WEBVTT FILE
♪♪
-It's not very often
an event comes along
that brings everyone together.
[ Camera shutter clicks ]
-Even insiders are surprised
when it becomes one
of the most popular
and profitable shows
in TV history.
-We didn't know it was
going to be as big as it was.
-Skipping "Friends"
is almost a crime in the '90s.
-You couldn't escape it.
-At one point,
the cast's on basically
every single magazine.
-We all crave
to have friends
who will really be there
for everything.
-But not all friends
are created equal.
-The cast are not
being given the same paychecks.
They're all out for themselves.
-And production on the show
becomes increasingly filled
with drama.
-It's just a sausage factory.
-The show's stars are singed
by the glaring spotlight.
-It's just a very, very
strange thing to go through.
-They are under
the vicious microscope
of late '90s tabloid media.
-And then the cast of
the world's favorite comedy...
It can be a lot
to manage.
-...is touched by tragedy.
-Particularly,
if you're hiding a secret.
-I'm doing great.
I'm doing great.
Couldn't be better.
Yeah.
♪♪
-How you doin'?
[ Dial-up modems screeching ]
♪♪
♪♪
[ Indistinct chatter ]
-In the '90s,
America stops on Thursday nights
as The Rembrandts sing 10
words, punctuated by four claps.
[ "I'll Be There For You"
plays ]
-♪ So no one told you
life was gonna be this way ♪
[ Camera shutter clicks ]
-The sitcom
about 20-somethings
living in New York
is impossible to ignore.
-Everybody watched "Friends"
unless you were living
under a rock.
-Fans are soon asking each
other, which "Friend" are you?
The spoiled runaway bride?
-[Scoffs] Well,
maybe I don't need your money.
[ Phone call ends ]
Wait, wait, I said maybe.
-A smart, obsessive compulsive?
The science nerd?
Maybe the charming,
dumb hot guy?
-How you doin'?
-Or eccentric musician?
How about the funny one?
-I'm not great at the advice.
Can I interest you
in a sarcastic comment?
[ Laughter ]
-It's really very hard
to overstate what
an exceptional hit it was.
-How good of friends are you?
-Not just in the States,
but really all over the world.
-30 years after its debut,
the series continues
to make friends
with new generations of viewers.
-I find it amazing
that its continued to have such,
uh, love and such an audience.
[ Camera shutter clicks ]
-It wasn't that they were
just beautiful people.
It's that they created
something so magical together.
-But the show's bright,
happy exterior
hides shadowy
secrets behind the scenes.
-We think the story of "Friends"
is going to end happy,
but unfortunately it ends
with a surprise twist.
[ Ambulance sirens wailing ]
-Requesting two additional units
and a supervisor,
respond to Blue Sail Drive.
-♪ Must See TV ♪
Thursday, "Must See TV"
means no more repeats.
-Get out!
-"Friends."is born at the height
of NBC's dominance
as America's
number one network,
anchored by
a Thursday night lineup
of hit comedies including
"Seinfeld"
"Mad About You"
and "Frasier."
It's all new comedy,
all night long.
-Whoo!
-We just related
to television
very differently in the 1980s,
in the early 1990s
than we do now.
My name is Saul Austerlitz,
and I'm the author
of "Generation Friends."
That we would just, you know,
turn the TV on at 8:00
and turn it off
at 10:00 or 11:00
and not change the channel.
It seems very alien now,
but NBC in particular
became a real master of evenings
like this.
[ Ceiling clattering ]
-But the shows on primetime
are not being cast
for audiences of all ages.
-There were shows
about middle-aged people,
doctors and lawyers,
kind of professional shows.
And then there were shows
about families
with mom and dad and the kids.
Television, even in
the early '90s,
really wasn't
about young people.
-The president of NBC wants
desperately for that to change.
-Warren Littlefield said
he started wondering about
those people and
that age group and, you know.
Where was the show about that
and for them?
I'm Kelsey Miller,
and I am the author
of the book,
"I'll Be There for You:
the One About Friends."
Some would say it was the
right moment for a Gen-X comedy.
-Enter writers
and real life friends
Marta Kauffman and David Crane.
Along with their
producing partner Kevin Bright,
Kauffman and Crane create
"Dream On," a hit for HBO,
but they stumbled,
trying to repeat that success
on network TV.
♪♪
-They're kind of wondering,
is it worth it
for us to keep at it
in terms of trying
to get a network series?
-But they do.
Pitching a new sitcom
to NBC
they call
"Friends Like Us."
The story draws upon
the writer's own experiences
as 20-somethings living
in New York.
-It's a show about
a time in your life
and your friends
or your family,
there is a sort of
inherent romance to that.
-It's also a show
NBC's Warren Littlefield
hopes can lure young adults
to NBC.
So in 1993, he orders a pilot.
But casting six actors,
all in their 20s,
all trying to figure it out,
proves to be
an unexpected challenge.
-I read the script
and I was thrilled.
It just seemed like fun.
My name is Ellie Kanner
and I cast the pilot
and the first season
of "Friends."
And we were towards the end
of pilot season,
so the pool was limited.
It was frustrating because a lot
of actors were unavailable.
-Kauffman and Crane already
have two performers in mind.
to play Ross
and 30-year-old Lisa Kudrow
as Phoebe.
But neither actor
is an easy yes.
Schwimmer had been on
a really short-lived Fox sitcom
called "Monty."
-I'm going to be a chef.
-Oh, really?
I want to be a jazz singer.
[ Laughter ]
-Schwimmer found it
to be kind of a dispiriting
and unpleasant experience.
-He really resisted
going back to television.
Kauffman and Crane,
when they wrote "Friends,"
they had him in mind,
him and only him.
And they had to really woo him
to get him back.
-I think once he read
the script and heard
that it was written for him,
he probably felt like,
oh yeah, oh yeah, I can do this.
-Casting Kudrow as Phoebe
presents a different problem.
She's already got
a small part on the NBC
Thursday night show
"Mad About You"
as the waitress Ursula.
-Do you think that this boy
should call his wife?
-Yeah,
maybe he could tell her about
that blonde girl
he's always bringing in here.
-That's my wife.
[ Laughter ]
-Oh.
[ Laughter ]
-They worked it out so
Ursula could actually be sisters
with Phoebe, twin sisters.
-For the role of
aspiring actor Joey Tribbiani,
Producers spot
a relatively unknown actor
starring in
a "Married with Children"
spinoff.
-He's on a show called
"Top of the Heap" on Fox,
and, you know, "Top of the Heap"
is not a particularly good show.
[ Laughter ]
-Can't resist that nutty cat.
[ Laughter ]
-That Garfield is some actor.
-Matt LeBlanc,
he had the least amount
of experience,
but he came in and was funny
and he just kept getting better
and better.
-Unlike LeBlanc,
is a seasoned
sitcom star
known for her recurring role
on another NBC hit,
"Family Ties."
-And more recently,
she had been in
"Ace Ventura: Pet Detective"
with Jim Carrey.
So they knew
that they wanted to cast
Courteney Cox as Rachel.
-That's right, she slotted
to play Rachel Green,
the romantic lead
of the ensemble cast.
Cox suggests she's
better suited to play Monica,
Rachel's career and cleanliness
obsessed roommate.
Producers pretend to agree.
-We said to ourselves,
okay, we'll let her read
and test to the network
for Monica,
but then we'll offer her Rachel.
Then she was so good
when she was testing for Monica
at the network,
we were like, oh, wait a second.
-Cox gets the role she wanted,
but producers are stuck
trying to cast
the show's most critical role
out of an increasingly
shrinking talent pool.
-The challenge
in casting Rachel
was that we needed someone
who was gorgeous
and could play this princess,
and yet be likable
and warm and funny.
-Then Ellie sees
an up-and-coming actress
who seems like the perfect fit.
-When you look at
Jennifer Aniston,
she's funny and you love her.
We've seen hundreds of people,
but not quite like this.
-The 25-year-old Aniston nails
her audition.
There's just one problem.
-Jennifer Aniston was committed
to another show
called
"Muddling Through,"
which was with
a different network.
CBS,
which we heard was...
not great.
-The rival networks cut
a deal.
NBC gets Aniston for six
episodes of "Friends Like Us,"
but if CBS picks up
"Muddling Through,"
Aniston will be forced
to leave the NBC show.
-It was a very risky move.
-Equally risky is
the producers gamble
on 26-year-old Matthew Perry,
who wins them over with
his charming take on Chandler,
Joey's wisecracking roommate.
-Matthew Perry was
also cast on another show,
a show on Fox called
"LAX 2194."
It was a futuristic show
about baggage handlers at LAX.
-Enjoy Los Angeles.
-Oh!
-By the way,
Griffith Park has
the best picnic areas.
-We're all sitting
around praying that the pilot
that Matthew Perry did
doesn't get picked up.
There were a lot of actors
that just weren't available,
so we had to take that risk.
-With the cast,
tenuously assembled,
producers recruit
veteran sitcom director
James Burrows
to direct the pilot.
On May 4, 1994,
The first episode of the show,
now simply called "Friends,"
is filmed in front of
a live studio audience.
-Hey everybody,
this is Rachel,
another
Lincoln High survivor.
-This is everybody.
This is Chandler
and Phoebe and Joey.
And you remember
my brother Ross?
-Sure.
-Hey.
-Hi.
Oh!
[ Laughter ]
-It just felt like magic.
James Burrows really helped
them bond together
and form this chemistry
that just came alive.
-I just feel like
someone reached down my throat,
grabbed my small intestine,
pulled it out of my mouth
and tied it around my neck.
-Cookie.
[ Laughter ]
-When news cameras
are invited to set,
they capture the
real life camaraderie
that's already developing.
-They're just such hams.
That's the problem.
They're doing a little skit
right now,
pretending they're
going to do commentary.
They just want to be on TV.
-We're getting along great.
We're having a great time.
We hope to do this
for 6 or 7 years...
or eight.
-We didn't know
it was going to be
as big as it was.
You know, like, I
don't think anyone really knew.
Maybe James Burrows knew.
[ Airplane engine rumbling ]
-He definitely seems
to know something,
because after sh**ting
the pilot,
Burrows charters a jet
and flies the six actors
to Las Vegas to celebrate.
During dinner, the director
makes a prophetic statement.
[ Indistinct chatter ]
-He says,
"Enjoy this weekend
it maybe the last time
you'll be able
to be out in public
without people recognizing you."
[ Indistinct chatter ]
I think it's a kind of reminder
that there's something
amazing about knowing
that you're on the cusp
of this success,
and also maybe something a
little bit terrifying about it.
-But that success
is soon threatened
by the producer's risky move
in casting Aniston
knowing she had a possible
prior commitment at CBS.
-On vacation, I found out.
"Oh, by the way, just
so you know, when you come back,
you're gonna have to recast
Jennifer Aniston,
because they picked up
'Muddling Through.'"
And I was like, "What?!"
So we spent another month
trying to recast
Jennifer Aniston,
which we obviously could not do.
And then at some point
they just said, "Okay.
she'll do both shows
and let's see what happens."
-But NBC's Warren Littlefield
isn't going to wait and see
if "Muddling through"
muddles through.
He actively tries to sink the
show using counterprogramming.
-NBC had this unused cache
of movie adaptations
of Danielle Steel novels that
they had never put on the air.
-Once in a lifetime"...
-Jeffrey!
a tragedy took her husband,
now a single mother,
afraid to love,
is torn between two men.
-And decided that
they would run
a whole bunch
of them in the slot
that "Muddling Through"
was on on CBS
to kind of k*ll off the show.
-"Once in a lifetime"...
-It works.
CBS cancels the sitcom
for low ratings.
Aniston is now on the set
of "Friends" exclusively
understanding
it's the cast's big break.
-All the elements are
in place, so...
if we -- if we blow it,
[laughs]
it'll be really sad.
-After hundreds of auditions,
dozens of rewrites and months
of sh**ting,
"Friends" debuts
on September 22, 1994,
as part of NBC's can't miss
Thursday night lineup.
And then it kind of misses.
-It wasn't that big of a hit.
It was just, you know,
it was finding its audience.
-It did well, not amazing.
-And then I'd say
at the beginning of the summer,
everyone was talking about it.
♪♪
-It was the summer
rerun effect.
And by the time they came back
for their second season,
it had gone from pretty good,
successful,
doing well show to something
closer to a phenomenon.
-But the show's days
in the sun will be short lived.
By the middle
of the second season,
clouds form
as controversy brews.
-Everybody was so afraid
that people would come
bearing torches to NBC.
♪♪
♪♪
-In the early '90s,
a new generation
is coming of age.
These former latchkey kids,
raised on MTV
and now wearing flannel
and listening to grunge,
are getting a bad rap
in the media.
-They are angst ridden,
a bit bitter,
and their chief talent seems
to be the ironic aside.
-The title of Douglas Copeland's
becomes the shorthand name
for these young adults.
-Generation X
or the X generation,
it is, I suppose you call
it a splinter generation
from the baby boom at large.
-It's these 20-somethings
that help make "Friends"
a ratings sensation.
But in an interview
on the "Today Show,"
the cast seemed reluctant
to be the voice of Gen X.
-Between all of you,
you know, a lot of people say
this is a hot show
for generation X.
-Oh!
-I know, I know.
-[Laughing] I know. I know.
-Oh!
-Generation X, I guess,
implies that we're all aimless
and we're just kind of
hanging out listening to,
you know, music and watching
"The Brady Bunch"
or something, I don't know.
-But as the "Friends"
audience grows,
it's clear the show's
appeal crosses demographics.
-David Crane has this experience
where he's walking
through LAX
and sees the cast
of his show on
basically
every single magazine.
-It's the beginning
of "Friends" mania,
and the cast and creators
Kevin Bright,
David Crane and Marta Kauffman
are intent on cashing in.
-It's a great thing,
on one hand,
when your show
kind of becomes a name brand
and you can stamp it on anything
and people want to buy it.
-The cast are not being given
the same paychecks,
they're all for themselves.
They're trying to strike
while the iron is hot.
They're trying to make deals
with different brands
to do commercials.
Matthew Perry
and Jennifer Aniston
did an infamous Microsoft
Windows informational video.
-And you are?
-Uh, this Jennifer Aniston.
I'm Matthew Perry.
We're here to see
Mr. Bill Gates.
There is this massive,
massive tie-in
with Diet Coke.
-Match the name
under the cap
with the "Friends" character
who drinks the Diet Coke
in the Diet Coke commercial
each week,
and you're a winner.
-"Friends"
is popular enough
to turn Aniston's '90s hairstyle
into the hottest thing
since Farrah Fawcett's '70s
feathered blowout.
-It's a look that launches
a wave of Rachel clones.
-Yeah. You couldn't escape it.
You saw Rachel
coming out of every door
all across the country.
But the haircut was part
of the pile-on effect
that pushed "Friends" into
the realm of great overexposure.
-One of the things that Crane
comes to realize in particular
is they kind of have
to forget about all of that.
They just need to concentrate
on making the best
possible version of the show.
-And for Crane and Kauffman,
that means writing storylines
in the show's second season,
not usually seen
on a network sitcom.
-David Crane is himself g*y
and is interested
in telling stories
of g*y and l*sbian characters,
and the thought
that they have is that
it would be appealing
to tell this story
involving Ross's ex-wife
getting remarried.
-Carol,
Ross's ex-wife,
she's recently divorced him
and come out as g*y,
and is now partnered
with a woman named Susan.
-Actress Anita Barone
plays Ross's pregnant ex-wife.
[ Laughter ]
-Ross.
That opens my cervix.
[ Object clatters ]
-But she quits the show
after just one episode.
-She has said
that she went off to pursue
another job
or she wanted something more.
-Barone is replaced
by a 28-year-old actress
who just had her own
real life baby.
-I am Jane Sibbett
and I play Carol on "Friends."
I have just gotten home
from the hospital
after delivering my son
after a 24-hour labor.
[ Telephone rings ]
And I got a phone call
and it's my agent
and they said,
"They would like you
to play the pregnant l*sbian.
I'm like, [gasps],
"That's awesome."
Like, yeah, but they'd like
you to start tomorrow.
And I just went,
"Uh, wow.
Um...I'm kind of sore.
That was a big labor."
and they're like, "Look,
they'll make it super easy.
It's just two weeks."
I just knew that I had to do it.
-[Gasps]
Did you just feel that?
-I did.
-Well, does it always...?
-No, no.
That was the first.
-One year before
Ellen DeGeneres
comes out on her own sitcom...
-I'm g*y.
-...and almost 20 years
before g*y marriage is legal
in all 50 states,
"Friends"
shoots an episode around
Carol's same-sex nuptials.
-We're, uh...
We're getting married.
[ Laughter ]
-You didn't see a lot
in the way of g*y and l*sbian
characters on television,
and there had never been
a l*sbian wedding on TV
of any kind prior to this.
-Nothing makes God happier
than when two people,
any two people,
come together in love.
-But NBC executives are worried
not everyone will be happy.
-There was a very large fear
they would lose
all their audience
and people would come bearing
torches to NBC.
-We'd heard
that a couple of the affiliates
were going to block
out the show.
-What do you think about
certain stations
not running the episode?
-I just think it's --
it's sort of absurd.
-NBC put a whole bunch of
hotline operators on,
you know,
to be able to handle calls.
-I don't really know
how they did it.
-In the end,
I think it was two local
NBC affiliates
wouldn't carry it.
And I think they got
maybe one call that night.
But essentially
the reaction was --
So what?
What's the big deal.
-For the q*eer community
in 1996,
representation on a network
sitcom is a very big deal,
and "Friends" wins
a GLAAD Award
from the g*y and l*sbian
Alliance Against Defamation.
But some still see
the episode as an as*ault
on their religious beliefs,
something Jane Seibert
experiences firsthand.
-Almost all of my family
embraced it.
There was no problem with it,
even though we come from
a very conservative
Christian background.
But my dad and his --
and his new wife
had a problem with it.
And so instead
of watching "Friends,"
he and she had Bible study
at their house
starting about 7:30
on Thursday nights every week.
-Merely playing a l*sbian
on TV
causes a deep rift
between Jane and her father.
-I was not allowed
really to be
near my father
for a little while.
He didn't say
that he was proud of me, um,
until he was on his deathbed
many years later.
-But, um...
♪♪
It's fine.
That one comes up.
You always want your --
your parents
to be proud of you.
[ Inhales deeply ]
And he eventually got to that.
♪♪
So we've made our peace.
-The l*sbian wedding episode
isn't the only standout
from season two.
The one with the Prom video
was also a fan favorite,
introducing
a recurring character
that hurt some feelings
back then,
but would be labeled
fat shaming today.
-Where's Monica?
-Over here, Dad!
-Wait.
How do you zoom out?
[ Laughter ]
There she is!
-Mm. Fat Monica.
[ Rapid footsteps approaching ]
[ Laughter ]
I mean,
she's just a walking fat joke.
-Monica, why don't
you finish off these pies?
I don't have any more room
in the fridge.
[ Laughter ]
-When I was a younger person,
like, a small fat child,
basically, and teen,
I looked at her
and felt enormous shame
and probably laughed
louder than anybody in the room.
You know?
Anytime you put
a thin person in a fat suit,
you're already miles
in the wrong direction.
-But for the cast,
"Friends" launches their careers
in the right direction,
including lead roles in movies.
Although that's
a mixed blessing.
Matt LeBlanc's role
opposite a chimp in "Ed"
gets universally panned.
-Bad Monkey!
-[ Ed chattering ]
-But Courteney Cox
helps kickstart
the "Scream" franchise,
and Matthew Perry receives
generally good reviews
for his role on the
rom-com "Fools Rush In"
opposite Salma Hayek.
-Uh, how've you been?
-Pregnant.
-Really?
-But Perry's jump
to the big screen
comes at a cost.
During filming, he injures
his back in a jet ski accident
and is prescribed a painkiller.
It leads to an opioid addiction
he will struggle
with long after "Friends."
-"Friends" Matthew Perry
admitted an addiction
to painkillers.
-When I heard about
Matthew Perry's struggles,
I was heartbroken.
-As "Friends" continues
its fast descent,
Matthew Perry is in the throes
of a slow decline.
-Fame is a very dangerous
substance.
If fame came in a bottle,
It would have to have
all kinds of warnings on it.
[ Indistinct chatter ]
[ Pills rattle ]
-The '90s ushered in
a new golden age in Hollywood,
with celebrities earning
record setting salaries.
-Cable guy!
-In 1995,
after a string of hits,
Actor comedian Jim Carrey
is paid $20 million
to star in a movie directed
by Ben Stiller.
It's the most in history.
-$20 Million Man.
Everyone's wondering --
Is he worth the money?
-Studio executives whine
about rising talent costs,
labeling it
a "dangerous precedent."
It's against this backdrop
that the cast of "Friends"
renegotiate their contracts
with Warner Brothers,
the studio making the show.
A third season rides on them,
making a deal.
-The actors weren't
being paid equally at the time.
They all had their own
separate deals
worked out
by their own agents.
That's how it worked.
But their show
is just getting bigger
and bigger and bigger.
They realized that the pay issue
could so quickly
and almost inevitably
would tear them apart
and pull the show out
from under them.
Nobody wanted that to happen.
David Schwimmer comes in
and says, "Hey,
I think we really need to make
some decisions about
how we're going to operate
as a team."
And they decide then
and there
they're going to do
all negotiations together.
They're going to speak
as one voice.
It led to them
getting enormous paychecks.
-And ownership in the show.
Their collective bargaining
eventually nets
the six actors a percentage of
the show's syndication profits,
and a per episode salary that
will grow to over $1 million.
-It was unprecedented.
Certainly the biggest paychecks
that an ensemble cast
had been getting.
-The group scored a huge win,
but for Matthew Perry,
there's one battle
he's fighting alone.
[ Liquid sloshing ]
A struggling alcoholic
since the age of 14,
Perry's new dependence
on the prescription drug Vicodin
leads the actor
to check himself into rehab.
After a 28-day stay,
he gets back to work.
-Well, hello, Matthew.
-Well. Hello there.
-How are you?
-Good.
Perry even lands
a dream gig hosting "SNL."
In an interview backstage,
he reassures fans
that this Friend is on the mend.
-I'm doing great.
I'm doing great.
Couldn't be better.
Yeah.
-Perry remains clean
for 18 months
until he says one
casual drink ends his sobriety.
Like all addicts, Perry
is locked in a lifelong battle,
one he will lose.
-I think that being
that celebrity
and struggling with addiction
is its own challenge.
-At one point,
Perry is consuming
a bottle of vodka
and 55 pills a day,
the effects of which
he tries to hide
from the cast and crew
on "Friends."
-When you see what happened
to Matthew Perry,
the sequence of events of
how he got into the trouble
he got into,
it's all pretty understandable.
My name is Robert Thompson.
I'm a professor of television
in popular culture.
For a guy who was having
the substance abuse problems
that he had,
he retained a remarkable ability
to do his job.
-Stop, stop, stop!
-Oh, sorry.
Do you need a break?
-He was pretty clear
that he did not use
or drink on the job.
He, you know, many times was
profoundly hungover at work.
And that that affected
his performance at times,
you know, having to put
his hand on a table
before the
you can see him shaking.
He's talked about
cast members confronting him
and saying they could smell
alcohol on him.
-He would have weight gains,
alcohol use.
He would have then weight losses
with his Vicodin use.
-By the end of the decade,
producers Kauffman,
Crane, and Bright
have their own struggles,
namely overcoming
a glaring lack of diversity
within the all-white cast.
-There are a couple
of non-white performers
who come in.
Gabrielle Union plays
a love interest.
-Hi.
Are you moving in
or moving out?
-Moving in.
-Aisha Tyler comes in
later on.
-Oh, hey, you guys,
this is Charlie.
-As a woman
who is interested in Ross,
but also interested in Joey,
but none of them
stick around for very long.
-When people say that,
oh, you know,
it was a product of its time.
I think you'd say, yes.
It was a product of its time,
which was a
not very inclusive time.
"Friends" had the standing,
I think, to make changes
and chose
not to make some of them.
-That begins to change
in the show's seventh season,
when NBC directs Warner Brothers
to broaden the hiring pool.
-That year, NBC
had started a diversity mandate.
They were encouraging
their shows
to hire at least one person
of color per writing staff.
I think that that was a big
reason why I got called in,
you know, given that I
hadn't ever written on a sitcom
and, you know,
was not a joke writer at all.
I'm Patty Lin,
and I was a writer on "Friends,"
and I am the author of
"End Credits:
How I Broke Up with Hollywood."
The word diversity higher wasn't
really being used at that time,
but that's essentially
what I was.
I was the only person of color
in that room.
To my agent,
this was a no brainer.
Like, of course you're going
to take the job, you know?
It was the most popular show
on TV.
-In July of 2000,
Patty Lin
steps into "Friends" offices
for her first day on the job.
-The predominant emotion that
I was feeling was just fear.
-What she faced is captured
in a 1995 E! television special
that goes inside the show's
writers room,
showing Kaufman and Crane's
relentless refinement
of every episode.
-Say, it's Monica saying,
I feel really bad,
you know, we --
we should all be together
and say, Ross says, look...
-Then it seems like Monica is
the only one who's feeling bad.
-You create an outline.
The writer who was assigned
that episode
would then go off
with that outline
and write the episode
by themselves.
Bring it back,
and then,
the rest of the episode
was written by committee.
-Lin says when a writer
takes a script
into the "Friends"
writers' room,
it's likely neither of them
will come out in one piece.
-The industry jargon for
writing a script by committee
is called a "g*ngb*ng."
♪♪
To watch it just get picked
apart and, you know,
rewritten right in front of me.
And to have to participate
in that,
it's a certain brand of hell
that I wouldn't wish on anyone.
-When cameras
from the Discovery Channel
are permitted to film
behind the scenes
during a live taping
in season six,
it provides rare insights
into Crane and Kaufman's
writing process,
one that the actors
and the writers
experience differently.
-Oh,
you don't think it's funny
to play that kind of bum.
-Switch?
-Let's just get married,
I guess.
-Let's get married.
Married, I guess.
-It didn't feel funny.
-All of the writers
would go down
to the soundstage
and, uh, and be there
for the -- for the taping.
-What happens is you're doing
the scene.
Audience reacts,
director calls, "Cut!"
If a joke went well,
you'd hear, "Moving on."
-If a joke fell flat,
we would then have to huddle
on the side of the bleachers
and come up with a new joke.
-We cannot stay married.
-That process of rewriting
the show in real time
is also captured by
Discovery Channel's
on-set footage.
-Is there anything funnier
than stop saying
the word marriage?
-And you see pencils
scribbling and everybody's,
like, trying to throw out jokes.
It's amazing.
The machine of comedy.
-It was the most stressful
part of the job for me.
Just the -- the grind of
having to produce this material.
It's just a sausage factory.
And I think
that that's the sort of thing
that a lot of people
don't want to hear.
-Two years later,
a member of the "Friends"
writers' room
will accuse the producers
of NBC's most profitable sitcom
of shameful conduct.
-She complains
and files a lawsuit.
-And she will find herself
up against
some of the biggest names
in Hollywood.
♪♪
-In the late '90s,
pharmaceutical giant
Purdue Pharma
is turning its painkiller
OxyContin
into a blockbuster drug
using a calculated campaign
of disinformation.
-Some patients may be
afraid of taking opioids
because they're perceived
as too strong or addictive.
But that is far
from actual fact.
-No, that's an actual fact.
The drug is highly addictive,
and while Purdue knows
the truth,
it continues its
fraudulent marketing
while producing sufficient pills
to meet the ever-growing demand
of addicts.
-On a given day,
are on the streets here
looking for their next high.
-With prescription drugs
so readily available,
now in his seventh season
of "Friends,"
is trapped in a revolving door
of addiction and recovery.
-He would have been sick
for about a week
if he stopped using Vicodin.
My name is Dr. Drew Pinsky.
I'm a physician.
I'm an internist
by specialization
and addiction
medicine specialist.
Addicts delude themselves
into thinking, well,
I can't stop right now because
I'll get sick, which is true.
But the addict uses that
as a reason to keep using.
And look,
he stopped many times,
was completely off
and went back.
That's addiction.
[ Camera shutters clicking ]
-Matthew, wave for us!
[ Indistinct chatter ]
It's not just being
in the public eye.
It's like, how do you manage it
and maintain it,
particularly
if you're hiding a secret.
And that secret is --
I'm using.
They feel shame.
And that shame motivates
more using.
-As the show progresses,
Matthew Perry
increasingly has
a substance abuse problem.
-In the writers' room
at "Friends,"
I think everybody was aware.
Clearly he was struggling.
-One of the concerns
that Crane and Kauffman have is,
is it harming him
to continue to be
in the public eye in this way?
-In spring of 2000,
after an awkward rehearsal
where he's slurring his words,
Perry discovers
the entire cast and crew
assembled in his dressing room.
-The opiate addiction
is so dangerous,
and if you don't do something,
they die, they die.
-Marta Kauffman asked Perry
to make a change,
but Perry continues
to battle his substance abuse
for another year
before finally checking
himself back into rehab.
And while no other cast
member struggles so publicly
with personal demons,
each feels the acute pressure
of being famous
from "Friends."
-David Schwimmer,
he's been pretty open
about the fact
that he's not in love
with being a celebrity.
-I can totally see now why,
like, child stars,
some child stars...
-Major problems.
-...just have major problems
because, um, it's --
it's just a very,
very strange thing
to go through.
-Schwimmer isn't the only one
withering in the spotlight.
-Lisa Kudrow
talked about the fact
that she was larger in her body
than Jennifer Aniston
and Courteney Cox were.
-Certainly,
these women were all
put under
the vicious microscope
of late '90s tabloid media.
Jennifer Aniston,
to a massive degree,
was a target both because
of "Friends" and because of,
of course,
who she was married to
for a lot of that show's run.
-Hollywood's
most camera-shy couple
went public Saturday night
as Brad Pitt
and Jennifer Aniston
hit the town.
-The public's
fascination with the cast
and the show continues well
into the new millennium.
At the 2001 People's
Choice Awards,
"Friends" wins the award
for Favorite Comedy Program
for the second year in a row.
But the warmth from the fans
is cold comfort
to the show's newest writer,
Patty Lin.
-We finished the season
and I got a call from my agent,
and he told me
that they were not
going to pick up my option
for the next year.
It was bittersweet because
obviously working on that show
was great for my resume.
But on the other hand,
all of these late night
rewrites
and all of these things
that were so stressful to me
to know
that I didn't have to go back
for another year of that
was actually a relief
in a lot of ways.
-A year later,
a woman who worked in
the "Friends" writers' room
goes public to expose
what she sees as the abuse
of work culture
that Hollywood enables.
-Amaani Lyle was hired
as a writer's assistant
on "Friends."
It's sort of like being
a writer in training.
You're listening to many people
talking at the same time
and shouting out jokes and just
kind of jotting it all down.
And Amaani Lyle feels
that the conversation
in the writer's room
is inappropriate,
the kind of frank discussion
that often has to do
with sex in particular,
and complains about it,
and ends up losing her job
as a result.
-Lyle claims she's
the victim of sexual harassment
and files a lawsuit against
a number of her producers.
Her lawyer goes to the media
to make her case.
-What she had a problem with
was the writers talking
about their own
personal sexual stories,
own personal fantasies.
They referred to women
in the most degrading ways.
-But Lyle has few allies
in the creative community.
In a letter to the court,
male comedy legends
like Norman Lear,
"The Simpsons,"
James L Brooks,
and "Seinfeld's"
Larry David
all come out in support
of the writers on "Friends."
-There was this sense that
this would lead
to mass censorship.
They were saying,
if she's allowed
to get away
with making these allegations,
then it's going to have
a massive chilling effect
on creativity.
-Now, Warner Brothers argues
this is freedom of speech
and it's protected
by the Constitution.
-The legal battle drags
on for years,
eventually landing
in the California Supreme Court,
where Lyle loses.
♪♪
-The court said
one of the reasons
that this wasn't harassment
was because
it wasn't directed at her.
-It came at great cost
to Amaani Lyle,
while who really lost
her chance to build a career
in the television industry.
-There's just no way
to know for sure.
It very well might
have made it easier
for people to get away
with all sorts of other abuses.
In 2017, we were in the throes
of the early MeToo movement,
and I wonder if the case
had gone the other way,
if things...
[sighs]
if that particular reckoning
might have happened sooner.
-Lyle's case goes
largely unnoticed in the media,
so it has little effect
on the reputation
and the popularity
of "Friends."
-It's not very often
an event comes along
that brings everyone together.
-NBC relentlessly hypes
the final season
as America's favorite sitcom.
On May 6th, 2004,
after a decade of being one
of the most watched
and rewatched
sitcoms on television,
"Friends" airs its final
episode.
in to watch.
-So, I guess this is it.
-Yeah.
-I think that, "Friends"
is a good example of a show
that does a series finale well.
-This is harder than I thought
it would be.
-It understands what
its audience wants,
that the audience feels
like they are themselves
kind of included
in this group of friends,
and wants to have
that kind of bittersweet moment
of saying farewell.
-Should we get some coffee?
-[ Sniffles ]
-Sure.
-Okay.
-Where?
[ Laughter ]
-It'll take over 15 years
before this beloved ensemble
is seen together on TV.
In 2021, James Corden hosts
a 2-hour reunion special.
-Look at this.
Look at all of you.
-Hello!
[ Cheers and applause ]
-The following year,
Matthew Perry,
now two and a half years
in recovery,
releases "Friends, Lovers,
and the Big Terrible Thing."
-Is everybody rolling?
His autobiography opens
with a foreboding
couple of sentences
about the big terrible thing.
Diane Sawyer reads it aloud
in her hour-long interview
with the actor.
-First page.
"Hi, my name is Matthew.
Although you may know me
by another name,
my friends call me Matty,
and I should be dead."
-Yeah.
He seemed to have some very,
very serious, uh, uh, issues.
And he describes them
and they're harrowing.
-I was actually on methadone,
Xanax, cocaine,
and a full quart of vodka a day.
-But for all that, I don't
think anybody saw it coming.
-Hollywood
mourning the loss
of one of its "Friends."
-My heart sank.
-20 years after taking
their final bow,
the cast of "Friends"
continues to reap the benefits
from being on one of the biggest
shows in television history,
including a piece of
the global sales of the sitcom
that earns each actor
an estimated $20 million a year.
That's a reward
few TV actors will ever receive.
But on the press tour
for his memoir,
Matthew Perry laments
the unique price
he paid for their
shared success.
-It's not fair.
-It's not fair.
That I had to go through --
That I had to go through
this disease
while the other five didn't.
They got everything that I got,
but I had to fight this thing.
-The book success feels
like a victory lap for Perry.
Making the news one year later
all the more shocking.
-Hollywood mourning
the loss
of one of its "Friends."
-The beloved "Friends" star
was reportedly discovered dead
in the Jacuzzi of his L.A.
area home this afternoon.
-Matthew Perry did die
from acute effects of ketamine
and subsequent drowning.
-They've been leaving flowers.
We actually saw people crying
out here today.
-My phone suddenly filled
with texts.
I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
♪♪
My heart sink.
-Perry's famous castmates,
his friends on screen and off,
are united in their grief
over his passing.
-I certainly hope
that Matthew Perry's legacy
will lead with his advocacy
on behalf
of addiction awareness.
Certainly toward
the end of his life,
he went all out on that.
-Like, it's not fun
to talk about this stuff.
I don't -- I don't like
talking about it, but...
I know it's going to help
people to talk about it.
-In terms of his legacy
as it pertains to "Friends,"
the fact that,
like,
everybody started to speak
a little bit more like Chandler,
which just didn't exist
until he was on television.
-Could you want her more?
[ Laughter ]
Could I be more sorry?
-You can go find actual studies
that look into the way
that "Friends" influenced
patterns of speech
in Americans.
-Could that report be any later?
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah,
I don't sound like that.
That is so not true.
-Oh.
[ Laughter ]
-He invented that.
-The "Friends" phenomenon
will be reckoned with
for years to come,
as this wildly popular sitcom
from the '90s
is still one of the most
watched television shows today.
-This idea that
your friends will stick together
and follow you throughout
every change in your life,
I think,
is an extremely appealing
and durable fantasy
for many people.
-It's like a time
where people weren't,
you know,
worried about climate change
and the country
wasn't so politically divided.
And I think that that's
comforting to people.
-In the fragmented era
of streaming,
where you can watch
whatever you want,
whenever you want.
This is still very much
one of the last bastions
of mass culture.
In spite of all of its problems,
and it's total fantasy quality.
"Friends" really penetrated
American culture
in a way that few things
can anymore.
♪♪
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