The Last One
Encyclopedia
"The Last One" is the series finale of the television
sitcom Friends
. 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
, and directed by executive producer Kevin S. Bright
. The series finale first aired on NBC
in the United States on May 6, 2004, when it was watched by 52.46 million viewers, making it the most watched entertainment telecast in six years and the fourth most watched television series finale in U.S history.
The series finale closes several long running storylines. Ross Geller
(David Schwimmer
) confesses his love for Rachel Green
(Jennifer Aniston
), and they decide to resume their relationship; and Monica Geller
(Courteney Cox
) and Chandler Bing
(Matthew Perry
) adopt twins and move to the suburbs. The episode's final scene shows the group leaving their apartments for the final time and going to Central Perk for one last cup of coffee.
Prior to writing the episode, Crane, Kauffman and Bright watched finales from other sitcoms for inspiration. Kauffman found that they liked the ones which stayed true to the series. Filming took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California
; part one was taped on January 16, and part two on January 23. The finale was well-received by critics and the cast members.
(Lisa Kudrow
) and Joey Tribbiani
(Matt LeBlanc
) pack the belongings of Monica and Chandler, who have accompanied Erica (Anna Faris
) to the hospital. Rachel leaves Ross' 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 the sex 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 (James Michael Tyler
) 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.
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
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
. Phoebe phones Rachel, who has already boarded her flight, to stall her for time. When a passenger 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 bear breaking it open, so Monica nonchalantly offers to do it for them. After they retrieve the birds, Chandler suggests Joey keep them.
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. Ross returns home, rejected, and finds a message from Rachel on the phone. She explains her actions and decides to get off the plane, but the message cuts off. Ross turns around to see Rachel standing in the doorway and they kiss. The following morning, the friends gather in Monica and Chandler's empty apartment. With some time remaining before Monica and Chandler leave for their new house, they all put their keys of the apartment on the kitchen counter and decide to go to Central Perk for one last cup of coffee together.
and Kevin S. Bright decided to watch finales from 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 of The Mary Tyler Moore Show
to be the gold standard. The writers had difficulty writing the finale, and spent several days thinking about the finale 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
. The song "Yellow Ledbetter
" by the grunge band Pearl Jam
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 of the group said it was, "simply a matter of the show's producers asking permission".
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 taping 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
, who was Chandler's "on and off" girlfriend Janice, told People
, "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
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 in order 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 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 taping, 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
, who played Phoebe's scientist boyfriend in several episodes over the years; David Arquette
, who filmed his wife Cox and the others backstage with a video camera; and Wheeler. Missing was Brad Pitt
, 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.
NBC heavily promoted the series finale, which was preceded by weeks of hype. The top price for a 30-second commercial during the U.S. broadcast was approximately $1 million USD. Viewing parties were organized by local NBC affiliates around the United States, including an event at Universal CityWalk
featuring a special broadcast of the finale on an outdoor Astrovision 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
, 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 was filmed on the set of the Friends' Central Perk cafe, which featured the series' cast as guests. The advertising rates for the finale averaged $2 million for 30 seconds of commercial time. This was the largest advertising rate ever for a sitcom, breaking the previous record held by the 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. "The Last One" was not the most watched Friends episode in the series' history; that distinction belongs to "The One After the Superbowl" which, as the title suggests, aired immediately after Super Bowl XXX
on January 28, 1996 and drew an audience of 52.9 million viewers. The Friends finale was the fourth most watched series finale in television history, behind the finales of M*A*S*H, Cheers
and Seinfeld
, which were watched by 123, 102.4 and 85.9 million viewers respectively. The retrospective episode was watched by under 36 million viewers, and the finale was the second most-watched television show of the year, behind the Super Bowl
.
The episode was nominated for two Emmy Awards 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 Frasier
in both categories.
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
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
' s Noel Holston called the episode "sweet and dumb and satisfying," while Roger Catlin of The Hartford Courant
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."
An editorial in USA Today
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
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
gave the finale a B grade, calling it "more touching than comical, more satisfying in terms of closure than knee-slappingly funny."
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
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 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
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.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
sitcom Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
. The episode serves as the seventeenth and eighteenth episode of season ten
Friends Season 10
Friends Season 10 is the last season of the US TV Sitcom Friends. Season 10 contained 18 episodes, with the season first airing from September 25, 2003 to May 6, 2004.-Season synopsis:...
; the episode's two parts were classified as two separate episodes. It was written by series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman
Marta Kauffman
Marta Kauffman is an American writer and TV producer, best known as the co-creator of the popular sitcom Friends, alongside David Crane. Both Crane and Kauffman were also executive producer of the show, along with Kevin Bright. Crane and Kauffman have also produced Veronica's Closet, starring...
, and directed by executive producer Kevin S. Bright
Kevin Bright
Kevin S. Bright is an American television executive producer and director whose credits include Dream On, Friends, and Joey....
. The series finale first aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in the United States on May 6, 2004, when it was watched by 52.46 million viewers, making it the most watched entertainment telecast in six years and the fourth most watched television series finale in U.S history.
The series finale closes several long running storylines. Ross Geller
Ross Geller
Ross Eustace Geller, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television series Friends, portrayed by David Schwimmer. The character is noted for his geeky, lovable demeanor.- Origin :...
(David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor and director of television and film. He was born in New York City, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was two. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern...
) confesses his love for Rachel Green
Rachel Green
Rachel Karen Green is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends, portrayed by Jennifer Aniston. Aniston received an Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe for her performances.-Background:...
(Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
), and they decide to resume their relationship; and Monica Geller
Monica Geller
Monica E. Geller Bing is a fictional character on the popular US television sitcom Friends, portrayed by Courteney Cox. Monica is known as the "Mother Hen" of the group and her Greenwich Village apartment was one of the group's main gathering places. She was also known for her obsessive personality...
(Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox is an American actress, she is best known for her roles as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends, Gale Weathers in the horror series Scream and as Jules Cobb in the ABC sitcom Cougar Town, for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination....
) and Chandler Bing
Chandler Bing
Chandler Muriel Bing is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends, portrayed by Matthew Perry.-Background:Chandler Muriel Bing was born on April 8, 1968, the son of an erotic novelist mother and a cross-dressing Las Vegas star and is of Scottish ancestry. Chandler was Ross...
(Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry is Canadian-American television and film actor.Matthew Perry or Matt Perry may also refer to:*Matthew C. Perry , American naval officer who forcibly opened Japan to trade with the West...
) adopt twins and move to the suburbs. The episode's final scene shows the group leaving their apartments for the final time and going to Central Perk for one last cup of coffee.
Prior to writing the episode, Crane, Kauffman and Bright watched finales from other sitcoms for inspiration. Kauffman found that they liked the ones which stayed true to the series. Filming took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
; part one was taped on January 16, and part two on January 23. The finale was well-received by critics and the cast members.
Part one
Phoebe BuffayPhoebe Buffay
Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom Friends , portrayed by Lisa Kudrow...
(Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Valerie Kudrow is an American actress, best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the television sitcom Friends, for which she received many accolades including an Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards...
) and Joey Tribbiani
Joey Tribbiani
Joseph Francis "Joey" Tribbiani, Jr. is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends and the title character in the spin-off, Joey , portrayed by Matt LeBlanc....
(Matt LeBlanc
Matt LeBlanc
Matthew Steven "Matt" LeBlanc is an American actor, best known for his role as Joey Tribbiani on the NBC sitcoms Friends and its spin-off Joey....
) pack the belongings of Monica and Chandler, who have accompanied Erica (Anna Faris
Anna Faris
Anna Kay Faris is an American actress, singer and comedienne. She is known for her starring role in the Scary Movie film series, as well as roles in The Hot Chick , Lost in Translation , Just Friends , My Super Ex-Girlfriend , Smiley Face , and The House Bunny...
) to the hospital. Rachel leaves Ross' 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 the sex 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
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. As he is about to tell her, Central Perk manager Gunther (James Michael Tyler
James Michael Tyler
James Michael Tyler is a US actor best known for his role as Gunther on the NBC sitcom Friends.-Biography:James Michael Tyler was born the youngest of six children on 28 May 1962 in Winona, Mississippi, US to a retired Air Force captain and a homemaker...
) 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 two
Joey returns to his apartment to fetch the chick and the duck he was hiding, but finds they have become trapped in the foosballTable football
Table football, also known as gitoni or foosball, is a table-top game and sport that is loosely based on association football.-Names:...
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
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
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
Newark Liberty International Airport , first named Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport within the city limits of both Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States...
. Phoebe phones Rachel, who has already boarded her flight, to stall her for time. When a passenger 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 bear breaking it open, so Monica nonchalantly offers to do it for them. After they retrieve the birds, Chandler suggests Joey keep them.
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. Ross returns home, rejected, and finds a message from Rachel on the phone. She explains her actions and decides to get off the plane, but the message cuts off. Ross turns around to see Rachel standing in the doorway and they kiss. The following morning, the friends gather in Monica and Chandler's empty apartment. With some time remaining before Monica and Chandler leave for their new house, they all put their keys of the apartment on the kitchen counter and decide to go to Central Perk for one last cup of coffee together.
Writing and music
The series' creators completed the first draft of the hourlong finale in January 2004, four months prior to its airing on May 6. Before writing the episode, David Crane, Marta KauffmanMarta Kauffman
Marta Kauffman is an American writer and TV producer, best known as the co-creator of the popular sitcom Friends, alongside David Crane. Both Crane and Kauffman were also executive producer of the show, along with Kevin Bright. Crane and Kauffman have also produced Veronica's Closet, starring...
and Kevin S. Bright decided to watch finales from 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 of The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
to be the gold standard. The writers had difficulty writing the finale, and spent several days thinking about the finale 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
Embryonic Journey (instrumental)
The acoustic instrumental Embryonic Journey composed by Jefferson Airplane / Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kaukonen originally appeared as the ninth track on Jefferson Airplane's second album Surrealistic Pillow but has been often anthologized, and multiple takes were released as an album also entitled...
" by Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
. The song "Yellow Ledbetter
Yellow Ledbetter
"Yellow Ledbetter" is a song by the American rock 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 album, Ten...
" by the grunge band Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
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 of the group said it was, "simply a matter of the show's producers asking permission".
Filming
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern 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 taping 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
Maggie Wheeler
Maggie Wheeler is an American actress, best known for her role as Janice on the TV show Friends.-Personal life:Wheeler was born Margaret Emily Jakobson in Manhattan...
, who was Chandler's "on and off" girlfriend Janice, told People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
, "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
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
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 in order 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 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 taping, 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
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...
, who played Phoebe's scientist boyfriend in several episodes over the years; David Arquette
David Arquette
David Arquette is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, fashion designer, and occasional professional wrestler. A member of the Arquette acting family, he first became known during the mid 1990s after starring in several Hollywood films, such as the Scream series, Wild Bill and...
, who filmed his wife Cox and the others backstage with a video camera; and Wheeler. Missing was Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, 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.
Promotion, ratings and awards
| "It may have been impossible for any one episode to live up to the hype and expectations built up around the Friends finale, but this hour probably came as close as fans could have reasonably hoped. Ultimately, the two-hour package did exactly what it was supposed to do. It wrapped up the story while reminding us why we liked the show and will miss it." |
| — Robert Bianco of USA Today USA Today USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003... on the series finale. |
NBC heavily promoted the series finale, which was preceded by weeks of hype. The top price for a 30-second commercial during the U.S. broadcast was approximately $1 million USD. Viewing parties were organized by local NBC affiliates around the United States, including an event at Universal CityWalk
Universal CityWalk
Universal CityWalk is the name given to the entertainment and retail districts located adjacent to the theme parks of Universal Parks & Resorts. Originating as an expansion of Universal's first park, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk serves as an entrance plaza from the parking lots to the...
featuring a special broadcast of the finale on an outdoor Astrovision screen. It was shown in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, 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
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
, 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 was filmed on the set of the Friends
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
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. "The Last One" was not the most watched Friends episode in the series' history; that distinction belongs to "The One After the Superbowl" which, as the title suggests, aired immediately after Super Bowl XXX
Super Bowl XXX
Super Bowl XXX was an American football game played on January 28, 1996 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona to decide the National Football League champion following the 1995 regular season...
on January 28, 1996 and drew an audience of 52.9 million viewers. The Friends finale was the fourth most watched series finale in television history, behind the finales of M*A*S*H, Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
and Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
, which were watched by 123, 102.4 and 85.9 million viewers respectively. The retrospective episode was watched by under 36 million viewers, and the finale was the second most-watched television show of the year, behind the Super Bowl
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....
.
The episode was nominated for two Emmy Awards at the 56th Primetime Emmy Awards
56th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held Sunday, September 19, 2004. The awards show was hosted by Garry Shandling and was broadcast on ABC...
for "Outstanding Multi-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series Or Special" and "Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing For A Series", but lost to Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
in both categories.
Critical reviews
Reviews of the series finale were mixed to positive. Robert Bianco of USA TodayUSA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
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
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
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
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
The Hartford Courant
The Hartford Courant is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is a morning newspaper for most of the state north of New Haven and east of Waterbury...
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."
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
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.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
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
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News, which is published from the eastern half of the Metroplex. It is owned...
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 to watch the finale. It was well received by the main cast, who were confident that the fans would have the same reaction. David Schwimmer 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 SA
Cartier S.A., commonly known as Cartier , is a French luxury jeweler and watch manufacturer. The corporation carries the name of the Cartier family of jewellers whose control ended in 1964 and who were known for numerous pieces including the "Bestiary" , the diamond necklace created for Bhupinder...
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 on January 22, and a big party for 1,000 guests on January 24 at Los Angeles' Park Plaza Hotel
Elks Lodge No. 99 / Park Plaza Hotel
The Elk's Lodge No. 99 / Park Plaza Hotel is located at 607 Park View Street just off Wilshire Boulevard near downtown Los Angeles, California. It was created by renowned Art Deco architect Claud Beelman, during the time he was a Senior Partner at the prestigious firm he co-owned in the 1920s,...
. At the party at the Park Plaza Hotel, The Rembrandts
The Rembrandts
The Rembrandts are an American pop-rock duo formed by Phil Solem and Danny Wilde in 1989. They had previously worked together as members of Great Buildings in 1981...
performed the theme song of Friends, "I'll Be There for You
I'll Be There for You (Rembrandts song)
"I'll Be There for You" is a song recorded by the American pop rock duo The Rembrandts. It is best known as the theme song to the American sitcom Friends, which premiered during 1994 and ended in 2004...
", and the cast gave a re-enactment of the pilot episode's first scene.