Yes it had problematic storylines but we still love the sitcom for its nostalgia-drenched therapy

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Thirty years ago, today: six twentysomethings in a New York coffee bar, called Central Perk. Monica is talking about a liaison with “wine guy”. Ross’s wife has dumped him for a woman. Rachel arrives, bedraggled, in a wedding dress, having left the fiance she doesn’t love at the altar …

These are the opening scenes of the first episode of Friends, created by Marta Kauffman and David Crane, featuring main characters Monica (Courteney Cox); Ross (David Schwimmer); Rachel (Jennifer Aniston); Chandler (Matthew Perry, who died from ketamine-poisoning last year, with legal trials still to come); Joey (Matt LeBlanc); Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow). Checking back in on the pilot, it’s a jolt how young they look (who are these glossy children?). But the real shock is what happened next.