This NBC archived page confirm effectively that the 10th season has only 17 episodes and that the last one was originally a double length episode.

Hello @superboy97 and thanks for the fix. But checking that link there are other similar cases for which NBC aired in one double length episode, here you are the list:

• season 4 : last two episodes, so season composed by 23 episodes.
• season 6: episode 15 and 16 unite into only one as the last two episodes (so the season is composed by 23 episodes).
• season 7, season 8 and season 9: the last two ones united into one, so every season is composed by 23 episodes.

Could you please verify and fix these cases also?

@idro said:

Hello @superboy97 and thanks for the fix. But checking that link there are other similar cases for which NBC aired in one double length episode, here you are the list:

• season 4 : last two episodes, so season composed by 23 episodes.
• season 6: episode 15 and 16 unite into only one as the last two episodes (so the season is composed by 23 episodes).

For the moment, we have found archives from 2002 that present them as double episode. We are still in the process of searching archives from the time of the broadcast.

There are a few others that also need to be checked : the finals of the 4th and 5th seasons as well as, in the middle of the 2nd season "The One After the Superbowl".

• season 7, season 8 and season 9: the last two ones united into one, so every season is composed by 23 episodes.

• This 2001 NBC archived page confirm that the final of the 7th season was one double episode.
• This 2002 NBC archived page confirm that the final of the 8th season was one double episode.
• This 2003 NBC archived page confirm that the final of the 9th season was one double episode.

I will apply the changes later today... Season 7 and above have been fixed.

On the Fandom, they indicate:

• for season 2 : ""The One After The Superbowl" is a double-length episode of the second season of Friends, which aired on January 28, 1996, immediately after NBC's telecast of Super Bowl XXX. In the uncut format, the double episode runs for 43 minutes."
• for season 4 finale : "For many broadcasts (and the DVD release) it's presented as a double-length episode, though sometimes it's aired as two separate parts."
• for season 5 finale : ""The One In Vegas" is the single episode season finale of the fifth season of Friends. Both parts aired as a one episode on May 20, 1999."
• for season 6 finale : ""The One With The Proposal" is the double-length season finale of the sixth season of Friends. Both parts aired on May 18, 2000."

For episodes 15 and 16 of season 6, the Fandom is not so clear and indicate : ""The One That Could Have Been" is a non-canonical, two part episode of the sixth season of Friends. It is a "what if" scenario, of what the Friends group would have looked like if things didn't go exactly as they had. Both parts aired on February 17, 2000."

But, in all of these cases

• the 2002 archived episode guide consider them as one single episode.
• Wikipedia indicates "These episodes originally aired as a single double-length episode but are sometimes split into two episodes for syndication, reruns and DVD presentation."

Taking in account that, for season 2 to 6, we don't have an archive of the episode guide from the time of the broadcast, but only from 2002. I need the advice of a second moderator before eventually merging them.

@superboy97 Since the archive from 2002 is most likely the closest we'll find to "original air date" from the NBC website, I think it would be OK to use it as an official source for the episodes from seasons 2-6.

While we're waiting for superboy97's answer, good to know that I can use the closest infos I can find on the net, if the original source is not available anymore. I can use this rule for some of the old italian TV shows that I usually manage.

All the double episodes have been merged as per the available data.

Note : I have changed the title of this thread to ease future reference.

@idro , you should never add technical informations (duration for example) inside the overview.

The overview should only include a short summary of the plot.

@superboy97 are you and the other moderators 100% sure this is the correct approach ? Using s2x12 (The One After the Super Bowl) as an example, they are two episodes which aired back to back. They both have end credit scenes and both have production codes 457313 & 457314. The same can be true for the other ones which where combined.

Is it now the approach of TMDB to combine back to back episodes which aired immediately after each other ? These friends episodes are single episodes. Just because some fandom site says that in the uncut format, the double episode runs for 43 minutes does not make it a single episode.

I would urge TMDB moderators and team to consider what you are doing here. We want TMDB to be a first in class database. This change does not fall into that category. BTW, I'm not questioning illegitimate episodes which where later split (like Star Trek The Next Generation, Encounter at Farpoint) but these changes to Friends are questionable.

I'm not moderators, but I think that if someone have evidences that in THAT specific airing evening the episodes were aired with its own opening and closing credits you're welcome.

At the beginning of this post I expressed doubt about the serie finale (S10E17-18) because of every source I found was a single episode. In the BD I have in my collection, every the so-called double episode are actually splitted, except the serie finale and maybe the finale of season 9 but I should check.

So no problem if we go back to re-splitted the double episodes if it proves as @dokuro says.

As indicated in our rules (I quote : "We try to mirror how the episodes were first released on the original network's website. When different, the data on the official website usually trumps press releases and TV listing info."), our approach is to list the way they were considered by the broadcaster.

• On this archived page, it was presented as a "SPECIAL TWO-PART EPISODE" which means that it was considered by the broadcaster as a single episode split in 2 parts.
• On this archived page, the final episode of season 4 "The One with Ross's Wedding" is presented as "this special one-hour episode"
• On this archived page as well as this one, the season 6 episode "The One That Could Have Been" appears as a single episode without mention of parts.
• On this archived page as well as this one, the season 6 finale "The One with the Proposal" appears as a single episode without mention of parts.
• On this archived page, the season 7 finale "The One with Chandler and Monica's Wedding" appears as a single episode without mention of parts.
• On this archived page, the season 8 finale "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby" appears as a single episode comprising 2 parts.
• On this archived page, the season 9 finale "The One in Barbados" appears as a single episode comprising 2 parts.
• On this archived page, the series finale "The Last One" appears as a single episode without mention of parts.

The fact that they were produced as 2 episodes and that they are released as 2 separate episodes on some DVD is not a criteria.

The fandom was only a tool during the research. As indicated by @raze464 in his message, our decision is based on the available archives of the NBC website.

So, lets take the following which you linked above ...

• On this archived page, it was presented as a "SPECIAL TWO-PART EPISODE" which means that it was considered by the broadcaster as a single episode split in 2 parts.

The text on that page clearly says the Title of the episode which has Part 1 in and the description says In Part One. Also, right under that episode is the listing for Part 2 -> https://web.archive.org/web/20020804130746/http://www.nbc.com/Friends/episode_guide/37.html. Two distinct episodes one from 9-9:30 and the second from 9:30-10.

I'm not trying to be difficult here and I understand the rules but this change really has me scratching my head. Anyhow, sounds like decision is made so feel free to close this.

@markcurrancavan said:

So, lets take the following which you linked above ...

• On this archived page, it was presented as a "SPECIAL TWO-PART EPISODE" which means that it was considered by the broadcaster as a single episode split in 2 parts.

The text on that page clearly says the Title of the episode which has Part 1 in and the description says In Part One. Also, right under that episode is the listing for Part 2 -> https://web.archive.org/web/20020804130746/http://www.nbc.com/Friends/episode_guide/37.html. Two distinct episodes one from 9-9:30 and the second from 9:30-10.

The text on that page indicate "SPECIAL TWO-PART EPISODE", which mean that its a single episode, even if they present the 2 parts on 2 separate pages.

And if you look at another archive, they have grouped all the data of this episode on one single page.

This newspaper page of the day of the broadcast also list it as "Friends Appropriately subtitled The One After the Super Bowl," this new, hourlong episode of the comedy series boasts big-name guests"

Hi, I'm just stating my opinion here too about the merging of the double episodes. I think it's wrong and the most obvious example of this is in season 2 where the episodes that were merged are not the final episodes of the season but somewhere around the middle which causes a renumbering of all following episodes! For example, episode 2x16, for anyone else, is the episode "The One Where Joey Moves Out". But here, suddenly, it's "The One Where Eddie Moves In"!

This is too arbitrary and highly inconsistent with any other related source out there: imdb, wikipedia, name any. And it has many consequences that may not be so obvious at first glance, but considering that TMDB is used as the reference for many movie/tv series scrapers, changes like these may affect many people.

Double episodes doesn't necessarily mean that they were a single episode. They did have individual start/end credits . The fact that they were originally aired back to back doesn't make them a single episode... Even official DVD releases consider them as two episodes... Please reconsider

As indicated above, the day of its original broadcast, it was presented as an "hour-long episode".

Comparing with other sites is of no use as each site has its own set of rules.