Noughties spin-off to icon sitcom with A-list star returns to screens 20 years after its debut – and it’s FREE to watch
A NOUGHTIES spin-off to an iconic sitcom will return to screens, 20 years after it first made its debut.
The comedy show Friends, is one of the most iconic TV shows of all time.
It starred the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry.
Fans were utterly bereft when the iconic show came to an end in 2004.
The last episode of the popular programme was watched by a whopping 52 million people.
However, their spirits were soon revived when Matt LeBlanc reprised his role as Joey Tribbiani after 10 series of Friends.
NBC gave the green light for the actor to star in his own spin-off for two series until 2006, just months after the original smash hit concluded.
But fans are able to watch the show completely for free now as some of the show has been made available.
On YouTube, the official Friends channel has uploaded the first two episodes of the show.
20 years after its debut in September 2004, fans will be able to stream the hit spin-off for the first time.
It focussed on the fan-favourite character as he moved from New York City to Los Angeles.
Joey wanted to revive his acting career as he reunited with his sister Gina (Drea de Matteo) and his nephew Michael (Paolo Costanzo).
Other stars to feature include Andrea Anders, who played the role of Alex, who was the love interest.
Legally Blonde actress star of The White Lotus Jennifer Coolidge also featured as Joey’s talent agent named Bobby.
18.6 million viewers tuned in for the pilot of the show after it inherited the Thursday night timeslot in the US.
However, the audience figures soon declined as the show progressed as it averaged at just over 10million viewers for the first season.
Friends facts and figures
Dig into the facts behind the iconic 90s sitcom starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and the late Matthew Perry.
- Friends debuted on September 22, 1994. It ran for a decade, airing ten seasons and a whopping 236 episodes.
- The emotional finale, which aired on May 26, 2004, was watched live by 52.5 million viewers in America, making it one of the most-watched TV finales of all time.
- Friends also won a ton of awards over the years including a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, 6 Primetime Emmys, 2 SAG Awards, and 12 People’s Choice Awards.
- It was set in New York but filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in L.A.
- Friends almost had a number of different titles – sitcom creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman considered monikers like Friends Like Us, Insomnia Café, and Six of One before finally settling on Friends.
- The show’s iconic theme song was also meant to be different – Friends’ original theme song was Shiny Happy People by R.E.M. which was used for the unaired pilot episode, Friends Like Us. It was eventually changed to I’ll Be There For You by The Rembrandts.
- David and Marta originally planned for the show’s main couple to be Monica and Joey, but they weren’t romantically compatible unlike Monica and Chandler who had natural chemistry.
- The cast of Friends made a pact not to date or hook up – there really was no Ross and Rachel off-screen. “We didn’t want to jeopardise any of the great relationships and friendships we had established. It was kind of an unspoken rule,” David revealed.
- The cast always stuck together though, even negotiating their salaries increases as a group. When they started out their each earned $22,500 per episode but that steadily increased to $1,000,000 per episode by the finale season.