FRIENDS
COMEDY / ROMANTIC COMEDY
USA
1994-2004
FRIENDS is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. FRIENDS consists of 234 episodes of 22 minutes.
STORY: On her wedding day, Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) flees her rich but unfulfilling life and moves in with childhood friend Monica Geller (Courteney Cox) a caring chef. Rachel becomes a waitress at West Village coffeehouse Central Perk and joins Monica's group of single friends in their mid-20s: Monica's former roommate Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), an eccentric masseuse and musician, and neighbour Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), a loyal struggling actor and womanizer; Joey's roommate Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), a sarcastic data processor, and Monica's older brother and Chandler's roommate Ross Geller (David Schwimmer), a mild-mannered but insecure palaeontologist.
GAY COUPLE STORYLINE: Charles Bing (Kathleen Turner), after coming out as gay, he is known professionally as travestite Helena Handbasket. He is the biological father of Chandler Bing and was married to Nora Tyler Bing (Morgan Fairchild). Charles now has a show in Las Vegas entitled Viva Las Gay-gas and performs at The Four Queens, where her beloved Mr. Garibaldi accompanies the act at the piano. Chandler and Monica visit Chandler's father at the Las Vegas club. Helena Handbasket performs the act on "It's Raining Men".
Charles Bing (Kathleen Turner) & Nora Tyler Bing (Morgan Fairchild)
KATHLEEN TURNER (2014-2021) June 19, 1954, Springfield, MO, USA
MORGAN FAIRCHILD (1995-2001) February 3, 1950, Dallas, TX, USA
SPECIAL: Nearly anytime LGBTQ+ people are brought up through the show, it's played for laughs — whether it's the running joke that people think Chandler is gay or an episode where Joey (Matt Leblanc) convinces an acting student, who he is competing for a role on All My Children, to play the character “homosexually.”
AWARDS: ‘FRIENDS’ won 6 Primetime Emmys. 79 wins & 231 nominations.
8.8 IMDB
