Both David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow had to be cajoled into returning for the last seasons of “Friends.” Nothing in their more adventurous work since the show ended — Kudrow on the dizzyingly self-referential chronicle of stardom lost and desperately sought, “The Comeback,” and Schwimmer in theater and in smaller roles like that of Robert Kardashian in “The People v. O.J. Simpson” — suggests they would want to revisit their most famous roles. Matt LeBlanc has already seen how a surefire hit can go sour with the short-lived “Friends” spinoff “Joey,” and had far more success mocking his own fame on the Showtime series “Episodes,” cocreated by Crane. Matthew Perry has worked steadily in television since “Friends,” and was noticeably absent from a 2016 tribute to the “Friends” director James Burrows attended by the rest of the cast. And Jennifer Aniston is already committed to a splashy new series on Apple TV Plus, “The Morning Show.”

(Previous reports have placed great emphasis on pronouncements by Aniston that she would be open to a “Friends” reunion, but these should likely be read as loose statements of enthusiasm, rather than declarations of intent. “I think it’s casual talk-show stuff,” Bright said.)

“People have to accept that creative people do want to do other things,” Bright said. “At a certain point, going backward, they didn’t want to do the show anymore.”

When Were You Under Me?

Couldn’t the “Friends” creators just find a new batch of six charming 20-somethings to have New York adventures in improbably large apartments? Technically, sure. But “the only thing that I think would motivate anyone to do that is greed, and that’s not a good enough reason,” Crane said.

Besides, “Friends” is still minting money as a streaming hit. Netflix doesn’t generally release streaming figures, but the show is so popular the service paid $100 million to keep it through 2019. (Next year “Friends” moves to WarnerMedia’s HBO Max platform.) So where another show’s producers might be tempted to return as a way to cash in, the ongoing streaming success of the original “Friends” makes the creators far less likely to come back solely for a payday.

“It’s like winning the lottery and then buying more tickets,” Crane said. “Why? You won!”

We Were [Never] on a Break

Ultimately, many “Friends” veterans are leery of doing anything that might damage the show’s legacy.