The Pilot Airing back in 1994, this particular sitcom pilot started by introducing us to a group of five amiable friends, hanging out in a coffee shop, only to have their harem rumbled by a sopping wet bride. By the end of this masterclass in how to set up a television comedy franchise, five had become six and viewers were already eager to see the likes of Ross mumble his way through a situation again, Monica act neurotic and Joey say something, well, a tad dumb. It's a good thing, then, that NBC had already seen the quality in this show and put in a half season order before the pilot was even aired. What Did It Change? Friends went on to be a smash hit; the cast have become household names and the show remains loved by millions throughout the world - we all know this. But, drilling down to the core of Friends' obvious charms, you find an epicentre that continues to send shockwaves through television. Although the show was criticised at the time for being derivative of Seinfeld, the structure of this comedy - the brainchild of David Crane and Marta Kauffman - was something quite original, as where Seinfeld was reliant on a linchpin character - the titular star - Friends was purely an equal billing affair, with the creators never setting out to make a show where any one character shone brighter than the other. Legacy The idea of a bunch of guys and girls falling in and out of love, climbing the career ladder and generally getting on with life for all of its challenges and quirks was born when this pilot first aired. Without Friends, there would be no That 70s Show, Cold Feet, Coupling, How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory.
Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing.
He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.
