A small grey box appeared on the screen, asking for an email address. For Netflix users in the United States, the prompt that began rolling out in mid-June was unobtrusive but consequential. The company confirmed that the change is permanent and will extend to other countries: from now on, every profile within a household account—except those for children—must be linked to a distinct email, which will receive a verification code for access. Italian press noted that the move is designed to make account sharing more difficult, building on the “extra member” fee introduced after the platform’s earlier crackdown on password sharing.

The same week, a different kind of notification lit up phones across Latin America and beyond. All 10 seasons of “Friends” were back on the platform. The sitcom, which originally aired from 1994 to 2004, had been absent from Netflix in many territories, and its return was announced through official channels with a message that framed it as an opportunity for new viewers to discover the series and for longtime fans to revisit their favourite episodes. Spanish-language media reported an immediate wave of social media posts celebrating the return of a show widely described by its audience as a television classic.

The juxtaposition of these two moves—one tightening the mechanics of account access, the other delivering a series that audiences have long embraced as a comfort watch—captures a broader tension in the streaming landscape. “Friends” has become a textbook example of what viewers now call a “comfort series”: a show rewatched not for plot but for the sense of familiarity and well-being it provides. Its six characters, their Manhattan apartment and the Central Perk coffee house have remained cultural touchstones for more than two decades, sustained by memes, syndication and a steady migration across platforms. At the same time, Netflix has been methodically dismantling the era of casual password sharing, a shift that now reaches into the individual profile with a verification step that, according to the company, is already definitive in the United States.

The return of “Friends” was not the only addition to the catalogue. Netflix also premiered “Verano del 36”, a six-episode Spanish period thriller set during a 1936 country-house murder that, according to its promotional material, channels the spirit of Agatha Christie. Another new arrival, the Harlan Coben adaptation “Te encontraré”, starring Sam Worthington, joined a slate that includes the animated feature “The Wild Robot” and the first live-action adaptation of “The Tick” from 2001. Yet it was the familiar orange couch that dominated conversation. For many subscribers, the new email rule meant that before they could sink into the fictional world where a group of friends never locked the door, they first had to check their inbox for a code.