Friends Forever, Ending Never: Once More on the Orange Couch

Last week, HBO Max finally dropped the Friends reunion, and people went crazy.  And why not?  Friends is the sitcom of sitcoms and the biggest hit of the '90s.  It's the show that made "The Rachel" a household hairdo and launched a decade of Must See TV, the show that introduced the world to Ugly Naked Guy and reintroduced it to Tom Selleck.  Even when it ended after ten seasons (a time I'll never forget, as it coincided with me packing up my last college dorm), it went on to charm new fans for generations.  Because no matter how many times you hear Phoebe sing "Smelly Cat" or hear Joey say "How you doin'?" or watch the "they don't know that we know that they know" prank about Monica and Chandler's not-so-secret romance, it holds up.  This is because it's so funny and because the stars have such great chemistry.  But it's also because it tells us so much of the six characters' backstories that they begin to seem like real people.  Whether you're laughing at Monica and Rachel in their '80s prom dresses or the idea of a teenage Phoebe stealing Ross's Geology Rocks backpack, you get to know them all so well that you feel like you grew up with them too.  So knowing that the reruns are always, well, there for you, especially after a hard day (you know, the kind where you're still in bed at ten but work began at eight) is comforting.  Just ask David Beckham, who Zooms into the reunion to reveal that he streams the show when he's sad or stressed, or any of the fans from around the globe who chime in to share that they feel a little less alone when hanging out with Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey.  I can relate.  Early on during the quarantine, I re-watched the entire series, and it was like seeing one incredibly long and hilarious and bittersweet movie -- to which I already knew most of the words.  

As you probably know, the reunion special, which was an unscripted nostalgic look back at the sitcom, marked the first time in seventeen years that Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc came together to talk about the show.  Hosted by James Corden, the event featured the famous orange Central Perk couch front and center on a big, sparkly stage.  What it didn't have was inside info or jaw-dropping reveals.  Not that I, or other fans who read Kelsey Miller's I'll Be There for You: The One about Friends, needed them.  We already knew that Cox was originally slated to play Rachel, that Perry had to get out of an alien airport sitcom to sign on, and that creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane based the premise of the show on their own experiences as twentysometings in The Big Apple, dubbing Friends as "that time in your life when your friends are your family."  Sure, there was one "gotcha" to which I and presumably other fans weren't privy, but it wasn't anything that anyone worth her pop culture salt -- or pop psychology prowess -- couldn't have figured out.  One thing I did learn was that Schwimmer hated working with Marcel the monkey.  Apparently, in between takes, the animal handlers would feed Marcel grub worms, and then Marcel would touch David with his worm gut-grimed fingers.  Um, ew; I think we can all agree that every penny of Schwimmer's paycheck was well earned!  

I heard that lots of people were disappointed that the reunion wasn't a scripted where-are-they-now? episode.  And although I have to admit that that would've been cool, deep down, I was relieved it didn't happen.   A reboot or even a one-off episode would've spoiled the hard-won happiness of America's best buds in the name of keeping it going.  And most fans, despite what they say, don't want that.  Just look at what happened to Carrie and Big, not to mention Miranda and Steve, in the first Sex and the City movie.  Broken hearts and tears all around!  Sure, they resolved it all in the end, then tried to obliterate the mess by upping the fun factor in the second cinematic feature.  But those movies diminished the feel-good magic of that final episode where Carrie asks Big, in a perfect bookend to episode one, if he's ever been in love, and this time he says "Abso-bleeping-lutely."  In other words, most of us want to remember the Friends the way they were in the finale, with Ross trying to leave a message for Rachel just as she walks through the door and says, "I got off the plane."  We don't need -- or want -- to see them squabbling over kids and bills in a two-story colonial in Connecticut.      

Nevertheless, James Corden asked each of the actors where they thought their characters would be in a parallel Friends universe (because you have to give the people some of what they [think] they want).  I liked Lisa Kudrow's answer best.  She sees Phoebe and Mike (Paul Rudd) in -- but of course! -- Connecticut, raising a couple of kids.  And Phoebe, knowing all too well what it's like to be different, becomes an advocate for other out-there kids who struggle.    

Still, for many of us, the sacred six remain firmly planted in '90s New York City, wearing baby tees and sweater vests, doing what they do best.  You know.  Chandler escaping Janice (Maggie Wheeler) by hopping a plane to Yemen.  Joey relaying a tale about tossing a girl's prosthetic leg into the fire.  Phoebe giving birth to her brother's (Giovanni Ribisi's) triplets.  Monica getting a hickey from Hootie and the Blowfish.  Ross being forced to go on sabbatical after Hulking out over a sandwich.  Rachel being a bridesmaid in Mindy and Barry's wedding. Screwing up but surviving to laugh another day in that quirky, purple Central Park apartment, they'll be Friends forever in our hearts -- and, thankfully, in syndication.  And the reunion provided a sweet reminder.  

As Chandler would say, could a show BE any better?