How do Kaufman and Crane hook the audience in the pilot episode of "Friends"?

Daniel Goldstone

ENGLISH MEDIA COURSEWORK

How do Kaufman and Crane hook the audience in the pilot episode of “Friends”?

Before Friends debuted in America in 1992 the traditional sitcom was purely centred around the family: -mum, dad, a couple of children and the occasional grandparent or aunt and uncle. But Friends was different, it was about six twenty-something’s with no family ties no husbands only ex wives and ex fiancés, no mums, dads, children or grandparents in sight. It was about young people just having fun and enjoying life. Friends marked the beginning of a new era for sitcoms; countless shows have followed with the same principal idea as Friends- Will&Grace, Scrubs and Coupling just to name a few, they have all been about the same thing Friends has been about- friends getting together and enjoying each others company and enjoying life. Friends also broke the mould by dealing with issues that had never been dealt with on television before, issues such as lesbian marriages, carrying your brothers baby, Lamaze techniques, divorce etc. These were all necessary as America had it’s highest divorce rating ever when Friends debuted. So even before the first episode of Friends had aired you could see it was going to mark the beginning of a new era in the world of sitcoms and televisions.

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Straightaway from the very first opening title sequence you could see Friends was going to be different, whether it had just the one series or ten series people knew it would set a new trend in the world of television sitcoms just by watching the opening title scene. Throughout the tile scene the six main characters are seen dancing around, playing in a water fountain and having fun with each other. It had colourful lighting the characters were all messing around and playing it had everything previous sitcoms hadn’t had. Even the lyrics show how close the friends are when they say, “I’ll be there for you”. The lyrics signified that the ‘Friends’ would always be there for each other and care for each other, they show that they have known each other for along time as they are obviously very comfortable with each other and can have fun with each other. This was one of the main reasons why the audience was hooked in to see how close the ‘friends’ are because it is clear that they are extremely close and comfortable with each other and can mess around with each other.

The coffee house Central Perk has been the backbone and main meeting place in every series of Friends. But in the pilot episode of Friends it is especially important as it shows that it is a place where they are all comfortable in and can sit there talking for ages about relationships and any other problems they have. Central Perk also seems like it is a very easy to sit in for along time as it has comfy sofas and comfy chairs not just the traditional wooden tables and chairs. The writers have also created a great sense of a relaxed atmosphere they do this by the choice of furniture and even the waiters and waitresses are relaxed, this makes it believable that six twenty-somethings go and sit there and drink coffee for hours on end. The writers create the illusion that the friends have been going to Central Perk for along time by writing that the characters always sit in the same place and are outraged when any one else sits there. The writers show how important Central Perk is to the characters by starting and ending nearly every episode there showing that whatever has gone on or is going on in there lives they can always come back to there favourite place and be with each other

Central Perk is the very first the audience sees after the opening credits, after it zooms in, it shows Chandler, Joey, Monica, Phoebe sitting and talking and the audience, just by watching the opening credits and seeing that there are six people in the credits and four in the opening scene, can see that two people are missing: Ross and Rachel. Ross and Rachel’s late entrances are significant to the series in many ways. One way is that it shows that they are different from the others- Ross is different because his wife has just left him and Rachel is different because she has just left her husband