It's hard to believe that the final episode of Friends aired more than 18 years ago, and a lot has changed in the world since then. Those six iconic characters were the heroes of the 1990s and, for devoted fans, pretty much everything they said was funny and relevant. But does Friends make much sense to a young audience today? As Chandler would say: "Could things BE more different?"
One mother has put it to the test by rewatching Friends with her 14-year-old daughter and immediately found a huge list of things that made sense in the 90s, but now need to be explained. Author and mum, Rebecca Makkai is based in Chicago. Her Twitter bio reads: "Pulitzer & Nat'l Book Award finalist, winner of ALA Carnegie Medal for THE GREAT BELIEVERS. Artistic Director at @storystudio, She/her. Daughter of a refugee."
Over the weekend she tweeted to her 65,000 followers: "I'm rewatching all of Friends with my 14-year-old daughter. We are on season 2. Here is a running, but incomplete, list of all the things I have needed to explain to her: Milk cartons used to have pictures of missing kids, who Dudley Moore was, who Joan Collins is, what pagers were, and how they worked. (I needed help from my husband on this one.) That you could see people off at the airport gate, that you could meet people at the airport gate."
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Rebecca's list continues in a long thread: "The fact that if this apartment were real, it would be worth millions of dollars, what Bloomingdales is, who Demi Moore is, that Eddie Moskowitz is a Jewish name, how perfume samples work in department stores, why secretaries answer office phones, what "VD" is, and how stock photography works, who Hank Azaria is, and the fact that Minsk used to be in the USSR."
With almost 70,000 likes, this Tweet has resonated far and wide with Friends devotees added their suggestions for non-sensical moments in the hit TV sitcom. @aannnnaaaaaaaa said: "Phoebe is seeing a guy in season 3 and he gets to the coffee shop and he says 'is there a phone here for me to check my messages?' She says 'yeah! Do you need a quarter?' He says 'no, I always keep one in my sock', this dialogue is almost indecipherable in today's world."
And @scottduncan88 tweeted: "Explain how Ross and Joey watch Die Hard and don’t even recognise Elizabeth’s dad." He's got a point there. If you know, you know.
The cast of Friends came back together for a reunion show in May 2021, hosted by James Corden, in which they visited the old set and reminisced about old times. Fans relished the chance to see the stars back together and were even treated to some revealed moments like David Schwimmer (who plays Ross) and Jenifer Aniston (who plays Rachel) admitting they did have a crush on each other in real life. Delicious.
Friends is available to stream on Netflix.
