“Friends” stars are earning about $19 million a year off the repeats.
The show, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, appears to be now more popular than ever.
The “Friends” actors are raking in the cash without even getting back together for a reunion.
It’s the reruns shown on Netflix that are bringing in the big bucks.
Starring Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) and Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) — the show has produced some of the most-loved characters in television.
UCLA lecturer Tom Nunan, who was head of comedy at Fox’s TV division when creators Marta Kauffman, Kevin S. Bright and David Crane were pitching the show, told The Scotsman: “You just don’t know how is it when a group of people come together and, if you forgive the expression, make beautiful music together, is that going to be for a generation or is it going to be for the ages?”
Comparing them to rock ‘n’ roll legends The Beatles, he said: “I think with The Beatles we can safely say it’s for the ages. It’s possible with ‘Friends’ it’s the same thing.”
“Friends” first hit our screens on Sept. 22, 1994, and ran for 10 years.
It was based on a group of six 20-somethings living in New York, with the on-off romance between Ross and Rachel being one of the main themes.
Now it seems “Friends” is arguably more popular today than it was during its tenth and final season, with its six stars reportedly earning $20 million (£16.1 million) a year through reruns alone.
Meanwhile, die-hard fans who have been waiting for a “Friends” reunion had better not hold their breath.
Although Jen thought her castmates would be up for reprising their roles, telling Ellen De Generes “Anything could happen,” Lisa – who played Phoebe Buffay – recently dismissed the idea as “sad.”
The 55-year-old star explained: “They’re rebooting everything. I don’t know how that works with ‘Friends,’ though. That was about people in their twenties, thirties. The show isn’t about people in their forties, fifties. And if we have the same problems, that’s just sad.”
And David, 51, has similarly echoed that sentiment in the past that claimed the cast is just too old to play the same characters.
The actor – who had the part of Ross Geller in the sitcom – previously said: “Look, the thing is, I just don’t know if I want to see all of us with crutches [and] walkers.
“I doubt it — I really doubt it. But thank you for asking, and moving on!”
