The Office and 25 TV shows that were never supposed to be hits

Series run: 1994-2004 (10 seasons/235 episodes)

Everybody loves Friends.

The show about six friends living life in Manhattan is considered by many to be one of the top 10 shows of all-time. The themes were something that many could relate to, and the show would go on to be a star-making vehicle for most of the cast. However, it didn’t seem that way after its first season.

We cannot understate how much the first half of season one could have been near-disaster for Friends.

In the mid-’90s, NBC was the king of primetime television, thanks to a strong balance of sitcoms such as Seinfeld and Will & Grace, and dramas such as Law & Order. So when Friends premiered in the fall of ’94, it had a lot to live up to, and early reviews were mixed.

Despite a strong lineup surrounding it, ratings for the first half of season one were not living up to expectations, and it seriously looked like the series would be cooked after season one. But, this is NBC in the ’90s we’re talking about here, and they weren’t going to give up on Friends.

So, the order a second season, and the rest is history.

The show took off, becoming one of NBC’s flagship sitcoms and never falling out of the Top 10 in ratings throughout out its run. It’s also one of the few sitcoms that actually got stronger as the series went along, and it was a really huge deal when the series said goodbye in 2004.

But not for long!

Thank God for syndication.