It’s time to feel old!
Friends, the beloved show about life in your 20s, is now itself turning 30, with its first episode premiering in the US on September 22, 1994.
“I would imagine it’s kind of what it must feel like when your kid turns 30 and you’re like, ‘How did that happen?’” co-creator David Crane said in a recent interview with TODAY. Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel, echoed this sentiment earlier, saying, “It’s so strange to even think that it’s 30 years old because it actually just — I remember the day that it was going to premiere.”
From the beginning, Friends was a hit. “When the six of them got onstage together, I literally got a chill up my spine and thought, ‘This is special,’” co-creator Marta Kauffman recalled. Originally considered titles like “Insomnia Café” and “Six of One,” Friends ran for 10 seasons with 236 episodes and has been watched over 100 billion times across different platforms.
Even after 30 years, Friends continues to resonate with younger audiences. “When you have pre-teens coming up to you, telling you how much they love your show and asking you, ‘Will there be more episodes?’” executive producer Kevin Bright noted. However, Crane’s response to a reboot is clear: “Oh, no, no, no, no.”
In 2023, the Friends family faced a heartbreaking loss with Matthew Perry’s death at 54. “He’d been fighting the good fight for so long, and it really did feel like, from the reunion, that he had finally found some peace,” Bright said. Kauffman added, “It’s a huge loss, and it does make the 30th a little fraught.” Bright concluded, “He made us laugh every day.”
