1.
The Beatles
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The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. They acquired the nickname the Fab Four as Beatlemania grew in Britain the next year, from 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road, after their break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying lengths. McCartney and Starr, the members, remain musically active. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in November 2001. The Beatles are the band in history, with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act, according to the RIAA, the Beatles are also the best-selling music artists in the United States, with 178 million certified units. In 2008, the group topped Billboard magazines list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, as of 2016 and they have received ten Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and they were also collectively included in Time magazines compilation of the twentieth centurys 100 most influential people. In March 1957, John Lennon, then aged sixteen, formed a group with several friends from Quarry Bank school. They briefly called themselves the Blackjacks, before changing their name to the Quarrymen after discovering that a local group was already using the other name. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined as a rhythm guitarist shortly after he, in February 1958, McCartney invited his friend George Harrison to watch the band. The fourteen-year-old auditioned for Lennon, impressing him with his playing, after a month of Harrisons persistence, they enlisted him as their lead guitarist. By January 1959, Lennons Quarry Bank friends had left the group, the three guitarists, billing themselves at least three times as Johnny and the Moondogs, were playing rock and roll whenever they could find a drummer. They used the name until May, when they became the Silver Beetles, before undertaking a tour of Scotland as the backing group for pop singer. By early July, they had changed their name to the Silver Beatles, allan Williams, the Beatles unofficial manager, arranged a residency for them in Hamburg, but lacking a full-time drummer they auditioned and hired Pete Best in mid-August 1960
2.
The Quarrymen
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The Quarrymen are a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which eventually evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Quarrymen took their name from a line in the song of Quarry Bank High School. Lennon started a group that was very briefly called the Blackjacks. Some accounts credit Lennon with choosing the new name, other accounts credit his close friend Pete Shotton with suggesting the name, the Quarrymen played at parties, school dances, cinemas and amateur skiffle contests before Paul McCartney joined the band in October 1957. George Harrison joined the band in early 1958 at McCartneys recommendation, both McCartney and Harrison attended the Liverpool Institute. The group made a recording of themselves in 1958, performing Buddy Hollys Thatll Be the Day and In Spite of All the Danger. The group moved away from skiffle and towards rock and roll and this left only a trio of Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison, who performed under several other names, including Johnny and the Moondogs and Japage 3 before returning to the Quarrymen name in 1959. In 1960, the changed its name to the Beatles. The band decided to continue playing, and since 1998 have performed in countries throughout the world. As of 2016, three members are still actively performing as the Quarrymen. In the mid-1950s, there was a revival in the United Kingdom of the musical form skiffle that had originated in the United States and had been popular in the US in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. In addition to its popularity among British teenagers as music to listen to, One of the primary attractions was that it did not require great musical skills or expensive instruments to be played. Early British skiffle was played by jazz musicians, with the most successful British proponent of the genre in the 1950s being Lonnie Donegan. The Quarrymens initial repertoire included songs that Donegan had recorded. They practised at Lennons aunts house at 251 Menlove Avenue where Lennon lived and they learned how to play Rock Island Line, Jump Down Turn Around, Alabamy Bound and Cumberland Gap, and later learned how to play Thats All Right and Mean Woman Blues. Lennon and Griffiths decided to form a group in November 1956. This initial line-up consisted of Lennon and Griffiths on guitars, and school friends Pete Shotton and Bill Smith on washboard and tea chest bass, the group, initially called the Blackjacks, quickly changed their name to the Quarrymen. Both Lennon and Shotton have been credited with coining the name Quarrymen after a line in their schools song, Quarrymen, the choice of name was tongue-in-cheek as Lennon regarded the reference in the school song to straining each muscle and sinew as risible
3.
The Beatles in Hamburg
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The Beatles booking agent, Allan Williams, decided to send the group to Hamburg when another group he managed, Derry and the Seniors, proved successful there. Having no permanent drummer at the time, they recruited Best a few days before their departure, after breaking their contract by playing at another club, Harrison was deported for being under-age, and McCartney and Best were arrested and deported for attempted arson. The Beatles first met Astrid Kirchherr in Hamburg, who was instrumental in their adoption of the famous Beatle haircut, during their time in Hamburg, Sutcliffe decided to leave the group to continue his studies. In April 1962, less than a year after leaving the group, Hamburg had once been Germanys main seaport, the fourth largest in the world, but in 1943 virtually the entire city had been reduced to rubble by World War II bombing raids. By 1960, when they arrived, the Hamburg that had grown up from the ruins of WWII had established its reputation throughout Europe as a city of vice, in contrast to an economically depressed post-war Liverpool, Hamburg was a wealthy city. Williams, a 29-year-old Liverpool businessman and promoter, had sent his leading group, Derry and the Seniors to Hamburg, where they were enjoying success, and wanted to send an additional group. He initially tried to send Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, but Storm and his group were committed to a Butlins holiday camp and turned Williams offer down, as did Gerry and the Pacemakers. Williams started promoting concerts for The Beatles in May 1960, after they had played at his Jacaranda club in Liverpool, Harrison had seen Best playing with the Black Jacks in The Casbah Coffee Club. After the Black Jacks broke up, McCartney asked Best to go to Hamburg, the St. McCartneys father, Jim McCartney, was reluctant to let his teenage son go to Hamburg, but relented after a visit from Williams, who told him that he shouldnt worry. Lennons aunt, Mimi Smith, was reluctant to allow Lennon to go to Hamburg, wanting Lennon to continue his studies. Best had an audition in Williams Jacaranda club on 15 August 1960, Williams later admitted that the audition with Best was not needed, as they had not found any other drummer willing to travel to Hamburg, but did not tell Best in case he asked for more money. The group were to be paid about £100 per week, which was more than promoters in Liverpool paid. Williams drove the group and their equipment in his Austin J4 minibus which was loaded by crane onto a ferry at Harwich on 16 August 1960, as Williams had not obtained work permits for West Germany, they were detained at Harwich for five hours. Williams finally convinced the authorities that they were students on holiday, note, Lord Woodbine and Williams ran a Strip Club called New Cabaret Artistes club at 174a Upper Parliament Street, Liverpool. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Sutcliffe once played backing music for Janice the Stripper there, the Reeperbahn and the Grosse Freiheit were decorated with neon lights, with posters advertising the performers in the clubs. Each club had a doorman whose job was to entice customers inside, customers who would not, or could not afford to pay were dealt with severely by being beaten and then thrown out. The Beatles arrived very early in the morning of 17 August 1960, unfortunately the Indra Club was closed, so a manager from a neighbouring club found someone to open it up, and the group slept on the red leather seats in the alcoves. The group played at the club on the night, but were told they could sleep in a small cinemas storeroom, which was cold and in very poor condition
4.
The Beatles in India
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In February 1968, the Beatles travelled to Rishikesh, in northern India, to attend an advanced Transcendental Meditation training session at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Amid widespread media attention, their visit was one of the bands most productive periods, led by George Harrisons commitment, the Beatles interest in the Maharishi changed Western attitudes about Indian spirituality and encouraged the study of Transcendental Meditation. The Beatles first met the Maharishi in London in August 1967 and then attended a seminar in Bangor and they had planned to attend the entire ten-day session, but their stay was cut short by the death of their manager, Brian Epstein. While there, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Harrison wrote many songs, eighteen of those songs were recorded for The Beatles, two songs appeared on the Abbey Road album, and others were used for various solo projects. Harrison later apologised for the way he and Lennon had treated the Maharishi, in 2009, McCartney and Starr performed at a benefit concert for the David Lynch Foundation, which raises funds for the teaching of Transcendental Meditation to at-risk students. At Boyds suggestion, the Beatles attended the Maharishis lecture at the London Hilton on Park Lane on 24 August 1967, the Maharishi had announced his intention to retire, so this was expected to be his last public lecture in the West. Some band members had him on a Granada TV program years earlier. The Beatles were given front row seats and were invited to meet the Maharishi in his hotel suite after the lecture, during the ninety-minute meeting, he invited them to be his guests at a training retreat in Wales. Two days later, on 26 August, the Beatles travelled by train to the campus in Bangor. It was perhaps the first time the band had travelled without their tour managers, the station was mobbed because of a bank holiday and Cynthia Lennon, mistaken for a fan, was held back. She ran after the train but missed it and arrived later by car, the group hesitated only slightly when asked to donate the customary weeks wages, a large sum for a Beatle, to learn. While there, they announced at a conference that they were giving up drugs. This was a choice in keeping with the Maharishis teachings but one prior to meeting the Maharishi. The Maharishi did advise them privately to avoid involvement with the Ban the Bomb movement and their intention was to attend the entire ten-day seminar but their stay was cut short by the death of their manager, Epstein, in London on 27 August. The Maharishi consoled them by saying that Epsteins spirit was still with them and their good thoughts would help him to have an easy passage, curious to learn more, the Beatles made plans to spend time at the Maharishis training center in India in late October. However, the trip was postponed due to related to the Magical Mystery Tour film. Now publicised as The Beatles Guru, the Maharishi went on his world tour, giving lectures in Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, Canada. At that time, Lennon said that, thanks to his meditation, Im a better person and I wasnt bad before
5.
John Lennon
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John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beatles, the most commercially successful and musically influential band in the history of popular music. He and fellow member Paul McCartney formed a songwriting partnership. Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the craze as a teenager, his first band, the Quarrymen, first became the Silver Beatles. After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he added Ono as one of his middle names, Lennon disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to raise his infant son Sean, but re-emerged with Ono in 1980 with the new album Double Fantasy. He was murdered three weeks after its release, Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, writing, drawings, on film and in interviews. By 2012, Lennons solo album sales in the United States exceeded 14 million and, as writer, co-writer, or performer, he is responsible for 25 number-one singles on the US Hot 100 chart. In 2002, a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted him eighth and, in 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer of all time. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, in 1988 as a member of the Beatles and in 1994 as a solo artist. Lennon was born in war-time England, on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital, to Julia and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman of Irish descent and his parents named him John Winston Lennon after his paternal grandfather, John Jack Lennon, and then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill. When he eventually came home six months later, he offered to look after the family, after her sister, Mimi Smith, twice complained to Liverpools Social Services, Julia handed the care of Lennon over to her. In July 1946 Lennons father visited Smith and took his son to Blackpool, Julia followed them—with her partner at the time, Bobby Dykins—and after a heated argument his father forced the five-year-old to choose between them. Lennon twice chose his father, but as his mother walked away, he began to cry and followed her, according to author Mark Lewisohn, Lennons parents agreed that Julia should take him and give him a home as Alf left again. A witness who was there that day, Billy Hall, has said the scene often portrayed with a young John Lennon having to make a decision between his parents never happened. It would be 20 years before he had contact with his father again, Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence he lived at Mendips,251 Menlove Avenue, Woolton with his aunt and uncle, Mimi and George Smith, who had no children of their own. His aunt purchased volumes of stories for him, and his uncle. In September 1980, Lennon commented about his family and his rebellious nature, Part of me would like to be accepted by all facets of society, but I cannot be what I am not. I was the one who all the other boys parents—including Pauls father—would say, the parents instinctively recognised I was a troublemaker, meaning I did not conform and I would influence their children, which I did. I did my best to disrupt every friends home, partly out of envy that I didnt have this so-called home
6.
VHS
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The Video Home System is a standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes. Developed by Victor Company of Japan in the early 1970s, it was released in Japan in late 1976, from the 1950s, magnetic tape video recording became a major contributor to the television industry, via the first commercialized video tape recorders. At that time, the devices were used only in professional environments such as television studios. In the 1970s, videotape entered home use, creating the video industry and changing the economics of the television. The television industry viewed videocassette recorders as having the power to disrupt their business, in the 1980s and 1990s, at the peak of VHSs popularity, there were videotape format wars in the home video industry. Two of the formats, VHS and Betamax, received the most media exposure, VHS eventually won the war, dominating 60 percent of the North American market by 1980 and emerging as the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period. Optical disc formats later began to better quality than analog consumer video tape such as standard. The earliest of these formats, LaserDisc, was not widely adopted, however, after the introduction of the DVD format in 1997, VHSs market share began to decline. By 2008, DVD had replaced VHS as the preferred method of distribution. After several attempts by other companies, the first commercially successful VTR, at a price of US$50,000 in 1956, and US$300 for a 90-minute reel of tape, it was intended only for the professional market. Kenjiro Takayanagi, a broadcasting pioneer then working for JVC as its vice president, saw the need for his company to produce VTRs for the Japan market. In 1959, JVC developed a video tape recorder. In 1964, JVC released the DV220, which would be the companys standard VTR until the mid-1970s, in 1969 JVC collaborated with Sony Corporation and Matsushita Electric in building a video recording standard for the Japanese consumer. The effort produced the U-matic format in 1971, which was the first format to become a unified standard, U-matic was successful in business and some broadcast applications, but due to cost and limited recording time very few of the machines were sold for home use. Soon after, Sony and Matsushita broke away from the collaboration effort, Sony started working on Betamax, while Matsushita started working on VX. JVC released the CR-6060 in 1975, based on the U-matic format, Sony and Matsushita also produced U-matic systems of their own. In 1971, JVC engineers Yuma Shiraishi and Shizuo Takano put together a team to develop a consumer-based VTR, by the end of 1971 they created an internal diagram titled VHS Development Matrix, which established twelve objectives for JVCs new VTR. These included, The system must be compatible with any television set
7.
LaserDisc
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LaserDisc is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978. It was not a format in Europe and Australia when first released but was popular in the 1990s. Its superior video and audio quality made it a choice among videophiles. The technologies and concepts behind LaserDisc were the foundation for later optical disc formats including Compact Disc, DVD, Optical video recording technology, using a transparent disc, was invented by David Paul Gregg and James Russell in 1958. The Gregg patents were purchased by MCA in 1968, by 1969, Philips had developed a videodisc in reflective mode, which has advantages over the transparent mode. MCA and Philips then decided to combine their efforts and first publicly demonstrated the video disc in 1972. LaserDisc was first available on the market, in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15,1978, Philips produced the players while MCA produced the discs. The Philips-MCA cooperation was not successful, and discontinued after a few years, several of the scientists responsible for the early research founded Optical Disc Corporation. In 1979, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago opened its Newspaper exhibit which used interactive LaserDiscs to allow visitors to search for the front page of any Chicago Tribune newspaper and this was a very early example of public access to electronically stored information in a museum. The first LaserDisc title marketed in North America was the MCA DiscoVision release of Jaws in 1978, the last title released in North America was Paramounts Bringing Out the Dead in 2000. The last Japanese released movie was the Hong Kong film Tokyo Raiders from Golden Harvest, a dozen or so more titles continued to be released in Japan, until the end of 2001. Production of LaserDisc players continued until January 14,2009, when Pioneer stopped making them and it was estimated that in 1998, LaserDisc players were in approximately 2% of U. S. households. By comparison, in 1999, players were in 10% of Japanese households, LaserDisc was released on June 10,1981 in Japan, and a total of 3.6 million LaserDisc players were sold there. A total of 16.8 million LaserDisc players were sold worldwide, by the early 2000s, LaserDisc was completely replaced by DVD in the North American retail marketplace, as neither players nor software were then produced. Players were still exported to North America from Japan until the end of 2001, the format has retained some popularity among American collectors, and to a greater degree in Japan, where the format was better supported and more prevalent during its life. In Europe, LaserDisc always remained an obscure format and it was chosen by the British Broadcasting Corporation for the BBC Domesday Project in the mid-1980s, a school-based project to commemorate 900 years since the original Domesday Book in England. From 1991 up until the early 2000s, the BBC also used LaserDisc technology to play out the channel idents, the standard home video LaserDisc was 30 cm in diameter and made up of two single-sided aluminum discs layered in plastic. Although appearing similar to compact discs or DVDs, LaserDiscs used analog video stored in the domain with analog FM stereo sound
8.
DVD
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DVD is a digital optical disc storage format invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. The medium can store any kind of data and is widely used for software. DVDs offer higher capacity than compact discs while having the same dimensions. Pre-recorded DVDs are mass-produced using molding machines that physically stamp data onto the DVD, such discs are a form of DVD-ROM because data can only be read and not written or erased. Blank recordable DVD discs can be recorded using a DVD recorder. Rewritable DVDs can be recorded and erased many times, DVDs containing other types of information may be referred to as DVD data discs. The OED also states that in 1995, The companies said the name of the format will simply be DVD. Toshiba had been using the name ‘digital video disk’, but that was switched to ‘digital versatile disk’ after computer companies complained that it left out their applications, Digital versatile disc is the explanation provided in a DVD Forum Primer from 2000 and in the DVD Forums mission statement. There were several formats developed for recording video on optical discs before the DVD, Optical recording technology was invented by David Paul Gregg and James Russell in 1958 and first patented in 1961. A consumer optical disc data format known as LaserDisc was developed in the United States and it used much larger discs than the later formats. CD Video used analog video encoding on optical discs matching the established standard 120 mm size of audio CDs, Video CD became one of the first formats for distributing digitally encoded films in this format, in 1993. In the same year, two new optical disc formats were being developed. By the time of the launches for both formats in January 1995, the MMCD nomenclature had been dropped, and Philips and Sony were referring to their format as Digital Video Disc. Representatives from the SD camp asked IBM for advice on the system to use for their disc. Alan E. Bell, a researcher from IBMs Almaden Research Center, got that request and this group was referred to as the Technical Working Group, or TWG. On August 14,1995, an ad hoc group formed from five computer companies issued a release stating that they would only accept a single format. The TWG voted to both formats unless the two camps agreed on a single, converged standard. They recruited Lou Gerstner, president of IBM, to pressure the executives of the warring factions, as a result, the DVD specification provided a storage capacity of 4.7 GB for a single-layered, single-sided disc and 8.5 GB for a dual-layered, single-sided disc
9.
American Broadcasting Company
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The network is headquartered on Columbus Avenue and West 66th Street in Manhattan, New York City. There are additional offices and production facilities elsewhere in New York City, as well as in Los Angeles and Burbank. Since 2007, when ABC Radio was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC originally launched on October 12,1943, as a radio network, separated from and serving as the successor to the NBC Blue Network, which had been purchased by Edward J. Noble. It extended its operations to television in 1948, following in the footsteps of established broadcast networks CBS, in the mid-1950s, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, a chain of movie theaters that formerly operated as a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures. Leonard Goldenson, who had been the head of UPT, made the new television network profitable by helping develop, in 1996, most of Capital Cities/ABCs assets were purchased by The Walt Disney Company. The television network has eight owned-and-operated and over 232 affiliated television stations throughout the United States, most Canadians have access to at least one U. S. ABC News provides news and features content for radio stations owned by Citadel Broadcasting. In the 1930s, radio in the United States was dominated by three companies, the Columbia Broadcasting System, the Mutual Broadcasting System and the National Broadcasting Company. The last was owned by electronics manufacturer Radio Corporation of America, in 1938, the FCC began a series of investigations into the practices of radio networks and published its report on the broadcasting of network radio programs in 1940. The report recommended that RCA give up control of either NBC Red or NBC Blue, at that time, the NBC Red Network was the principal radio network in the United States and, according to the FCC, RCA was using NBC Blue to eliminate any hint of competition. Once Mutuals appeals against the FCC were rejected, RCA decided to sell NBC Blue in 1941, the newly separated NBC Red and NBC Blue divided their respective corporate assets. Investment firm Dillon, Read & Co. offered $7.5 million to purchase the network, Edward John Noble, the owner of Life Savers candy, drugstore chain Rexall and New York City radio station WMCA, purchased the network for $8 million. Due to FCC ownership rules, the transaction, which was to include the purchase of three RCA stations by Noble, would require him to resell his station with the FCCs approval, the Commission authorized the transaction on October 12,1943. Soon afterward, the Blue Network was purchased by the new company Noble founded, Noble subsequently acquired the rights to the American Broadcasting Company name from George B. Meanwhile, in August 1944, the West Coast division of the Blue Network, both stations were then managed by Don Searle, the vice-president of the Blue Networks West Coast division. The ABC Radio Network created its audience slowly, the network also became known for such suspenseful dramas as Sherlock Holmes, Gang Busters and Counterspy, as well as several mid-afternoon youth-oriented programs. S. From Nazi Germany after its conquest, to pre-record its programming, while its radio network was undergoing reconstruction, ABC found it difficult to avoid falling behind on the new medium of television. To ensure a space, in 1947, ABC submitted five applications for television station licenses, the ABC television network made its debut on April 19,1948, with WFIL-TV in Philadelphia becoming its first primary affiliate
10.
Friends
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Friends is an American television sitcom, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22,1994, to May 6,2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, the series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. The original executive producers were Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kauffman, Kauffman and Crane began developing Friends under the title Insomnia Cafe between November and December 1993. They presented the idea to Bright, and together they pitched a seven-page treatment of the show to NBC, after several script rewrites and changes, including a title change to Six of One and Friends Like Us, the series was finally named Friends. Filming took place at Warner Bros, All ten seasons of Friends ranked within the top ten of the final television season ratings, ultimately reaching the No.1 spot with its eighth season. Friends received acclaim throughout its run, becoming one of the most popular shows of all time. The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002 for its eighth season. The show ranked no.21 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, in 1997, the episode The One with the Prom Video was ranked no.100 on TV Guides 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time. In 2013, Friends ranked no.24 on the Writers Guild of Americas 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time, Rachel Green flees her wedding day and seeks out childhood friend Monica Geller, a New York City chef. Episodes typically depict the friends comedic and romantic adventures and career issues, the six characters each have many dates and serious relationships, such as Monica with Richard Burke and Ross with Emily Waltham. The series featured six main characters throughout its run, Jennifer Aniston portrays Rachel Green, Rachel first moves in with Monica in season one after nearly marrying Barry Farber, whom she realizes she does not love. Rachel and Ross Geller are later involved in a relationship throughout the series. Rachel’s first job is as a waitress at the coffeehouse Central Perk, Rachel and Ross have a daughter named Emma in The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, Part Two at the end of season eight. In the final episode of the series, Ross and Rachel finally confess their love for each other, Courteney Cox portrays Monica Geller, the mother hen of the group and a chef, known for her perfectionist, bossy, competitive, and obsessive-compulsive nature. Monica is often teased by the others for having been extremely overweight as a child. Monica works as a chef in various restaurants throughout the show, Monica’s first serious relationship is with long-time family friend Richard Burke, who is twenty-one years her senior. The couple maintains a relationship for some time, until Richard expresses that he does not want to have children. Lisa Kudrow portrays Phoebe Buffay, a masseuse and self-taught musician
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