Sorry, “Friends” fans, but it is isn’t your day, your week, your month or even your year. As of January 1, the beloved sitcom is officially off of Netflix. So where can you watch it now?
Unfortunately, the show can’t currently be streamed. You can catch reruns on television for now or consider ordering a box set of DVDs, if you want to live old-school like Rachel, Chandler and the rest of the gang. You can also download episodes for purchase or rent from Amazon or other retailers.
Those are all the options available for now, but the NBC mega-hit will stream again! When HBO Max launches in the spring of 2020, all 236 episodes of “Friends” will be streaming there for at least five years, per an exclusive licensing contract.
It was expected that WarnerMedia, which licensed the Warner Bros TV-produced “Friends” to Netflix for one more year — with a hefty price tag — would eventually pull the popular sitcom for its own service. HBO Max is paying out $425 million for five years beginning in 2020, according to the Wall Street Journal. WarnerMedia did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s earlier request for comment on the price. Netflix paid close to $100 million to keep “Friends” for just one year.
Fans of NBC comedies are also bracing for the loss of “The Office,” which will depart Netflix in January 2021 and stream on their upcoming streaming service, Peacock. They have one year to watch 201 episodes of “The Office” before the staff of Dunder-Mifflin get relocated.