Estimated 51.1M Tune in for ‘Friends’ Finale
October 20, 2007
Friends is a US situation comedy about a group living in the New York City borough of Manhattan that was originally broadcast from 1994 to 2004. It was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and produced by Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane. The show has been broadcast in over one hundred countries and still continues to attract good ratings for its episodes in syndication. The final episode of the show was watched by an estimated 51.1 million viewers.[
That was roughly two-thirds of the audience gathered by the “Cheers” and “Seinfeld” finales, but along the lines of what NBC had been predicting.
Nielsen estimated that just under 36 million people warmed up for the last episode by watching highlights of the past 10 seasons during the hour preceding Thursday’s finale.
Television’s most popular comedy provided the ending most of its fans were hoping for, with the on-again, off-again couple declaring their undying love and the gang heading out for one last cup of java.
“It was really emotional,” said Matthew Perry (search), who watched the finale with the other five cast members. “I pride myself on being a real man, but I shed a few tears.”
