The sitcom Friends is not only a favorite show among people of all ages, but also among our students, who were even inspired by the show’s title design when making this year’s senior shirts.

Twenty-five years ago, the first season of Friends was aired on NBC and hooked millions of viewers around the world. For those not familiar with the show, its ten seasons centered around a group of six best-friends as they grew, got married, built careers, and had kids, all the while showing them going through hilarious and often real situations and struggles of young-adults. The series quickly became one of the most popular shows of its time, with its final episode having over fifty two million people glued to their screens in May of 2004.

While Friends did have an incredibly large fanbase at its airing time, the story of Rachel, Ross, Chandler, Monica, Joey, and Phoebe continues to constantly attract a new audience and holds a special place in the hearts of many students.

“I like Friends because it’s a show that shows how even as adults they have such a great, fun time,” said sophomore Brenda Nunes. “It shows how there are many ups and downs that happen when growing up, but that even with all the changes their friendship is still strong.”

Friends provides a much needed comic relief in times of stress as well, making it the to-go show for many teens who look for a way to forget about school work or college applications for a couple of minutes.

“It’s the one show I can always turn to for a good laugh,” said senior Barbara Alvarez.

In celebration of the series’ anniversary, Warner Bros has decided to air episodes and special content in movie theaters across the country. More than a thousand screenings will be happening and will take place on September 23rd, 28th, and October 2nd. Each will include four iconic episodes of the TV show, interviews, and never-before-seen content.

Where are they now?

Friends ended over fifteen years ago, but the actors who made the show are still working on different projects all over Hollywood.

• Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green): Most recently, Aniston starred at the Netflix original Murder Mystery along with comedian Adam Sandler. However, she has joined the cast of an upcoming drama TV show produced by Apple titled Morning Show along with Steve Carell and Reese Witherspoon.
• Courteney Cox (Monica Geller): Cox worked on the world-famous horror movie series Scream. The actress also has a series in the works called Nine Months, where she will accompany the pregnancies of fifteen women.
• Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay): In 2019, Kudrow starred in titles such as Booksmart and Long Shot. She was part of other very famous and successful titles as well such as The Girl on The Train and P.S. I Love You
• David Schwimmer (Ross Geller): Schwimmer played Robert Kardashian on Ryan Murphy’s recreation of the famous O.J. Simpson trial in American Crime Story. He was also the voice for Melman the Zebra in the movie series Madagascar.
• Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing): Along with Thomas Lennon, Perry was part of a TV series titled The Odd Couple. He’s worked on some other well-known movies too, including 17 Again and The Whole Nine Yards.
• Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribianni): LeBlanc was part of a friends spin off show called Joey where his character moved to California to pursue his acting career. He’s also part of shows like Top Gear and Episodes.