MAYBE it's cheating to review a TV programme that's been repeated so many times most of us know the script off by heart.

But I don't care I still love Friends, even though I can pre-empt the punchlines to practically all of Chandler's one-liners, Monica's obsessive rants and Joey'dumb-isms.

Last night was one a good 'un The One With Rachel's Sister.

Rachel's spoilt sister played by Reese Witherspoon turns up on the doorstep of Monica's open house after being cut off by daddy.

I love it when a big celeb does a turn on friends. It's like saying "see, it must be good, even film stars want to be in it".

Mind you, the more you re-watch episodes, the more you realise it's a million miles away from reality.

Here's some questions that struck me last night: l Why don't they have any other friends?

l Why do none of them ever seem to work in the day?

l How come there's never anyone else sitting on "their" seats in Central Perk a coffee house next to Central Park, one of the world's busiest tourist destinations?

l Why do they never laugh at their own jokes? What group of friends do you know that deliver razor-sharp one-liners remaining straight-faced at all times?

But I'm just being picky and who wants reality after a hard week at the grindstone?

Friends really is like an old friend a TV equivalent of a comfort blanket.

Long live Friends.