Friends can be streamed on HBO Max and VOD services like Xfinity, FuboTV, Vudu, DirecTV, Google Play, YouTube, the Microsoft Store, iTunes, and Apple TV. It is not available to watch or stream for free.
Friends is an American television sitcom that ran for a decade on NBC from 1994 to 2004 and was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman. The show centers on six young friends who reside in Manhattan, New York City, and features an ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer. Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in collaboration with Warner Bros. Television, produced the show.
Between November and December 1993, Kauffman and Crane started creating “Friends” under the working title “Insomnia Cafe.” Together, they pitched a seven-page show to NBC. The series was finally given the name “Friends” following numerous script revisions and changes, including the titles “Six of One” and “Friends Like Us.” At Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, the episodes were filmed. The show finished the television season in the top ten, eventually winning the top spot in its eighth season. Around 52.5 million American viewers tuned in to the series finale, which aired on May 6, 2004, making it the fifth-most watched series finale in television history.
The show received 62 Primetime Emmy nominations, and in 2002, for its eighth season, it won the Outstanding Comedy Series prize. The show came in at number 21 on TV Guide's list of the 50 greatest TV shows of all time and at rank 5 on Empire magazine's list of the top 50 television shows ever. The episode "The One with the Prom Video" came in at rank 100 on TV Guide's list of the top 100 episodes of all time in 1997.
Premise of Friends (Contains Spoilers)
Jennifer Aniston's character Rachel Green flees her wedding and her comfortable but unfulfilling life to find Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), a childhood friend. After moving into Monica's apartment above Central Perk, Rachel starts working as a waitress there. She then joins Monica's group of single friends in their mid-20s, including Monica's former roommate Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), an eccentric masseuse and musician; her neighbor Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), a devoted struggling actor and womanizer; and Joey's roommate Chandler Bing (Mathew Perry).
The friends' comedic, romantic, and professional exploits are shown in the episodes, including Joey trying out for roles or Rachel looking for work in the fashion industry, Monica working as a head chef, Phoebe on a conquest for her long-lost family, etc.
Each of the six characters has numerous dates and long-term relationships, combined with professional struggles and a lot of humor in between. The most frequently occurring plot line involves Ross and Rachel's sporadic relationship. They repeatedly date and break up over the course of the program's ten seasons.
Other major recurring characters on the show include Central Perk barista Gunther (James Michael Tyler); Chandler's extremely annoying and obnoxious but sweet ex-girlfriend Janice Goralnik (Maggie Wheeler); Phoebe's evil twin sister, Ursula (Lisa Kudrow); Ross and Monica's parents Jack and Judy Geller (Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles); and Ross's ex-wife Carol Willick. These recurring roles as supporting cast members play a vital role, as the story wouldn’t move forward without them at some point. They keep recurring throughout the series.
Throughout the course of the show, Ross married and divorced three times, Ross and Rachel have a child after a one-night stand, Chandler and Monica fall in love and get married, Phoebe marries Mike Hannigan (Paul Rudd), and Joey remains unmarried till the end. Basically, it was a happy ending, and though there were certain issues with the finale, on a larger scale, it was received as expected.
Review of Friends
The series received a mixed bag of early reviews; the first season has a 65 out of 100 Metacritic score based on 24 sampled reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews." The sitcom "vaguely and less successfully played on the hanging-out style of Seinfeld," according to Tom Feran of The Plain Dealer, while Ann Hodges of the Houston Chronicle termed it "the new Seinfeld wannabe, but it will never be as funny as Seinfeld."
The series was referred to as "one of the brightest comedies of the new season" by Ray Richmond in the Los Angeles Daily News and as "flat-out the best comedy series of the new season" by the Los Angeles Times.
Ginny Holbert of the Chicago Sun-Times thought Joey and Rachel's personalities needed more development, although Richmond praised the group as a "likable young ensemble" with "excellent chemistry." Schwimmer was praised by USA Today's Robert Bianco, who described him as "terrific." LeBlanc was "relying too much on the same brain-dead stud approach that was already worn out the last two times he tried it," and Perry's role as Chandler was "undefined," which disturbed him. He also commended the female stars. In particular, Perry and Schwimmer, according to the writers of Friends Like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends, were "trying just a little too hard."
Friends grew in popularity as the series went on, thanks to more favorable reviews. It was one of the most popular sitcoms at the time. It is now frequently listed among the top TV series of all time. The series received praise from critics for its dependably crisp writing and the chemistry between its lead performers.
When Noel Holston of Newsday watched the episode again after disparaging the pilot as a "so-so Seinfeld wannabe" in 1994, he decided to retract his former evaluation and felt compelled to send an apology to the authors. The humor and circumstances that were specific to each character, according to Havrilesky, "could consistently make you laugh out loud a few times each episode," and the stories' high level of writing made them entertaining.
However, the creator of Mr. Bean, Richard Curtis, accused the creators of Friends of stealing a joke from the 1992 episode of "Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean" that had Joey having a turkey stuck on his head in "The One with All the Thanksgivings" in a 2021 ITV show. In that episode, Mr. Bean lost his watch while stuffing the turkey and poked his head inside to try to find it, only to get a turkey stuck on his head. However, Rowan Atkinson asserted that jokes are intended to be imitated or to inspire.
Streaming options
You can watch “Friends" online by purchasing the episodes from the VOD services, such as Xfinity, FuboTV, Vudu, DirecTV, Google Play, YouTube, the Microsoft Store, iTunes, and Apple TV. Certain episodes are also available on Sling TV, Spectrum, and Philo TV.
Free streaming platforms
Currently, the only ways to watch "Friends" are through subscription-based online streaming on HBO Max and the aforementioned VOD services. This means that as of right now, there is no way to watch the show for free.
Additionally, we strongly urge paying for entertainment you wish to enjoy and doing so legally. There are several illegal ways online to stream, but they lack audio and video quality, plus they are a violation of intellectual property rights.
HBO Max
HBO Max has a streaming version of "Friends" that is accessible and cost-free for service users to watch. On the streaming service, users can also view "Friends: The Reunion," which brings the cast back together for a retrospective special.
Hulu
"Friends" is not currently available for streaming on Hulu. The best shows available on the service include "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "Seinfeld," and "Cheers" if you want to watch something similar. "Friends" may be streamed on the service by subscribers with the HBO Max add-on.
Amazon Prime
The titles available with your basic Amazon Prime subscription do not include "Friends." You must pay for the on-demand program in order to watch it on the platform. It might also be available on Amazon Prime for subscribers who have added HBO Max to their package.
Netflix
The US Netflix streaming version of "Friends" has been discontinued. Prior to its departure on January 1, 2020, the series was one of the most watched programs on the platform. However, some users outside the US might still be able to access the series on Netflix (in specific nations). If you enjoy sitcoms, Netflix has a number of other funny series to choose from, such as "Community," "New Girl," and "Man With a Plan" etc.
FAQs
Q. Where is Friends available to stream?
A. Friends can be streamed on HBO Max and Netflix (in some countries).
Q. Is Friends available to stream for free on any of the platforms?
A. Apparently, HBO Max is the only platform available with Friends streaming rights and Netflix in some specific countries, but it cannot be watched for free.
Q. What is Friends?
A. Friends is a popular American sitcom that centers on the socioeconomic perspectives of six friends in New York, between the ages of 20 and 30.
