Friends - General Discussion

[Hiyo]

They don’t need to have people like Lady Gaga and BTS there, the cast is the reason why tons of people will tune in anyway.

[ifionlyknew]

This is so becoming not what I thought it would be.  It is supposed to what, an hr long special?  So how much time exactly will be spent on actually hearing the actors talk?

[Nellise]

4 hours ago, ifionlyknew said:

This is so becoming not what I thought it would be.  It is supposed to what, an hr long special?  So how much time exactly will be spent on actually hearing the actors talk?

From the EW article: "In addition to the series main cast members Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schimmer, Friends: The Reunion will feature guest appearances by BTS, Lady Gaga, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin, Mindy Kaling, Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon, and Malala Yousafzai."

Some of the people I understand being in this list since they actually appeared on the show, but most of these people had nothing to do with it. I don't need to hear James Corden's opinion of the show or whatever he's doing here.

[Hiyo]

BTS, Lady Gaga, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Kit Harington, Mindy Kaling, and Malala Yousafzai are all much pretty much pointless. And unnecessary. 

[mojoween]

I mean, I’m generally not going to quibble about more David Beckham in my life, but not on Friends.

[Ms Blue Jay]

HBO's spending (tens? Hundreds?) of millions on this, so I assume they want to make it worth their buck in new subscriptions.

I have to say, with all the criticism (by Oprah, etc.) for very rarely having Black people on the show, not one of these guest stars (that had nothing to do with the original show) are Black.  They could have easily asked Gabrielle Union or Aisha Tyler, who had a multi episode arc. instead of Cindy Crawford or Kit freaking Harrington.

I'm only making fun of myself here, because she is very much of my time, but the youth have no idea who Cindy Crawford is.  They MIGHT know her daughter.  So that doesn't bring younger eyes to the show.  And do the youth really like James Corden?   

Edited May 14, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Nellise]

9 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I'm only making fun of myself here, because she is very much of my time, but the youth have no idea who Cindy Crawford is.  They MIGHT know her daughter.  So that doesn't bring younger eyes to the show.  

I had to check if she was ever on the show because she's even more random than the others in the list. Maybe someone confused her and Elle Macpherson when thinking of 90s supermodels and invited the wrong one?

[Irlandesa]

Yep.  It's going to be an hour and it'll probably be 30 minutes of people no one cares about in relation to Friends talking about what Friends meant to them.

And it will make it not only the most expensive reunion of the pandemic but the least interesting/most pointless.

Edited May 14, 2021 by Irlandesa

[Ms Blue Jay]

34 minutes ago, Nellise said:

I had to check if she was ever on the show because she's even more random than the others in the list. Maybe someone confused her and Elle Macpherson when thinking of 90s supermodels and invited the wrong one?

Jill Goodacre was also on the show!  Also Isabella Rosselini..... and soo many other people they could have asked besides Cindy.  Nothing against her!  It's just weird.....

Edited May 14, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[ifionlyknew]

13 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Jill Goodacre was also on the show!  Also Isabella Rosselini..... and soo many other people they could have asked besides Cindy.  Nothing against her!  It's just weird.....

They could have asked Yamine Bleeth since she was Joey and Chandler's crush. Didn't they name the duck or the chick after her?

[Ms Blue Jay]

7 minutes ago, ifionlyknew said:

They could have asked Yamine Bleeth since she was Joey and Chandler's crush. Didn't they name the duck or the chick after her?

I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if Chandler's obsession with Yasmine helped her become even more famous.  I've never heard her speak on it.

Man, Matt Perry has really had a life:

Quote

Yasmine Bleeth (1996)

After his public breakup with Roberts, Perry almost immediately began publicly dating actress Yasmine Bleeth. She was known primarily for her role on Baywatch in the 90s. As of now, she's retired completely from acting. Their relationship only lasted a few months.

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[ifionlyknew]

10 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if Chandler's obsession with Yasmine helped her become even more famous.  I've never heard her speak on it.

Now see that would would be a great part of the reunion. If we could hear about things like that.

And why only one of Rachel's sisters?  Where is Christina Applegate?

Edited May 14, 2021 by ifionlyknew

[Bort]

Yasmine Bleeth’s retirement was predicated by a pretty massive drug problem, I remember seeing a really unflattering mug shot of her one time when she was arrested. I don’t think she’d have been an ideal guest speaker.

[Nellise]

23 minutes ago, ifionlyknew said:

And why only one of Rachel's sisters?  Where is Christina Applegate?

It's probably for the petty reason that Reese was involved with a recent HBO show  and Christina's current show is on Netflix.

[LexieLily]

2 hours ago, Nellise said:

From the EW article: "In addition to the series main cast members Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schimmer, Friends: The Reunion will feature guest appearances by BTS, Lady Gaga, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin, Mindy Kaling, Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon, and Malala Yousafzai."

Jack and Judy Geller, Richard, Gunther and Janice make sense. They were all multi-episode recurring characters. Even Jill Green makes a certain type of sense, though I'm not sure why they chose her aside from the fact that she is Reese Witherspoon.

The other people? Justin Bieber and Cara Delevingne weren't even born when Friends premiered, for heaven's sake.

Edited May 14, 2021 by LexieLily

[Kawaiiko]

8 hours ago, ifionlyknew said:

So how much time exactly will be spent on actually hearing the actors talk?

I feel like the higher-ups are just doing it for the money now after reading all the people that are going to be appearing.

[Guest]

Weren't Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon on some sort of show together recently? About a tv news program? That might be another reason why she is getting a spot over some others. 

[supposebly]

I really don't know what this is all for. The actors talking? A lot of other people who have nothing to do with the show? If anything, an actual episode about the characters,  I get. This? Not at all.

[WendyCR72]

2 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Weren't Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon on some sort of show together recently? About a tv news program? That might be another reason why she is getting a spot over some others. 

Yes. I believe it's called The Morning Show and is/was on Apple TV.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Yeah, "The Morning Show" season 2 is coming out as well.  It's a good show. I would recommend it.  Jennifer is really different there than how she was as Rachel.  Great acting.

21 hours ago, supposebly said:

I really don't know what this is all for. The actors talking? A lot of other people who have nothing to do with the show? If anything, an actual episode about the characters,  I get. This? Not at all.

I think when everyone heard about the reunion everyone was so excited that it would be a "new episode" in character, but then news quickly came out that I don't think that was ever in the plans.  It was just always going to be the actors as themselves "with some surprises".  Now that I think we know what the surprises are, LOL, it's a little less exciting......

Is it only going to be an hour long?  I hope it's more......... If it's 30 minutes I will laugh and cry......

[Mr. Meatball Man]

I know we literally haven't seen anything from the special, but I'm worried that HBO has turned this into a spectacle. I get it. It’s Friends, one of the most popular sitcoms in the last thirty years. A reunion, revival, reboot, whatever it is they do will have everybody's attention and generate money. That's why the cast members are getting paid more for less than an hour of talking than they were for an entire season's worth of episodes. 

But when I hear the cast and crew talk about Friends, I get this sense that they didn't buy into the superstar image the show gave them. At least I don't think so. The creators have refused to do a reboot because they don't want to tarnish the legacy of the original show. The cast doesn't want to do it, either. Who knows how much money they left on the table by doing that? From what I hear, the writers just set out to tell stories. They wanted something pure and realistic. When the show blew up initially and started becoming bigger than they hoped for, the crew pulled back from all the promotion because they knew where things were headed. The cast was becoming overexposed and they didn't like it. 

What I'm saying is, if you hear it from the people involved, the show didn't need gimmicks to become popular. Just needed some good writing and acting. Having all these celebrities show up misses the point. It's a marketing gimmick. Take a look at the Fresh Prince reunion. Very pure, intimate, only people involved in any way were the cast members themselves. They probably weren't paid anywhere near as much as the Friends cast, if at all, but it didn't matter. If you're going to do a reunion, that's the blueprint to follow. The only people that reunion was meant to please were fans of the show, and they delivered. 

Now, look at this in comparison. It feels like a corporate stunt. I'm going to watch the reunion, but considering how polarizing the show has gotten in the last couple years, and how much it feels like they're manipulating you to tune in when they don't need to, it doesn't get my hopes up at all.

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Meatball Man said:

Take a look at the Fresh Prince reunion. Very pure, intimate, only people involved in any way were the cast members themselves. They probably weren't paid anywhere near as much as the Friends cast, if at all, but it didn't matter. If you're going to do a reunion, that's the blueprint to follow. The only people that reunion was meant to please were fans of the show, and they delivered. 

The Fresh Prince reunion was absolutely wonderful.  Anything I could hope for.  It was very real, emotional, I laughed, I cried, etc.  It was great.  No celebrity guests stars, either.  (If I recall correctly.)

3 minutes ago, Mr. Meatball Man said:

Now, look at this in comparison. It feels like a corporate stunt. I'm going to watch the reunion, but considering how polarizing the show has gotten in the last couple years, and how much it feels like they're manipulating you to tune in when they don't need to, it doesn't get my hopes up at all.

Exactly!  They don't need to!  I actually hate hearing ANYTHING about it before it airs.  I just want to watch it. I don't need to hear all the leaks and the buildup and see the photos, it's ridiculous.  Anyone who wants to watch it will watch it.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Monica's "Old or new? Old or new?" when she's freaking out about Richard's voicemail in "The One Where No One's Ready" is a line that my brother and I say to each other all the time.

I'm always putting the clean dishes from my dishwasher away, but sometimes I'll forget 1 lone utensil.  I just found one when I was adding the dirty dishes and I was like "old or new?  OLD OR NEW?"  I washed it again to be safe......

 

Edited May 16, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[mojoween]

While I have to say I am still not on board with the cavalcade of planned guest stars for the reunion, I have to admit that the teaser I saw today of the six Friends walking  away from the camera that you could tell was new because of Matt’s hair did give me chills.

[Danny Franks]

On 5/15/2021 at 9:06 PM, Mr. Meatball Man said:

Take a look at the Fresh Prince reunion. Very pure, intimate, only people involved in any way were the cast members themselves. They probably weren't paid anywhere near as much as the Friends cast, if at all, but it didn't matter. If you're going to do a reunion, that's the blueprint to follow. The only people that reunion was meant to please were fans of the show, and they delivered. 

Now, look at this in comparison. It feels like a corporate stunt. I'm going to watch the reunion, but considering how polarizing the show has gotten in the last couple years, and how much it feels like they're manipulating you to tune in when they don't need to, it doesn't get my hopes up at all.

Yeah, for a Friends reunion to feel like something I want to watch, it would need to be an intimate, in-depth chat with the original cast, charting the span of the show. Have appearances from significant or beloved guest stars, by all means - Paul Rudd, Tom Selleck, Maggie Wheeler, James Michael Tyler, Elliott Gould etc - but focus on the actors who brought these beloved characters to life. And even then, I'm not sure what value it has.

I do not need to hear the opinions of a cavalcade of celebrities and their empty platitudes about the show's success. Do I care what David Beckham thinks about the show? I barely care what he thinks about football. Same goes for Bieber, Lady Gaga and whatever other pop singers and professional opinion-givers have to say.

This is why I was very dubious about the need for a reunion show, although it was easy to get caught up in the nostalgia. What is there left to say? We know so much about how the show was cast, how it developed, the journeys of the cast members and of the characters. Is there much new that anyone can add? Even the principal cast themselves?

I don't really know what format would work. Certainly not a scripted reunion show, because that would just be an exercise in accepting middle age.

One thing is certain, I don't think any of it will be as fun as the affectionate mocking of the show, and the partial reunion, that Episodes gave us - Matt trying to get his old castmates to participate in things, only to be turned down by all (except Gunther) because he's an arsehole. Then he and David bumped into one another at the party of a former-Soviet state dictator that they were paid to attend.

Edited May 17, 2021 by Danny Franks

[WendyCR72]

Well, Matthew Perry has gone on record in the past stating he does not remember chunks of the show because of his addiction issues, so it does make me wonder what he will be able to realistically contribute, though it will be nice seeing him and everyone else.

[Ms Blue Jay]

It was still 10 years of his life.  I'm sure he'll be fine.

[supposebly]

That might be true but he's remembering just fine here.

M. Perry on Graham Norton doing Friends trivia.

[helenamonster]

I too am bummed that this is turning more into some kind of spectacle than a meaningful reunion. The show itself still has major cultural cache (the cast probably makes more in residual checks 17 years later than I will ever make in my life), I think that would be enough for people to tune in. If anything, I think the inclusion of irrelevant celebs (many of whom I like!) will turn people away.

[BetterButter]

 

[mojoween]

Ok how many of us watched the trailer and yelled out “18 pages!  Front and back!”

[Kawaiiko]

30 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Ok how many of us watched the trailer and yelled out “18 pages!  Front and back!”

*proceeds to raise hand*

Damn if that trailer wasn't heartwarming.

[Mr. Meatball Man]

That trailer actually gives me hope that the reunion will be worth watching. As long as they rely more on the cast themselves (like making references to classic episodes and reading the script for TOW Everyone Finds Out) and less on the gimmicks, it will be okay.

It does still feel like a spectacle in parts, with the audience and the costume fashion show or whatever it looks like. 

[ifionlyknew]

13 hours ago, Mr. Meatball Man said:

It does still feel like a spectacle in parts, with the audience and the costume fashion show or whatever it looks like. 

I could live with that if they didn't have people like Justin Bieber and Cara Delevingne as part of it.  Just who is HBO trying to appeal to?  Do they really think fans of Bieber will subscribe to HBO MAX just to see him on this special?

The clips of the cast talking about the show makes me really want to see that but the rest of it I'm probably going to roll my eyes at.

[Lady Whistleup]

18 Pages Front and Back will never not be funny. 

I worry about Matthew Perry after watching the previews. He looks really rough :( 

[Katy M]

So, Yemen came up on another board and that got me thinking about Chandler's trip.  Yemen seems like it's exactly halfway around the world from NYC, so I legit don't know if you would fly over Europe, or if you would go the other way.  I flew to China from JFK and we stopped in Vancouver.  

So, do they have nonstop flights to Yemen, or would Chandler have been able to bail at some point?  If they flew west, I would imagine the plane would have stopped in Vancouver or LA.  If they flew east, maybe London or Paris?  

If it was nonstop, he would have had a problem because you need a visa to get into Yemen, which means they wouldn't have let him on board in the first place unless he was so committed he got the paperwork ahead of time. Consdiering that he had no plan to actually buy the ticket or get on the plane, I doubt that was the case.

[Bort]

Until 2010, Yemen had a visa on arrival policy for 50 nations (according to Wikipedia). I don’t know if the US was one of them but it’s possible.

[Hiyo]

At that point in the 90s most flights from to and from the Middle East in a Middle Eastern airline would have had a stop-over in Europe. Even today when its a direct flight you fly over Europe. 

The US was one of the countries that lost it’s visa-on-arrival status in 2010.

Edited May 20, 2021 by Hiyo

[Katy M]

48 minutes ago, Hiyo said:

At that point in the 90s most flights from to and from the Middle East in a Middle Eastern airline would have had a stop-over in Europe. Even today when its a direct flight you fly over Europe. 

The US was one of the countries that lost it’s visa-on-arrival status in 2010.

Well, I hope he took a long weekend in Paris or something.  

[Hiyo]

Well, most likely through London, since the UK probably has the most Yemenis living in it in any European country.

Then again, real life logic never always applied to the Friends world...

[Ms Blue Jay]

4 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

18 Pages Front and Back will never not be funny. 

I worry about Matthew Perry after watching the previews. He looks really rough :( 

Way too many facelifts or something.  His father is such a handsome looking older man.  Matthew should have left well enough alone, he has great genes!

[SunnyBeBe]

10 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

18 Pages Front and Back will never not be funny. 

I worry about Matthew Perry after watching the previews. He looks really rough :( 

I’ve been reading comments online regarding Matthew looking......unusual lately.  As it turns out, this has been going on for years. The link below is from last year.  At the time they thought he had covid, but there are similar photos from previous years too, before covid.

 

https://mtonews.com/friends-star-matthew-perry-feared-to-have-coronavirus-shocking-pics

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Matt looked like this before COVID, this was November 2019, and this was certainly different

 

[princelina]

1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Matt looked like this before COVID, this was November 2019, and this was certainly different

 

That just looks like 2 cases of Major Plastic Surgery Face to me 😄

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, princelina said:

That just looks like 2 cases of Major Plastic Surgery Face to me 😄

Yup

[Egg McMuffin]

I get why the women have the work done. Hollywood isn’t kind to women over 50. If you get plastic surgery, you’re criticized, and if you don’t and look older, you’re criticized. I don’t get why Matt Perry would have work done. He certainly seems quiet and sad during the trailer. I wonder if this special is really something he wanted to do.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Apparently he makes a comment on the reunion that he regretted stopping the show when he did.  I saw that floating around. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[Hiyo]

Maybe he is trying to cover up all the damage to his face that all of the drinking and drugs did?

I will say, Matt L, Lisa, and David all aged rather well, without looking like they had tons of work done.

Edited May 22, 2021 by Hiyo

[helenamonster]

I think Lisa looks great. She's noticeably aged but she wears it well. And she still has amazing hair.

Even when Phoebe got on my nerves in later seasons, I always had a soft spot for Lisa. Mostly because we have the same birthday, but there's just something very warm and sweet about her. And as I've mentioned before, she has the best laugh.

[supposebly]

Stupid question perhaps but does HBO want me to subscribe for this? Because despite all my nostalgia, that's not worth it for me.