Anyone with any interest in American TV shows will have heard of the show Friends. It was one of the most popular programs of the late 1990s and early 2000s and finished in 2004 after ten seasons. In the beginning it seemed unlikely that the show would be successful. A test episode, produced in 1994, was described by audiences as "not very clever, entertaining or original." However, the show surprised everyone and the final program of the final series attracted more than 50 million viewers in the U.S. alone. In financial terms it was the most successful TV show in history.
The program focused on the lives of six friends living in a New York apartment building. One of the characters was a waitress while another was an actor. A third was a chef, and a fourth worked in advertising. The fifth became a college professor and .....