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Lopiccolo
Maria Lopiccolo

Professor Blackman

ENC 1101

5 December 2023

Friends Paper

Whether you are a fan of the ninety’s sitcom Friends, or not, Friends is a show that

people are familiar with, whether it is sarcastic jokes from Chandler Bing, the long going line

“We were on a Break” from Ross Geller, or the pickup line “How you doin’” from Joey Tribiani.

For many people Friends is also a comfort show for when they are not feeling their best, and the

show provides a sense of stress relief as well as humor. When you watch Friends for the first

time, you might not have noticed how much each of the six main characters: Rachel, Monica,

Phoebe, Chandler, Joey, and Ross, developed throughout the seasons. However, the six

characters changed quite a bit throughout the ten seasons.

In episode one of Friends, Rachel Green stumbles into Central Perk, a local coffee shop,

spoiled, selfish, and demanding. Rachel came into the shop as a woman spoiled by her father's

money and did not know anything about the real world (Francese). She came in dressed in her

wedding gown, after she ran away from her wedding to a man she did not love, a man that she

was going to marry for his wealth and position. After she decided not to get married, Rachel

moved in with Monica, her friend from high school, and cut up her father’s credit cards that she

was very reliant on. Rachel then got a temporary waitressing job at Central Perk. After a few

years of working as a waitress, she decided to put her love of fashion to use, quit her job, and got
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a job at Bloomingdale (Haldar). That job and experience eventually led to a position at Ralph

Lauren and eventually led her to work in fashion in Paris by the end of season ten (Haldar).

Rachel’s character development was not just in her professional life; it was also shown by

the fact that she became a single mother despite people telling her she could not do it. For

example, Ross has an assumption that they are going to get married and when she said they were

not he states, “You can’t possibly do this alone” (Nickel 35). Rachel’s father also assumes that

Ross and Rachel are going to get married, and when he finds out he screams at Ross. Later, Jack

Geller, Rachel’s father, even claims a wedding for Joey’s sister was Ross and Rachel’s

anniversary party to try and cover up the scandal (Nickel 35). Rachel turned from a spoiled brat,

who did not know anything about the real world, to a single mother, in a career that she was

passionate about, and confident in herself and her abilities.

Although Monica Geller did not have as much character development as some of the

other characters on the show, she still grew over the ten seasons of Friends. One way Monica

changed over the ten seasons is the fact that she finally got the family she was hoping for since

the beginning of season one. Early in the series, Monica broke up with her boyfriend Richard

because he did not want kids. Although getting married and having kids was one of the top

things on Monica’s list, she never pushed her husband, Chandler, to having them too soon if he

was not ready, as well as never pressured him to propose if he was not ready (Wilkinson). This

shows a gain in Monica’s maturity towards the middle and end of the ten seasons of Friends.

Pheobe Buffay is portrayed as quirky, eccentric, and spiritual in the early seasons of

Friends. Although she is still known as the quirky and eccentric one in the group throughout the

later seasons, Pheobe is portrayed in a more mature manner, and even adhered to more social

conventions such as getting married in the tenth season (Mcginley). You see this throughout the
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course of the series; Pheobe becomes more open to wanting a “normal life”, and in the last

episode she asks her husband, Mike, if he wanted kids. Pheobe found a way to be both “quirky”

and normal (Graceling-Moore).

In the first season of Friends, Chandler Bing was financially stable but emotionally

immature (Francese). Chandler used humor and sarcasm as a defense mechanism due to his

tough childhood. His parents divorced at age nine on Thanksgiving, and his dad cheated on his

mom with a man and ended up becoming a drag artist in Las Vegas. Chandler had a tough time

processing everything and related everything about his parent's separation to Thanksgiving

dinner, and therefore stopped wanting anything to do with Thanksgiving. Chandlers most notable

development was because of his relationship with Monica. Chandler went from being a man with

a fear of commitment to being in a loving marriage with Monica and eventually adopting twins

by the end of the show. Not only did Monica help Chandler with his fear of commitment, but she

helped him “make peace” with his father, and finally talk to him after years of no contact (Tyler).

Joey Tribiani’s character development might not be as obvious as Rachel’s or Chandler’s,

but he changes a lot throughout the ten seasons of Friends. One major way Joey changed in

Friends was how he went from being the one asking for money to being the one able to help

others with money. At the beginning of Friends, Joey did not have a stable job and always found

himself asking Chandler for money to help out with bills or even headshots. After having a stable

acting job in the soap opera, Days of our Lives, towards the end of the show, Joey was in the

position to be able to help both Monica and Chandler out with money, when Chandler was out of

a job (Koerner). Joey not only gained in the career aspect of his life, but also gained relationships

with both Chandler and Rachel, who ended up being two of his closest friends (Koerner).
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Throughout the ten seasons of Friends, Ross Geller’s character developed in a couple of

ways. Ross built a distinguished career throughout the show and was the only main character in

it to keep a stable and meaningful career throughout the series (Sandall, 145). Toward the end of

the show Ross was working in his dream career as a professor, and he had the chance to go to

Barbados to give a keynote speech (Wilkinson). Ross also has a change in his family, he learned

how to get used to Carol, his ex-wife and Susan, Carols life-partner, raising his son Ben. At the

beginning of the show Ross was very bitter towards Susan, but later Ross learned that Carol was

happy, and his bitterness changed to him wanting Carol to be happy. Ross also had a lot of

development with his on-and-off relationship with Rachel Green. Ross wanted to be with Rachel

since ninth grade typing class, and when he finally got together with her, they broke up due to

one of his mistakes.

In the ninth season Rachel finds out she is pregnant from a one-night stand with Ross.

Ross and Rachel have a baby girl, Emma, which gave him a chance to have the possibility to be

with his true love, Rachel, again. At the end of the show, Rachel had an offer and decided to go

to Paris for a dream career in fashion. On the finale, when Ross went to the airport to stop Rachel

from going to Paris, there was the long-awaited question on whether Ross and Rachel would end

up together (Heller 154). Rachel ended up getting off the plane and coming home to be with

Ross. After ten years of the show, Ross finally got Rachel.

Friends followed the life of six friends as they matured from young adults in their early

twenties to adults that have used their life experiences to grow and mature. It is this growth of

the characters that made the show so immensely popular as it allowed its viewers and fans to

relate to the struggles and accomplishments of the six friends. The use of humor in this show was
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coupled with serious issues that each of the six characters were able to experience and, in turn,

grow and develop into the adults that they became.

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Annotated Bibliography

Francese, Andrea. "‘Friends’ Fans Agree, Rachel Green Was the Character Who Grew the

Most." Showbiz CheatSheet, 24 Sept. 2021, www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/friends-

fans-agree-rachel-green-was-the-character-who-grew-the-most.html/

This article talks about how Rachel Green from FRIENDS had the most character

development out of all the characters.it talks about how she went from s spoiled daddy’s

girl to a self-sufficient businesswoman. The article also talks about how chandler also

quite a large character development, from going to an emotionally immature man to a

more mature man who is a good husband and is trustworthy and thoughtful.

Graceling-Moore, Rose. "Friends: 10 Biggest Ways Pheobe Changed From Season 1 To The

Finale." Screen Rant, 23 Feb. 2020, screenrant.com/friends-phoebe-buffay-biggest-

changes/#embraced-wanting-a-normal-life.

` This article talks about how Pheobe changed throughout the show. One notable change

was how she embraced, wanting to be more “normal” towards the end of the show.

Haldar, Sneha. "Inside Rachel Green's Growth: How This 'Friends' Character Went from Being a

Spoiled Child to a Responsible Adult." SK Pop, 18 Jan. 2022,

www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/inside-rachel-green-s-growth-how-friends-character-

went-spoiled-child-responsible-adult.
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This article talks about how Rachel Green from FRIENDS grew over the ten seasons of

the sitcom. Rachel started from a naïve twenty-four-year-old who knew nothing about

life, to becoming a woman that channeled her talents of fashion into a job she loved and

became an amazing single mother.

Heller, Dana. "Sex and the Series: Paris, New York, and Post-National Romance." American

Studies, vol. 46, no. 2, 2005, pp. 145-169,

https://doi.org/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40643852

This article talks about the last episode of FRIENDS when Rachel is deciding to go to

Paris or stay in New York. It talks about the resistance from the five other friends, and

especially Ross.

Koerner, Allyson. "11 Huge Ways Joey Changed On 'Friends' From The Pilot To The Finale."

Bustle, 15 Oct. 2017, www.bustle.com/p/11-ways-joey-tribbiani-of-friends-changed-

from-the-pilot-to-the-finale-78294.

This article talks about the character development of Joey Tribiani in Friends. For

example, how he can help people with money now, and his development with different

people.

Mcginley, Rhys. "10 Biggest Character Developments In Friends." Screen Rant, 22 Apr. 2020,

screenrant.com/biggest-character-developments-friends/#janice-amp-settling-down.
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This article talks about different characters of friends and their character development.

Whether it is Chandler, Pheobe, Monica, Janice, Joey, and even Mike.

Nickel, Eleanor H. ""I'm the Worst Mother Ever": Motherhood, Comedy, and the Challenges of

Bearing and Raising Children in "Friends"." Studies in Popular Culture, vol. 35, no. 1,

2012, pp. 25-45, https://doi.org/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23416364

This article talks about Motherhood in the show FRIENDS, whether it is Rachel Green

becoming a single mother, Pheobe Buffay surrogating her brothers' babies, or Monica

(and Chandler) adopting their two babies at the end of the tenth season. It shows how

FRIENDS portray different types of motherhood.

Sandell, Jillian. "I'll Be There For You: Friends and the Fantasy of Alternative Families."

American Studies, TV and American Culture, vol. 39, no. 2, 1998, pp. 141-155,

https://doi.org/http://www.jstor.com/stable/40642973

This article talks about the “alternate’ families in FRIENDS, such as Carol, Ben, Susan,

and Ross. As well as how the phrase “friends” means the choice of family and how in this

sitcom, the word “friends”, and “family” become interchangeable.

Tyler, Adrienne. "Friends: Chandler Had The Best Development Of Every Main Character."

Screen Rant, 29 Feb. 2020, screenrant.com/friends-show-chandler-bing-best-

development-arc-reason/
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This article talks about Chandler Bing and how he has the most character development.

Chandler used his humor and sarcasm as a defense mechanism at the beginning of the

show because of his rough childhood. It talks about how Chandler’s biggest changes

began along with his relationship with Monica, and how he overcame his fear of

commitment.

Wilkinson, Matthew . "Friends: 10 Biggest Ways Monica Changed From Season 1 To The

Finale." Screen Rant, 2 Mar. 2020,

screenrant.com/friends-monica-character-growth/#she-becomes-funnier.

This article talks about how Monica Geller changed over the ten seasons of Friends.

Monica gained maturity, got the family she wanted since the beginning, and even got

funnier through Chandler.

Wilkinson, Matthew. "Friends: 10 Biggest Ways Ross Changed From Season 1 To The Finale."

Screen Rant, 25 Feb. 2020, screenrant.com/friends-ross-biggest-changes-during-the-

show/#he-has-two-children.

This article talks about Ross and how he changed throughout the TV show Friends. It

talks about his career in Friends and how it changed throughout the show. He had a stable

career unlike other characters, but he went up in his career a lot, like how he got his

dream career by becoming a professor and teaching others.