My Thoughts On The #FriendsReunion 

It feels like we have been hearing about this reunion for so long and Covid delayed it even further, that I almost can’t believe that it’s actually here. Friends ranks as my top best show ever (right alongside Mad Men). It’s not a perfect show but it is pretty damn close. The show just makes me happy.

I was not sure what the format of this reunion would be and we didn’t get snippets until close to the premiere but I am not sure what I was worried about – it was great. Hosted by James Corden and made even better by having a socially distanced audience, the show took us down memory lane.

David Schwimmer was the first to step on the recreated set of Monica’s apartment (I kept wondering how much of a pain it had to be to recreate it and I read an article that confirmed that it truly was a pain but with the help of old photos and things being in archives, they were able to) and we are promptly told that all 6 of them have been together only once since the show wrapped (a dinner at Courtney Cox’s a few years ago).

As the rest of them trickle in, we get to see that these people truly liked each other because it was truly like picking up where they left off. Amid, tears and hugs our friends reunited. The entire episode oscillated between the 6 of them reminiscing over certain scenes, reliving the trivia war from season 4 but this time with show trivia, being interviewed by James Corden, commentary by celeb fans such as Reese Witherspoon and Kit Harington, table reads, a fashion show of Friends wear by celebs and BTS interviews of the producers etc.

One of my favorite things about the reunion were the table reads because they reminded us what made this show amazing – the chemistry these 6 share. They are older and removed from this show for so many years and yet when they did the table reads, it was almost like they were right back in front of the cameras and it was so good! One of the producers in response to the criticism of the lack of diversity, mentioned how he does not regret having these particular 6 white actors because it would mean denying the chemistry he saw between them.

I think the ladies looked good and you could see the passed time more on the men. Matthew Perry looked quite uncomfortable the entire time and didn’t speak much. I know he has battled addiction and health issues in the past so I hope he is okay. I was quite taken aback when during an interview with the actor who played Gunther seemed to live in an apartment. I wondered if he didn’t get a chance at the Friends jackpot. Matt LeBlanc was a ball of good energy and just seemed so happy to be there. Jennifer Aniston was teased a lot for always “nipping” over the seasons and intentionally or not, nothing changed during this reunion.

Overall, I feel the reunion lived up to the hype and was a fun trip down memory lane. I don’t know who came up with the reunion ideas but so far it’s been 2 for 2 as the Fresh Prince reunion was also great. I appreciate their hard stance on no remake or reboot and this was a wonderful gift to us the fans.