Friends is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman and was aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, spanning ten seasons. The show, primarily set in Manhattan, New York City, revolves around the lives of six close friends in their twenties and thirties balancing their personal and professional experiences. The show dives deep into the lives of the main characters - Monica Geller, a chef known for her obsessive cleanliness and competitive nature; Ross Geller, a paleontologist with a complicated romantic history; Rachel Green, a fashion enthusiast who starts as a waitress; Chandler Bing, known for his sarcastic humor and career in statistical analysis; Joey Tribbiani, a struggling actor with a love for food; and Phoebe Buffay, an eccentric musician with a quirky personality.
The show is mostly set in Monica’s apartment and the coffeehouse Central Perk, where the main characters gather to have a chat. Known for its ensemble cast and memorable catchphrases, Friends became popular and received critical acclaim along with multiple awards, including a Primetime Emmy, multiple ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards, BMI Film & TV Awards People's Choice Awards, and Teen Choice Awards among many others.
How much did the main cast earn each season of Friends?
According to their original agreement with the producing company Warner Bros, Celebrity Net Worth claims that the main cast members including Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer were paid an amount of $22,500 per episode in their first season of Friends. Later in season 2, the cast gained different salaries, ranging between $20,000 and $40,000 per episode.
Before the start of the 3rd season, the entire main cast put in a collective negotiation with Warner Bros regarding their early release, which resulted in them earning a total of $75,000 per episode in that season. In the following seasons, the show gained huge popularity amongst the audience which resulted in the cast receiving around $85,000 per episode in season four. As the popularity increased with the release of the next season, it was revealed that the main cast was receiving an amount of $100k in season five, and $125k in season six.
As the series entered seasons 7 and 8, the main cast was known to earn $750k per episode. In Seasons 9 and 10, which are the final 2 seasons of the show, the main cast was earning an amount of $1 million per episode. At this point, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow were recognized as the highest-paid TV actresses of that era.
How much did the Friends cast members earn in royalties?
Even after the series ended back in 2004, it was revealed that each Friends member, rightfully, is the owner of 2% profit through the broadcast rights to syndicate reruns. As Warner Bro continues to make profits from the series with its continuous returns, making 1 billion each year, they rightfully pay up the actors in the main cast with a total of $20 million each year, which can rightfully be counted as royalties from the series.
Read More: When did Friends start
How much was the cast paid for the Reunion episode of Friends?
After a long 17-year gap, the main cast of Friends was seen featuring on the Reunion episode, celebrating the immense success of the series along with reliving some of the classic memories that the show had provided its fans. For this reunion episode, the cast was making approximately a minimum of $2.5 million according to the news platform Variety.
FAQs On Friends
In the series Friends, Mr Heckles was played by actor Larry Hankin.
Joey plays the role of Doctor Drake Ramoray in his soap series Days of Our Lives.
Yes Friends has a spin-off series for the character of Joey going by his name.
Ross has married a total of 3 times in Friends.
