'Friends' reunion: The one that left out what made the show good in the first place
Terence Patrick/HBO Max
“Were Ross and Rachel on a break?” James Corden asks, thinking he has smartly tapped into a hot-button issue with a clever question. Sheepishly, the reunited cast members of “Friends” all say yes because this is a yes-or-no question with only one answer. No one ever debated if they were on a break. The question was if being on a break defended Ross’ behavior.
Of course, an intelligent, thought-provoking conversation was not remotely the point of the HBO Max reunion, the latter word suggesting warmth, vulnerability and sincerity that, if it existed at all, too often felt like a performance. Unlike last year’s heartwarming and heartbreaking “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” special, in which, corny or not, the cast really did feel like a family coming back together, the “Friends” cast emitted the vibe of people who feel like everyone should be grateful they at last came down from their cloud to grace us with superficial nostalgia.
Beyond the undeniable chemistry of the perfectly cast characters and the writing that was sharp and funny for many seasons (before, like many sitcoms, the characters became caricatures of themselves and the situations no longer had anything to do with reality), the reason “Friends” connected so much so well for so long was the emotional pull of the closeness between these people. Sure, the reunion touched on Ross and Rachel’s first kiss and the series finale bringing them back together, but the important part, the trajectory of their relationship, was gone entirely. (How could there not be a shot of the classic prom footage?) Too often the reunion became a clip show instead of a retrospective, bullet points instead of depth for people who know and love the show.
In a runtime long enough for a movie – to be clear, I agree with Lisa Kudrow that there should not be a “Friends” movie – the reunion could have allowed for a discussion that connected with the fans rather than keeping a distance for the sake of the cast. Sure, I like Thomas Lennon and the identical hand twin episode, but even brief appearances by people like him or Larry Hankin (did we need the return of Mr. Heckles? Or the original guys in the barbershop quartet? We did not) felt like padding. And it’s not like any worthwhile material came from spending 45 seconds with Maggie Wheeler (Janice) or James Michael Tyler (Gunther). Perhaps that time might’ve gone to a longer, better Q&A with the original six to draw out how playing complicated emotional situations (a la the break, or the Chandler/Kathy/Joey triangle) brought them together compared to the goofier moments (among several, usually unenlightening moments of celebrity endorsements, Mindy Kaling is right in noting how well “Friends” did with farce).
Instead, the reunion probably had many yelling at their TV immediately when James Corden praised the supposedly iconic fountain from the opening sequence without making any mention of how that foundation was used in the series a grand total of never. It was also weird for Reese Witherspoon to claim that every character could hold their own show, as if the failed “Joey” spinoff didn’t exist. What arguably played the best was testimonials from fans worldwide, sharing the comfort of “Friends,” of feeling like friends with the “Friends,” and of the enduring connective power of feeling emotionally invested in a sitcom world like this.
Was it clear why this happened with “Friends” and not something else? Not really. It was enjoyable to learn/be reminded about the sequence in which the actors were cast, and the risk of casting Jennifer Aniston while she was committed to another show, and there was a simple pleasure in Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc sinking back into those old recliners again.
But whether it’s David Schwimmer’s permanent saltiness about working with a monkey who couldn’t hit its marks or LeBlanc’s non-anecdote about realizing he had to clean leaves from his roof thanks to helicopter footage, the “Friends” reunion rarely felt right, in ways both tangible and not. One exception was Christina Pickles and Elliott Gould, so cute as they reflected on how the cast really made them feel like Monica and Ross’ parents. And it was insightful to see Perry admit the stress he felt if he didn’t get the laugh he expected, surely exacerbated by Chandler’s position in the group as the guaranteed source of comic relief. The bittersweetness of Aniston and Schwimmer being each other’s crushes always at the wrong time was powerful in the context of having to play out the hypothetical through their characters’ evolving, then devolving, then forever bond.
More of that sort of reflection probably would’ve felt more valuable than Lady Gaga singing Smelly Cat or Justin Bieber dressed as Spudnik. Even in writers’ rooms when planning a reunion show, there must always be an opportunity to PIVOT!!! PIVOT!!!
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