It’s finally here: the long-promised, semi-delayed Friends reunion is now available on Sky and NOW in the UK, HBO Max in the US. Boldly defying the recent revive-everything trend, this isn’t a new episode of the classic sitcom Friends, set 17 years after the 2004 finale. It’s the kind of old-fashioned interviews-and-clips special that used to periodically turn up on old-fashioned network television (usually on some kind of anniversary more round-numbered than 17). Upfront, onscreen text explains that the six core members of the cast – Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, and Matthew Perry – have been in a room together only once since the end of the series. Until now! Here are some highlights from Friends: The Reunion.
The strangest conceit of the special is that Warner Bros. has rebuilt all of the old, familiar Friends sets so that the cast can walk back into the familiar environment and be struck, reality-show-style, by the surreal nostalgia. Someone has to show up first, and it makes sense that David Schwimmer, the guy who played fussbudget Ross, is the most punctual. Later, answering an audience question about bad experiences on the show, Schwimmer hits ‘Full Ross Intensity’ talking about how much he hated working with Marcel the Monkey in the show’s first season. Schwimmer has discussed these difficulties before, but hearing him go into full, disgusted detail about the monkey eating grubs in between takes and then grabbing his hair is one of the funniest moments of the special – and his straight-faced fixation reveals more of later-period Ross than the generally amiable performer lets show.
(Excerpt) Read more in: NME