Friends
Summary
The calendar is n’t lying : it really has been 20 years sinceFriendsended . debut in 1994,Friendsowned the TV landscape painting for a decade on NBC , before coming to an end with " The Last One - Parts One & Two " on May 6 , 2004 . Few television shows before or since have enjoy the sheer cultural potency that the situation comedy did , which also meant its ending was one of the most pressured in telecasting history .
How could the show possibly wrap thing up ? How wouldFriendsend Ross and Rachel ’s relationship ? What would hap to Chandler and Monica ? What about Phoebe and Joey ? It ’s a little strange to think , in an era after the likes ofLostandGame of Thrones ' close stand such repercussion , that the stratum of expectation forFriendsending after 10 seasonswas so gigantic , but that speaks to the Jagganath it was . gratefully , Rachel got off the plane , Friendsstuck the landing , and it remains a pop - cultural measure for multiple generations , although that also intend dealing with the fact that , well , it has been 20 years since it end .
The show spoils for pick , but from " The One Where Everybody Finds Out " to " The Last One : Part Two , " these Friends episodes are the best of all time .
How Friends' Series Finale Was Received
The End Of Friends Was A Massive TV Event
admirer ' conclusion was , unsurprisingly , a huge hit . The hype precede up to the installment had been remarkable , with a major advertising energy from NBC . The stopping point was watched by thousands of the great unwashed together at a New York event ; the toll of commercials during the finis reached $ 2 million for just 30 seconds of airtime [ viaNBC News ] . This was n’t just a normal conclusion , it was the Super Bowl of sitcom .
Which time of year of Friends is the best has been debated since the show finished in 2004 , but it ’s undeniable some Friends season are good than others .
In term of military rank , it was super pop . friend ' close pulled in 52.5 million viewers , attain it the fifth most - ascertain television serial publication close of all time , behind onlyMAS*H , Cheers , The Fugitive , andSeinfeld(all of which live in different eras of telecasting with much less competition ) , and the most watched television episode of the 2000s .
Most - Watched American TV Series Finales
Rank
Show
Friends is the popular sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, released back in 1994 and ran for ten seasons. The show follows a group of six twentysomethings through their lives in New York City and their time spent between their two apartments and their local coffee shop. The show features the group navigating tricky relationships with one another and comical misadventures.
Viewership ( millions )
1
MAS*H
105
2
Cheers
80.4
3
The Fugitive
78
4
Seinfeld
76.3
5
52.5
response to the finale was , for the most part , positive , peculiarly from audiences . On IMDb , " The Last One " has a rating of 9.6/10 from drug user , making it the second highest - grass episodeon the website , behind only season 5 , episode 14 , " The One Where Everybody find Out " with 9.7 . vital appraisal was a little more interracial -Saloncalled it"predictable"and"interminable,“whileNewsday[viaBBC ] said it was"sweet and dense and satisfying,“and most reaction fall within that compass .
Why Friends' Ending Turning 20 Hits So Hard
The Classic Sitcom’s Milestone Comes With A Major Realization
In a sense , it should n’t be surprising that theFriendsseries finish is 20 - years - old . The show is very much a Cartesian product of the nineties ( in ways both good and defective ) , and yet hear that the finale is now just one yr away from being able to lawfully drink alcohol in the United States is still pretty startling . That ’s in part becauseFriendshas never unfeignedly run away , having always endured in popularityvia meshing reruns and then streaming , so the passageway of prison term is warped . It ’s especially surd to consider the show has now been off the aura twice as long as it was on it .
Nostalgia is a powerful weapon , and a big part of why Friend remains so popular to this day ; it ’s comfort blanket TV , a reminder of a simpler time that never unfeignedly existed .
It ’s even more shocking , though , when you grow up watchingFriends . When their life seemed not only aspirational , but you foolishly call up they were attainable . That , eventually , there ’d be a period when all you did was hang up out with your Quaker rather than , y’know , be at work . Whenhow Monica and Rachel could start the New York apartmentwasn’t even a inquiry you asked . Then all of a sudden you blink , it ’s 20 geezerhood subsequently , and apparently you ’re around the same age - mayhap even sometime - than the characters were in the close ? No one tell you life was gon na be this way .
Joey was the onlyFriendscharacter to receive a spinoff show , which was call off after two time of year . Other shape members did not come along .
Nostalgia is a powerful weapon , and a big part ofwhyFriendsremains so popularto this day ; it ’s quilt blanket boob tube , a reminder of a simple prison term that never sincerely existed . But , if nostalgia is a weapon , then it ’s a double - edged sword . That same feeling that can make you languish for the past and the thing you used to have it off is also a stark admonisher of your own mortality and that life-time does not play out in substantial living like it does on TV . Reality is messier , more complicated , and citizenry do n’t always get off the airplane .
The 20th anniversary ofFriends ' ending hits particularly hard afterMatthew Perry ’s deathin 2023 . Perry was and incessantly will be an unerasable part of the show ’s legacy , a vast reason for its success , and genuinely made viewers experience like they were as much sidekick with Chandler as Joey was .
He was , of track , unbelievably queer , but also make for a real sense of emotion to the show , especially in later seasons with his relationship with Monica and their struggles and , in the finale , joyousness . It ’s fitting that Chandler has the last line of credit of the total show ; while Perry ’s death really feel like losing a Quaker , the show allow for him to always be there in some way .
There is arguably nobody in Friends who has as many memorable quotes as Chandler Bing , whose one - liners are iconic .
How Friends' Ending Holds Up 20 Years Later
“The Last One” Remains A (Mostly) Fitting Finale
RewatchingFriendsseason 10 ’s " The Last One " is a very unlike experience in 2024than it was in 2004 , because it is so far remove from the weighting of outlook upon it , and alternatively fall in line with the more comforting experience of the rest of the show . That ’s dead on target about both its timbre and flaw .
Part of Friends ' lasting appeal is that it is sweet and sentimental , and that the characters end up on the nose where most mass wanted them to .
It certainly is n’t a perfect two - parter , and it does come down into predictability . But is that a forged thing?Part ofFriends ' lasting appeal is that it is sweet and slushy , and that the characters end up incisively where most people wanted them to . It ’s an sequence that stay on true to the show and what most viewers want . It ’s buff service , but it ’s also , after 10 age , incredibly well - earned . It ’s touching and funny .
Friends has entertain fans for almost three tenner by now thanks to the quirky set of characters . So who did Ranker fans vote to as the very best ?
There areparts ofFriendsthat have n’t aged well , and there are strong arguments for why Ross and Rachel should n’t have stop up together , but it pip all the right notes at the sentence and it ’s gruelling to view it any other way two X removed . It ’s a close where things are exchange , but not too much . Where it ’s all going to be ok . Where , no matter what , they ’ll always be there for you .
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Cast
Friends is the popular situation comedy created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman , released back in 1994 and ran for ten season . The show follows a mathematical group of six twentysomethings through their lives in New York City and their time spend between their two flat and their local chocolate store . The show features the mathematical group navigating catchy relationships with one another and amusing mishap .
