ENTERTAINMENT

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ENTERTAINMENT. Cont'd.

Friends

Hit sitcom wraps up for good

Where the plots and humour on most sitcoms depend on characters butting heads (or at least zinging each other with put-downs), the Friends friends "really care about each other, and act like it," says David Bushman, a curator at the Museum of Television and Radio. Most of what goes on between these six, says Bushman, is friendship demonstrated in funny or touching ways. In place of conflict is something more subtle, but just as powerful: a subtext of sexual tension pushing and pulling at these three red-blooded guys and three lovely gals who, as the song pledges, will "be there for you." Sometimes it's more than a subtext. Besides the courtship and marriage of Chandler and Monica, and the Ross-and-Rachel romance, Joey had a fling with Phoebe (although he thought she was her twin sister, Ursula) and made a play for Rachel, among other connections. Turns out, staying just friends isn't easy. (For the record: Siblings Ross and Monica maintained proper decorum with each other.) No reports ever surfaced of actual romance among the six Friends stars. Nonetheless, their real-life friendship clearly stayed in synch with that of their characters. And lucratively so, especially at contract negotiation time, when their unified front won them most recently a reported deal of $1 million per episode and a piece of the show's syndication profits. "With their collective bargaining," says Thompson with a laugh, "they had the most effective union of the last decade." "Certainly the renegotiation periods were hard," admits Crane, "but besides the fact that their unity was a powerful negotiating tool, it created a very healthy working environment. They knew no one was going to sell them out. So we never had to deal with any sense of mistrust. "Even more important than the fact that they might sometimes hang out together away from the show is that, as actors, they were generous with each other." Detractors of Friends (and they do exist) call the series shallow, contrived and too cute by half. But no one disputes the co-stars' chemistry, or their skill for giving their characters an authenticity that flourished far beyond the bounds of the show's basic formula. Look no further than quick-witted, self-deprecating Chandler. "He could have been just a comic device," says Crane, "but we had Matthew in the role, so we could eventually turn Chandler into a leading man." The casting process was onerous, Crane recalls. No way could one character fade into the woodwork, or vanish from the show altogether, if the star didn't work out. Nor could any one of them overwhelm the others. The pressure to get the right six actors was huge. "We saw everybody! Hundreds of actors!" says Crane, sounding weary at the memory. "Then we cast them individually, so we never saw them all together." But when the Chosen Six rehearsed the pilot for the first time, "you had the feeling that these were people who had been acting together for years. It was like Season Three of the show!" Thursday night, Season 10 comes to a close as Friends takes its place in TV annals for its popularity and endurance. But in between the tears and hype, Friends invites a game of what-if: What if one of the stars, or one of the characters, had been a dud? What if a feud among the cast had led to someone's defection? What if one of the actors had exited along the way in pursuit of even greater stardom, as several of them were tempted to do? What then? "Would we have introduced a new 'sixth friend'? The answer is no," says Crane emphatically. No need. "The other five would have been so strong. Besides, I don't know if there's any magic in the number six." Maybe not. Except this time. -Frazier Moor.

Jackson's briefs obtained by prosecutors

Had belonged to a collector

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Underwear worn by Michael Jackson and handwritten notes were among Jackson items belonging to a businessman that were turned over to prosecutors in the singer's child-sex case. Robert Honecker, a prosecutor in Monmouth County, confirmed that his office took the items from Henry V. Vaccaro Sr.'s warehouse several weeks ago but declined to say why the items were sought. Honecker said the items were turned over to California authorities, who returned later to pick up additional memorabilia that Vaccaro, an Asbury Park construction company owner, won from the Jackson family in a legal wrangle over a failed business venture. Vaccaro said he found the white Calvin Klein briefs balled up in the bottom of a wardrobe containing several of the pop star's costumes. Vaccaro said he was told that authorities plan to use the underwear for DNA comparison. The trove of memorabilia included two handwritten notes, apparently from Michael Jackson, and a lighthearted list of "rules" written by a youngster for children staying at Jackson's 1,052-hectare Neverland Ranch in Santa Maria, Calif. One of the handwritten notes was addressed "Dear Rubbers," the term he reportedly used for boys who stayed at the ranch. The note bade them farewell and was signed, "love M.J." The other note was addressed to brother Tito's former wife, Dolores, who died in 1994. The note urged her to read a newspaper article on child molestation to her children and said, "even your own relatives can be molesters," Vaccaro told The Star-Ledger of Newark. On the list of rules were requirements that the children watch two Three Stooges movie shorts daily, know the Peter Pan story by heart and be "idiots and act crazy at all times." The collection also included gold-trimmed costumes, financial documents, letters, awards and one of Jackson's first outfits worn with the Jackson 5. Vaccaro said he has since sold the remainder of the memorabilia for an undisclosed sum to an unidentified European buyer. A lawyer for Jackson is seeking a court order to have the memorabilia returned, and Vaccaro said a court date is set for June. Jackson pleaded not guilty Friday to a grand jury indictment that expanded the child molestation case against him to include a conspiracy count involving allegations of child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion.

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