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Friends with Benefits (stylized as friends ♥♥ith benefits) is an American romantic sitcom television series created by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber that aired on NBC from August 5 to September 9, 2011. It was originally set to air on as a mid-season replacement during the 2010–11 television season, but was ultimately delayed until summer.[1] The series ended after twelve episodes aired with the thirteenth being only available on iTunes, Amazon.com, and Netflix (until March 31, 2018).
| Friends with Benefits | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | |
| Starring | |
| Composer | Matter Music |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (1 aired online) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 21 minutes |
| Production companies | Imagine Television Big Kid Pictures Pickle Films 20th Century Fox Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | August 5 – September 9, 2011 |
The series follows a group of friends living in Chicago. It involves a very close friendship between two of the friends, who are each looking for the perfect mate, and the others who question their relationship, but at the same time, have their own romantic problems to deal with.
- Ryan Hansen as Ben Lewis, an office drone who is in no rush to find the right girl for him. He has been sleeping with his friend, Sara.
- Danneel Harris as Sara Maxwell, an OB/GYN and Ben's closest friend. Unlike Ben, she is desperate to find the right guy.
- Jessica Lucas as Riley Elliot, a bartender and Sara's roommate. She is laid-back and lives a very casual love life.
- Zach Cregger as Aaron Greenway, a rich, nerdy engineer who wants to meet women but has trouble interacting with them.
- Andre Holland as Julian 'Fitz' Fitzgerald, Aaron's roommate. He takes it upon himself to help Aaron with women and keep the group on good terms with each other.
Friends with Benefits was originally developed for ABC with a script order given by the network in September 2009. However, the network did not green-light a pilot for the potential series, allowing NBC to pick up the project.[2] For the pilot episode, Fran Kranz was originally cast as Aaron,[3][4] and Ian Reed Kesler portrayed Hoon (another version of Fitz).[3][4] The series was officially picked up on May 16, 2010.[5]
All episode titles (apart from the pilot episode) begin with the phrase "The Benefit of..."
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | David Dobkin | Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber | August 5, 2011 | 1ASP79 | 2.34[6] |
|
Ben searches for a date to his sister's wedding. | ||||||
| 2 | "The Benefit of the Mute Button" | Michael Patrick Jann | Claudia Lonow | August 5, 2011 | 1ASP01 | 1.96[6] |
|
Ben and Sara hit pause to pursue their respective love interests. | ||||||
| 3 | "The Benefit of the Unspoken Dynamic" | Fred Savage | Daley Haggar | August 12, 2011 | 1ASP02 | 1.92[7] |
|
Aaron goes on a bender to cure his heartbreak. Anneliese van der Pol guest stars. | ||||||
| 4 | "The Benefit of Forgetting" | Jay Chandrasekhar | Owen Ellickson | August 12, 2011 | 1ASP03 | 1.75[7] |
|
Ben reaps the benefits of dating a girl with amnesia. | ||||||
| 5 | "The Benefit of the Right Track" | Joanna Kerns | Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger | August 19, 2011 | 1ASP07 | 1.98[8] |
|
Sara starts a "booty call" relationship with a paramedic without knowing it. Ben finds himself stuck in a serious relationship. | ||||||
| 6 | "The Benefit of Keeping Your Ego in Check" | Tricia Brock | Brian Keith Etheridge | August 19, 2011 | 1ASP09 | 1.54[8] |
|
Sara goes on a date with a nerdy guy. Ben is accused of sexual harassment. | ||||||
| 7 | "The Benefit of Mardi Gras" | David Rogers | Gene Hong | August 26, 2011 | 1ASP05 | 2.58[9] |
|
The whole gang has a wild Mardi Gras. Sara fights with her pregnant sister for a family ring. Aaron thinks that he slept with Riley. | ||||||
| 8 | "The Benefit of Mentors" | Rob Greenberg | Valerie Breiman | August 26, 2011 | 1ASP06 | 1.99[9] |
|
Aaron learns that his high school mentee is a porn star. Riley dates a doctor that Sara admires. | ||||||
| 9 | "The Benefit of Being Shallow" | Reginald Hudlin | Valerie Breiman | September 2, 2011 | 1ASP08 | 1.97[10] |
|
Sara dates a blind guy. Fitz is dating the daughter of Aaron's fling. | ||||||
| 10 | "The Benefit of Avoiding the Mindbanger" | John Putch | Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger | September 2, 2011 | 1ASP10 | 1.76[10] |
|
Ben tries to help Sara to end a bad relationship with an intervention, but he ends up in a similar situation. Rebecca Mader guest stars. | ||||||
| 11 | "The Benefit of Putting in the Work" | Eyal Gordin | Daley Haggar | September 9, 2011 | 1ASP11 | 2.28[11] |
|
Ben decides to start a business and asks Aaron for help. Sara dates a journalist with a small problem. | ||||||
| 12 | "The Benefit of Friends" | Ira Ungerleider | Owen Ellickson | September 9, 2011 | 1ASP12 | 1.90[11] |
|
Riley falls in love for the first time. Ben realizes that he has feelings for Sara. | ||||||
| 13 | "The Benefit of Full Disclosure"[12] | Fred Savage | Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger | Only available on iTunes, Netflix (prior to March 31, 2018), and Amazon.com | 1ASP04 | N/A |
|
Sara and Ben go on a double date. | ||||||
The shows first episode had a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 2.34 million total viewers. As the series progressed it declined to a rating of 0.5 with 1.54 million viewers.[13]
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