'' Friends'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

created by David Crane and

Marta Kauffman Marta Fran Kauffman (born September 21, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the co-creator of the NBC sitcom '' Friends'' with her longtime friend, David Crane. Both Kauffman and Crane were also executive p ...

for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. Starring

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...

as Rachel Green,

Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...

Monica Geller Monica E. Geller is a fictional character, one of the six main characters who appears on the American sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and portrayed by actress Courteney Cox, Monica appears in all of ...

Lisa Kudrow Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She rose to fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), which has since been named one of the greatest television cha ...

Phoebe Buffay Phoebe Buffay is one of the six main characters from the American sitcom, '' Friends''. She is created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman and portrayed by actress Lisa Kudrow. In the series' universe, Phoebe was born on February 16 and is the ...

Matt LeBlanc Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, ''Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc r ...

Joey Tribbiani Joseph Francis "Joey" Tribbiani Jr. is a fictional character, serving as one of the primary characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and the protagonist of its spin-off ''Joey (TV series), Joey''. He is portrayed by Matt LeBlanc in both series. ...

Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...

Chandler Bing Chandler Muriel Bing is a fictional character from the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', portrayed by actor Matthew Perry. Chandler was born to Nora Tyler Bing, an erotic romance novelist, and Charles Bing, a gay female impersonator and star of a Las Veg ...

, and

David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom ''Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primeti ...

Ross Geller Ross Geller, portrayed by David Schwimmer, is one of the six main characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends''. Ross is considered by many to be the most intelligent member of the group and is noted for his goofy but lovable demeanor. His relatio ...

, it premiered on September 22, 1994, as part of NBC's

Must See TV Must See TV is an American advertising slogan that was used by NBC to brand its primetime blocks during the 1990s, and most often applied to the network's Thursday night lineup, which featured some of its most popular sitcoms and drama series of ...

lineup. Its finale aired on May 6, 2004, after ten seasons and 236 episodes. The show follows the characters' personal and professional lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

; according to Crane and Kauffman's original pitch, the show "is about friendship because when you're single and in the city, your friends are your family". ''Friends'' became a massive success both during and after its run, and it has frequently been named one of the greatest television shows of all time. The series has been recognized with numerous accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Awards from sixty-two nominations. At the

54th Primetime Emmy Awards The 54th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 22, 2002. Nominations were announced July 22, 2002. The ceremony was hosted by Conan O'Brien and was broadcast on NBC. Two networks, FX and VH1, received their first major nominations ...

in 2002, ''Friends'' won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series for its eighth season, which coincided with the year the show was the most-watched program in the United States; it received five additional nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series during its run. The main cast members all submitted themselves for supporting acting nominations at the Emmys until 2002, when they submitted themselves for lead acting. Kudrow won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the

50th Primetime Emmy Awards The 50th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 13, 1998. It was broadcast on NBC. When ''Frasier'' was announced as the winner of Outstanding Comedy Series, Emmy history was made. The NBC sitcom became the first show to win one o ...

in 1998, while Aniston won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2002; LeBlanc, Perry, and Schwimmer also received Emmy nominations for their performances.

Michael Lembeck Michael Lembeck (born June 25, 1948) is an American actor and television and film director. Best known as Max Horvath in '' One Day at a Time'' (1979-1984). Life and career Lembeck was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Caroline Dubs and ...

won an Emmy for directing "

The One After the Superbowl "The One After the Superbowl" is a double-length episode of the American television sitcom '' Friends second season. The episode premiered on NBC on January 28, 1996, as the lead-out for NBC's telecast of Super Bowl XXX. The main storyline of ...

", and

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

and

Christina Applegate Christina Applegate (born November 25, 1971) is an American actress. As a child actress, she gained recognition for starring as Kelly Bundy in the Fox sitcom '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997). Applegate established a successful film a ...

won Emmys for their guest performances. ''Friends'' was also recognized by many guilds and critics' associations. It won two Screen Actors Guild Awards – one for its ensemble and one for Kudrow – from fourteen nominations. Additionally, it received nominations for a

Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Catego ...

, two

Producers Guild of America Awards The Producers Guild of America Awards were originally established in 1990 by the Producers Guild of America as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor ...

, and two

Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility T ...

. The show was nominated for ten Golden Globe Awards and nine Satellite Awards, winning one of each for Aniston's and Kudrow's performances, respectively. It was nominated for six

Television Critics Association Awards The TCA Awards are awards presented by the Television Critics Association in recognition of excellence in television. There are eleven categories, which are presented every summer towards the end of the organization's summer press tour. Due to ...

before receiving the TCA Heritage Award in 2018. The show also saw large success from awards selected by the public, winning eleven

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...

and twelve

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United ...

. Internationally, the series won a British Academy Television Award and three Logie Awards and earned nominations for two

Banff Rockie Award The Banff World Media Festival (formerly known as the Banff World Television Festival) is an international media event held in the Canadian Rockies at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The festival is dedicated to world ...

s, a

British Comedy Award The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards ( ...

, and eight

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are vot ...

Awards and nominations

Total nominations and awards for the cast

Notes

Nominees for awards

Other

References

External links