If a sitcom that lasts for 10 years is considered popular, then surely one that still stirs up emotions after 20 must be considered a classic. Friends first aired in the US in 1994, featuring a cast of six young men and women in New York. In the time since, it’s become one of the most famous titles in the sitcom genre, aired in over 100 countries and regions in the world.
如果一部情景喜剧播出10年堪称流行，那么播出20年后依旧令无数人挂怀的电视剧则是经典。《老友记》1994年在美国首播，讲述了六个生活在纽约的青年男女的故事。现在，该剧已经是最著名的情景喜剧之一，在全球超过100多个国家和地区播出。
The show is iconic among those who grew up in the 1990s because it explores core themes like friendship, struggling to survive in a big city, and finding independence and identity, all of which are still relevant to young audiences today.
《老友记》是成长在90年代的小伙伴们心中标志性的存在，因为它的主题：友谊、大城市生存的不易，发现自我、寻求独立，与年轻人息息相关，如今亦是如此。
This is a story about six friends with precarious love lives who spend their days sitting in a cafe sipping coffee from oversized mugs. Who’d have thought this premise would go on to become one of the most influential sitcoms of all time?
该剧讲述了6位男女和他们飘忽不定的爱情，还有他们在咖啡店中享用超大杯咖啡的时光。而谁想到这竟成为情景剧中最具深入人心的场景之一？
Twenty-something show
20多岁的故事
According to Brett Mills, senior lecturer in film and television studies at the University of East Anglia in the UK, Friends was the first sitcom that directly addressed the problems faced by twenty-somethings. Watching the show feels like reading the story of a young person’s life.
正如英国东安格利亚大学影视高级讲师布霄特•米尔斯所言，《老友记》是首部讲述20来岁年轻人所面临的问题的情景剧。而看剧就像在读一个年轻人的人生故事。
“The key thing about Friends is that it’s about people working out how they are going to live their lives — what kind of relationships are they going to have, what kind of job, and the difficulties of settling down,” says Mills to the Daily Mail. “You’re engaged in all those questions about escaping from your family, becoming an adult and working out what you want to be.”And that’s one of the key issues in the youth culture of the 1990s.
米尔斯在接受《每日邮报》采访中说，“《老友记》的核心是关于人要如何生活，他们想要怎样的友谊，找一份怎样的工作，以及寻找安定的不易。这些问题都是你在离开家、成长为大人、实现梦想之时所面临的。”而这也是90年代青春文化的主要内容。
Friends count too
朋友很重要
It is also argued that Friends came about as the family unity of small-town America was being replicated in major urban centers as young people migrated without the maturity or streetsmarts to live alone. Before Friends, sitcoms tended to focus on family dynamics, with parents being the central characters. But when young people strike out on their own in the big city, who do they have for support? They must rely on each other to endure through the overwhelming confusion of youth.
《老友记》播出之时，正值来自小城镇的美国年轻人向大城市转移的时代，而初到大城市的年轻人既不够成熟，也缺乏独自生存的能力。在此之前，情景喜剧都以展现家庭百态为主，父母是剧中的主要人物。但是，当年轻人独自在大城市生活时，他们不得不依靠彼此，一起度过迷茫的青春。
Still relevant
依然年轻
Most of Friends was shot before cellular phones and Google were ubiquitous. The clothes and gadgets seem a bit outdated these days. Despite this, the show’s key elements still hold up remarkably well in the eyes of young viewers.
《老友记》大部分剧集拍摄之时，手机和Google都还未普及，剧中的服装和道具现在看来也有些过时，但是，剧中的主题却依旧深得现在年轻观众的心。
The issues addressed in friends — relationships, careers, and friendship — continue to be relevant to today’s youth.
其关于朋友间爱情、事业、友谊的主题仍然与今天的年轻人息息相关。
In 2011, some seven years after the last season of Friends, over 36 million tuned into Comedy Central, a US satellite TV channel, to watch the show. The main demographic for this channel is 16 to 34 year olds, and viewing figures spiked during holidays, when extra episodes are also shown.
2011年，在《老友记》最后一季播出7年之后，美国卫星电视频道Comedy Central再次播放该剧，观看人数超过了3600万，而观众的年龄主要分布在16岁至34岁之间。假期时，看剧人数更是由于播放集数增加而飙升。
The show’s sense of humor remains keen without relying on nudity, swearing and sexting. This gives the show a refreshing aura in an age where shows are constantly trying to push the envelope in terms of racy content.
《老友记》中没有露骨的内容、不干净的台词或是黄段子，但它的幽默感却丝毫不减，为这个电视剧总喜欢裹挟着露骨内容的年代带来一阵清新之风。
