WATCH: Jennifer Aniston at the Friends reunion "he gave us the opportunity of a lifetime"

The cast of Friends reunite for one night only.

Published 22nd Feb 2016

The long awaited Friends reunion was aired on American TV last night and it was an emotional affair for cast, crew and viewers alike.

The programme, An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows, celebrated the work of director James Burrows who has worked on a whole host of American comedies including the infamous Friends series as well as Cheers, Will & Grace and The Big Bang Theory.

Unfortunately the programme itself won't be aired in the UK, but of course some clips have been made available so here are some of the best bits from the Friends segment.

Five of the original cast took to the stage during the tribute, with Matthew Perry tied up performing in London.

Quizzed by TV host Andy Cohen the cast talked about their favourite episode, their auditions and who had lunch with whom. Lisa Kudrow summed up the early days of filming saying "we really wanted to connect, I mean, I think it was sort of unspoken, but we instinctively felt like we needed to be friends".

As their friendship formed they even started to play poker in James Burrows' dressing room - something which spawned the idea for 'The One with All the Poker'.

WATCH: The cast of Friends talk about how it was in the early days »

Jennifer Aniston even went so far as to say "We would do anything for Jim Burrows because he really gave us the opportunity of a lifetime."

She continued, "We experienced friendship, family, heartbreak, babies, everything, together. And we also had a wonderful experience with the world loving us as well."

In addition to playing the part of Ross Geller, David Schwimmer directed some of the later episodes and host Andy Cohen asked if he had asked James Burrows for directing advice, to which he jokingly responded, "Who Jimmy?!".

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Friends was a hugely popular TV show around the world and ran from 1994 to 2004, taking six barely known actors and propelling them into international stardom. The Instagram post from NBC below shows the cast in their heyday.

WATCH: Clips from An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows »