Friends: The making of a smash hit
It's 20 years since the final episode of Friends aired, after a decade on TV. Executive producer Kevin Bright reveals how the series was born.
When a new show called Friends hit American TV screens in September 1994, it made household names of its cast.
Over 10 series, it charted the lives of six young New Yorkers, through marriages, divorces, births and deaths.
The final episode was broadcast on 6 May 2004.
In 2014, executive producer Kevin Bright told Farhana Haider how the show was born - and how it became one of the biggest comedies of all time.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the βIndian Titanicβ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemyβs Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and GΓΆrel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence theyβve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of Americaβs occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The cast on the last day of filming. Credit: David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
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Witness History
History as told by the people who were there