Friends ended its decade-long run in 2004. Friends: The Reunion hails itself as only the second time all six cast members have been together since they wrapped production 17 years ago. That’s not to say none of them have seen each other or even worked together. Each of them has appeared in at least one project headlined by one of their former castmates, with most appearing in multiple. Friends’ series pitch was “that time in your life when your friends are your family”. All these years later millions of people are still tuning in to watch Friends for that reason because they became their family. That’s why HBO Max paid millions to acquire the exclusive streaming rights of the series. That’s why this reunion is happening. Don’t go into the reunion expecting any shocking revelations or original content because that’s not what this is. The reunion is meant for fans of the series, it’s a laugh-lined trip down memory lane, much like the series today.
The reunion was a slick production number with the sets rebuilt and as many celebrity guest appearances as you came to expect on the show during the peak of its popularity. This was a show that had its finale broadcast in Times Square. So, it should come as no surprise they were able to get Justin Bieber to wear Ross’ Spud-nik costume, Lady Gaga to join Lisa Kudrow on “Smelly Cat”, or have Malala talk about her love of the show.
James Corden, who seems to be everywhere lately, acts as host and interviewer for the portion taped in front of an audience and while he brings his enthusiasm, he seems out of place in the special. I don’t know how he was selected for this gig but you’d think because it’s a reunion they may have tried to bring out one of the cast’s first interviewers from 1994, like Katie Couric. However, my preference for the host would’ve been James Michael Tyler who played Gunther for 10 seasons of the show and appeared in more than half the episode. Though seeing as he only appeared in the special via Zoom it appears he was unavailable for hosting.
In a production of this magnitude, every question is screened. This doesn’t mean there aren’t genuine moments, Matthew Perry talking about his anxiety if he failed to get a laugh rings true. However, it does mean neither James Corden nor the audience was going off script and asking something they don’t want to answer. So, the cast knew they would be asked if there had ever been hookups, meaning Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer were prepared to admit they had a mutual attraction in the beginning but that never amounted beyond that. This was meant to put a nail in the coffin of those rumours of cast hookups. All shows have them, and it is hard to fight them because, when people spend as much time together as actors on TV/film sets do, romances can happen. All that time together, emotions tend to run high, it’s why shows also usually suffer rumours of cast fights.
Few accuse the Friends cast of being one that fought. Part of their legacy is one of friendship on and off-screen. In the special, the creators (David Crane and Marta Kauffman) talk about how hard it was to find the six pieces to form the puzzle of their cast. They were specifically looking to cast people with no known work because they wanted to create a true ensemble cast with no star. This allowed the cast to experience their meteoric rise of fame together, bonding their friendship in a shared experience that couldn’t be shared with anyone outside of each other. If their friendship’s a charade, it is a well-formed and highly lucrative one. In the most major way, it led to collective bargaining power that had each of them making 1 million dollars an episode for the last two seasons of the series and reportedly around 2.5 million for the reunion.
It’s no secret that HBO Max spent a significant amount of money on this special. However, since they don’t have ad-generated revenue it is a wonder the special wasn’t leaner. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion they did last year was about 30 minutes shorter and it showed. That reunion was tight from beginning to end. while this one had a few odd cuts and moments of drag. However, they did a good job of clipping along balancing footage with talking head.
The reunion was at its best when it let the cast and creators tell stories from their perspective, sometimes with videos to show it, like Courteney Cox hiding her script lines all over the kitchen or Matt LeBlanc dislocating his arm. Or the creators talking about how they initially envisioned Monica and Chandler hooking up as a one-time joke but because of the audience’s reaction they explored them as a couple more the following season, leading to the longest continuous relationship amongst the core characters.
Currently on Crave.
Score: B
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