i am amused by the memes that have cropped up with mr leblanc. it has gotten me to rewatch the show. i’m 4 episodes in on the first year, interesting seeing how the show was finding its feet, after hearing from the creators on the reunion.
I liked it a lot. Smiling ear to ear most of the time.
I felt that most of the cast could jump right back into their roles without a moments notice.
I do recall at the time being a bit concerned about Perry’s slurred speech though.
This is what I would like to see. I haven’t gone searching for it, and I expect I could probably find it, but I’m not in a hurry. Phoebe is my favorite of the main characters.
A few years back when I watched it again, I noticed, in the pilot episode (or at least in one of the first few episodes), Chandler was sitting on the chair to the right of the coffee table (in the cafe) and Monica sat down on the chair arm and sort of had her arm around him. Now, everyone I tell that to, probably correctly, writes it off as them just being friends. But part of me always wonders if they were very subtly laying the groundwork for that relationship. It shows that they’re friends…but maybe just a little bit more than just friends.
I’ve heard that observation before, perhaps made by you, here(?) 
Anyway, since reading it I’ve kept my eye out for subtle signs that the writers had Chandler and Monica’s getting together in mind, and I kind of thought so too. The One at the Beach has Chandler needling her about it and on another ep he makes a deal with her that if they’re not married to other people when they’re 40, they’ll marry each other. But on the reunion show the writers said they didn’t consider that until they heard the audience’s reaction when it was revealed the two were in bed together in London. Their relationship made for some funny scenes but I always thought it would have been better if all of them had found mates outside the group.
I remember noticing several times when Chander was sitting next to Monica and she would lean her head on his shoulder, or he stood behind her and rubbed her shoulders.
Watching it the first time through, I thought it was nice that Chandler and Monica were especially close friends. Then they got together, and I thought, “Holy crap, have they been planning this for years?”
But, as Wookinpanub said, Marta Kaufman stated they had no plans to get them together until they saw how well the audience responded to the London hook up (which was supposed to be a one-time thing).
re: Perry’s words
I’m not buying the dental-work story either, but I don’t think he was drunk/high. It sounded more like a physical problem than a mental one. The spirit was willing but the flesh was messed up.
He had obviously had some very bad plastic surgery recently. Maybe it was related to that somehow?
Finally got around to watching it, and of course it was bittersweet.
So many moments were emotional for me; just watching them walk around the set after 17 years was pretty intense.
OTOH, ageing’s a bitch. The constant flicks back and forth between then and now was jarring and just served to underline that that time is gone and the Friends are gone. James did a good enough job at trying to keep it upbeat but that was the overriding feeling for me.
Not saying they shouldn’t have done it. It was nice to learn more about the show, and see that they are actually still close IRL (or at least convincingly look like it).
Regarding Matthew Perry, I’m prepared to give him some benefit of the doubt. In the script readings, his acting did seem pretty on point, and he genuinely seemed witty at times. The only issue was of course the slurred speech and some mispronuciations. But if he wants to say it was just dental work (and not a side effect of his drug use), then, on the basis of this show only, I’d say that’s plausible.
ETA: I see I basically just repeated what Cayuga said, but with more waffle.
My wife and I watched it and really enjoyed it, but yes, it was bittersweet. They’re not the same people anymore, and neither are we; 2004 was kind of a long time ago now.
I liked learning about developing and casting the show, and enjoyed the table reads, the shared memories, and the drop-in appearances by some of the guest stars and celebrity fans. I could have done without Corden’s more fanboyish moments and the fashion show, though. I was concerned about Perry for the reasons others have stated, and I hadn’t really noticed before this that Aniston and Cox have had cosmetic surgery (I have to admit, I’d always prefer to see actors and actresses just allow themselves to age naturally, but I understand the pressure in Hollywood to look as young as possible).
Here’s a nice article about the show’s global reach, and how it’s taught quite a few people how to speak English:
I got a kick out of BTS all saying “It tastes like feet!”. I think that episode is my favorite. The thought of folks learning English by watching the show is kind of funny. I picture people around the world who think it’s standard to say “so”, as in “It so does not!”
One more thought/observation about Matthew Perry. For the first couple(three?) seasons you can see he had messed up teeth and then at some point he got them fixed. If he has a history of dental problems it kind of adds to the plausibility that he was having post operative issues. Also, I couldn’t tell if his lower face was swollen or if it’s just natural aging jowliness. We may never know, but again I wish him all the best.
I thought David Schwimmer showed he is the most “serious” actor. He’s still bitter that Marcel couldn’t hit his marks!
Matt LeBlanc is the funniest, chill, most likable. I think he might look the best out of all of them, despite his putting on a bit of weight. I’d sooooo hit that!
I felt like an old man when I saw BTS, knew who they were and why they were there. My teenage daughter LOVED BTS a few years ago. It’s literally all she talked about. Never heard a song by them, but at the time, I knew all their names and would have recognized them walking down the street. Any time I was watching Friends, she’d jump in to tell me that BTS learned English by watching it as well.
I don’t think that Schwimmer ever liked Marcel, even as a concept. I seem to recall interviews with him, even when the show was on the air, where he said things like “I didn’t sign on to play a guy with a wacky pet monkey.”
I did not know that! Shows what a good actor he is, I guess, because I totally bought his affection for him. I do agree that it was a stupid storyline, but he was a cute little thing.
It would have made more sense if the character was a scientist specializing in primates but he was a paleontologist.
Agreed. And the same monkey was in Outbreak; I wonder if he annoyed Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo by not hitting his marks on the set with them, too?
Matthew Perry is not Chandler Bing. He’s suffered from personal issues for a long time, his drug problems are clearly related to his mental state, exacerbated by his success on Friends. As an example of what he was dealing with, Matthew Perry is missing the last joint of one of his fingers as a result of a childhood accident. You can find some scenes from Friends where this is discernable, but he spent a lot of effort hiding that, it made him extremely insecure even when he was getting paid $1 million on an unbelievably popular TV show. He’s had continuous problems maintaining personal relationships as well.
He also made a movie in Canada, Numb. It didn’t get most exposure, when I caught it on cable I first assumed he was helping out some fellow Canadians in getting this movie made, but it perhaps spoke to him in other ways, it’s about a person suffering from Depersonalization Syndrome, as does the writer of the movie, and I think this was more of a personal interest on Perry’s part. You may also recall an episode of Friends recounting the story of Chandler losing one of his toes, perhaps another way in which Perry attempting to deal with his personal issues through his work.
I don’t know why his speech was slurred during the special, whatever the immediate and underlying reasons are Matthew Perry is dealing with serious issues. I wish him luck, I liked the Chandler character which he was playing in almost all his roles, and I hope he finds peace somehow. Any of the characters from that show could be dealing with some serious issues also, but Perry’s have clearly had more impact on his life.
Hankin was indeed the junkyard guy. Perhaps you’re thinking of Robert Forster, the vacuum cleaner repairman/disappearer? He died not long after filming the Breaking Bad movie El Camino.
But then he arguably would have known better than to keep Marcel as a pet.
Yes, his comments about how anxious he would get if his lines didn’t get a laugh was quite telling. It wasn’t just a passing quip; I believe he said something like “I wanted to die. It was definitely not healthy”
I thought one of the most revelatory moments of the reunion–and I’m a little surprised that it hasn’t gotten more attention–was Perry confessing that he got very depressed if the studio audience didn’t laugh at one of his lines as much as he was expecting, that he felt like he was going to die if he couldn’t get people to laugh. Lisa Kudrow said “You never told us that.” It speaks to the kind of pressure he was feeling, even while starring on the biggest show on TV at the time.