Friends is over-bloated by quick punch-lines and a soap-opera style plot line that is heavily indebted to Seinfeld for its conversational approach to hot topics like sex and relationships and for a story that actually develops and introduces a slew of guest appearances under the guise of "dates". Jennifer Anniston comes off very underwhelming and never really sells the rather boring and cliché lines she is given to explain her leaving at the altar and moving into the apartment bloc. The show would start to find its niche and chemistry in later seasons, but this first episode showed enough potential for NBC to bite on it. This is very forced and very unrealistic stuff, not as brilliant or hard-hitting as some would like us to believe. Very humble origins indeed.
