Karachi: Picture this – You are sitting on your couch with a warm cup of hot chocolate in your hand. As you slowly get more comfortable, wrap a throw around yourself, put on a Friends episode and sip the beverage that soothes your soul, you realize that F.R.I.E.N.D.S on your television is the only real thing that’s bringing you comfort.

I can’t even count the number of times I have rewatched all the seasons. Only people who are fans of the show can understand the sadness when you watch the last episode. You have to restart it immediately to feel better. I don’t want to see that purple apartment empty, I want to see my friends in it. I know I am not alone in feeling this but isn’t Friends just like… family? There’s a sense of comfort in it. The characters feel like our own pals. We feel like one of them. If you close your eyes, you can imagine being there. There’s an effortless connection, something I have never experienced with a tv show before. For as long as I remember, I have watched it in happiness, in grief, in excitement, on special occasions, holidays, regular days. It’s there for you every step of the way, and I love it.

So what makes it such a viable comfort show? Why is it that we find solace in it? How does a tv show take you away from the realm of chaos to a soft plushy safe corner?

The fact of the matter is, the show is very relatable. It depicts real life in such an authentic way that it makes you truly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, it will all be okay. It’s the TV equivalent of comfort food; cosy, familiar, genuinely funny and amazing chemistry between the six leads.

Here are the many aspects that make F.R.I.E.N.D.S so special to millions of people around the world, including me and you.

Let’s talk about friendships –

You get to see all aspects of it in the show. Monica and Rachel were best friends in school but also had a big falling out. Joey was best friends with Chandler but also chose to move out when the opportunity presented itself. Ross and Rachel remained great friends even after their relationship fell apart. The kind of guy-friendship the show depicts is so uncommon on television that you can’t help but appreciate it, especially through portraying platonic love in such an emotive and vulnerable manner; Joey and Chandler’s hugs, Joey making Ross practise how to talk to women, them being there for each other through all the thick and thin, it all surmises to a great representation of what great friendship can be like. The bond between the girls is also incredible, including all the sleepovers and discussions about life that help them grow and become better human beings together.

Let’s talk about relationships –

We have all been through the good and the bad. You want to feel like you belong but there’s an age gap that’s unacceptable for society? Take Monica and Richard’s relationship or Frank Jr and Alice’s rendezvous. Do you just want to have fun and not get serious? You would be able to relate to Phoebe in the earlier seasons. You are not looking for anything other than hookups? Joey is the character for you. You are not happy in your relationship and want to start all over again? That’s Rachel when the show began. You keep ending up with the same person even though you know it’s not the right one? Chandler and Janice all the way in their rollercoaster dynamic. Long-distance relationship? Ross and Emily take the lead.

Let’s talk about work –

There’s something for everyone in it. You don’t know what you want when you start working? You have Rachel. You are passionate about your work? There’s Ross. You are facing instability at work? Joey. Do you work at a place you hate? Monica at the Moondance Diner. Do your colleagues hate you at work? Monica at Alessandro’s do too, so it’s okay. Do you like part-time work and full-time craziness? Phoebe will completely get you. You have achieved everything at your current workplace and you still don’t feel like it’s your calling so you want to start over again? Chandler will understand.

The show takes you around the whole lifecycle of your work life. From being unemployed to just working to pay bills, taking up any job you get, getting fired, to finding your passion, to building your career, having a work-life balance all the way to tenure. There is nothing you can think of that they haven’t covered.

Let’s talk about parents and family –

They talk about the real things that people hush about. Rachel’s parents were not able to work things out and got divorced at a later stage. Phoebe’s father abandoned her and her sister for reasons unknown to the world. Joey’s father fell in love with another woman and cheated on his mother. Monica and Ross’s parents have completely different standards of showing love to each of them. Chandler’s dad realised he was not even straight and comes to terms with his identity. They show how this affects the kids but also how they move on from it and how all of it shouldn’t even have a stigma attached to it. They talk about motherhood, single parenting, adoption and they make all of it look so normal and simple as it should be.

All the characters are made in a way that all of us can relate to them in one way or the other. Not only did we instantly fall in love with the characters but we also grew up with them Some can think of Monica when they clean, some think of Phoebe when they scream or Rachel when they exchange gifts or Chandler when they are sarcastic or Joey when they are eating food or Ross when they are obsessing over something. Somehow in all of this, you find yourself in the show, maybe sipping coffee at Central Perk or maybe just on Monica’s couch but you’re there. The show came out almost 3 decades ago and yet the storyline never gets old. You can still watch it and laugh as if it was shot yesterday.