“Reflecting on Friends: A Look Back at the Series Finale and Its Enduring Legacy 20 Years Later”

The calendar isn’t lying: it really has been 20 years since Friends ended.

Debuting in 1994, Friends owned the TV landscape for a decade on NBC, before coming to an end with “The Last One – Parts One & Two” on May 6, 2004. Few TV shows before or since have enjoyed the sheer cultural dominance that the sitcom did, which also meant its ending was one of the most pressured in TV history.

How could the show possibly wrap things up? How would Friends end Ross and Rachel’s relationship? What would happen to Chandler and Monica? What about Phoebe and Joey? It’s a little strange to think, in an era after the likes of Lost and Game of Thrones’ finales suffered such backlash, that the level of expectation for Friends ending after 10 seasons was so mammoth, but that speaks to the juggernaut it was.

Ross, Rachel, and Monica hugging in Friends' series finale, with Chandler, Phoebe, Rachel, and Joey in the background
Thankfully, Rachel got off the plane, Friends stuck the landing, and it remains a pop-cultural touchstone for multiple generations, although that also means dealing with the fact that, well, it has been 20 years since it ended. Friends’ ending was, unsurprisingly, a huge hit. The hype leading up to the episodes had been remarkable, with a major advertising push from NBC.

The finale was watched by thousands of people together at a New York event; the cost of commercials during the finale reached $2 million for just 30 seconds of airtime [via NBC News]. This wasn’t just a normal ending, it was the Super Bowl of sitcoms.Nostalgia is a powerful weapon, and a big part of why Friends remains so popular to this day; it’s comfort blanket TV, a reminder of a simpler time that never truly existed. But, if nostalgia is a weapon, then it’s a double-edged sword. That same feeling that can make you yearn for the past and the thing you used to love is also a stark reminder of your own mortality and that life does not play out in real life like it does on TV. Reality is messier, more complicated, and people don’t always get off the plane.

The 20th anniversary of Friends’ ending hits particularly hard after Matthew Perry’s death in 2023. Perry was and forever will be an indelible part of the show’s legacy, a huge reason for its success, and truly made viewers feel like they were as much pals with Chandler as Joey was.

He was, of course, incredibly funny, but also brought a real sense of emotion to the show, especially in later seasons with his relationship with Monica and their struggles and, in the finale, joy. It’s fitting that Chandler has the last line of the entire show; while Perry’s death genuinely felt like losing a friend, the show allows him to always be there in some way.

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