The enduring legacy of Friends is kind of amazing. While there have been plenty of successful sitcoms from the 80s and 90s and 2000s, only Friends has continued on in a way that made it an insanely valuable property for Netflix and will likely make it a valuable property for HBO Max, which will be the show’s new home. It makes sense that the show has remained popular since, despite its retrograde attitudes towards LGTBQ+ people and the overwhelming whiteness of the show, it’s ultimately about being in your 20s and your friends are your family. The humor remains sharp, the show is perfectly cast, and the relationships are relatable.

While some fans have clamored for a reunion of some kind, that kind of move, whether it’s in television or movies, will never happen. Showrunners David Crane, Marta Kauffman, and Kevin S. Bright have always nixed the idea. As recently as last month, Kauffman told Rolling Stone:

“There are several reasons. One, the show is about a time in your life when your friends are your family. It’s not that time anymore. All we’d be doing is putting those six actors back together, but the heart of the show would be gone. Two, I don’t know what good it does us. The show is doing just fine, people love it. [A reunion] could only disappoint. “The One Where Everyone’s Disappointed.”

So the closest we’ll ever get to a reunion is Jennifer Aniston’s Instagram account where Aniston joined up with fellow Friends leads Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Le Blanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer. And it’s oddly comforting to know that they’re still friends in real-life. The cast was notoriously close when they made the show, which makes sense since it not only enhanced their performances, but because they all went on this journey together. They all became famous together and they all became part of television history together.

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Friends famously celebrated its 25th anniversary throughout 2019, and this is kind of a nice cap to it. While I wish someone could get all six actors to sit down together to do a long-form interview or oral history about the show, if all we get is an Instagram photo, that’s nice too. All that's really left to do is argue about which season of the show is the best.