Friends - General Discussion

[Lady Whistleup]

I also read a reddit AMA some years back with a Friends crew member (can't find it) which said that Lisa and Matt were the kindest and warmest. Not really a surprise -- I've always heard great things about Lisa Kudrow as a person.

Oh, I read this on another site about Perry. No reason not to believe it:

Spoiler

Addiction is extracting a terrible price: He has had major surgery on his intestines and rectum. This was the second set of new teeth. He makes calls in the middle of the night to send large checks to different people then has no memory of it. The producers of Friends wanted to proceed without him but the cast wouldn’t hear of it. The reunion was delayed for Perry who went to rehab in Sweden. Two days before filming began he relapsed but he made it to set. His publicist released info about the dental surgery which was truthful—but not the whole truth. 

 

[mtlchick]

3 hours ago, himela said:

I'm in the minority but I didn't like the reunion, I laughed at times but the idea that they just did this for so much money in times of covid-19 when money could be used for more important purposes did not let me just enjoy it. Added to this is the fact that the show had many things that today would not be accepted like huge homophobia, body shaming, ridiculing gay people, stereotypes etc. I didn't like that some of them said they haven't even watched all episodes while a normal fan like me has watched all of them at least 5 times.

 

A few things about this.  (And please note this is not a criticism towards you.)

1) If they are getting paid 2.5 million to simply reunite and talk about their past...they have earned it.  Friends was a HUGE show for Netflix.  And when Netflix announced in late 2018 that it was going to leave, the uproar from people who were upset about the move and Netflix paid $100 million for a YEAR.  Not to mention there was an auction through Omaze to be in the audience which I believe was for COVID relief.  Their salary had nothing do with "in times of Covid" especially when this deal was done before the pandemic.

This special was supposed to be the jewel in the HBO Max launch.  I think with this delay, the numbers will turn out to be more impressive and valuable than when was originally supposed to air.  If HBO Max seems a MAJOR spike in subscription rates, paying them roughly $15 million total will be more than worth it. 

2) I think everyone knows that a lot of the jokes about gays, Fat Monica and other things that were "ok and passable" in the mid 90s along with the lack of diversity would not fly in today's standards and practices.  Lisa, David and the creators have acknowledged it.   And this applies to a lot of shows from that era.  Did they age well?  Of course not.  Should we pretend it never existed? No.  

3) there are a lot of actors that never watch their work.  They already lived through it.  But at least a few are now revisiting it with their families especially their kids.  

 

 

===

 

Good interview with the creators.  https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/friends-reunion-cast-reveals-creators-interview-1234959624/

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, helenamonster said:

There was something very sweet about David and Jen revealing they had a thing for each other. Neither seems to have any regret about it not working out, and it is amazing that it wasn't picked up by the media at the time. Could you imagine, amidst the Ross and Rachel mania, that we would have also had to deal with David and Jen mania? A big no thanks.

As far as I know, they are both single now 😉

[Cementhead]

Courteney Cox's plastic surgery just makes me so sad because her authentic face was beautiful and she would have continued to be beautiful as she aged.  I know she has addressed her regrets with fillers and Botox but her biggest mistake was and still is that horrible chin implant.  It has made the most drastic, negative difference to her appearance and it is all that I see every time I look at her face. 

 

[Hiyo]

“I also read a reddit AMA some years back with a Friends crew member (can't find it) which said that Lisa and Matt were the kindest and warmest.”

I believe it was Helen Baxendale. Someone posted the link to that article upthread.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Courteney always had such a wonderful face.  Her shocking blue eyes and black hair were always so gorgeous.  She started this stuff back in Season 10 in my opinion (or maybe earlier, it's been a while).  I was so shocked by her new face and it was really awkward that the writers would have her make jokes about OTHER people's "botched Botox jobs."

In Season 10 you can tell by her eyes.  They don't "move" with the same naturalness.  They look frozen to me.

I also watched Cougar Town and I was once again very alarmed by her look.  Now that look is a lot more normal than how she looks today.

Edited May 29, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Lady Whistleup]

5 minutes ago, Cementhead said:

Courteney Cox's plastic surgery just makes me so sad because her authentic face was beautiful and she would have continued to be beautiful as she aged.  I know she has addressed her regrets with fillers and Botox but her biggest mistake was and still is that horrible chin implant.  It has made the most drastic, negative difference to her appearance and it is all that I see every time I look at her face. 

 

This is the thing with actresses -- if they did NOTHING other than live well, eat healthy, and what not they'd all age beautifully because their bone structure is amazing.

The most tragic case of this is Kim Novak:

[Macbeth]

1 hour ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I also read a reddit AMA some years back with a Friends crew member (can't find it) which said that Lisa and Matt were the kindest and warmest. Not really a surprise -- I've always heard great things about Lisa Kudrow as a person.

Oh, I read this on another site about Perry. No reason not to believe it:

  Hide contents

Addiction is extracting a terrible price: He has had major surgery on his intestines and rectum. This was the second set of new teeth. He makes calls in the middle of the night to send large checks to different people then has no memory of it. The producers of Friends wanted to proceed without him but the cast wouldn’t hear of it. The reunion was delayed for Perry who went to rehab in Sweden. Two days before filming began he relapsed but he made it to set. His publicist released info about the dental surgery which was truthful—but not the whole truth. 

 

I am not surprised Perry had a hard time with addiction during Covid.  I heard that for a lot of people with addictions- Covid just made it so much worse.  John Mulaney went back to rehab.  A couple of chefs competiting on Top Chef said it made their addictions worse.

[Mirabelle]

1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

As far as I know, they are both single now 😉

I am really hoping that moment inspired someone to write the chick lit novel about two former stars of a hit TV show reconnecting and falling in love years after their show ended after they both admitted they had crushes on each other during the cast reunion. 

[Lady Whistleup]

7 minutes ago, Macbeth said:

I am not surprised Perry had a hard time with addiction during Covid.  I heard that for a lot of people with addictions- Covid just made it so much worse.  John Mulaney went back to rehab.  A couple of chefs competiting on Top Chef said it made their addictions worse.

I personally know it to be true with someone who was staying on the wagon but then during covid during the long lockdown she relapsed badly and is now worse than ever. I'm sad for Matthew Perry -- in terms of comedic skill I think he might have been the most talented Friend. 

[wendyg]

15 hours ago, mtlchick said:

Kathleen Turner went on record saying that the cast wasn't friendly to her, but feels part of it was because they were so close knit and she didn't know them well.

Didn't Emily Baxendale say the same thing?

[wendyg]

1 hour ago, Mirabelle said:

I am really hoping that moment inspired someone to write the chick lit novel about two former stars of a hit TV show reconnecting and falling in love years after their show ended after they both admitted they had crushes on each other during the cast reunion. 

Ken Levine has already done it (in the last six months) as a play called AMERICA'S SEXIEST COUPLE. A reading of is starring Joely Richardson is (or maybe was) on YouTube as part of a series to raise money for actors out of work during the pandemic. It's here:

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by wendyg
adding url

[LAgator77]

I had no idea that was Lady Gaga and, much like her, that segment was pointless and went on far too long. Unpopular opinion: I felt the show went to the “Smelly Cat” well way too often. It’s not my favorite running storyline/joke. So yeah, I FF’d through that part. Fashion show was also dumb. 
 

I really enjoyed seeing the BTS of the writers rewriting the show live on tape night. I would have liked to see more of that tape night atmosphere. I moved to LA in 99, why was I too lazy to attend a Friends taping? That would have been a fun night. 

[Racj82]

On 5/28/2021 at 6:14 AM, chediavolo said:

I must be the only one who did not like this.  At all.

You are never the only person. With any opinion. It's why I always urge people to just share their opinion. You may be in the minority but I must be the only one is literally never true.

For me, this was just a fun walk down memory lane and felt like a genuine reunion with people and characters I grew to love over the years. At its best, it would never have been more than that so I can't say I feel you. 

But, I can see this all being pointless to some. I feel like those people would have already known this wasn't for them before watching.

On 5/28/2021 at 8:58 AM, ifionlyknew said:

One of my friends didn't want to watch the special because she hates Justin Bieber. I told her go ahead and watch it. Justin doesn't speak and you can't see his face.

Seeing as how he would have never been in this for more than a snippet, I can't imagine skipping a whole special for it. Especially in streaming...just fast forward.

[Hiyo]

Imma just leave this here...

And this...

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Hiyo

[chediavolo]

2 hours ago, Cementhead said:

Courteney Cox's plastic surgery just makes me so sad because her authentic face was beautiful and she would have continued to be beautiful as she aged.  I know she has addressed her regrets with fillers and Botox but her biggest mistake was and still is that horrible chin implant.  It has made the most drastic, negative difference to her appearance and it is all that I see every time I look at her face. 

 

Horrifying 

[Racj82]

Interesting quote from a WIRED article about the reunion. I didn't think about this while watching but...

 

Well, most of the things. If there’s one thing Friends: The Reunion is missing, it’s a substantive conversation about Friends. The reunion special was, ostensibly, created to capitalize on the show’s resurgence and lure subscribers to HBO Max, but in addition to memes and BuzzFeed quizzes, the discourse about the show has brought to the fore its shortcomings: its lack of racial diversity, its less-than-stellar treatment of queer issues, its recurring jokes about Monica’s weight. None of those things get addressed here; though there is a somewhat awkward segment full of people all over the world talking about how much they love the show while avoiding the fact that many weren’t represented in it.

 

I'm not shocked that these things weren't brought up but would have been refreshing to address it. And a audience member gave them I nice window to do it with the question of what didn't you like about the show.

And I don't hold this stuff against the show. A lot of things that offend others do not offend me. Also, a lot of tv shows and movies are just reflections of the times they were in. There isn't that much else to say other than wishing they could change some things in hindsight, etc.

It would be interesting to hear if any of the cast or showrunners struggled with some of these things. This was more of a fluff piece, so I get it.

[ww92]

Instead of Lady Gaga they should have had the cast recreate this version of Smelly Cat.

 

[Hiyo]

“It would be interesting to hear if any of the cast or showrunners struggled with some of these things.”

To be honest, as a chunky gay Arab, I really couldn’t care less if the cast or showrunners struggled with any of this stuff. If others do, well, thats cool. I’d rather the people writing these articles focus on TV shows today that aren’t dealing with these issues as opposed to a show that went off the air 16 years ago.

[Thumper]

1 hour ago, Hiyo said:

Imma just leave this here...

And this...

 

That first video with Phoebe and Chandler is one of the funniest and one  I remember very well!  😂😂😂. “I’m very bendy!”

[Kawaiiko]

1 hour ago, Hiyo said:

Imma just leave this here...

 

 

This too:

If you want to relive the reunion already:

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

18 minutes ago, Kawaiiko said:

If you want to relive the reunion already:

 

Absolutely classic television.  The combination of Rachel, Phoebe, and Ross was always comic gold.

When Rachel starts screaming to distract Ross, Phoebe is STILL visibly shaken up by the Chandler/Monica thing.  And Ross joining into the screaming just because they like the apartment.  All three of them are so good.

The actors could do really great reactions.

Edited May 29, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Hiyo]

Bamboozled is a nice game but its no Cups. 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Hiyo

[Kawaiiko]

12 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

And Ross joining into the screaming just because they like the apartment.

Ross joining in with the screaming gives me life every time I see it.

14 minutes ago, Hiyo said:

Bamboozled is a nice game but its no Cups. 

Ooh, I forgot all about Cups!

[Racj82]

4 hours ago, Hiyo said:

“It would be interesting to hear if any of the cast or showrunners struggled with some of these things.”

To be honest, as a chunky gay Arab, I really couldn’t care less if the cast or showrunners struggled with any of this stuff. If others do, well, thats cool. I’d rather the people writing these articles focus on TV shows today that aren’t dealing with these issues as opposed to a show that went off the air 16 years ago.

I see that the showrunners have been addressing the complaints have years later.

Let me be clear that things don't bother me as I said on post. But, I was curious if it bothered them. The show being mocked for being "very white". Is not a new thing. It and Seinfeld always dealt with that criticism.

At the end of the day, most sitcoms on the big networks casted the same way.

Marta has said that really, getting the cast that they got was the greatest part of making the show a success and they wouldn't change it.

It doesn't change how undiverse the most of New York was on these shows but hey. People don't like to hear it but it was a different time is not something you can remove from context.

I kind of feel like many shows are casting with checklist in hand these days. I just want people to cast and make the shows they want to make. I can just not watch.

[memememe76]

As an Asian person, I hate how these articles about the show’s lack of diversity (which I acknowledge) never ever, like, never ever mention Lauren Tom as Julie, an Asian-American actress playing Ross’ girlfriend during the height of the show’s popularity. So many of the writers think Aisha Tyler was the first POC to be on the show. 
 

I think it is remarkable how the cast could agree to negotiate together. Not only were extremely popular but also very young. Young people may not know the history of Friends. I wonder if someone like Sprouse applied this knowledge when it comes to Riverdale.
 

When actors get older, they are more established and kinda know their worth.

Even with the success they had with Friends, I doubt Courtney had the same salary as the rest of the cast on Courgartown. Same for Matt on Man with a Plan. Or Lisa on The Comeback.

Edited May 30, 2021 by memememe76

[Ms Blue Jay]

29 minutes ago, memememe76 said:

As an Asian person, I hate how these articles about the show’s lack of diversity (which I acknowledge) never ever, like, never ever mention Lauren Tom as Julie, an Asian-American actress playing Ross’ girlfriend during the height of the show’s popularity. So many of the writers think Aisha Tyler was the first POC to be on the show. 

I also love how Friends had a married lesbian couple (and their wedding) and they were also parents.  

I'm watching the reunion again and how weird that the writers were set on Courteney Cox being Rachel.  So David Schwimmer would be her love interest? ????   I'm sure so many of us think of Courteney and David as being siblings (or, sibling-like) so the thought is just strange.  They both have that black hair......  they fit so nicely as family!

Edited May 30, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[mtlchick]

25 minutes ago, memememe76 said:

As an Asian person, I hate how these articles about the show’s lack of diversity (which I acknowledge) never ever, like, never ever mention Lauren Tom as Julie, an Asian-American actress playing Ross’ girlfriend during the height of the show’s popularity. So many of the writers think Aisha Tyler was the first POC to be on the show. 
 

 Most people associate the first POC as Gabrielle Union, which was only for one episode.  But you're right.  And Lauren has said it was TOUGH for her because people were really invested by Ross and Rachel by then and wanted her gone.  

I think that if anything was thinking they were going to address the elephants in the room about their white New York, the dated jokes, Fat Monica, they were setting themselves up to be more bitchy.  This was about a show and 6 actors whose lives changes, influenced a generation, made NBC and Warner Bros Scrooge McDuck levels of money and during a pandemic, was the comfort food that people wanted,  

[Ms Blue Jay]

There was also a huge scandal about a writer feeling like the environment was full of sexual harassment.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Everyone seems to have a favourite part of the show they wish the reunion talked about longer.  I guess the positive of Kit Harington being included is that he talked about "Pivot" at length because that's my favourite.  Either he has taste or somebody forced him to do it.  LOL.  

But The One with the Videotape comes close.  I'm glad they had a little bit of the actors reacting to those bloopers but I would have been fine with 10 minutes of concentrating on just that.  That episode was so brilliant and the bloopers were so funny.

Edited May 30, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[LexieLily]

1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

But The One with the Videotape comes close.  I'm glad they had a little bit of the actors reacting to those bloopers but I would have been fine with 10 minutes of concentrating on just that.  That episode was so brilliant and the bloopers were so funny.

I would have been fine with ten-twenty minutes of this special dedicated to bloopers, period. They could have taken away the fashion show except for maybe the gag of LeBlanc wearing all of Chandler's clothes. That was funny.

Edited May 30, 2021 by LexieLily

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 minute ago, LexieLily said:

I would have been fine with ten-twenty minutes of this special dedicated to bloopers, period. 

Yes, especially because I've watched all the bloopers they have on the DVDs and YouTube and yet it seems like this special showed so many bloopers clips that none of us have seen yet.  EMPTY THE VAULT. SHOW US ALL OF IT.  GET THE CAST REACTIONS.  

[LexieLily]

11 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Yes, especially because I've watched all the bloopers they have on the DVDs and YouTube and yet it seems like this special showed so many bloopers clips that none of us have seen yet.  EMPTY THE VAULT. SHOW US ALL OF IT.  GET THE CAST REACTIONS.  

I wonder how many takes it took David, Matt and Jen to get through the PIVOT! scene based on what we saw from the special :P

Except now I won't be able to watch TOW No One's Ready without knowing that is how Matt LeBlanc broke his arm/shoulder.

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Except now I won't be able to watch TOW No One's Ready without knowing that is how Matt LeBlanc broke his arm/shoulder.

They did a great job of hiding that injury smoothly.  I don't remember that raising any alarms with me.

Jennifer wore a flesh coloured bandaid around her wrist in the Barbados episodes though, and I remember that.

Marta seemed to express annoyance that they had to film that Joey/chair scene a fourth time after it was already done perfectly three times.  Does anyone know why they would do that?

Edited May 30, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[LexieLily]

I'm not going to lie, I was kind of surprised that Mr. Heckles was still alive. 

Along with the bloopers, what I wanted to go on for longer was the six in the apartment playing the trivia game. :)

[Ms Blue Jay]

This tweet and the replies underneath it

Edited May 30, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[TheOtherOne]

It's probably already been mentioned, but I love how Lisa knew Mr. Heckles' real name, even if she didn't know the character's name. When the women are all struggling to remember and David says, "And his name would be...?" and everyone is talking over each other, Lisa says, "Larry Hankin," and then kind of smiles, knowing it won't be accepted. But of course she's right.

[himela]

10 hours ago, Racj82 said:

the discourse about the show has brought to the fore its shortcomings: its lack of racial diversity, its less-than-stellar treatment of queer issues, its recurring jokes about Monica’s weight.

Exactly. Someone said that these things would not pass these days. But lets put the racial diversity and the homophobia aside for a minute, was it ok 20 years ago to mock and make fun of someone because of them being overweight or obese? I mean, this is not an issue that will get better once people are educated about it or more open minded, it's about common sense and respect to the other person.

I would like to hear them say that they are aware that they made some mistakes regarding these issues and maybe apologize about them. This would elevate this reunion and the purpose of it so much not only nowadays but for the generations to come. I'm disappointed that they didn't mention it.

The reunion just made me feel like the weirdo who looks through the windows inside a family's house and watches them have fun and make jokes etc. It was just us watching them being themselves and getting paid astronomical money to do so. I would be so much more happy if they had said that they will donate some of the money to some charity or to an orphanage etc. Now what I will remember from this reunion is that they got to be with their friends for a day and got paid for it while the weirdos (us) were watching them.

[Hiyo]

Quote

It was just us watching them being themselves and getting paid astronomical money to do so.

And they deserved every penny of it.

[TheOtherOne]

45 minutes ago, himela said:

It was just us watching them being themselves and getting paid astronomical money to do so. I would be so much more happy if they had said that they will donate some of the money to some charity or to an orphanage etc. Now what I will remember from this reunion is that they got to be with their friends for a day and got paid for it while the weirdos (us) were watching them.

It's interesting that you think they should donate the money they were paid from this to charity, yet you don't say that the billion-dollar corporation that will make much, much more more money than the cast from this should donate their proceeds. People don't deserve to get paid, but corporations do? Very interesting.

[himela]

6 minutes ago, TheOtherOne said:

It's interesting that you think they should donate the money they were paid from this to charity, yet you don't say that the billion-dollar corporation that will make much, much more more money than the cast from this should donate their proceeds. People don't deserve to get paid, but corporations do? Very interesting.

I was not referring only to the money the actors got, I was referring to the money the channel and the company in general earned from all sources. It would feel so much better to know that part of the money earned was given to some good cause especially during these challenging times of the pandemic.

[Hiyo]

But then, shouldn't we be holding every media company and every actor and every director and every producer to that same standard?

 

[himela]

57 minutes ago, Hiyo said:

But then, shouldn't we be holding every media company and every actor and every director and every producer to that same standard?

 

In this particular instance there was no production or acting. The writers did not write anything, the director did not direct anything, the actors did not act, the producers did not produce. It was literally like a big brother moment, like we put them into a house, turned on the cameras and watched them be themselves. in all other cases that you mention there are people doing their jobs. This was just people being themselves, interacting with their friends and telling a story. That was not a job. That was them having fun. This is the difference in my eyes.

[Hiyo]

Quote

In this particular instance there was no production or acting. The writers did not write anything, the director did not direct anything, the actors did not act, the producers did not produce

Actually, there was production. If there were no producers, there was no event. Someone had to book a space, get the set decorated, co-ordinate all the actors and celebrities who appeared. plan how the reunion would go, etc.

And someone had to direct it all, otherwise none of the cameras would be featured on the person they should have, there would be no co-ordination on when there were group shots, etc. Without a director it would have been a mess.

Quote

It was literally like a big brother moment, like we put them into a house, turned on the cameras and watched them be themselves.

Which isn't exactly what we did, unless one of them planned on inviting the audience and all of those guest stars into their homes as well, along with the production crew.

Quote

in all other cases that you mention there are people doing their jobs.

Which is what they were doing for this reunion as well.

Quote

This was just people being themselves, interacting with their friends and telling a story. That was not a job. That was them having fun. This is the difference in my eyes.

As part of the job for a reunion special. I'm sorry they were having too much fun for it to be counted as work.

As I said, I enjoyed it and they were worth every penny. Good for the cast to realize how much they are worth.

[PRgal]

I finally watched it last night.  It was heartwarming to see how the show was relatable to people all over the world.  And how the show really helped the guy from India who had to deal with his dad’s diagnosis.  This shows you don’t need to “look” like the characters for a show to be relatable to you 

[VCRTracking]

I love these tweets about Matt LeBlanc looking like a lovable Irish uncle:

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by VCRTracking

[Hiyo]

This was another nice scene. I always liked it when all 6 were together.

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

6 hours ago, himela said:

In this particular instance there was no production or acting. The writers did not write anything, the director did not direct anything, the actors did not act, the producers did not produce. It was literally like a big brother moment, like we put them into a house, turned on the cameras and watched them be themselves. in all other cases that you mention there are people doing their jobs. This was just people being themselves, interacting with their friends and telling a story. That was not a job. That was them having fun. This is the difference in my eyes.

Some people's jobs are really fun.  Even I've had jobs that were fun every single day, but they weren't high paying!  Fun jobs are still jobs. 

I can't help but wonder if the show itself and the fame that came afterward played a part in torturing Matthew Perry.  Not everyone adapts to fame so easily.  David never seemed to care about acting, more about directing and outside causes.  Lisa was always married and didn't seem to care about fame or the Hollywood life.  Matt LeBlanc I think just wanted the show to go on forever.  But Matthew Perry, who knows.  

Edited May 30, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[VCRTracking]

Perry may have been okay for the first five seasons. After that though he was already doing movies and he may have wanted to move on but couldn't because the show was still so popular. 

[LAgator77]

6 hours ago, himela said:

In this particular instance there was no production or acting. The writers did not write anything, the director did not direct anything, the actors did not act, the producers did not produce.

You clearly have never worked in television and have no idea what you’re talking about. The Friends Reunion did not spontaneously happen. Producers, writers, actors, the director, and hundreds of other crew members worked very hard on this project, made even more difficult with Covid restrictions. They all deserved to get paid for their work.