Friends almost ended a year earlier…and in a totally different way

Wait, what?!

When Friends ended, it seemed like everything was tied up in a nice, heart-warming bow. Monica and Chandler got their twins. Rachel got off the plane (with some assistance from Phoebe and the phalange) to reunite with Ross. Joey got a new chick and duck.   But it turns out The Last One almost didn't end up happening - and Friends nearly ended in an entirely different way. Series executive producer/director Kevin S Bright told Digital Spy that the ninth season of Friends was originally meant to be the last. But since the possibility of a season 10 was still on the table, the writers were "basically frozen" - and, therefore, weren't able to create a proper ending for Friends.  He explained:

"We started out on season 9 thinking that that would be the last season.

"We were prepared to end the series in season 9. But at the last minute, things fortunately happened, and there was a season 10.

"In season 9, basically, we were frozen. We didn't know what to do, because we didn't know how it was going to turn out.

"So no, there wasn't another version of the ending of season 9."

The ending of season nine (which was, again, a two-parter) saw the Central Perk gang take a trip to Barbados - and ended with Joey and Rachel finally sharing a kiss. Which meant that fans would have missed out on a lot.  There would have been no wedding for Phoebe and Mike; Ross and Rachel wouldn't have gotten back together, and fans wouldn't have seen Monica and Chandler become parents. Even worse, though, we wouldn't have gotten the one last scene in Monica/Rachel/Joey/Chandler's apartment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9snbUbbMqbg