'Friends' cast prepares final episode of NBC sitcom

BURBANK - The creators of "Friends" relied on some of television's best finales to guide them in crafting the final episode of television's most popular sitcom. In the midst of rehearsing for the last episode of the NBC comedy, the producers and series stars paused Tuesday to talk about what the show has meant to them and how it will end after 10 years. Series creator Marta Kauffman told reporters that she watched episodes of "The Larry Sanders Show," "Newhart" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" - the latter of which she called "the gold standard" - before joining with fellow executive producers David Crane and Kevin Bright to write the last episode. They declined to reveal details of the one-hour finale, which is likely to air in May, and said they were taking precautions to keep it secret. The air date has not yet been announced. On the show's set at Warner Bros.' Burbank lot, the series' cast said the final days of filming are bittersweet. "We're like china," said Jennifer Aniston, who plays Rachel. "We're like very delicate china right now and we're speeding toward a brick wall of inevitable pain." David Schwimmer, who plays Rachel's on-and-off beau, Ross, said all the characters' stories are ending as the cast had hoped. "We all end up with a sense of a new beginning and the audience has a sense or a feeling that it's a new chapter and a positive step for all of our lives," Schwimmer said. Schwimmer said he and his fellow cast members would be glad to help support co-star Matt LeBlanc, whose character, Joey Tribbiani, is being spun off into a new NBC series, "Joey," next fall. But the stars shot down rumors that a reunion movie was already in the works - but not without joking that they'd accept $4 million apiece for the honor. The cast members each earn $1 million per episode. "A reunion?" Aniston said. "We haven't even left yet."