Friends: Following The Adventures & Escapades One Captivating Episode At A Time

Any of us who loved the popular sit-com "Friends" could go on for hours talking about the characters This bunch of wacky individuals who became fast friends, also became our friends. The location of the story was in Manhattan.

We followed this close bunch of friends faithfully through their everyday calamities, joys, and sorrows, just as we do with our real friends. We became addicted to watching their friendships develop, romances bloom (and die) and marriages, divorces and births. And who could EVER forget Phoebe's folk song "Smelly Cat?" Phoebe must be the worse singer in the universe, but we loved to listen to her often strange songs.

This show debuted in 1994, and ran for 10 seasons. Friends ran with the following cast: Jennifer Aniston as Rachael Green, Courtney Cox as Monica Geller (later Geller-Bing), Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, and who could forget David Schwimmer as Ross Geller (Monica's brother).

The first season starts with all six friends together in a cafe and in rushes Rachel who has come to New York to be married, but runs off at the alter, just before the ceremony, (she thinks he looks like Mr. Potato Head), and moves in with Monica. By the end of the season, Ross has fallen in love with Rachael, but Rachael doesn't know it, even though Ross keeps trying to tell her. Ross was married, but divorced because his wife had decided she was a lesbian, AND she's having Ross's baby.

The second season has Ross dating someone else, even though he loves Rachael. Rachael realizes she loves Ross, but can't tell him. They do finally get it all together. Joey finally gets a part in a soap opera, and does pretty good, until he's caught lying about writing his own lines. The big romance in this season is Monica and Richard. Richard is played by Tom Selleck, who is a lot older than her. They break it off because Monica wants children and Richard does not.

The third season is the famous "take a break" season. Rachael begins working at Bloomingdales and a guy there flirts with her. This makes Ross very jealous and makes Rachael mad so she decides they need to take a break. Ross ends up going to bed with a gal after having a blind date with her. Rachael finds out and all hell breaks loose. They break up and go their separate ways. Meantime, Phoebe meets a half brother and her birth mom.

During the next several seasons, the friends have the usual romances, fights, reconciliations, etc. Throughout it all, Ross and Rachael fall in and out of love, and at some point they get drunk, have sex and Rachael gets pregnant and has Ross's baby in season eight. They decide to remain friends and not get married, and Rachael gets romantically involved with Joey. Ross decides to give Rachael a ring because he loves her, but it gets messed up.

In the end, in season ten, Ross and Rachael finally get together and presumably live happily ever after.

All of us who loved the Friends episodes, will go through life with bits of sayings and memories. Phoebe's silly songs, Joey's "hi, how ARE you?" Chandler's special way of talking, and his romance with Monica ending up in marriage. But Rachael and Ross are the highlight of the whole Friends sitcom. The six of them were best friends, and in some ways, they were our friends too. We can not see them in other movies without remembering their characters in Friends.