50m expected to watch sitcom finale

Up to 50 million Americans are set to watch the final episode of Friends tonight, hiking advertising rates to a record high.

Thirty-second slots have been going $2 million, breaking the $1.7 million sitcom record previously held by the Seinfeld swansong. But even at that price, every commercial has long since been sold.

The NBC network is dedicating three hours of its prime-time schedule to the farewell; with an hour-long look at its ten-year history, the final episode itself then an edition of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno featuring all the stars from the Central Perk cafe.

Robert Thompson, head of Syracuse University's Center for the Study of Popular Television, said: "What's really astounding to watch is how NBC and its allied industries have managed to turn this, in essence, into a secular holiday.”

The plot for the final episode has been kept under tight wraps, but in last week’s show, Jennifer Aniston’s character Rachel announced that she was moving to France.

Conventional wisdom has it that the long-standing on-off romance between her and David Schwimmer’s Ross needs to be resolved, and in the penultimate episode she kissed him passionately, telling him he was the “most special person”.

Schwimmer would only say: "I can't divulge where we're going except that it's exactly what I'd hoped for. We all end up with a new beginning and the audience has a sense that it's a new chapter.”

Meanwhile, Joey decides on a new career in Los Angeles after the sudden death of his useless agent Estelle and Monica and Chandler Bing are ready to move to the suburbs with their new baby.

A spin-off show featuring Matt LeBlanc’s character in LA is set to air in the autumn, hoping to retain some of Friends’ average audience of around 20 million viewers a week.

Bars and homes around the country are hosting Friends parties tonight, and around 3,000 people are expected at New York’s Hudson River Park's open-air movie theatre, where the show will be screened for free.

The final episode will be rush-released on DVD in the States next week, along with the unseen pilot and behind-the-scenes footage, providing another money-spinner for makers Warner Bros.

American sitcoms take another blow next week, when Frasier also comes to an end.

Published: 6 May 2004