The Pilot (Friends) - Reception

Reception

The episode was first broadcast on NBC on September 22, 1994 in the 8:30–9 p.m. (PST) timeslot. It ranked as the fifteenth-most-watched television show of the week, scoring a 14.7/23 Nielsen rating (each point represented 954,000 households) and nearly 22 million viewers.

Critics likened the episode to Seinfeld and Ellen; Tom Feran in The Plain Dealer wrote that it traded "vaguely and less successfully on the hanging-out style of Seinfeld", and Ann Hodges of the Houston Chronicle called it "the new Seinfeld wannabe, but it will never be as funny as Seinfeld. Even as Seinfeld is now, which isn't as funny as it used to be". Hodges criticized the "stiflingly dull social circle" as "short to the point of painful in brainpower". Robert Bianco in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote that the "constant comic bantering grows a little tired, just as it would if it ever actually happened in real life", and questioned why the six characters had so much free time to talk about dates. In the Los Angeles Daily News, Ray Richmond, who had also seen the following two episodes, called the cast a "likeable, youth ensemble" with "good chemistry". He added that while Friends was "one of the brighter comedies of the new season", the pilot was "very weak". Diane Holloway for the Austin American-Statesman questioned Friends' billing as a "sophisticated comedy", writing, "What's sophisticated about a guy who dreams his penis is a telephone?" She called the scene where Monica discovers Paul's impotence was a lie the least funny part of the episode, though conceded that the episode as a whole did have some funny moments. Robert P. Laurence wrote in The San Diego Union-Tribune that "A lot happens, but you'll still get the feeling you've seen Friends before", calling it "Seinfeld Plus Two. Or Ellen Plus Five." In the Chicago Sun-Times, Ginny Holbert rated the episode three stars, and wrote "The clever series stars an appealing group of actors who are just a bit funnier and better-looking than your average friend" but that Joey and Rachel's characteristics were under-developed.

The Los Angeles Times called it "flat-out the best comedy series of the new season". Variety's Tony Scott had optimistic hopes for the series; he enjoyed the premise but was concerned that dialogue from the writers of Dream On should be "snappier". Scott was also concerned that the Monica storyline set a bad example to younger viewers; "Friends touts promiscuity and offers liberal samples of an openness that borders on empty-headedness". He singled out Cox and Schwimmer as the best actors of the ensemble. Robert Bianco was complimentary of Schwimmer, calling him "terrific". He also praised the female leads, but wrote that Perry's role as Chandler was "undefined" and that LeBlanc was "relying too much on the same brain-dead stud routine that was already tired the last two times he tried it". Entertainment Weekly rates the episode B+ and states that "After 22 minutes, these six people are believably set up as lifelong buddies". Ross's line, "Do the words 'Billy, Don't Be a Hero' mean anything to you?" is singled out as the best line of the episode. The authors of Friends Like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends call it a "good, solid start to the series" but "the regular cast (particularly Perry and Schwimmer) might be trying just a little too hard". Schwimmer recalls enjoying the physical humor involving Ross, particularly the scene where Ross greets Rachel and opens an umbrella on her.

The episode was syndicated for the first time on September 21, 1998. Several deleted scenes were restored to the episode, bringing its total running time to 37 minutes, for a one-hour timeslot. It gained a rating of 5.8/10, averaged across 40 stations. This made Friends the third-highest-rated off-network syndicated sitcom to air at that time, behind Home Improvement and Seinfeld.