Visualization of 'Friends'hips (from Friends TV show) using data on shared plotlines [OC]

Chandler-Monica is so high almost exclusively because of post-S4 storylines, of course. Had the show ended after four seasons Chandler-Joey would be at the top of his list as it is on Joey's.

Phoebe is the closest to having an equal number of storylines with the others—Phoebe-Monica only 2.5X Phoebe-Chandler—becase she was the only one to never live with or be in a relationship with another. (Phoebe was Monica's roommate before Rachel joins the group in the pilot.)

Interesting that Monica-Ross is at the bottom of her list, even below Monica-Joey. Despite being siblings, and their parents frequently recurring, the friends were so tightly knit that storylines were a function of who they lived with, romanced, or wanted to romance, as opposed to familial ties per se. If Monica and Ross had lived together as adults (as they did before the show while he pursued a dancing career for a year), then that would have been different.

Not surprisingly, Ross-Rachel dominates his list. Without the awful dating-Joey storylines in the last two seasons, Rachel-Ross would similarly dominate hers.

Joey's list is second to Phoebe's in terms of top-to-bottom evenness, with only Chandler skewing things. Without the aforementioned Rachel quasi-relationship I think his would be the most even, even including Joey-Chandler.

The creators of the show at first planned for Phoebe and Chander to be secondary characters to the other four. This ended before the show began filming, but you can see traces of their intention in the pilot. Chandler, in fact, ended up with the most storylines (224), as the only one to live with a friend and be in a relationship with another friend during the show's run. Conversely, as mentioned Phoebe is the only one to not do either, and her relative lack of storylines (139, as opposed to Joey's 190, Monica's 206, Rachel's 209, and Ross' 164) reflects this.

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