Friends - Pilot Outline

Big lesson in simple story telling. Amazing pilot. We should read it often.

Written by David Krane and Marla Kaufman

COLD OPEN

• set up monica’s date with gang chatting
• discuss chandler’s weird dream
• ross enters upset about divorce
• Rachel arrives in her wedding gown

 
ACT ONE (1-32)

• gang watches Spanish TV while Rachel talks to her dad
• Rachel gets cut off from dad’s money
• Rachel asks to move in with monica and monica says yes
• Monica’s date arrives to pick her up
• Guys invite Rachel and phoebe to help ross put furniture together but they say no
• Half page of Pheeb’s song
• Quick guys putting furniture together
• Quick monica date – setting up that the guy is just out of a marriage
• Back to the guys having success with the furniture but ross getting upset. Comedy bit from joey about women and ice cream
• Monica learns that the guy didn’t ever have sex since divorce cuz can’t get it up
• Rachel watches joanie and chotchy, upset
• Monica outside apt. with guy. He gets a chub. They spill into apartment
• OUT: Manhattan skyline with another silly phoebe lyric echoing out.

 
ACT TWO

• joey and chandler are there mooching breakfast. Monica emerges having slept with Paul. The guys go fof for their jobs. Monica tells Rachel to get a job and help with rent too.
• Chandler and Rachel review his resume at work. It’s not good.
• Rachel shows up at joey’s work to interview for a job but buys boots instead (he is a cologne offer guy at bloomingdale’s).
• At work: monica learns that her special powers on no-boner guy may not have been true. He also slept with another chef there…
• AT COFFEE SHOP: Gang agrees that of course wine guy was a liar. Monica is disappointed.
• Back home: Rachel and monica argue b/c of rachel’s boots. Ultimately Rachel cuts her credit cards.
• Later monica goes to bed, leaving ross and Rachel alone. He asks if maybe it’d be ok if he asked her out sometime. She says yeah.
• SEVERAL DAYS LATER: we see that Rachel got a job at the coffee shop.

 
TAG

• Ross learns that his ex-wife lesbian is pregnant and she wants to keep it.

 
Note: They use dialogue to remind us that ross and monica are related. And they are VERY elegant with their little will they and won’t they stuff. It’s just a very elegant pilot, god damn. So simple and sweet. Also, ross is an integral part of the story but he doesn’t have to be in every scene. He’s just the one of the guys that’s going through something serious. ROSS has a big life thing. RACHEL has a big life thing. MONICA has a silly sex thing. PHOEBE, CHANDLER and JOEY are just there. EVERY CHARACTER DOESN’T HAVE TO FUCKING BE HAVING THEIR OWN CRAZY AND COMPLEX STORY.