Kauffman and Crane began developing Friends under the title Insomnia Cafe in November/December 1993. They presented the idea to Bright, with whom they had previously worked, and together they pitched a seven-page treatment of the series to NBC. After several script rewrites and changes, including a second title change to Friends Like Us, the series was finally named Friends and premiered on NBC's coveted Thursday 8:30 pm timeslot. Filming for the series took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California in front of a live studio audience. The series finale (the 236th episode), airing on May 6, 2004, was watched by 51.1 million American viewers,[1] making it the fourth most watched series finale in television history[2][3] and the most watched episode of the decade.[4]
Friends received positive reviews throughout its run, becoming one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. The series won many awards and was nominated for 63 Primetime Emmy Awards. The series, an instant hit from its debut, was also very successful in the ratings, consistently ranking in the top ten in the final primetime ratings. Many critics now regard it as one of the finest shows in television history, including TV Guide, which ranked it No. 21 on their list of the 50 greatest TV shows of all time.[5][6][7] In 1997, the episode "The One with the Prom Video" was ranked No. 100 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.[8] The series made a large cultural impact, which continues today. The Central Perk coffee house that was featured prominently in the series has inspired various imitations throughout the world. The series continues in syndication worldwide. All ten seasons are available in standard definition on DVD and in high definition on Blu-ray. The spin-off series Joey was created to follow up with the series after the finale.
| Genre | Sitcom |
|---|---|
| Created by | David Crane Marta Kauffman |
| Starring | Jennifer Aniston Courteney Cox Lisa Kudrow Matt LeBlanc Matthew Perry David Schwimmer |
| Theme music composer | Michael Skloff Allee Willis |
| Opening theme | "I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 236 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | David Crane Marta Kauffman Kevin S. Bright Michael Borkow (season 4) Michael Curtis (season 5) Adam Chase (season 5–6) Greg Malins (season 5–7) Wil Calhoun (season 7) Scott Silveri (season 8–10) Shana Goldberg-Meehan (season 8–10) Andrew Reich (season 8–10) Ted Cohen (season 8–10) |
| Location(s) | Warner Bros. Studios Burbank, California |
| Camera setup | Film; multi-camera |
| Running time | 20–22 minutes (per episode) 22–65 minutes (extended DVD episodes) |
| Production company(s) | Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions Warner Bros. Television |
| Distributor | NBC Warner Bros. Television Distribution (worldwide) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Picture format | 480i (PsF 4:3 SDTV) 1080i (PsF 16:9 HDTV) |
| Original run | September 22, 1994 – May 6, 2004 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Joey (2004–2006) |
| External links | |
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