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Friends - Ashley
Ashley Qiu
Created on November 27, 2023
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Transcript
Official Experiences
Unofficial Experiences
- Aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004
- Narrative follows 6 young adults living in New York City
- Filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California
- Had an average of 25 million views throughout the series
- Became available for streaming first on Netflix in 2015, then HBO Max in 2020
- How do Friends experiences transport visitors to the storyworld of the show and the feeling/idea of being in New York City (or the U.S. more broadly)?
- To what extent does spatial (and cultural) proximity to the country of origin (United States) impact how fandom can be experienced in Friends experiences?
- How does the physical space of these Friends experiences communicate aspects of fan identity? What differs about the fan identity that is communicated in official Friends spaces vs. unofficial ones?
- What aspects of international life are brought into the fan experience in Friends experiences located outside of the U.S.?
The basic facts...
Key questions:
+ basic facts about the show
+ key questions to explore
Welcome to the world of the TV show Friends, which has captivated a global audience for many years.
With this interactive map, explore the different Friends experiences - both official and unofficial - that have popped-up in various global destinations since the show's inception.
Friends - Creating a Sense of Place in Official vs. Unofficial Fan Experiences Around the World
Sources
The Friends Experience
☕️ Central Perk Cafe ☕️
(Under the jurisdiction of Warner Bros Entertainment)
Return
2021 - Present
For extra exploration, check out:
+ read about the Friends fandom here
Home
- Commoditizes fandom
- Industry-created spaces can be seen as a place of "media parody"
- Heavily leans in on nostalgia
- Caters to pre-existing fans
What motivates studios to create these official experiences and what's special about them?
Friends: Official Experiences
In addition to official locations, unofficial fan-created Friends experiences have also popped up across the world, mostly in Asian countries including China and India. These mostly take the form of cafes, restaurants, and hotels that are permanent.
Read about fandom in unofficial Friends spaces
Similarities to official experiences:
- Attention to detail
- Emphasis on place
- Loyalty to original source material (not a "subcultural" model like other unofficial fan experiences might be)
Return
Differences from official experiences:
- Fans focus on building a sense of community rather than simply commodifying the show
Friends: Unofficial Experiences
Home
Passionate Engagement
Further Exploration:
Community > consumerism
Connection to US / NYC Culture
Basic facts
Fandom in Unofficial Friends Spaces
What characterizes the fandom in Beijing Friends Cafe?
Return
Case study: Beijing Friends Cafe ☕️
Home
Return
New York
Philadelphia
Home
The Friends Experience
(click for closer look)
Visual Infographic
Short Essay
The Friends Experience Branding Analysis
Return
Home
https://www.npr.org/2013/01/23/170074762/friends-will-be-there-for-you-at-beijings-central-perk https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/world/what-in-the-world/china-beijing-friends-central-perk.html https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2015/05/87190/friends-obsessed-fan-opens-central-perk-china https://www.travelpulse.com/news/entertainment/meet-chinas-gunther-and-the-amazing-friends-central-perk-he-created https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294212-d4357866-Reviews-Friends_Cafe_LaoYouJi_ZhuTi-Beijing.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RwDi1wtz7Y&ab_channel=i-D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fRLq2L8Iy8&ab_channel=TheTelegraph https://thehappydaystravels.com/friends-themed-hostel-friends-themed-cafe-in-kuala-lumpur/ https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/india-now-has-5-f-r-i-e-n-d-s-themed-cafes-but-there-s-a-catch-262485.html https://wanderlustwelshman.com/2019/01/16/central-perk-in-shenzhen/ https://secretdubai.co/friends-central-perk-in-dubai/ https://centralperk.com/pages/about https://www.friendstheexperience.com/ https://www.phillymag.com/things-to-do/2023/02/14/the-friends-experience/ https://time.com/4546154/friends-cafe-central-perk-singapore/ https://mothership.sg/2022/12/central-perk-cafe-friends-close/ https://eatbook.sg/friends-cafe/
Parmett, Helen Morgan. “It’s HBO: Passionate Engagement, TV Branding, and Tourism in the Postbroadcast Era.” Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, vol. 13, no. 1, 2015, pp. 3–22, doi:10.1080/14791420.2015.1068431. Waysdorf, Abby S. “Friends and Corporate Places of Fandom.” Fan Sites: Film Tourism and Contemporary Fandom, University of Iowa Press, 2021, pp. 110–34. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv20dsbwg.9. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023.
Sources
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Home
"While not being part of the cult media infrastructure, it nonetheless behaved much like a cult show textually, and its fans loved it in the same way" (Waysdorf 116)
Traditionally, Friends did not have the same sort of cult fandom as other media texts like Harry Potter or Game of Thrones. The sitcom format of the show made it highly accessible to all audiences, from casual viewers to loyal ones who tuned in for every episode, so you didn't have to be a super-fan to enjoy. Instead of finding communities with other Friends fans, most viewers became individually attached to specific aspects of the show: its characters, spaces (like Chandler and Joey's apartment and Central Perk), and memorable quotes which delivered a sense a nostalgia. Recognizing the power of fans, Warner Bros decided to create official fan experiences that emphasized these elements.
The Friends Fandom (and what makes it unique)
as observed by Abby S. Waysdorf in "Friends and Corporate Places of Fandom"
The cafe as a space of cultural proximity
For international Chinese fans, Friends as a media text not only is a story about friendship, but also serves as a reference point to understanding American lifestyle and culture. Through participating in these fan-made spaces, Chinese fans seek to embody these preconceived American values and escape from their personal cultural realities.
“It suggests that the connection of a sense of place-based location and attachment to a particular place can be utilized as an affective register to reach audiences far beyond that particular place (Parmett 4)
"The show is particularly popular for its use of colloquial language and as an introduction to American culture. It's also popular because of the laid-back, friendship-filled lifestyle it portrays, far from the stressful, competitive world that Chinese young people inhabit” (NPR)
Visitor testimonials: "Chinese television is kind of political, they are trying to teach people what our country wants us to know. We just don’t have TV series like Friends."
(Only Friends-themed cafe LICENSED outside US)
Singapore
Boston
https://centralperk.com
Central Perk Cafe
The term is used by media companies and their marketing sectors to “ubiquitously ... characterize the desired behavior of its audience” (Parmett 7)
What is passionate engagement?
🤩
Passionate engagement as indirect fan marketing
Examples in the Beijing Cafe:
Even if Chinese fans like Du are not actively participating in the official consumer market of the Friends / Warner Bros. brand, their passionate engagement in the media text can be seen as an indirect form of advertising.
- paid ticketing
- merchandise
- fans as co-creators of consumption
Official
Unofficial
Scholarly analysis by Waysdorf
Du: "A lot of my Rachels met their boyfriends or right now their husbands in my coffee shop. Every year five or ten proposals happen. Just one place can bring people together."
Space for community
Commodification of Fandom
“Having fans is now a way to continually generate attention to a media text and, through that attention, income and prominence”
“They were also social and community-oriented, with the structures of organized fandom—conventions, message boards, and so forth—providing an alternative social space for often marginalized people.” (113)
“Du says he had no idea how popular the cafes would be, but he's discovering that they serve as unofficial Friends fan clubs” (NPR)
Branding Analysis
Du: "I wanted to find some place like Central Perk and build a “friendship building."
Consumerism-based
(The Friends Experience)
High above Beijing’s financial district, on the sixth floor of a futuristic commercial complex, is a little slice of New York City. (New York Times)
Beijing Friends Cafe
Address: Chaowai SOHO, 6 Chaoyangmenwai Dajie, Building A, Suite 0616
- located on the 6th floor of an apartment building
- started by Du Xin, avid Friends fan who calls himself "Gunther"
- features a recreated Central Perk cafe (fully functioning) with other fun memorabilia and props from show
+ the experience
+ basic facts
From the website: Immerse yourself in the world of FRIENDS™ like never before with interactive set recreations, props and costumes, photo ops and exclusive merchandise. There’s no better place to be an unapologetic FRIENDS™ fan!
- costs around $64 per person
- open access immersive environment where visitors are allowed to roam freely (no time limit but one hour is recommended)
- includes rooms that look exactly like the set (Central Perk, Monica's apartment, etc.), recreations of costumes characters wore, props from set, archival elements like script drafts and set design sketches