It started 25 years ago, but it seems like just yesterday. Six vibrant 20-somethings whose lives and loves were intimately entwined, left their keys on the kitchen top with teary eyes and went through the purple door, straight to the coffee house. We got to know them, their families..their day to day lives! They gave us memories and moments to live by, made us cry and made us laugh at the same time. But we all..we never left that room. So here's welcoming you back into their world, among FRIENDS.
This year, we visited the original friends set at Warner Brothers studio, FRIENDS pop-up in Los Angeles as well as in the New York City where we could witness the original props from the show and created all these pictures especially for this occasion of their 25 year anniversary.
Here's a special virtual tour for you all. I am sure after reading this, you will be booking your tickets to Los Angeles.
Rachel Green
It started with a careless bride fleeing her wedding, clambering out of a bathroom window.. and into the arms of friends. And ended with a single mother, brave enough to leave a dream job, and live a peaceful life. She was not just a waitress, she was a confident girl, brave enough to risk a well-settled life because she wanted to make a name of her own. She wanted to be more than a shoe! She wanted to be a purse or a hat! And we all know that you know that she is definitely not "Rachem". From Ross's ex-wife to doting mother to again being Mrs. Geller, Rachel knew the real world sucks but still, she ended up loving it and she's the one daughter their father is really proud of!
Ross Geller
It started with a guy working in the museum who corrected everybody's grammar all the time and saying the most depressing "Hi"s. And ended with him being the master of "Unagi" and "Pivot" and eventually losing his heart to "Salmon skin roll". He was Ross Geller, or rather Dr. Ross Geller, Ph.D., paleontologist, and inventor of "Science boy" who showed us that even a nerd can get the hottest girl in the school (you just have to keep trying for 9 years!).
Monica Geller
It all started with a chef, unable to find a stable relationship that she has been looking for. And ended with her getting two beautiful twins, a beautiful house, the most romantic husband and additionally, a family of 4 friends to take care of. Monica taught us how to stick to schedules, label and cross-reference all our photos, how to categories towels, boss around people and most importantly.. how to dance for your boyfriend by putting a turkey on your head. She was never just a girl with OCD, she was a mother without a child of her own, a woman with lots of courage and ambition. And if you thought she was being harsh with you, it's only because you were doing it wrong!!
Chandler Bing
It started with an awkward transponster, whose first words around girls were "Blaah blaah blaah". And ended with him getting the most beautiful wife. Every girl of our generation now wants to get a husband like our own Ms. Chanandler Bong or should I say "Bing-a-ling" (*inserts Janice's laugh*). Leaving his well paying job in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration and accepting an internship in an advertising firm, he showed us it is never too late to follow our passion and change careers. He was the inventor of sarcasm with a bullied past and a miserable childhood but ended up being the best boyfriend, friend, husband, and father you can ever find.
Phoebe Buffay
It started with a former child mugger turned masseuse, singing smelly cat in the coffee house. And ended with a Princess Consuela Banana Hammock getting married to her Crap Bag on a perfect snowy night. She taught us to live our lives on our own terms, but at the same time caring so much about animals and nature and always putting others before herself like when she carried her brother's triplets. She was carefree, reckless, weirdly awesome and ended up being the prettiest bride, and her own something blue. Quirky and whimsical Phoebe was always suspicious about things such as evolution and gravity but seemed to have no doubts about reincarnation!!
Joey Tribbiani
It started with "How you doin" and "girls on bread". And ended with, well "How you doin" and still not sharing his food, because few things never change. He was not just a struggling soap opera actor, he was the one to give up on Ursula and Kathy to redefine the meaning of true friendship. Whatever he says might not make much sense, but well..that's a "moo point". He was our Dr. Drake Ramoray, the one with a pure heart and no secrets, except for Hugsy, his bedtime penguin pal!
Central Perk
I wanted to scream "OH MY GAWD" at the top of my voice when we first entered the Central Perk set in WB studios. This was the place where everything started, on this iconic orange couch. But wait, Central Perk is incomplete without the man with the hair as bright as the sun, our favorite barista, the undeniable seventh "friend", Gunther! Undoubtedly, Central perk has given another meaning to the coffee house, something which makes us all even closer to our friends.
Apartment 19
The only requirement for living in this apartment is: you have to be hot, non-ugly female! And well, know what word comes next when Joey says "Doggy"! The home of J Man, Channy, Hugsy, Rosita, Stevie the tv and the duck, and the chick..that's apartment 19! The best part is, there are no rules, you could drink beer, watch Baywatch, play 'fireball' and the less-popular 'ultimate fireball'. Plus you get to throw wet paper towels here!
Apartment 20
The iconic purple walls, yellow-framed peephole, fridge full of magnets, where the coffee table is perfectly aligned with the carpet (and where Joey can keep his feet on while sitting on the couch) and the one where everything has its own pre-decided space..yes, that's Monica's (and Rachel's) apartment! Before we get a tour, here are some rules you need to follow:
1. It's all about order. Ribbons in the ribbon drawer. Sofa pillows on the sofa. Messy neighbors..in their own apartments. And the random stuff that doesn't fit any category? There's a secret closet, with a strong lock!
2. The best place to eat cookies is over the sink.
3. Don't turn blind eye to a mess just because it's not yours.
4. There's a car wash stuff in the cabinet, feel free to use it to wash dirty cars parked in front of the building.
5. After you scrub the toilet, scrub it again. (Even if people are using it at that moment!)
6. Sit on the couch fully clothed or be ready to clean it 17 times a day.
7. Make a good use of glass windows for stalking ugly naked guy. There are more rules for you to read, but since I am busy making a copy of the rule-sheet and keeping it in a fire-proof box at least 100 yards away from here, you are safe!
Our real-life FRIENDS moments
Veer and I have been the biggest FRIENDS fans, and on some levels, we connected well because of that reason. We were neighbors living in apartments in Los Angeles, trying to deal with newly found adulthood. Veer is witty, sarcastic, funny and always resonated with Chandler. On the other hand, my OCD, type-A neurotic tendencies, hyper-organization habits, cleanliness, constantly tripping and controlling nature has made people think of me as Monica. From then to this day when we were invited on the set of friends by Warner Brothers studio to create this content for FRIENDS.. it has been a life-changing journey for both of us.
We dressed up like Mondler and recreated some of their iconic moments!
To the Monica Geller inside me,
Thank you for showing me that I'm not the only one who's been planning her own wedding since childhood days. Thank you for telling me that it's okay to fancy China set, it's okay to have an attachment with pretty little home decor stuff, it's okay to be competitive and want to excel in every damn thing. Now I don't feel much bad about always making up some excuse in my head to justify my "loss". Thanks to her for making me realize that excessive need for organization and cleanliness is nothing but an OCD and it's okay to have it. Thank you for showing me that there are other people who also have this uncontrollable need to please people. Well, my controlling nature was never an issue because otherwise who would host my friends at home? How would those weekend plans come together? Who would give them perfectly organized google docs for any travel plans? I'm pretty sure they all bless the Monica in me for this reason! You taught me to be better at being the glue to hold my family and friends together. I have learned to own being opinionated, perfectionist, strong and high maintenance. And well well, the cherry on top is finding my perfect Chandler in my best friend to perfectly maintain me!
This one is for a little bit of Monica in every one of us, in any possible way. We love you.
To Veer aka my Chandler Bing,
We were there for each other during the toughest phases of our lives. You made me feel comfortable and became my bestest guy friend I always wanted in life. The way you care about people, making friends with any random stranger and talking to them like you've known them since years, the way your wry humor makes even the sceptics smile, the way you are passionate about your work, the way you keep yourself content and calm despite the mess, the scars is just so inspiring! You are witty, funny, sarcastic but definitely everyone's favorite person. You are not great at giving advice, but surely know how to interest people in sarcastic comments. And most importantly, thank you for not getting annoyed by my urge for perfection, OCD issues and letting me boss around you! (you signed up for it!)
These six individuals had their individual plans foiled for thanksgiving but ended up eating grilled cheese together in Monica's apartment, made it clear: families can be messy and unreliable sometimes but it's your friends you can depend on. FRIENDS showed us the real world, same-sex marriage, infertility, adoption, surrogacy, single parenthood..pretty much everything that people go through in real life. Maybe that's why it felt homely and never failed to make us smile.
On this special occasion of 25th anniversary, here's a big THANK YOU to the entire team of FRIENDS.
("Noo I am not crying. you are crying!!")
We are UNAGI,
We know that the real world sucks...but we still love it!
We know that some cats are Smelly,
when we move furniture we yell PIVOT!
and when we write a letter, we always use Front and Back.
We love each other like Lobsters, even if we were (not) on a break!
When traveling always check for the left phalange unless we are cruising in a Porsche-a!
We may not always be good at giving advice, but we can always help with a sarcastic comment.
You may not know, that we know, you know, we know...
that even after 25 years, they are always there for us!
