"Reading" Friends Through Genre Theory

     Lawrence Grossberg defines a genre as a "shared set of conventions, such as conventions about narrative, characters, location, styles." He also states that a genre is the "underlying structure of values that the genre puts into play" (Grossberg, 36).

     The features of a situation comedy, according to Jane Feuer include a "half an hour format, the basis in humour, the 'problem of the week' that causes the hilarious situation and that will be resolved so that a new episode may take place the next week" (Feuer, 1992). The television program Friends can be placed in the 'genre' of a situation comedy, also known as a sitcom. Friends is a half an hour sitcom about 6 friends, 3 guys and 3 girls, who live closely together, and who experience many different aspects of life together. Friends can be described as a sitcom because the show encompasses the characteristics of a sitcom, such as quick and humorous one liners, crazy and zany characters and some kind of conflict or situation within every episode that always ends with a happy resolution. Friends brings in everyday language and slang, and the characters are always dressed in a fashionable way, which the audience enjoys watching and sometimes even copying. In addition, Friends discusses many different "real life" situations, to which the audience can relate. For example, Friends brings in real life issues like marriage, pregnancy, and weight gain and loss.

     The audience of Friends learns that it is a sitcom due to the fact that it is humourous, it is entertaining, and no matter how much trouble or problems the characters get into, there is always a happy ending at the end of the half hour. Furthermore, Friends, as a situation comedy, takes place in the same location every week. The majority of the program occurs in Monica and Chandler's apartment, with some of the show occuring in Joey and Rachel's apartment, or the characters local coffee shop, Central Perk.

     In addition to the real life situations found in Friends, social issues are sometimes discussed. For example, in the episode entitled, "The One With the Rumour," guest star Brad Pitt reveals that he, along with Ross, started a rumor about Rachel in high school. Throughout this Thanksgiving episode, the audience, learns, through comedy and humour about the effects of gossiping and rumors and how they can affect people's lives in the future. During this episode, there are many references to losing weight and being overweight, which is a major issue in society today that most people think about and deal with everyday. This episode allows for the audience to listen to references about being thin and losing weight, without taking what the characters say seriously. The audience is able to listen to these references and not 'read' into what the characters are saying, due to the fact that the situation comedy genre does not usually make social statements in which people run their lives.

     People who watch Friends are able to recognize right away that it is a situation comedy, due to the fact that one is able to 'read' Friends exactly according to the definition of a sitcom. For example, Friends follows the rule of the sitcom that there is a funny situation that occurs during every episode, but is resolved before the end of the half an hour. Audiences 'read' Friends as a sitcom because they expect to see a conflict being portrayed humourously, and know that it will be resolved by the end of the show. In addition, even before watching an episode, audiences know that there will be what Jane Feuer calls a "problem of the week." This therefore, describes that people have been taught that situation comedies are supposed to be written in a certain way, and Friends is one show that follows the rules of a situation comedy. Therefore, audiences are able to 'read' and interpret what Friends is all about even before they watch the show. According to Stefan Herrmann, "watching television has often been seen as a routine and passive process," and therefore audiences do not have think while watching television. This fact, however, leads to the conclusion that watching Friends is not very challenging, it is just watched for pure entertainment.

Feuer, Jane (1992) "Melodrama, Serial Form, and Televison Today." Televison: The Critical View, Fifth Edition. New York: Oxford University Press.

Grossberg, Lawrence. The Interpretation of Meaning. Modes of Communication Course Kit, Pg. 29 - 44.

Stefan Herrmann, Do we learn to 'read' television like a kind of 'language'?
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/sfh9901.html

Home
Stacey Morris