the football phone to the phones some of the characters carry around on a day to day basis, it really is a whole other world that they seem to be living in. This may not seem like such a big deal – until you think about just how much of an impact phones have on our lives.
Amazing Ratings
While television ratings always seemed to be a little bit higher on average back in the day, mainly because streaming services hadn’t found their way into our lives just yet, we were still shocked to learn that Friends was a huge hit from the word go.
Some shows take a few years to warm up and really get going in the ratings, but Friends was able to pull in more than 20 million viewers pretty much every week from the pilot onwards. They came bursting out of the blocks and didn’t look back.
Ross & Rachel
Every single season from the second onwards features some kind of development or shift in the relationship of Ross and Rachel, mainly because that’s one of the main stories the show tells over its 10-year run.
However, things are a bit different in the first season. It’s the only time when both characters don’t really have a mutual affection of any kind for each other, because as the title suggests, they’re just friends. Ross is clearly still in love with her after their days in high school together, but Rachel just hasn’t even thought about it yet.
Ben Not Being Born
We’re introduced to Ben at a pretty early point in the first season but even with that being the case, it’s odd to think that the son of Ross, who features so heavily in the show, didn’t even exist when the pilot aired.
While Ben may not have been a featured member of the cast in every single episode he was definitely a catalyst in how Ross’ story changed and developed as time went on. He had to adjust to being a father, and that wasn’t the easiest of transitions to make.
Clooney From ER
If George Clooney was to appear in a popular television show in the present day, people would say “that’s George Clooney, one of the biggest film stars in the world”.
Funnily enough, when he made his presence known in an episode of Friends, he wasn’t known as that at all. Instead, he was the handsome guy from ER, which caused many fans to think that there was some kind of crossover episode going on. They managed to bring him in whilst he was still waiting to burst into the mainstream.
Chandler & Monica
Aside from a few quick back and forth jabs and jibes here and there, we have no indication whatsoever that Chandler and Monica are going to get together one day – and the writers themselves probably didn’t even know at this point, either.
With Ross and Rachel there was a built in back story and while we came to learn that Chan and Mon had history, it wasn’t at all clear what that history was at this stage in proceedings. The sense of mystery behind this, in many ways, makes their journey even better.
