“Friends” ended less than a decade ago, but it’s already a relic of a bygone era — a critically respected sitcom that enjoyed massive ratings. It was one of the last programs to enjoy a national audience before cable and the Internet fully segmented audiences, but the show itself prophesied that fragmentation through its 10-year-long portrait of increasing social segregation.

“Friends” started out as a somewhat realistic exploration of metropolitan young people. In their original treatment, creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman described the show as a look at “a time in your life when everything’s possible,” when the future was “more of a question mark.”

Monica and Rachel are 24 when the show begins. They are optimistic because the economy hadn’t yet vomited all over itself after another binge-and-purge cycle. It’s no surprise that so many of the complaints lodged against “Friends” are the unrealistically expensive lifestyles, pervasive whiteness, youthful frivolity, and all that sex.

Crane and Kauffman contrasted their show against traditional living-room and workplace sitcoms with a then-innovative, now-rote concept. “It’s about friendship, because when you’re single and in the city, your friends are your family,” read the original pitch to NBC.

The great achievement of the show’s 10 seasons is that Crane, Kauffman, and executive producer Kevin S. Bright convincingly carried the sexy sextet through several life stages: marriage, parenthood, divorce, and the rocky, too-often humiliating road to a fulfilling career.

As doors shut in your face during your 20s, you’re not just increasingly penned in professionally, but also personally.

Kauffman articulated the show’s ethos of “maturity means friends or children” when she denied rumors of a follow-up to the show.

“‘Friends’ was about that time in your life when your friends are your family,” she explained. “Once you have a family, there’s no need anymore.”

《老友记》缘何成明日黄花？

《老友记》完结至今虽仅十年，却已成为一个逝去时代的纪念，它是一部广受剧评人好评的情景喜剧。《老友记》是最后几部国民级的剧集之一。在互联网和有线电视出现并开始与电视台争夺观众之后，社会隔离现象逐渐加剧，这类“国民剧集”也销声匿迹。《老友记》在长达十年的时间里对日益加剧的社会隔离现象进行了描绘，并预言了这一趋势的出现。

《老友记》写实描绘了都市青年的生活。在最初的剧本大纲里，编剧大卫·柯拉尼和玛塔·卡夫曼将《老友记》定位为“表现生命中一段一切皆有可能的时期”，这时未来更像是“一个问号”。莫妮卡和瑞秋在剧集开始时都是24

岁。她们乐观，因为当时经济还没经历一轮狂欢以后变得一团糟然后紧缩。这也解释了许多人对《老友记》的质疑 — 剧中不符事实的奢侈生活作风，白人的社会环境，轻浮的年轻人，乱七八糟的性爱。

对比过去的客厅/办公室式情景喜剧，柯拉尼和卡夫曼引入了一种在当时很新颖，如今已经很常规的观念。最初向NBC推销这部剧集时他们把这部剧主题定位为“友谊”：孤身一人在城市里，朋友就是家人。十年间，《老友记》的最大的成就莫过于两位编剧和执行制片人凯文·S·布莱特令人信服地让这魅力六人组携手经历人生：结婚，生子，离婚，艰难曲折地追求事业。随着年龄增长进入二十岁后半，你的职业和生活逐渐被各种条条框框束缚。

卡夫曼否认《老友记》会拍续集时表达了该剧“成熟就是朋友或孩子二选一”的观点。“这部剧集讲的是‘朋友即家人’这样一个特殊的时期。”她解释道，“一旦拥有家庭，这样的时期就过去了。”

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    【分割】

    fēngē

    segment

    separate or divide into segments

    【轻浮】

    qīngfú

    frivolity

    irresponsibility, triviality, abandon, levity, foolishness