The massively popular American sitcom Friends may have ended nearly 15 years ago, but its popularity still lives on in 2019.

The show, which follows six 20-something New Yorkers in the ’90s and early Noughties, was still the most binge-watched TV programme of 2018, according to a study from TV Time. And another

recent report from Childwise Monitor shows it’s extremely popular with children under the age of 16, ever since it started streaming on Netflix at the beginning of last year.

Few of those 2,000 young people surveyed in the UK were even alive when the show aired, between 1994 to 2004.

Millennial outrage
It’s a very different story to the one we heard in early 2018, when Netflix first aired the show on its streaming platform. At the time, it was reported that millennials, who had never seen it before, were shocked by the sitcom’s storylines, describing them as transphobic, homophobic and sexist.

Although it was progressive for its time, it appeared Friends just hadn’t aged well.

But that, apparently, was a “moo point”, as in December Netflix then paid WarnerMedia $100 million to keep it on its platform for another year.

Earlier in 2018, in May, it was also reported that Chinese Friends fans were heartbroken after a video site pulled it, proving the show’s appeal also transcends international borders.

Why do we all still love it so?

Childwise believes there are a few reasons why its popularity has endured with a younger audience, and it’s not just because we’ve seen a resurgence in ’90s nostalgia. The agency’s research director, Simon Leggett, said it may also be because the on-screen relationships between the six friends are still “relatable” and “aspirational”. Particularly in an age when face-to-face interactions are often replaced with digital communication.

Somewhat paradoxically, however, Leggett also said he believes it’s exactly because of the access we have to these digital platforms that the show lives on. He told ITV News: “Children are all over Netflix – they can watch it virtually whenever and wherever they like, from beginning to end in order and with ease, in a way that they couldn’t before it was on Netflix (when it was previously only on Comedy Central) unless they broke out their parents’ old DVD boxsets.”