Pilots are never easy, especially for comedy shows, but Friends starts off really solidly and shows glimpses of its future brilliance. The dialogue is fantastic from the very first scene, with Chandler being immediately hilarious and the back and forth between the characters flowing really well. Monica's subplot establishes her ongoing struggle to find romance nicely and is helped by Courtney Cox's great performance, which stands out from the rest of the cast. Twenty minutes isn't really long enough to properly establish 6 characters in depth, with Phoebe and particularly Joey being the ones who are sidelined in this opening episode, and Rachel's introduction is done somewhat awkwardly. Ultimately I may be looking back on this episode with rose-tinted glasses due to my attachment to the characters and knowing what is to come, but I genuinely believe that its a good, funny pilot that lays the groundwork for the rest of the series and immediately endears you to some of the characters.
