52.5 million Americans watched the final episode of the adored television program “Friends” twenty years ago.
However, the show’s creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, revealed on TODAY that some scripted material had been leaked before the May 6, 2004, premiere.
Kauffman exclaimed, “Oh my god, we tried so hard to keep it a secret.” “Despite our best efforts to keep it a secret, word got out. Furthermore, it was an inside job.
According to Crane, the scripts that were distributed prior to the premiere had numbers on them.
“We were aware of how many people anticipated what would happen. Thus, it succeeded in becoming something of a behind-the-scenes detective program, according to Crane. “It was annoying, but what are you going to do at the end of the day?”
According to Kauffman, the script leak concerned the fact that Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and Ross (David Schwimmer) ended up dating. She did, however, smile and answer, “Ish,” when asked if the mystery surrounding the information’s release was now resolved.
Again, Crane said, “Ish.”
The friendship between Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, and the late Matthew Perry persisted over time, even though the last episode, “The Last One,” debuted 20 years ago.
In the 236th episode, Ross and Rachel make the decision to become more than just friends, while Cox and Perry’s characters, Monica and Chandler, become parents and relocate to the suburbs. The six friends have a cup of coffee and say their final goodbyes, leaving their keys in Monica’s apartment.
Regarding the writing of the previous episode, Crane remarked, “We were really anxious because we wanted to get it right.”
The cast discussed on TODAY in 2004 how difficult it was to end the show after almost a decade of production.
It’s all just so incredibly bizarre. It will be difficult, Aniston acknowledged.
“We hate talking about it,” Perry continued. We detest considering it.
Perry wrote about the conclusion in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.” Perry passed away at the age of 54 last year from “acute effects of ketamine.”
He wrote, “I’d taken Marta Kauffman to one side before that final episode.” “I said, ‘Nobody else will care about this except me.'” “So, could you please give me the last line?”
In the end, Chandler, played by Perry, got the final line of the show when he suggested to his friends where they could get one last cup of coffee.
It has such poignancy. One of his many legacies, it’s a legacy for him,” Kauffman remarked. “But that moment—that moment,” I said.
The hundreds of episodes of “Friends” that have been available on streaming platforms, such as Netflix and now Max, have been viewed for the first time by new generations of fans.