By Debadrita Dey
What started with the pilot of the haphazard lives of six friends turned into the most popular sitcom to ever debut on television. The very word F.R.I.E.N.D.S is attached to nostalgia, memory, sentiments and emotions of ten whole years. Who knew that a simple sitcom could affect and etch itself in the hearts of so many people worldwide? By the end of the show Ross, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler and Joey became household names and came to be associated with everyday matters. Good things do not stay forever in front of us but they do stay in our hearts, forever. The six cast members Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Courtney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow have done a successfully amazing job in bringing the characters to life and make them compatible enough to find a friend and a home in them.
After 17 years of “we were on a break” the cast comes together for one last time onscreen to console us that even when it hasn’t been our day, our week, our month or even our year, they will be there for us. Although through our Unagi sense we were able to predict that the time will come sooner or later, who possibly knew it will be a bucket of raging emotions and handful of laughter, lost?
Friends: The Reunion premiered on 27th May 2021 on HBO Max and in various other platforms around the world. The fans of the show went gaga when they finally got to see the six friends roaming around the famous sets (Monica and Rachel’s and Chandler and Joey’s apartments and the famous Central Perk) and breaking down when the memories came flashing back to them one by one. The unscripted special also had the six friends feasting and reminiscing on old memories on and off screen. The sets were rebuild for one last time with everything in their exact places and could we BE anymore nostalgic?
With James Cordon hosting the reunion special and with some special appearances that did not fail to flabbergast us and make us scream “My eyes! My EYES! MY EYES!” it was a fully fledged walking down the memory lane night! God knows how much we wanted to ask them “How you doin’?” when they came in! Amongst all the famous faces were our very own “Oh My God” Janice (Maggie Wheeler), Richard (Tom Shelleck), Mr. Heckles who made it very clear that the cast owes him a cat and Jack and Judy Geller smiling at their happy children from the live audience!
Perhaps as always this show gave us a reason to smile (and shed some happy tears at the same time) amidst all that has been going around in the world. Though the six cast members were not in their characters they couldn’t help but sometimes act like them when on set. Well we can’t blame them, can we? That’s been a habit for ten years! Also appearing in the reunion were the inevitable part of the show, the creators without whom we could never have stumbled upon the bizarre lives of six friends in New York, Marta Kauffman, David Crane and Kevin Bright telling us stories about the making of the show and how the cast was initially casted.
We know things have been difficult lately but our friends are here, right? Watch the reunion and take a ride back to 1994 with them. This reunion will be set as a benchmark from where all the other future reunions will be compared.
Also, Phoebe performed Smelly Cat! (Do you want to miss it now?)
Rating: 5/5