They all ended up characiatures of their characters in the end...
Phoebe did become less than kind, which was a the biggest shame I thought. Monica overly shrill, Chandler wet...
Some episodes were a bit too ridiculous but it ran for 10 years so its forgivable!
What we would call homophobic now wasn't seen so at the time - there was still such a lot of prejudice around gay relationships, in treating them with humour in the programme they broke tension, recognised that some might be discomfort but ultimately showed that gay relationships were healthy and normal. I think its easy to forget how groundbreaking that was at the time.
Some of the things people take offence at now, its like they forget its a comedy - there're jokes...Like phoebe needling Ross about his belief in evolution: she did so because he scoffed and dismissed any beliefs that didn't agree with it. She pointed out his hypocrisy and called him out on poor behaviour in a humorous way.
At the time, I loved that she ended up with Mike but now when I watch it I wish she'd chosen David!
And I get what one poster said about Rachel's upset in the one where no ones ready, but it was because Ross shouted at her. Now I think it was an overreaction* but if more woman took such a firm line in real life maybe fewer would get stuck in abusive relationships.
*its a sitcom!
As a whole the characters were realistic, you only have to read mn to see how nice ppl can also be horrible at times!
Ps - janice was the best 