THE ONE WHERE THEY LEAVE 'FRIENDS' CAST TALKS ABOUT FINAL EPISODE.

Byline: David Kronke Television Writer

BURBANK - As the end draws near for the longtime No. 1 TV sitcom, the six stars who became America's best ``Friends'' are getting emotional about their impending breakup.

``It's a deeper loss than I was expecting,'' said Lisa Kudrow, the Taft High graduate who has won Emmys playing ditzy aspiring folk singer Phoebe Buffay.

``It was a great support group,'' said Matthew Perry, who plays the sardonic, button-down Chandler Bing. ``We got to make America laugh, and what better thing is there than that?''

``We're like very delicate china, and we're speeding toward a brick wall - that sounds fun, huh?'' said Jennifer Aniston, who has played Rachel Green for 10 seasons.

No doubt many fans are feeling much the same way. Errant but hopeful rumors of a reunion show have already popped up. ``A reunion?'' Sherman Oaks-born Aniston asked incredulously. ``We haven't even left yet!''

But leave they will, in May, with a one-hour final episode.

With that episode taping in two weeks, the cast and crew of ``Friends'' met with TV critics on the show's set on the Warner Bros. lot Tuesday night and shared their feelings about their farewell.

Obviously, no one was revealing how the show would end, but David Schwimmer, who plays the lovelorn, sad-sack Ross Gellar, said, ``It's exactly what I hoped for. You end up with a sense of a new beginning, and it has a sense of a new chapter in all of our lives - and it's good for the audience, as well.''

The countdown to the end will begin on the Feb. 19 episode, when Phoebe gets married. Six weeks of reruns, touted as America's favorite ``Friends'' episodes, will follow, leading up to the series-ending finale May 6. An hourlong retrospective will precede the concluding episode.

``Friends'' will depart as the No. 1 sitcom for its record sixth consecutive season, beating both ``All in the Family'' and ``The Cosby Show,'' both of which reigned for five.

``The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows'' describes ``Friends'' (which once had a working title of ``Insomnia Cafe'') as an ``easygoing, unremarkable series about six bright, good-looking 20-somethings in New York City simply hanging out and having a good time.' History will, no doubt, declare it to be a little more than that.

``You all know how important this show is,'' declared Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment, on Tuesday as he sat with cast and crew in director's chairs before the set of Monica's ever-tidy apartment.

``There is nothing that will replace 'Friends.' This is a very exciting but very sad time to say goodbye.''

David Wild, author of ``Friends: The Official Companion'' as well as an upcoming volume summing up the series' entire run since the fall of 1993, said the show was unique.

``The most significant thing about the show is its connection with its audience, which is oddly, irrationally emotional. For a sitcom, people have a very emotional connection with the show. People related who had no right relating - people of different ages, different backgrounds, different colors.''

Matt LeBlanc, who will return next season in a spinoff series, ``Joey,'' said the current moment ``feels bittersweet. I'm looking around and thinking we took for granted how much time we get to spend with each other. In the future, we'll have to make appointments with one another.''

``Friends'' was one of the few blockbuster series in which nary a discouraging word emanated from the set. Cast members negotiated new contracts as a unit, rather than in a testily competitive fashion. Each star was making $1 million an episode. That chemistry was easily apparent on the screen and accounted for much of the show's success.

``This must be what it's like to get divorced from someone you still love,'' offered co-creator Marta Kauffman.

``There's a certain amount of magic that's inexplicable. They and the writers, something just clicked. I don't know if there's a formula or explanation, really. We just got lucky. Lots of shows that have good writing and great casts are still not successful - it was just a force of luck or magic.''

Added Aniston: ``It's one thing to become the success that 'Friends' became, but it's another to maintain it. The writers didn't sit back and get lazy. They didn't say, 'Ahh, we're the No. 1 show.' They worked hard to make sure every scene worked.''

But putting together the final episode was no easy task for the writers.

``Psychologically, we don't want it to be over,'' Kauffman said. ``We went days where we couldn't write the final scene. Not one word.''

Ultimately, co-creator David Crane said, that scene was never written and the one before it served as the series' conclusion. Some scenes, but not the final scenes, will be shot before a studio audience; the end will be taped only before ``essential personnel.''

Perry jokes - or does he offer false hope? - when he says the final episode ``is mostly a setup for the reunion show.''

David Kronke, [phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) The cast of ``Friends'' early in the series run: Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox Arquette, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston.