Only one year after it was described as a Seinfeld knockoff, Friends currently nuzzles Seinfeld in Nielsen's top three almost every week. But is it groundbreaking television? Well, no. Jerry Seinfeld (and even George Burns before him on his 1950s TV show) showed that a trip to a refrigerator has as many comic possibilities as a trip to a fat farm. But Friends has something extra: sex. Not that these pretty young things are hopping into the sack with one another (haven't we said it's not Melrose Place?). Not even Ross and Rachel (Aniston) have engaged in more than a chaste chase, but never has a television show ignited as much who's-cuter debate across more age and gender lines, in more offices, in more high school cafeterias, and in more college dorms than Friends. There are, of course, the six remarkably well-put-together actors. But the sex appeal is compounded by the old reliable Brady Bunch cast structure--three healthy women and three rowdy men in close, appealing quarters.
Joey to Phoebe: "When I first met you, you know what I said to Chandler? I said, 'Excellent butt, great rack.' "
Phoebe: "Really? That's so sweet. I mean, I'm officially offended, but it's sweet."
One Friends legacy is already with us: the Rembrandts' user-friendly theme song, "I'll Be There for You." But the show's potential contribution to moviedom looks most promising. All six cast members are signing film contracts that will keep most of them busy for several summer hiatuses to come. Notable among them: Perry's $1 million deal to star in Columbia's Fools Rush In, which begins shooting next April, as well as Schwimmer's multipicture deal with Miramax.
"I had $11 when I auditioned for Friends, and now I own a home," says LeBlanc (Joey), who spent his 1995 summer hiatus shooting Ed, a Universal comedy about a man and his monkey, a sort of Bedtime for Bonzo for the 1990s (meaning LeBlanc is now on his way to becoming U.S. President). And though the cast of Friends, a seemingly grounded group of individuals without one Shannen Doherty in the bunch (this isn't Beverly Hills, 90210, either), still socialize with one another occasionally, they spend a fair amount of their downtime on the set in retreat in their dressing rooms talking to their publicists and managers. "I'm the one person in the cast who doesn't have a personal assistant yet," says Schwimmer.
Phoebe to Joey, who's moonlighting at a sperm bank: "Wow, ooh! You're gonna be making money hand over fist."
"Sometimes I worry about overexposure," says Cox, who is now jetting between Friends' Burbank soundstage and the New York location of the Universal comedy Commandments, in which she plays an attorney. "We just want to top what we did last year. And try to get good feature films during our hiatus break."
Right now, we're still getting to know our Friends. "There are so many other places to explore," says Aniston. "I mean, Joey's family, Phoebe's family, everybody's families. And our relationships and how those will affect the dynamics of the group, and if Ross and Rachel get married. There are so many places to go." Ah, but will Rachel ever be able to forgive Ross for that personality pro-and-con list he composed with her name on it? Will Monica get a job that brings her happiness? Will Phoebe get singing lessons? Please?
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