Friends: The One Where Structure Matters
– How sitcoms teach timing, empathy – and the architecture of story.
Sitcom is one of the most brutally difficult formats of storytelling to master, and Friends is one of the best examples of glorious writing to examine.
As my BA thesis, I broke down one episode of Friends – to the nuts and bolts – to see the architecture of a good story. Turns out, good sitcom is smarter than most systems.