Hey
there smiling faces! Well, okay, I'm
only assuming you're smiling. Some of
you may be frowning, and that's okay for now.
But I hope that after you read today's Tuesday
Timeline post
that it will cheer you up.
Trust
me. I'll be there for you today.
So,
I'm just going to go ahead with today's look back throughout history. Wondering what happened on September 22
throughout history? Let's investigate!
1598 - Ben Jonson, an English playwright, challenges an
actor to a duel which results in the actor's death and Jonson charged with
manslaughter
1692 - The last public hanging of people charged with
witchcraft in New England takes place
1776 - Nathan Hale is hanged for spying during the
American Revolution
1789 - The office for the United States Postmaster is
created
1862 - A preliminary version of The Emancipation
Proclamation is released
1888 - National Geographic is first published
1896 - Queen Victoria officially becomes the longest
reigning monarch in British history
1919 - The Steel Strike begins in
Pennsylvania
1941 - In Vinnytsya, Ukraine, six thousand Jews are
murdered by the German SS during World War II
1955 - British channel ITV goes on the air for the first
time
1975 - Sara Jane Moore attempts to assassinate President
Gerald Ford, but is stopped before she could strike
1980 - Iraq invades Iran, kicking off the Iran-Iraq War
1989 - Composer Irving Berlin dies in New York City,
aged 101
1991 - The Dead Sea Scrolls are made public for the
first time, courtesy of the Huntington Library
1996 - Actress Dorothy Lamour passes away at the age of
81
1999 - Actor George C. Scott dies at the age of 71
2003 - Actor Gordon Jump passes away at the age of 71
And
for celebrity birthdays, we have to wish the following people a very happy
birthday; Rosamunde Pilcher, Tommy Lasorda, James Lawson, Marlena Shaw, Toni Basil, David Coverdale, Bobby Radcliff, Richard Fairbrass, David Wohl, Shari Belafonte, Debby Boone, Nick Cave, Andrea Bocelli, Lynn Herring, Joan Jett, Mark Patton, Scott Baio, Bonnie Hunt, Catherine Oxenberg, Ruth Jones, Matt Besser, Kim Watkins, Rupert Penry-Jones, Chesney Hawkes, Ashley Eckstein, Billie Piper, Katie Lowes, Laura Vandervoort, Tatiana Maslany, Tom Felton, Bethany Dillon, and Chase Ellison.
Okay,
so let's take a look at today's Tuesday Timeline date.
September 22, 1994. I remember that date. I
was weeks into the eighth grade. I was
thirteen years old. And, I now am
feeling really old now because I am realizing that this date took place 21
years ago!
Now,
this week in the world of pop culture is traditionally known as a big
week. Usually the third week in
September is known as "Premiere Week" for the new fall season. Many television shows debut around this time
of year, and for returning shows, the third week in September is when these
shows have their season premieres.
September
22 has been a date in which a lot of popular television series have
debuted. "Charlie's Angels",
"Family Ties", "ALF", "Full House",
"Baywatch", "Family Matters", "The West Wing",
"Two and a Half Men", and "The Good Wife" all debuted on
September 22. How's that for one
powerful television date, huh?
But
one show I left off from that list happens to be the discussion topic for
today. It was a show that debuted
twenty-one years ago today and ran for ten seasons, and it kept audiences
laughing throughout 236 episodes on NBC.
One
of the reasons the show lasted so long was because at no point during the show
did it ever seem stale. The show stayed
strong throughout its entire run, going out when it was still relatively near
the top of the ratings - heck, its final episode was watched by over 52 MILLION
people alone!
And
another reason why the show stayed on the air so long was due in part to the
fantastic sextet of actors and actresses who kept the chemistry going for ten
whole years. It's very rare for a show
to run for ten years without losing at least one cast member, so it definitely
is a testament that Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc,
Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer had such great chemistry as co-workers...and
friends.
That's
right, everybody. Prepare to be
amazed. Twenty-one years ago today,
"Friends" debuted on television.
It
was the series that launched the acting careers of six people (though to be
fair, many of them had already acted in bit parts before this series came to
be), it was the series that inspired a haircut (how many of you will admit to
having the "Rachel"?), and it was the series that asked the question
"Will Ross and Rachel EVER get together?"
So,
rather than talk about the plotlines and the characters of the show (I don't
want to use up all my potential future topics), I thought I'd use this
opportunity to discuss how the show was created in the first place.
And
our story actually begins in the winter of 1993/1994.
The
show was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and it was one of three
pilot ideas that were pitched by the duo for the 1994/1995 television
season. They were trying to get at
least one of them greenlit for production, as their previous project,
"Family Album" was cancelled in 1993 after just six episodes.
One
of those pilot ideas would eventually become the television show
"Friends", but it didn't quite start out that way. Would you believe that the original title of
the show was supposed to be "Insomnia Cafe"? You have to admit, "Friends" rolls
off the tongue a lot better.
The
original description of the show was pitched as this. "It's about sex, love, relationships, careers, a time in
your life when anything's possible. And
it's about friendship because when you're single and in the city, your friends
are your family."
Certainly
a description that a lot of twentysomethings just starting out in the world
could relate to. I know when I was in
my twenties, this was the case - well, at least for a couple of years, anyway.
Crane
and Kauffman pitched their idea to production partner Kevin Bright - who
himself had served as the executive producer of the successful cable show
"Dream On" - a show that Crane and Kauffman had created, and Bright
liked the idea. But it was up to the
executives at NBC to make the final call.
Well,
as luck would have it, then president of NBC Entertainment, Warren Littlefield,
was looking at adding a new comedy to his programming block - a show about
young people living together and sharing expenses and learning about life, but
any of the scripts that were presented to him he deemed not suitable.
At
least, that was until he received the concept for "Insomnia Cafe" and
immediately liked the premise. And,
with Littlefield's blessing, NBC bought the concept as a put pilot - which
meant that if a pilot did NOT get filmed, NBC would face a financial
penalty. Still, it was a risk that
Littlefield wanted to take, and so Crane and Kauffman went to work on a pilot
script, which was originally titled "Friends Like Us".
Littlefield
liked the script, but argued that he had wanted to tool the show so that it
reflected the ideals of Generation X, but Crane and Kauffman argued back that
it wouldn't be a good idea to focus on one generation of people when the show
could be relatable to anybody. NBC
greenlit the pilot episode, but retitled the show as "Six of One", as
the title "Friends Like Us" was similar to another show that was
airing on ABC entitled "These Friends Of Mine". At some point before the show debuted, the
show was changed to the familar title of "Friends", and "These
Friends Of Mine" later changed the name of their show to
"Ellen"!
As
far as the casting went, David Schwimmer was the first one hired as Ross. Crane and Kauffman had worked with him in
the past and felt that he was the best actor to play Ross. Courteney Cox had auditioned for the role of
Monica and won it, but initially producers had her set in mind to play Rachel
instead. Rachel, of course, went to
Jennifer Aniston who was cast based on her audition, as were Matthew Perry and
Lisa Kudrow as Chandler and Phoebe respectively. As for Matt LeBlanc, his casting was unusual in that the
producers were actually told by NBC to cast him as Joey. And LeBlanc's audition actually caused the
producers to rewrite the character to fit more of LeBlanc's personality into
the character.
And
granted, during the first season of the show, there was a lot of
experimentation with the actors and just how much of themselves they were
willing to put into their characters.
By the show's second season, all six characters had gotten into the
groove, and ratings steadily increased.
Who
knew that when the pilot episode aired on September 22, 1994 that it would
become one of the most popular modern day sitcoms to ever air on network
television? And, really, who ever knew
that "Friends" would essentially be the last show that would keep NBC
as Must See TV? Seriously, ever since
"Friends" stopped airing, the network has not done well with
sitcoms. At all.
But
when we saw Rachel flee from her wedding and move in with her best friend,
Monica, who introduced her to her brother Ross and their mutual friends
Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey...well, we knew that television magic was being
made. And all of the coffeehouse coffee
and Rachel haircuts couldn't compare to the fact that we were seeing true
friendships develop both on and off the screen.
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