The 10th series of Friends will be its last

Producer Marta Kaufman expected the final episode to be poignant but hoped it would be "satisfying" for viewers.

Matt LeBlanc, who plays Joey, said it was "weird" to get excited about his future without "closure" on Friends.

Once Friends ends, LeBlanc will have his own sitcom based on the character of Joey, the loveable soap actor.

LeBlanc joined co-stars Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry at an event in Beverly Hills to honour the show's producers.

Le Blanc (top left) will play Joey again in a spin-off series

Kudrow, who plays kooky masseuse Phoebe, voiced her support for the producers' storylines in the final season.

"Well I'm not asking for too much input because I trust them and I know that we all want all the characters to be happy hopefully..." she said.

Also paying tribute were Kiefer Sutherland, star of "real-time" TV drama 24, and Frasier actor David Hyde Pierce.

Sutherland said: "What they've accomplished as a sitcom or a situation comedy is a really phenomenal feat."

Le Blanc, Kudrow and Perry star alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Schwimmer in the Emmy-winning comedy about six close-knit young friends living in New York City.

The show has been the number one US TV comedy among adults aged 18-49 for five years in a row.

Since its debut season in 1994, it has received 55 Emmy nominations, including six for outstanding comedy series, which the show won this year.