Why is Friends still the UK’s favourite sitcom?
New figures show the 1990s sitcom is most-streamed show this year

US sitcom Friends was the most streamed TV programme in Britain in the first quarter of 2018, industry statistics reveal.
All 234 episodes of the hit show, which ended 14 years ago, were uploaded to Netflix UK in January. Fans immediately tuned in, with twice as many episodes of Friends streamed in the first three months of 2018 than its nearest rival, Amazon’s The Grand Tour, according to TV watchdog Ofcom.
Friends also beat more recent hits including The Crown, Stranger Things and Black Mirror, the BBC reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Starring David Schwimmer, Jennifer Anniston, Matt LeBlanc, Courtney Cox, Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow, the sitcom was hugely successful during its ten-year run, and the final episode remains one of the most-watched finales in US TV history, with 65.9 million viewers tuning in.
But why is it still so popular in the UK?
The Ofcom report says that the rapid climb of Friends to the top of the streaming charts is being driven by viewers aged between 16 and 34. In 2016, columnist Lucy Mangan theorised in The Guardian that millennials may “find the sanitised, airbrushed version of New York life led by the perfectly coiffed sextet even more comforting than we did, the escapism offered even more valuable”.
“The Friends’ friends do not, after all, have to negotiate Tinder, social media, a post-crash job market, exponentially increasing rents or any of the other myriad stresses millennials are still desperately trying to evolve strategies to deal with,” Mangan noted.
The Daily Mail, on the other hand, suggests a simpler explanation - that “parents who loved the show in their 20s now sit down to watch the repeats with their teens, while students who were toddlers when it first aired proclaim their appreciation on Twitter”.
However, “some millennial viewers” who watched the show for the first time after it was made available on Netflix “complained that the humour was dated and offensive”, reports The Times.
Writing in The Independent, Ilana Kaplan says: “Storylines laced with homophobia, sexism, borderline emotional abuse and sexual harassment are portrayed as punchlines.
“The lack of diversity within its ten seasons is inexcusable and embarrassing.”
Journalist Rebecca Reid told BBC Radio 5 live in in January that she “couldn’t believe how badly [Friends] has aged”, adding: “The homophobia is staggering - the punchline of every joke about Ross is that his ex-wife is a lesbian, as if that’s some failing of his and that it’s hilarious that she’s a lesbian.
“The sexism’s pretty rampant as well... [and] it’s the whitest show in the whole world.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - April 20, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - Pam Bondi, retirement planning, and more
By The Week US
-
5 heavy-handed cartoons about ICE and deportation
Cartoons Artists take on international students, the Supreme Court, and more
By The Week US
-
Exploring the three great gardens of Japan
The Week Recommends Beautiful gardens are 'the stuff of Japanese landscape legends'
By The Week UK
-
'Severance' and the best tech dystopia shows
The Week Recommends If the Apple TV+ hit increased your appetite for bleak futurism, you have additional options
By David Faris
-
Movies to watch in April, including 'A Minecraft Movie' and 'The Legend of Ochi'
The Week Recommends An all-timer video game gets a wacky adaption, Ryan Coogler makes a vampire flick and a new fantasy puts practical effects back in the spotlight
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US
-
Adolescence and the toxic online world: what's the solution?
Talking Point The hit Netflix show is a window into the manosphere, red pills and incels
By The Week UK
-
Stephen Graham's best TV and film roles
The Week Recommends From Line of Duty to Adolescence, these are the prolific actor's must-watch projects
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK
-
TV to watch in March, including 'The Studio' and 'Paul American'
The Week Recommends A true crime story adaptation, a reality show about the ultra-American Paul brothers and a new late night series from John Mulaney
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US
-
Adolescence: Stephen Graham's 'powerful', 'poignant' Netflix drama
The Week Recommends Four-parter about a father grappling with the horrific actions of his son is an 'arresting and disturbing watch'
By The Week UK
-
Meghan Markle's new Netflix show and the media backlash
Talking Point With Love, Megan offers fresh insights into her 'mind-bogglingly exclusive lifestyle' in California
By The Week UK
-
Zero Day: 'nail-biting' political thriller is 'packed with twists'
The Week Recommends Robert De Niro brings star power to 'addictive' Netflix show about a deadly cyberattack
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK