More than 20 years since the final episode of beloved 90’s television sitcom Friends aired, the series has found a new home in Australia.
Whether you’ve religiously watched and re-watched all 236 episodes across ten seasons or have yet to treat yourself to what is often described as the funniest show of all time, why not tune in?
Following the lives of six (you guessed it), friends living in Manhattan, New York City in their late 20s and early 30s, the show has received critical acclaim and won countless awards.
In fact, it’s even been named as one of the 50 greatest TV shows of all time – which comes as no surprise given Friends is just as popular, if not more popular, some 30 years on from when the first episode landed on Australian television screens.
Scroll on to find out where you can stream Friends in Australia…
Who is in the Friends cast?
Launching the careers of its six protagonists, Friends stars Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Lisa Kudrow as Pheobe Buffay, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller and Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani.
Lisa Kudrow is the oldest in the Friends cast and was 31 when the pilot episode premiered. Coincidentally, her character Pheobe is the show’s oldest character and is believed to be 27 or 28 years old in the pilot episode.
Matthew Perry was the youngest of the cast and was only 25 when the pilot debuted. According to the show timeline, his character Chandler Bing was roughly one year older than he was in real life.
Sadly Matthew passed away at the age of 54 at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023. His legacy lives on both through his acting work and his desire to help others battling alcohol and drug addiction.
Why did Friends end?
After ten years of making millions of people around the world laugh, the last episode of Friends aired on May 6, 2004. In the USA alone, 52.5 million viewers tuned in to farewell their favourite characters.
In his bestselling memoir Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing, Matthew revealed that the show came to a natural end: “We were all ready for Friends to be done.”
“For a start, Jennifer Aniston had decided that she didn’t want to do the show anymore, and as we all made decisions as a group, that meant we all had to stop.”
“Jennifer wanted to do movies; I had been doing movies all that time. Mostly by Jenny’s design, ten was a shortened season,” he added.
“But all the characters were basically happy at this point, too, and no one wants to watch a bunch of happy people doing happy things – what’s funny about that?”
Where can I watch Friends in Australia?
Previously Friends was available to stream on BINGE but now every episode of the smash-hit series is available to stream on Stan as well as AppleTV+.
Limited seasons are also available to watch on Channel Ten and 10Play.
Where can I watch Friends: The Reunion in Australia?
You can watch Friends: The Reunion on both Stan and AppleTV+ in Australia.
