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"Friends" Turns 200
Break out the candles--Friends turns 200 tonight.
Happily for NBC, this milestone for the perky sextet sitcom, in its ninth and likely final season, falls neatly into November sweeps, meaning the network can milk it for all it's worth.
"An episode so packed with guest stars we had to supersize it!" reads an NBC promo, trumpeting the extra minutes of running time for "The One with the Male Nanny"--an episode about--guess what?--boyfriend and baby problems
Mr. Buffy himself, Freddie Prinze Jr., is the ep's major guest star, showing up as a potential nanny for baby Emma. Rachel thinks he'll be perfect for the job, Ross is skeptical because he thinks the guy is, as the press release, puts it "over sensitive." Meantime, Phoebe's idyll with new boyfriend, Mike (Paul Rudd), is interrupted by the appearance of old boyfriend, David (Hank Azaria).
Since debuting in 1994, Friends has tallied 44 Emmy nominations, winning this year for Best Comedy Series and Best Actress, Comedy (Aniston). It is the second most-watched show on television, averaging more than 26 million viewers so far this season.
The 200-episode mark is a rarity in today's broadcast TV world, where shows are frequently deep-sixed after only a handful of showings (see girls club and Push, Nevada). Even if Friends ends after this season, the show will live on in syndication and DVD.
NBC, second lately to CBS' own must-see Thursday lineup of Survivor: Thailand, CSI and Without a Trace, is hoping the extended Friends will cut into the competition. Tonight's bicentennial show will be stretched out over 40 minutes, followed by a similarly "supersized" Will & Grace at 8:40 p.m. ET/PT, guest-starring Gene Wilder as Will's manic new boss. The Peacock's Thursday night lineup continues with Heather Locklear hotting up the hospital sitcom Scrubs, followed by the doctor drama ER.
Friends isn't the only show with a big anniversary this sweeps period. There will soon be candles alight for Will & Grace when it celebrates it 100th episode on November 21 with an hourlong (8.30-9.30) episode titled "Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More." Grace will be dealing not just with current love interest, Leo (Harry Connick Jr), but also with the presence of her meddling mom (Debbie Reynolds.) Morning show hen Katie Couric also guest stars, as herself. The episode will be followed by a half-hour retrospective of bloopers and outtakes.
While the Peacock has extended the running time on Friends this season in an apparent effort to grab every advertising dollar it can, CBS has hard-sell woven into the 100th installment of Becker. Titled The 100th and airing Sunday at 8 p.m., the episode has Ted Danson's irascible doctor trying to keep his new gal-pal Chris (Nancy Travis) to himself by telling others she's gay. The Eye is sponsoring a contest on CBS.com in which viewers try to spot how many times "100" is mentioned for a chance to win $100, an autographed script, a Becker jacket or a $100 phone card.
The 100-episode mark is especially noteworthy, giving a show the potential for lucrative syndication sales and rerun immortality.
Earlier this year, ABC celebrated the 200th episode of NYPD Blue. There should be an opportunity for the Alphabet net's The Drew Carey Show to blow out candles for its 200th milestone early next year. Unless, of course, the sitcom, which premiered in 1995, continues to do so poorly in its new Friday night time slot that it gets blown out first.
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