So, finally after 17 years The Manhattan gang reunites for one final time. Granted that the 99-minutes long unscripted episode will make you nostalgic (only if you are a diehard fan of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.) but this reunion special is not meant for everybody.
Friends: The Reunion revisits a lot of nostalgic moments and sequences as the entire episode is shot at stage 24 at Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, where the original series was shot. The entire cast revisited the Friends apartments, the Central Perk coffee shop, and the Friends water fountain etc. The complete episode was filled with emotions, we give you that. But it felt like just another talk show where the cast members of a very famous show interact with each other coordinated by a ‘lame’ host.
Yes, using James Corden to interview the cast members was definitely a letdown because he didn’t bring anything new or exciting with his set of questions, instead they were just generic and failed to grind emotions from the interview section. Though, the complete cast members Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt Le Blanc and David Schwimmer were extremely lively and were on the top of their game, with occasional emotional breakdowns. They had some ground-breaking revelations on the show such as Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer revealed that they were crushing on each other during the first season of the show. But since one of them was always in a different relationship, they never crossed that boundary. Also, David, Lisa and Matt revealed that they haven’t seen many of the seasons and both Matt and Lisa talked about how they find it difficult to watch themselves on-screen. Matthew Perry also revealed that he has suffered from anxiety while performing for the live audience. But the biggest and the best thing which the cast revealed and that will surely make the fans emotional is that they share an extremely tight bond and have a unique relationship with one another, even after the show ended 17 years ago. Matthew Perry said that they would drop everything to talk to each other whenever they got a chance over the years.
The surprise guest portion was not that surprising and pleasing as few of the guests such as David Beckham and BTS just joined the episode virtually. Lady Gaga joined Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay for a musical session which was a delight to watch. The director of the reunion special Ben Winston has also done a nice job in fashioning the show with a series of games and chatter, with even a ramp show thrown in the mix.
Friends: The Reunion is surely a nostalgic walk down memory lane for the diehard fans but in our opinion, it doesn’t bring anything new to the table apart from a few reunion sequences with a bit of joy and tears (again applicable for the hard core fans of the show), but then again, the sole purpose of creating this reunion special episode was to let the millions of fans rejoice the magic of the show which went live almost 27 years ago and we’d say that the episode done that job perfectly to take the fans on an emotional ride.
If you are a fan of Friends and you still haven’t watched The Reunion Special, it is currently streaming on HBO Max and ZEE5.
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