Editing Friends (section)

=== Broadcast ===
After the produced pilot lived up to NBC's hopes, the series premiered with the name ''Friends'' on September 22, 1994, in the coveted Thursday 8:30 p.m. time slot. The pilot aired between ''[[Mad About You]]'' and ''Seinfeld'',<ref name="friendsorigin" /> and was watched by almost 22 million American viewers.<ref name="creators">{{Cite web |last=Lauer |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Lauer |date=May 5, 2004 |title='Friends' Creators Share Show's Beginnings |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4899445 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002171335/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4899445/ns/dateline_nbc-newsmakers/t/friends-creators-share-shows-beginnings/ |archive-date=October 2, 2013 |access-date=May 5, 2004 |website=[[Dateline NBC]]}}</ref> The series was a huge success throughout its run and was a staple of NBC's Thursday night line-up, dubbed by the network as [[Must See TV]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/a13025/nbc-elaborates-on-friends-finale-plans.html |title=NBC elaborates on ''Friends'' finale plans |access-date=December 31, 2008 |author=Welsh, James |date=January 15, 2004 |website=[[Digital Spy]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090121212505/http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/a13025/nbc-elaborates-on-friends-finale-plans.html |archive-date=January 21, 2009 }}</ref> 

Having already made huge success in the United States, ''Friends'' producers decided to air the show in Europe. It premiered in the United Kingdom on April 28, 1995.<ref>Edition: 65,253 The Times April 28, 1995</ref> Season 1 was broadcast until September 1995 on [[Channel 4]] at 9:30 PM on Friday nights, and immediately was a success. The popularity of the show allowed "[[I'll Be There for You (The Rembrandts song)|I'll Be There for You]]" the theme song by [[the Rembrandts]] to hit number 3 on the [[UK Singles Chart]]s in September 1995.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Official Singles Chart Top 100 &#124; Official Charts Company |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19950903/7501/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116035559/https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19950903/7501/ |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |access-date=April 25, 2020 |website=www.officialcharts.com}}</ref>

When Crane told reporters in 2001 that the ninth season was a possibility, critics believed that he was posturing and that at least two of the cast members would not sign on for another season.<ref name="plottwists" /> When it was confirmed that ''Friends'' would return for a ninth season, the news was mainly about the amount of money—$7 million per episode—that it took to bring the series back for another season.<ref name="plottwists" /> After year-long expectations that the ninth season would be the series' last, NBC signed a deal in late December 2002 to bring the series back for a final tenth season. The series' creative team did not want to extend negotiations into the next year and wanted to start writing the rest of the ninth-season episodes and a potential series finale.<ref name="friendsseason10" /> NBC agreed to pay $10 million to Warner Bros. for the production of each tenth-season episode, the highest price in television history for a 30-minute series.<ref name="friendsreviews">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/entertainment/3689029.stm |title=''Friends'' climax watched by 51&nbsp;m |access-date=January 1, 2009 |date=May 7, 2004 |work=BBC News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205020628/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/entertainment/3689029.stm |archive-date=February 5, 2009 }}</ref> Although NBC was unable to bring in enough advertising revenue from commercials to cover the costs, the series was integral to the Thursday night schedule, which brought high ratings and profits to the other television series.<ref name="friendsseason10">{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E4DF163CF932A15751C1A9649C8B63 |title=NBC Close to a Deal to Keep ''Friends'' for Another Season |access-date=December 29, 2008 |author=Carter, Bill |date=December 21, 2002 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122075303/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E4DF163CF932A15751C1A9649C8B63 |archive-date=January 22, 2009 }}</ref> The cast demanded that the tenth season be reduced from the usual 24 episodes to 18 episodes to allow them to work on outside projects.<ref name="friendsoverstay">{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/09/ew.hot.friends/ |title=Is ''Friends'' overstaying its welcome? |access-date=January 1, 2008 |author=Bonin, Liane |date=January 9, 2003 |work=CNN|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122070102/http://edition.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/09/ew.hot.friends/ |archive-date=January 22, 2009 }}</ref>

In fall 2001, Warner Bros. Domestic Cable made a deal with sister network TBS (both were owned by [[WarnerMedia|Time Warner]]) to air the series in rerun syndication. Warner Bros. Domestic Cable announced that it had sold additional cable rights to ''Friends'' to Nick at Nite which began airing in the fall of 2011 (unlike the TBS and broadcast syndication airings, Nick at Nite broadcasts of the series, which began airing as part of a seven-night launch marathon on September 5, 2011, replace the end credit [[post-credits scene|tag scenes]] with [[Marginalized closing credits|marginalized credits]] featuring promotions for the series and other Nick at Nite programs). Warner Bros. was expected to make $200 million in license fees and advertising from the deal. Nick at Nite paid $500,000 per episode to air the episodes after 6 pm. ET for six years through fall 2017. In syndication until 2005, ''Friends'' had earned $4 million per episode in cash license fees for a total of $944 million.<ref>{{cite news |author=Dempsey, John |title=Friends of ''Friends'' |url=https://variety.com/2005/scene/markets-festivals/friends-of-friends-1117925752/ |date=July 11, 2005 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=September 3, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119160918/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117925752.html?cs=1&s=h&p=0 |archive-date=January 19, 2012 }}</ref>