A TV show about people in their 20s is now no longer in its 20s.
“Friends” turns 30 this month, with its premiere episode airing Sept. 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?’” "Friends" co-creator David Crane told TODAY in an interview that aired Sept. 20 with co-creator Marta Kauffman and executive producer Kevin Bright.
It’s a sentiment star Jennifer Aniston previously shared in June.
“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,” she said while appearing on Variety’s Actors on Actors series.
“Friends” was an instant hit and grew to become one of the most beloved sitcoms in history. Kauffman said it was clear that the show’s six stars — Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer — had a connection right from the start.
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“When the six of them got onstage together, I literally got a chill up my spine and thought, ‘This is special,’” she said.
“Friends,” which flirted with being named “Insomnia Café,” “Six of One” and “Friends Like Us,” lasted for 10 seasons, 236 episodes and has been watched more than 100 billion times across a variety of platforms.
After 30 years, “Friends” has reached younger generations other than the one that first made it a hit and a staple of ‘90s culture. Bright, Kauffman and Crane say they are often approached by people — even ones who offer advice on how to keep “Friends” going.
“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?’” Bright said.
“We get that a lot. I get emails about it all the time. And everybody has a great idea. And the great idea is their kids grown up doing a ‘Friends’ show,” Kauffman said.
Crane, though, has a simple reaction to such suggestions.
“Oh, no, no, no, no,” he said.
There’s never been a “Friends” reboot, but there was a cast reunion on HBO Max in 2021. The show then dealt with tragedy in 2023 when Perry died at age 54 from what a medical examiner said was the acute effects of ketamine after he’d been so open about his struggles with addiction throughout his life.
“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.
“It’s a huge loss, and it does make the 30th a little fraught,” Kauffman said.
“He made us laugh every day,” Bright said.
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