The Surprising Friends Character That Fans Like The Most

If you were to toss out a question on your social media to find out what shows your friends are currently binge-watching, it's more likely than not famed '90s sitcom Friends would be named. Over 25 years since the world first met Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross, and Joey, the show, which ran for a whopping 236 episodes, remains one of the most beloved and popular sitcoms of all time. In fact, for the right to stream the show for a year, Netflix paid the program's owner, WarnerMedia, $100 million (via The Ecomonist). And the cost was likely worth it; Friends was the second most-streamed show on Netflix in 2018; users watched a staggering 32.6 billion minutes of the show during that year (via The Hollywood Reporter).

With the show being such a cultural phenomenon, even people who have never seen an episode are familiar with the characters and their storylines thanks to the cultural zeitgeist, and virtually everyone has a favorite and least favorite friend.

Some argue that Ross is too whiney to be likable or Rachel is too spoiled. They may say Monica is too high strung and Chandler too emotionally stunted. Joey is too dumb and Phoebe too flighty... and yet, as a group, they balanced each other's flaws so well and shared so much love, it's the ensemble that the world fell in love with. Even still, fans are partial to one character over the others, and we were surprised how the numbers shook out.

A survey of over three thousand fans worldwide showed an undeniable favorite: Miss Phoebe Buffay. The spiritual, quirky, free-spirited optimist raked in 33% of the votes with fashionista Rachel Green trailing closely behind with 27%. Next in line was the always-snarky Chandler Bing with 21% of the votes, and the rest of the characters didn't even come close. Monica Gellar was the fourth favorite with 9% of fans choosing her, and Joey Tribiani and Ross Gellar each garnered so few votes that together they made up less than 10%.

So in answer to his iconic question, "How you doin'?" Joey would likely reply, "not so hot," while Ross might claim that he is, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, "fine."