STUDIO PRODUCTION: FRIENDS (RESEARCH)

Friends was an American Sitcom broadcasted from 1994-2004. The programme was HUGELY popular and has continued to be as the 10 series have just been uploaded to the Streaming service Netflix. The programme tells the lives of 6 friends. Rachel Green, Monica Geller, Joey Tribbiani, Chandler Bing, Phoebe Buffay and Ross Geller. The show is often referred to as one of the greatest television shows ever made, due to it's hugely popular following from the audience and it's continued popularity these days as well.

The show revolved around these 6 main characters. There was side characters that entered and stayed through series, others were dropped. But throughout the shows development we see the relationships between characters change. Ross and Rachel end up getting together and then splitting up which between this entire story brings a huge amount of comedy to the show and has ended up being some of the most memorable scenes for the entire programme. An example; when Ross and Rachel went on a break from their relationship, Ross ended up kissing another woman and Rachel hugely over reacted and one of Ross's most loved lines is "We were on a break!" which followed through a number of episodes, below is an extract from one of these scenes:

It's gags like this that made the show such a hit. Although, an expectation from a Sitcom as the intention is the make the audience laugh and bring joy and comedy over and over with gags and comical characters. 

One of the funniest characters in the entire Sitcom is Joey Tribbiani, a struggling actor who loves food more than anything. Joey is a ladies man, constantly in and out of relationships which don't last very long. His 'go-to' pick up line for women is "How you doin'?" which is heard constantly throughout the show and always get the audience laughing. Joey is a really loveable character, innocent and caring for his friends. At the same time he's very simple minded and often will say very dumb or silly things, bringing more comedy to the show. 

Comical characters, like Joey are what make sitcoms such a popular format to watch. If me and Simon are to create a sitcom for Studio Production, our characters will be everything. They'll need to carry, not only the story, but also the comedy, the jokes and the gags through the programme. This is the same as The Big Bang Theory. 

Sets

The Friends set involves a number of different locations. 2 are flats and 1 is a coffee shop. These 3 are the main locations that we see through the series. one flat is Monicas, where she originally lives with Rachel. This is the biggest flat and where the majority of the time, the group will meet and often were a lot of the story will take place. Through the series this does change and the characters move between different locations. Sometimes at Joey's flat which is directly across the hall from Monicas. Joey and Chandler originally live together as room mates until Chandler falls in love with Monica and marries her.  Joey's flat has a lot of comedy and character development between him and Chandler in the first few series. We see a lot of how Joey is on his own here as well such as rehearsing and how he is when he brings women home.

These two locations are so recognisable now and VERY classic for sitcoms. So often a living room is the main location for a story to take place as its the location where everyone in the house would meet. What's clever about these two locations is that they're both studio flats. Same as Sheldon and Leonards in The Bang Bang Theory, the kitchen and living room are all in the same room. Making it a bigger space for things to happen and easier to shoot as there aren't any walls. As well you don't question this because studio flats are very common in both the USA and United Kingdom. If working in a Studio as Friends and The Big Bang Theory does, this would be much better to shoot and of course light as you can see from the first photo of Monicas house.

But, because this sitcom is about 6 friends it has a location where they can all meet and talk together.

Often this is becomes the main place for the group to meet after work, on the way to work, etc. which is a small little coffee shop where the character Phoebe also performs her music bringing more comedy to the show with her unusual songs.
We do get other locations popping up such as Ross's flat, Monicas parents house, Rachels work office, Joey's audition locations, etc. But in each episode you are sure to get the coffee shop and either or both of Joey and Monicas flats.