by Lisa Schwarzbaum

If I were Phoebe Buffay on Friends, strumming my guitar at Cafe Nervosa Central Perk, I would sing an ode to Lisa Kudrow, O Lisa Kudrow, the one Friend I would love to friend in real life! The elegantly funny, expressive performer — super-smart about playing less-than-self-aware women, and empathetic in her  portrayal of exasperated ladies — can currently be seen in the droll, way-too-overworked indie Paper Man, about a middle-aged novelist who can’t write. Actually, Kudrow mostly can’t be seen, since the movie is in such limited theatrical release. But when Paper Man comes to Netflix, where it belongs, I commend it to your queue: The story is labored (like a failed novel), but Jeff Daniels (as the struggling author), Emma Stone (as a local lass), and Ryan Reynolds (as an imaginary superhero) are delightful. And as the novelist’s surgeon wife, managing adult life chores while her husband wallows in a suspended adolescence, the glorious Lisa K does that thing she does best: She plays a woman whose conversation suggests there are far more interesting things going on her head than what might come out her mouth.

With an emotional palette chosen to suit the movie, the result is the creation of a character who is a serious, competent wife trying to make sense of a husband apparently regressing into childishness.  But shade her performance another way, and Kudrow becomes hilariously self-involved, blithely unreliable therapist Dr. Fiona Wallice in the tasty, bite-sized online comedy Web Therapy. Kudrow developed this genius little slice of web madness with Don Roos, the creatively like-minded filmmaker in whose features (including The Opposite of Sex and Happy Endings) the actress regularly appears. As reported on Deadline Hollywood, in an interesting loop-the-loop of mediums, Showtime has announced it will be broadcasting episodes of Web Therapy on cable TV next year. That’s great news for the army of fans who think of Kudrow as our pal, too.

During the the series’ run, pop psychologists have “prattled” about the cultural impact of Friends, with the producers laughing, “It’s only a TV show.”

Aniston’s hairstyle was nicknamed “The Rachel”, and copied around the world. Joey’s catchphrase, “How you doin’?”, has become a popular part of Western English slang, often used as a pick-up line or when greeting friends.

The series has also impacted on the English language, according to a study by a linguistics professor at the University of Toronto. The professor found that the characters used so as an adjective more often than other intensifiers, such as very and really.

The professor believed that although the preference had already made its way into the American vernacular, usage on the series may have accelerate the change. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, ratings increased 17% over the previous season as viewers tuned in for comfort.

The Central Perk coffee house, one of the principal settings of the series, has inspired various imitations worldwide. In 2006, Iranian businessman Mojtaba Asadian started a Central Perk franchise, registering the name in 32 countries. The decor of the coffee houses are inspired by the one in Friends, featuring replica couches, counters, neon signage and bricks.

The coffee houses also contain paintings of the various characters from the series, and televisions playing Friends’ episodes. James Michael Tyler, who plays the Central Perk waiter in the series, Gunther, attended the grand opening of the Dubai cafe, where he worked as a waiter.

 As part of a museum exhibit at Warner Bros. Studios, Central Perk was rebuilt and shown on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in October 2008. Lisa Kudrow revisited the set for the first time after the series finale in 2004

Set of Central Perk at Warner Bros. Studios

Although the producers thought of Friends as “only a TV show”,^[1] numerous psychologists investigated the cultural impact of Friends during the series’ run.^[1] Aniston’s hairstyle was nicknamed “The Rachel“, and copied around the world.^[1] Joey’s catchphrase, “How you doin’?”, became a popular part of Western English slang, often used as a pick-up line or when greeting friends.^[91] The series also impacted the English language, according to a study by a linguistics professor at the University of Toronto. The professor found that the characters used the word “so” to modify adjectives more often than other intensifiers, such as “very” and “really”. Although the preference had already made its way into the American vernacular, usage on the series may have accelerated the change.^[13] Following the September 11 attacks, ratings increased 17% over the previous season as viewers tuned in for comfort.^[60]

Friends is parodied in the twelfth season Murder, She Wrote episode “Murder Among Friends”. In the episode, amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) investigates the murder of a cast member in Buds, a fictional television series about the daily lives of a group of city friends. The episode was devised after CBS moved Murder, She Wrote from its regular Sunday night timeslot to a Thursday night timeslot directly opposite Friends on NBC; Angela Lansbury was quoted by Bruce Lansbury, her brother and Murder, She Wrote‘s supervising producer, as having “a bit of an attitude” about the move to Thursday, but he saw the plot as “a friendly setup, no mean-spiritedness”.^[92] Jerry Ludwig, the writer of the episode, researched the “flavor” of Buds by watching episodes of Friends.^[92]

The Central Perk coffee house, one of the principal settings of the series, has inspired various imitations worldwide. In 2006, Iranian businessman Mojtaba Asadian started a Central Perk franchise, registering the name in 32 countries. The decor of the coffee houses is inspired by Friends, featuring replica couches, counters, neon signage and bricks. The coffee houses also contain paintings of the various characters from the series, and televisions playing Friends‘ episodes. James Michael Tyler, who plays the Central Perk manager in the series, Gunther, attended the grand opening of the Dubai cafe, where he worked as a waiter.^[93] Central Perk was rebuilt as part of a museum exhibit at Warner Bros. Studios, and was shown on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in October 2008. Jennifer Aniston revisited the set for the first time since the series finale in 2004.^[94] From September 24 to October 7, 2009, a Central Perk replica was based at Broadwick Street, Soho, London. The coffee house sold real coffee to customers and featured a display of Friends memorabillia and props, such as the Geller Cup from the season three episode “The One with the Football”.^[95] In 2009, a dance remix of the song “Smelly Cat” became a popular internet meme.^[96]

Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. The series revolves around a group of friends in the area of Manhattan, New York City. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The original executive producers were Crane, Kauffman and Kevin Bright, with numerous others being promoted in later seasons.

Kauffman and Crane began developing Friends under the title Insomnia Cafe in November 1993. They presented the idea to Bright, with whom they had previously worked, and together they pitched a seven-page treatment of the series to NBC. After several script rewrites and changes, the series was finally named Friends and premiered on NBC’s coveted Thursday 8:30 pm timeslot. Filming for the series took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California in front of a live audience. After ten seasons on the network, the series finale was promoted by NBC, and viewing parties were organized around the US. The finale, which first aired on May 6, 2004, was watched by 52.5 million American viewers, making it the fourth most-watched series finale in television history.

Friends received positive reviews throughout its run, and became one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. The series won many awards and was nominated for 63 Primetime Emmy Awards. The series was also very successful in the ratings, consistently ranking in the top ten in the final primetime ratings. Friends has made a large cultural impact. The Central Perk coffee house that had featured prominently in the series has inspired various imitations throughout the world. Repeats of the series continue to air worldwide, and all seasons have been released on DVD. Following the series finale, the spin-off series Joey was created.

Written by Julie Miller

 While the world holds out for a Central Perk reunion movie, Matthew Perry continues his quest for post-Friends success on broadcast television. The 17 Again co-star’s latest hope: a single-camera comedy he will act in, co-write and executive produce under the Sony Pictures TV umbrella. But how will it stack up against Monica and Joey’s current television reincarnations?

Inspired by his own milestone birthday last summer, Perry’s show has him starring as a “self-involved manager of a second-rate sports arena who begins to re-evaluate his life on his 40th birthday.” This sounds an awful lot like the short-lived Mike O’Malley Show (A 30-year-old hockey fan re-evaluates his life after attending the wedding of a close friend), which brings up an interesting point. Who has more star power: 1999’s Mike O’Malley or 2009’s Matthew Perry?

Other Friends alums have found relative success in single-camera television recently. Courteney Cox’s Cougar Town was picked up by ABC for an entire season last week and Matt LeBlanc is set to star in Showtime’s television satire Episodes. Lisa Kudrow dabbled in premium cable single-cam back in 2005 with The Comeback, but has since put herself back on the market for Smelly Cat tribute videos. If Perry gets some traction with his semi-autobiographical comedy, he has a chance at becoming the third most culturally relevant Friend after Cox and Jennifer Aniston. David Schwimmer can write the press release.