In a friendship between a man and a woman, being relegated to the friend zone can happen to either person.

Once the friend zone is established, it is said to be difficult to move beyond that point in a relationship.

There are differing explanations about what causes a person to be placed in the friend zone by another.

Once a boy and a girl have entered the "friend zone" in a relationship, there's no turning it into sweet romance.

The film revolves around humorous observation of "friend zone" relationships.

There is general agreement that once a man is in the friend zone, it is difficult to get out.

The Friend Zone: Located in the public park, it's a reference to the platonic relationship of the same name.

Friend zone, a platonic relationship (texting slang)

Comedian Chris Rock talked about men being trapped in the friend zone in his 1996 album Bring the Pain.

In popular culture, the "friend zone" refers to a platonic relationship wherein one person wishes to enter into a romantic or sexual relationship, while the other does not.

Arquette told Stern that he and estranged wife Courteney Cox - whom have maintained a very close relationship since their split - have now entered the "friend zone."

Wally has always had feelings for Kassie, but as his friend Leonard (Jeff Goldblum) points out, he missed his chance and she put him in the "friend zone."

The subject of dating has spun off popular culture terms such as the friend zone which refers to a situation in which a dating relation evolves into a platonic non-sexual union.

Marshall Fine of The Huffington Post suggested that the friend zone is "like the penalty box of dating, when your only crime is not being buff and unobtainable."

It has also been suggested that women may also become victims of the "friend zone", in which a man treats them as only a friend, while the woman prefers a more intimate relationship.

Chris consequently gets drunk and enters the bar where Jamie works, proceeding to blame her for keeping him in the "friend zone"; he also exclaims that Jamie will never amount to anything meaningful.

The journey begins with Stephen attempting to declare his feelings for Melanie (Madeleine Worrall), the love of his life, in a restaurant; unfortunately she had put him firmly in "the friend zone".

In the next episode, "Marshall's New Plan", this playful trend continues; however, Brit tells Mike that she doesn't "want anything romantic" and both agree to place each other in 'the friend zone.'

He has appeared in such films as In The Loop, The Other Guys and appeared in the CollegeHumor skit "Adam and Eve in the Friends Zone".

The question of whether a man can ever "escape the friend zone and begin dating one of his female friends" helped make the "geek dream couple" of Ross and Rachel storyline compelling dramatically, according to one view.

Dating adviser Ali Binazir described the friend zone as Justfriendistan, and wrote that it's a "territory only to be rivaled in inhospitability by the western Sahara, the Atacama, and Dante's Ninth Circle of Hell."

In the 2010 Nickelodeon-sitcom Big Time Rush, the character of James described the friend zone as "a dark place, where you give girls rides to the airport, talk about their ex-boyfriends and help them move in", without ever having a chance to become a couple.

J.D. doesn't get to finish kissing his unrequited love, Elliot Reid, in 48 hours, so he entered into an imaginary "Friend Zone" hospital room filled with other men who had similarly become stuck in Elliot's friend zone.

Despite the pitfalls of friend zones, there have been views advanced that a friend zone relation can evolve from "the lingering possibility of becoming more than a friend" into something deeper, particularly if the friend-zone friendship leads to a long term feeling of trustworthiness and intimacy.

The term "friend zone" was popularized by a 1994 episode of the American sitcom Friends entitled "The One with the Blackout", where the character Ross Geller, who was lovesick for Rachel Green, was described by character Joey Tribbiani as being the "mayor of the friend zone".