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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Roisin O'Connor

Friends cast pays tribute to hit show and fans on 25th anniversary

The original cast of Friends are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the first episode with a throwback photo. 

The classic sitcom launched on 22 September, 1994 and went onto become one of the biggest shows of all time, eventually ending in 2004 after 236 episodes. 

It turned former unknowns Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox, David Schimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry into household names and some of the most famous faces in popular culture at the time. 

“Seems like yesterday,” LeBlanc, who played Joey Tribiani, noted on his Instagram account. 

“Thanks to all the fans for watching,” Kudrow, who starred as Phoebe Buffay, wrote. “We might be in different places, but we are connected.”

“You’ve certainly been there for us,” Cox, who played Monica Geller, said.  

Click through the gallery to see the top 30 Friends episodes

Aniston and Perry are not on Instagram, and have yet to comment on the anniversary, which comes after a panel at Tribeca TV Festival in New York to mark the event. 

Speaking on the panel, creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane ruled out any reunion.

“The show was about that time in life when friends are your family,” said Kauffman. “It’s not going to beat what we did.”

Crane added: “We did the show we wanted to do. We got it right, and we put a bow on it.”

In another revelation, they told fans which episodes they believed had fallen flat

Despite their doubts, Friends remains one of the most popular shows on Netflix. This year it became the most-streamed show in the UK for the second year running.

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