Friends
Friends
is an American sitcom that revolves around six friends lives. The
series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in
association with
Warner Bros. Television. The original executive producers were
Crane, Kauffman and Kevin Bright, with numerous others being promoted
in later seasons. The series' rating throughout its run was TV-PG. The
series won many awards and was nominated for 63 Primetime Emmy Awards.
The series was also very successful in the ratings, consistently
ranking in the top ten in the final primetime ratings. The series
continues in syndication worldwide. All 10 seasons are also available
on DVD. The spin-off series Joey
was created to follow up with the series after the finale.
The main cast members (Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Lisa
Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer) were familiar
to television viewers before their roles on Friends, but were
not considered to be stars. During the series' ten-season run, the
actors all achieved household name celebrity status. They pockets also
became as the show - In their original contracts for the first season,
each cast member was paid $22,500 per episode. The cast members
received different salaries in the second season, beginning from the
$20,000 range to $40,000 per episode. Prior to their salary
negotiations for the third season, the cast decided to enter collective
negotiations, despite Warner Bros. preference for individual deals. The
actors were given the salary of the least paid cast member, meaning
Aniston and Schwimmer had their salaries reduced. The stars were paid,
per episode, $75,000 in the third season, $85,000 in the fourth,
$100,000 in the fifth, and $125,000 in the sixth season. The cast
members received salaries of $750,000 per episode in the seventh and
eight seasons, and $1 million per episode in the ninth and tenth.
The cast also received syndication royalties beginning with the fifth
season.
The series finale (airing on May 6, 2004) was watched by 52.5 million
American viewers, making it the fourth most-watched series finale in
television history.
