I won’t be there for you: Friends leaves Netflix – and outrages fans

If you have noticed a heightened sense of millennial angst in the air recently, it is likely to be because Friends is leaving Netflix this month. And, reader, the fans have not taken it well.

“Absolutely raging,” one viewer tweeted upon hearing the news. “I’m cancelling my Netflix subscription,” raged another. A third, simultaneously managing to capture the mood of the nation while retaining a healthy sense of perspective, wrote: “FUCK OFF FRIENDS IS LEAVING NETFLIX IN THE UK WHAT THE FUCK WILL I DO TO RELAX WTF THIS HAS BEEN THE SHOW TO GET ME TO SLEEP SINCE I WAS A BABY WHAT DO U MEAN ITS COMING OFF NEFLIX IM SORRY BUT NO.”

Alas, it is true. On 30 December, Friends will leave Netflix, where it has been streaming since 2015. Which shouldn’t really be a surprise, because shows have a habit of bouncing around the streaming services. I remember trying to rewatch Mad Men a few years ago, a pursuit which ended up as a game of prestige Whack-a-Mole as it flicked from Sky to Netflix to goodness knows where. It’s just a part of the modern landscape.

However, the fact that Friends, of all shows, has been the one to tip people over the edge says a lot about television in 2025. For one thing, Friends is absolutely deathless. The finale aired 21 years ago, and yet despite everything – changing tastes, fresher writing, increased choice – it is still such a go-to that the Independent recently called it “Netflix’s most rewatched series”.

Uproar … Courteney Cox (left) and Jennifer Aniston in Friends. Photograph: Netflix

This, of course, means that it is highly valuable. In 2018, Netflix had to renegotiate to keep Friends in its global lineup, and had to shell out $80m-$100m to do so. This was for a one-year deal. In fairness, this still represented a good deal for all involved; even at the higher end, that sum was less than 1% of Netflix’s revenue in 2018, and Friends ended up becoming the most-watched show on any streaming service in the UK that year.

But now we live in an era of streaming wars, with multiple platforms fighting tooth and claw for every subscriber they can get. And this is why Friends is really leaving Netflix. Friends is a Warner Bros show. Warner Bros is about to launch HBO Max in the UK for the first time. Arguably no show in existence will be able to pull in subscribers like Friends. It makes perfect business sense, then, for HBO Max to claim Friends as its own.

Aside from this, the uproar also provides a little insight into how people actually watch television. You’ll notice that very few fans are upset because Friends is a good show; instead, they’re broken-hearted because their routine has been disrupted. To them, Friends is a comforting piece of background noise they can put on while they do other things. Spend any time on X and you’ll see people talk about watching Friends while they eat, or study, or do jobs around the house. It’s a show people use to manage their ADHD. It’s a sleep aid.

And this makes a lot of sense, because one of the most startling things about Friends has always been its efficiency. This wasn’t a show that ever took risks or played with the form. It’s a show where six attractive people machine-gun gags with a very specific cadence for 20-plus minutes. The studio audience laughs. Every few minutes there’s a blast of interstitial music. There’s a pattern to it, a comforting rhythm that you can set your body clock to.