Reports conflict on end of 'Friends'

LOS ANGELES, California -- Don't plan that goodbye party for the last episode of "Friends" just yet.

Despite reports on Zap2It.com and TV Guide Online that said this is the last season for "Friends," top officials with NBC and Warner Brothers Television -- the show's creator -- say nothing is set in stone.

"No matter what happens, these six people will always be our 'Friends,' and we're grateful for all they've done for the NBC family," said Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment, in a statement released by the network on Wednesday. "We would like the show to continue for as long as the cast wants to do it. Ultimately, it is their decision."

Peter Roth, president of Warner Brothers Television, released a statement that echoed those remarks.

"It is our hope that we will have the entire cast of 'Friends' back for the ninth season," Roth said.

The comments follow two separate reports by Zap2It.com and TV Guide Online, each which used an interview with "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston to insinuate this coming season -- the show's eighth -- would be the final one.

At the end of last season, it was suggested that Aniston's character is pregnant, and that could have a large effect on the direction of this season's show.

On Zap2It.com, Aniston said, "Oh God, it's really heartbreaking for me. Every time I think about it I'm on the verge of tears, I really am ... When this will be over, it will be hard. It's hard for me to think about right now. We have all shared so many crossroads of our lives together, and then we're all going to go our separate ways, it's too hard to think about."

TV Guide Online couched its prediction of the show's end, saying it was "reportedly" the final season.

"If I think about it, it chokes me up to realize that this will be over," Aniston was quoted by TV Guide Online. "It's been a pretty intense eight years for this group of people, experiencing a lot together. It's a major crossroads we're at together in our lives. So it's very, very sad."

"Friends" has already shot three episodes for the upcoming season. It premieres September 20.

Warner Brothers Television is owned by AOL Time Warner, the parent company of CNN.com.