How Friends, the US$5 billion ’90s sitcom is still bringing in the fans in the streaming age
- Friends ran for 10 seasons until 2004 and repeats have aired on networks ever since, earning billions of dollars
- Fans say the show, running soon on HBO Max streaming service, takes them back to an age before mobile phones
Morgan Kolkmeyer, a meteorologist for Chicago TV station WGN, has fond childhood memories of curling up next to her parents on a couch as they all watched episodes of Friends.
Two decades later, Kolkmeyer, 28, found herself perched on a replica of the signature orange sofa from Central Perk, the coffee house hang-out of the six 20-something characters on the series, as she introduced four of her favourite Friends episodes to WGN viewers on a Saturday night in November.
“I don’t watch a lot of TV shows, and I don't know a lot of actors and actresses,” Kolkmeyer said. “But I know every line of Friends.”
Kolkmeyer is among the legion of fans of the sitcom, and her hosting stint was part of a massive marketing campaign tied into the programme's 25th anniversary. The push precedes the arrival of the beloved series on Warner’s new streaming service HBO Max, which has the faces of the Friends cast members as the opening image in its first promotional spot.
