Friends Reunion review: The one that made me emotional to see the gang back together
Friends: The Reunion - Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow.
Oh. My. GOD! Could the Friends reunion show BE any more emotional? I'm swiping away tears, pretending there’s something in my eye, every second scene. It's been 17 years since the six buds left that iconic set, with the parting words, "Should we get some coffee?"
"Sure... where?"
They left on a laugh, a little knowing in-joke that made us all feel like part of the group. And that was the magic of the show, you felt included, you felt like you belonged, you were part of the gang.
Co-creator of Friends, David Crane, sums it up: "It's about that time in your life that your friends are your family."
They were each other's lobsters, and the six seem genuinely delighted to be in each other's company again. The cynic in me was preparing for a trip down memory LAME, but really it feels authentic and sweet and special, and I'm so glad they take us along for the ride.
The format is clever, it slides between the actors in conversation with James Cordon (a strange choice of host, but he did grand) in front of the famous fountain and a live audience, and fly-on- the-wall clips of the gang reminiscing on set, interspersed with old footage of the show, behind the scenes then and now.
There's a very funny redo of THAT quiz when Joey and Ms Chanandler Bong win the apartment from Monica and Rachel.
I adore seeing the actors doing table reads of their favourite scenes, spliced with the actual episodes. It's bittersweet to see how young and beautiful and fabulous they all were, it reminds us that we too are 17 years older than when we clapped along to The Rembrandts’ theme tune.
Some, it’s fair to say, have weathered better than others. There were concerns around Matthew Perry's seemingly slurred speech and distant demeanour after the promo aired, but reports have since claimed this was due to emergency dental work hours before the interview.
The girls look fabulous as ever. David 'Dorian Gray' Schwimmer still has that adorable puppy- playing-with-dinosaur-bones vibe, and Matt LeBlanc... how's he doin'? Well, he's still a total ride, there's just more of him to love.
The reunion show (with all six actors credited as executive producers) will never happen again, they say. They gift us an hour and 45 minutes of unashamed '90s nostalgia, and it makes my day, my week, my month and even my year. Here’s to old friends.
Holy frigging moly, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer casually reveal that they were “crushing on each other hard” during filming, but they never got the timing right. “Is anyone else’s mind blown right now?” asks Corden. They do a re-read of the scene when Ross and Rachel have their first kiss in the cafe on that rainy night and I swear, I thought Jen was going to rip off her reading glasses, lunge over the table, grab his greasy head and have at it. It was AWESOME. The dirty dogs.
They say they never did get together IRL. “Bullshit,” coughs Matt into his coffee. Ooh! Maybe we’ll get a Ross and Rach spin off so they can swap saliva for their art and another Emmy.
They have a fashion show featuring some of the seminal outfits. Behold Cindy Crawford sashaying in Ross’s leather pants, sans talcum powder, Cara Delevingne clunking along the catwalk as the Holiday Armadillo and Justin freaking Bieber moonwalking as Spudnik.
He of the second-best moustache on TV, Tom Selleck, (beat by stupid, sexy, Flanders!) swaggers in to ask a bonus quiz question, David Beckham reveals he’s a total Monica, Reese Witherspoon recalls her joy at playing Rachel’s sister, but they are all upstaged by Lady Gaga singing a duet with Phoebe. Smelly Cat for the Christmas Number 1, I shouted. She thanks Lisa Kudrow for portraying the different one in the group, for being herself. All the feels, lads, I am bawling.
What happened to Matt LeBlanc the one time they didn’t huddle prior to the show? He dislocated his shoulder when he fell over a table on a fourth take in the one where he did lunges wearing all of Chandler’s clothes, going commando. The gang find their little huddle spot again and all cosy up and promise to have dinner together real soon. If they decide to televise that, I’ll be there for it.
- Friends: The Reunion is currently available on streaming service NOW, and will be shown on Sky One on Thursday, May 27, at 8pm
