Friends left the audience with a bunch of memorable scenes, jokes, and characters, but its best supporting characters actually had less screen time than many might think, showing that they didn’t need to feature prominently to leave a permanent mark on the show. The 1990s saw a bunch of sitcoms that went on to become TV classics, but one that to this day is still regarded as one of the greatest TV shows ever (and continues to have a solid fanbase) is Friends, which aired from 1994 to 2004 for a total of ten seasons.
Set in New York City, Friends followed the lives of a group of six young adults doing their best every day to juggle their social, personal, and professional lives while also dealing with everything adulthood threw at them, all of this with a lot of humor. Over the course of 10 seasons, viewers got to know Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Rachel, and Ross quite well and followed them through many ups and downs in all areas of their lives, and through them, they also met a variety of supporting characters, of which many became fan-favorites, such as Chandler’s ex-girlfriend Janice (Maggie Wheeler) and Phoebe’s husband Mike Hannigan (Paul Rudd).
Some of Friends’ most popular supporting characters had a big influence on the main characters’ lives and, in some cases, they pushed their arcs forward, but to the surprise of the audience, Friends‘ best supporting characters didn’t have that big of a presence in the show, and they were in less than 10% of it.
Why Friends’ Supporting Characters Are So Memorable (Despite Little Screentime)
Friends has a total of 236 episodes, and its most popular supporting characters were in less than 30 episodes, as are the cases of Ross and Monica’s father Jack Geller (22 episodes), Janice (19 episodes), Mike (17 episodes), and Monica’s ex-boyfriend Richard Burke (10 episodes). Despite this, all of these characters became widely popular and their absence in most of the series isn’t really felt, and it’s all thanks to their contributions to the main characters’ stories, their unforgettable scenes, their unique charm, and in some cases, like Janice, their memorable catchphrases.
Unlike his wife, Judy, Jack Geller became one of Friends’ most popular supporting characters thanks to his dynamic with Ross and Monica, as he was the most supporting and caring parent, while also delivering some funny scenes. Janice appeared in all seasons of Friends and every time she returned, she did so with her memorable catchphrase “oh my God!”, and she always found a way to sneak into the main characters’ stories, whether by getting back together with Chandler, dating Ross, giving birth at the same hospital and on the same day as Rachel, or moving next to Chandler and Monica’s new house. Mike became one of the best supporting characters in Friends thanks to Paul Rudd’s charm and sense of humor and how well he connected with Lisa Kudrow’s Phoebe. Mike also gave Phoebe what she never had: a loving, stable home and a family, and his sense of humor perfectly matched Phoebe’s. Last but not least, Richard shook things up in Friends when he started dating Monica, who is many years younger than him, and their break up heavily affected her. Richard’s last appearance in Friends brought tension as he tried to get back with Monica just as Chandler was about to propose to her, but she ultimately chose Chandler.
Friends’ best supporting characters didn’t need much screen time to win the audience over, as they all had a unique sense of humor and comedic style that made it easy for them to connect with the audience, and they all added to the main characters’ stories in different but very important ways.
