"The Last One", also known as "The One Where They Say Goodbye", is the
series finale
A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or ...
of the television sitcom ''
Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
''. The episode serves as the seventeenth and eighteenth episode of
season ten; the episode's two parts were classified as two separate episodes. It was written by series creators
David Crane and
Marta Kauffman
Marta Fran Kauffman (born September 21, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the co-creator of the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' with her longtime friend, David Crane. Both Kauffman and Crane were also executive pr ...
, and directed by executive producer
Kevin S. Bright
Kevin S. Bright (born November 15, 1954) is an American television executive producer and director whose credits include '' Dream On'' and '' Friends''.
Early life
Born to a Jewish-American family in New York City, Bright attended the East Sid ...
. The series finale first aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
in the United States on May 6, 2004, when it was watched by 52.5 million viewers,
making it the most watched entertainment telecast in six years and the
fifth most watched overall television series finale in U.S. history as well as the most watched episode from any television series throughout the decade 2000s on U.S. television. In Canada, the finale aired simultaneously on May 6, 2004, on
Global
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
, and was viewed by 5.16 million viewers, becoming the highest viewed episode of the series.
The series finale closes several long-running storylines.
Ross Geller
Ross Geller, portrayed by David Schwimmer, is one of the six main characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends''. Ross is considered by many to be the most intelligent member of the group and is noted for his goofy but lovable demeanor. His relations ...
(
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom '' Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Prime ...
) confesses his love for
Rachel Green
Rachel Karen Green is a fictional character, one of the six main characters who appeared in the American sitcom ''Friends''. Portrayed by Jennifer Aniston, the character was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and appeared in all of t ...
(
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...
), and they decide to resume their relationship; and
Monica Geller
Monica E. Geller is a fictional character, one of the six main characters who appears on the American sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and portrayed by actress Courteney Cox, Monica appears in all of ...
(
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom '' Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...
) and
Chandler Bing
Chandler Muriel Bing is a fictional character from the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', portrayed by actor Matthew Perry. Chandler was born to Nora Tyler Bing, an erotic romance novelist, and Charles Bing, a gay female impersonator and star of a Las Vegas ...
(
Matthew Perry
Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004).
As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...
) adopt twins and move to the suburbs. The episode's final scene shows the group leaving Monica and Chandler's apartment for the final time and going for one last cup of coffee together.
Prior to writing the episode, Crane, Kauffman and Bright watched finales from other sitcoms for the inspiration. Kauffman found that she liked the ones that stayed true to the series. Filming took place at
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
Studios in
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
; part one was filmed on January 16, and part two on January 23. The finale was well received by critics and the cast members.
Plot
Part 1
Phoebe Buffay
Phoebe Buffay is one of the six main characters from the American sitcom, '' Friends''. She is created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman and portrayed by actress Lisa Kudrow.
In the series' universe, Phoebe was born on February 16 and is the ...
(
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She rose to fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), which has since been named one of the greatest television cha ...
) and
Joey Tribbiani
Joseph Francis "Joey" Tribbiani Jr. is a fictional character, serving as one of the primary characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and the protagonist of its spin-off ''Joey''. He is portrayed by Matt LeBlanc in both series.
He is an Italian-A ...
(
Matt LeBlanc
Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, ''Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc re ...
) pack the belongings of
Monica Geller
Monica E. Geller is a fictional character, one of the six main characters who appears on the American sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and portrayed by actress Courteney Cox, Monica appears in all of ...
(
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom '' Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...
) and
Chandler Bing
Chandler Muriel Bing is a fictional character from the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', portrayed by actor Matthew Perry. Chandler was born to Nora Tyler Bing, an erotic romance novelist, and Charles Bing, a gay female impersonator and star of a Las Vegas ...
(
Matthew Perry
Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004).
As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...
), who have accompanied
Erica
Erica or ERICA may refer to:
* Erica (given name)
* ''Erica'' (plant), a flowering plant genus
* Erica (chatbot), a service of Bank of America
* ''Erica'' (video game), a 2019 FMV video game
* ''Erica'' (spider), a jumping spider genus
* Eric ...
(
Anna Faris
Anna Kay Faris (; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her work in comedic roles, particularly the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has appeared in a number o ...
) to the hospital.
Rachel Green
Rachel Karen Green is a fictional character, one of the six main characters who appeared in the American sitcom ''Friends''. Portrayed by Jennifer Aniston, the character was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and appeared in all of t ...
(
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...
) leaves
Ross Geller
Ross Geller, portrayed by David Schwimmer, is one of the six main characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends''. Ross is considered by many to be the most intelligent member of the group and is noted for his goofy but lovable demeanor. His relations ...
's (
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom '' Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Prime ...
) bedroom after their apparent reunion in the previous episode. Erica gives birth to twins, much to the surprise of Monica and Chandler, who were expecting only one child. At his apartment, Joey shows Phoebe his house-warming gift for Monica and Chandler: a chick and duckling to replace the ones that died. Ross arrives and confesses to the pair that he slept with Rachel. Rachel emerges from her bedroom and, to his disappointment, tells Ross that their night together was "the perfect way to say goodbye".
Later at the Central Perk café, Phoebe convinces Ross to tell Rachel how he feels about her before she leaves for her new job in Paris. As he is about to tell her, Central Perk manager
Gunther
Gundaharius or Gundahar (died 437), better known by his legendary names Gunther ( gmh, Gunther) or Gunnar ( non, Gunnarr), was a historical king of Burgundy in the early 5th century. Gundahar is attested as ruling his people shortly after they ...
(
James Michael Tyler
James Michael Tyler (May 28, 1962 – October 24, 2021) was an American actor best known for his portrayal of Gunther on the NBC sitcom '' Friends''. Prior to acting, he was an assistant film editor and production assistant. His early works in ...
) confesses his love for Rachel. Back at Monica and Chandler's apartment, Ross decides not to tell Rachel, for fear of rejection. She prepares to leave to catch her flight, but waits long enough for Monica and Chandler to return with the twins, named Erica (after their biological mother) and Jack (after Monica's father). After Rachel leaves, Ross has a change of heart, and Phoebe takes him in her taxi to follow Rachel to the airport.
Part 2
Joey returns to his apartment to fetch the chick and the duck he was hiding, but finds they have become trapped in the
foosball
Table football, also known as foosball, table soccer, futbolito in Mexico, Taca Taca in Chile and Metegol in Argentina is a table-top game that is loosely based on association football. The aim of the game is to move the ball into the opponen ...
table. Chandler and Joey decide to break it open when they cannot find any other way of getting the birds out. Phoebe's reckless driving gets her and Ross to
JFK Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
and, after buying a ticket to get past security, they search the information boards for Rachel's flight number. When they cannot locate her flight on any of the information boards, Ross calls and checks the number with Monica but discovers they are at the wrong airport; Ross and Phoebe drove to JFK, while Rachel was flying out of nearby
Newark Airport
Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union Count ...
. Phoebe phones Rachel, who has already boarded her flight, to stall her for time. When a passenger (
Jim Rash
James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He portrayed the role of Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Bes ...
) overhears Phoebe saying there is a problem with the fictitious
"left phalange" of the plane, he gets off the plane, prompting everyone else to leave. Chandler and Joey, who are emotionally attached to the foosball table, find they are unable to break it open, but Monica does gleefully with a crowbar and mallet. After they retrieve the birds, Chandler suggests Joey keep them, and the two reaffirm their friendship with a long, tense hug.
Phoebe and Ross arrive at the airport as Rachel boards the plane again. Ross tells her he loves her, but she is unable to deal with his confession and gets on the plane anyway. A dejected Ross returns home and finds a message from Rachel on the phone. She explains her actions and as she does it, decides to get off the plane. At first a flight attendant is trying to force her to sit down. The message cuts off and Ross frantically tries fixing the answering machine, wondering out loud if she got off the plane. From behind him, Rachel appears and says she did, and they get back together for good. The following morning, the friends gather in Monica and Chandler's empty apartment and reminisce about how all of them had lived there at one point or another. With some time remaining before Monica and Chandler leave for their new house, the six all leave their keys to the apartment on the kitchen counter and decide to go for one last cup of coffee together, to which Chandler sarcastically and jokingly quips, "Where?" and they all laugh as they head down the hallway. The final shot shows the empty apartment, slowly panning around from the living space to the front door as
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...
's "
Embryonic Journey" plays.
Production
Writing and music
The series' creators completed the first draft of the hour-long finale in January 2004, four months prior to its airing on May 6. Before writing the episode,
David Crane,
Marta Kauffman
Marta Fran Kauffman (born September 21, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the co-creator of the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' with her longtime friend, David Crane. Both Kauffman and Crane were also executive pr ...
and
Kevin S. Bright
Kevin S. Bright (born November 15, 1954) is an American television executive producer and director whose credits include '' Dream On'' and '' Friends''.
Early life
Born to a Jewish-American family in New York City, Bright attended the East Sid ...
decided to watch the series finales of other sitcoms, paying attention to what worked and what did not. Kauffman found that they liked the ones which stayed true to the series, and they found
the finale The Finale may refer to:
* "The Finale" (''Everybody Loves Raymond''), the final episode of ''Everybody Loves Raymond''
* "The Finale" (''Seinfeld''), the final two episodes of ''Seinfeld''
* "The Finale" (''Will & Grace''), the final episode of '' ...
of ''
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Moor ...
'' to be the gold standard. The writers had difficulty writing the finale, and spent several days thinking about the final scene without being able to write a word. Crane said that they did not want to do "something high concept, or take the show out of the show".
The music playing as the camera pans across the empty apartment at the end of the episode is "
Embryonic Journey" by
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...
. The song "
Yellow Ledbetter
"Yellow Ledbetter" is a song by the American band Pearl Jam. Featuring lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music co-written by bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Mike McCready, "Yellow Ledbetter" was an outtake from the band's debut alb ...
" by the band
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
is also featured in the episode—after Rachel boards the plane for the first time—making it the first Pearl Jam song to be licensed for a television show. A spokesperson for the group said it was, "simply a matter of the show's producers asking permission".
[Cohen, Jonathan (May 11, 2004).]
Pearl Jam helps bid adieu to ''Friends''
, MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
. Retrieved on November 24, 2008.
Filming
![The Friends Stage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/The_Friends_Stage.jpg)
The episode was filmed in Los Angeles, California on Stage 24 at Warner Bros. Studios, where ''Friends'' had been filmed since its second season. The first part was taped on January 16, and the second on January 23, 2004.
After the series finale, Stage 24 was renamed "The Friends Stage".
A month before the filming of the final episode, Aniston said that with each episode it got "harder just to read the lines." She explained that the cast was "all just nerves and raw emotions ... No one knows how to feel. We may need to be sedated on the last night." The producers promised a tearful ending, and the cast admitted their crying was not faked when they filmed their scenes.
LeBlanc revealed it had been too much for him and the rest of the cast; he said Kudrow started crying first, and when he looked at Aniston and Cox they also appeared emotional.
Schwimmer, who LeBlanc thought was the "consummate professional", was also upset, so LeBlanc "just lost it."
Maggie Wheeler
Margaret Emily Wheeler (née Jakobson) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Janice on the television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), and Anita on ''Ellen'' (1994–1996).
Early life
Wheeler was born Margaret Emily Jakobso ...
, who played Chandler's "on and off" girlfriend Janice, told ''
People
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
'', "the entire cast had to go back and have their makeup redone before starting," and that Perry broke the tension by saying, "Somebody is gonna get fired."
Perry told the ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' that he did not cry, "but I felt like I was about to for like seven hours."
Although it was planned that some key scenes of the episode would be filmed without an audience to avoid leaks of plot spoilers,
the producers decided not to worry about the issue and filmed it all in front of the live studio audience.
["The Last One", DVD audio commentary, ''Friends'' Season 10] The producers also instigated the rumor that multiple endings would be filmed; in fact, only one was planned and shot.
At the start of each ''Friends'' episode filming, the cast would ordinarily be introduced to the studio audience one at a time, but this time the cast headed out for their pre-curtain bow together.
"That made me cry," said Diane Newman, who was the script supervisor of the show.
Among the specially invited audience of the taping were
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Sna ...
, who played Phoebe's scientist boyfriend David in several episodes over the years;
David Arquette
David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster Enter ...
, who filmed his then-wife Cox and the others backstage with a video camera; and Wheeler. Missing was
Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
, Aniston's then-husband; Pitt told the producers he wanted to be surprised when the finale aired on television.
Although some guests were invited, around 75% of the studio audience were 'ordinary' members of the public so that their reactions would be congruous with the rest of the series.
However, friends, family and colleagues of the cast and crew served as extras throughout the episode.
Reception
Promotion, ratings and awards
NBC heavily promoted the series finale, which was preceded by weeks of hype.
Viewing parties were organized by local NBC affiliates around the United States, including an event at
Universal CityWalk
Universal CityWalk is the name shared by the entertainment and retail districts located adjacent to the theme parks of Universal Parks & Resorts. CityWalk began as an expansion of Universal's first park, Universal Studios Hollywood, and serves as ...
featuring a special broadcast of the finale on an outdoor
Astrovision
The ''Bally'' ''Astrocade'' (also known as ''Bally Arcade'' or initially as ''Bally ABA-1000'') is a second-generation home video game console and simple computer system designed by a team at Midway, at that time the videogame division of Bally ...
screen.
It was shown in New York City, where over 3,000 people watched it on big screens in parks.
The finale was the subject of two episodes of ''
Dateline NBC
''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasion ...
'', one of which ran for two hours. Prior to the airing of the episode, a one-hour retrospective of clips from previous episodes was shown. Following the finale, ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014.
The fourth incarnation of the ...
'' was filmed on the set of the ''Friends''
' Central Perk café, which featured the series' cast as guests.
The advertising rates for the finale averaged $2 million for 30 seconds of commercial time. This currently remains as the largest advertising rate ever for a sitcom, breaking the previous record held by the ''
Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
'' finale at $1.7 million.
The finale was watched by 52.5 million American viewers
making it the most watched entertainment telecast in six years, and the most watched episode of the decade 2000s on U.S. television. The ''Friends'' finale was the fourth most watched overall series finale in U.S. television history, behind the finales of ''
M*A*S*H
''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker.
The ...
'', ''
Cheers
''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...
'' and ''
Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
'', which were watched by 105.9, 84.4 and 76.3 million viewers, respectively. The episode was also the second most watched episode of ''Friends'', behind
The One After the Superbowl
"The One After the Superbowl" is a double-length episode of the American television sitcom '' Friends second season. The episode premiered on NBC on January 28, 1996, as the lead-out for NBC's telecast of Super Bowl XXX. The main storyline of ...
which attracted 52.92 million viewers. The retrospective episode was watched by just under 36 million viewers, and the finale was the second most-watched television show of the year, behind only
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) c ...
.
The episode was nominated for two
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
s at the
56th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Multi-Camera Sound Mixing for a Series or Special and Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Series, but lost to the final season of ''
Frasier
''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Case ...
'' in both categories.
Critical reviews
Robert Bianco of ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' described the finale as entertaining and satisfying, and praised it for deftly mixing emotion and humor while showcasing each of the stars.
Sarah Rodman of the ''
Boston Herald
The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...
'' praised Aniston and Schwimmer for their acting, but felt that their characters' reunion "felt a bit too neat, even if it was what most of the show's legions of fans wanted." ''
Newsday
''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...
''
's Noel Holston called the episode "sweet and dumb and satisfying,"
while Roger Catlin of ''
The Hartford Courant
The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...
'' felt that newcomers to the series would be "surprised at how laughless the affair could be, and how nearly every strained gag depends on the sheer stupidity of its characters."
![David Schwimmer 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/David_Schwimmer_2011.jpg)
An editorial in ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' highlighted the view of many critics who found problem with the aging cast, commenting, "''Friends'' was getting creaky even as it remained popular." Heather Havrilesky of
Salon.com
''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.
Content and coverage
''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
said that despite the "nauseating hype and the disappointing season and the lackluster finale, it's important to remember what a great show this was for such a very long time."
Ken Parish Perkins of the ''
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company.
History
In May 1905, Amon G. Carter acc ...
'' gave the finale a B grade, calling it "more touching than comical, more satisfying in terms of closure than knee-slappingly funny."
Response from the staff
The cast members reportedly got together in Los Angeles; David Schwimmer, who plays Ross, said, "It's exactly what I had hoped. We all end up with a sense of a new beginning and the audience has a sense that it's a new chapter in the lives of all these characters."
At the taping of the episode, the cast and crew passed around yearbooks, custom-made by the production staff, and signed them for each other. The cast gave the producers inscribed
Cartier SA
Cartier International SNC, or simply Cartier (; ), is a French high-end luxury goods conglomerate that designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells jewellery, leather goods, and watches. Founded by Louis-François Cartier (1819–1904) in Paris ...
watches, while the producers gave the cast Neil Lane jewelry.
As the sets were broken down, the cast and crew each got a chunk of the street outside Central Perk in a glass box as a keepsake.
There were three separate wrap parties—a dinner at the Aniston-Pitt residence on January 19, 2004, a sit down at cast hangout Il Sole in
West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...
on January 22, and a big party for 1,000 guests on January 24 at Los Angeles'
Park Plaza Hotel.
At the party at the Park Plaza Hotel,
The Rembrandts
The Rembrandts are an American alternative rock duo, formed by Danny Wilde and Phil Solem in 1989. They had previously worked together as members of Great Buildings in 1981. The Rembrandts are best known for the song " I'll Be There for You", ...
performed the theme song of ''Friends'', "
I'll Be There for You", and the cast gave a re-enactment of the pilot episode's first scene.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last One
Friends (season 10) episodes
American television series finales
2004 American television episodes