The one where we gush about the ‘Friends: The Reunion’
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When the Friends theme song said, “I’ll be there you,” the show really meant it. It’s been 17 years since we’ve seen David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and Matthew Perry in the same room together. And as they say, good things come to those who wait because the highly anticipated reunion show was everything the fans could have hoped for and more!
READ: Pop quizzes, the Holiday Armadillo, and more at the Friends reunion
Friends: The Reunion opens with the last shot of the series: the famous purple door with the yellow frame. This version gets an update with a text that reads: 17 Years Later.
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The cast entered the room one by one and walked through the reconstructed sets of their show, the two apartments, and Central Perk.
We later find out that after the last day of taping, the sets were taken down to prepare for a scheduled pilot that was going to be filmed the next day. (Hey, that’s Hollywood for you!)
The nostalgia sets in and the real-life Friends start reminiscing, from Cox writing down her lines on the table, only for LeBlanc to erase them later on, to some pretty big reveals (We’ll get to those later).
The HBO special was made up of different segments that were stitched together. The gang was shown playing an intense round of trivia patterned after the pop quiz played in the series. You know, the one where Monica and Rachel end up losing the apartment to Joey and Chandler? (Transponster!)
There was also an elaborately hilarious runway show that revisited some memorable fashion moments. The segment featured guests like supermodel Cara Delavingne and pop singer Justin Bieber donning these classic looks. The most iconic of course, was Matt Le Blanc wearing all of Chandler’s clothes in 2021—complete with lunges!
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“Could I be wearing any more clothes?!”
Fans were even treated to some never-before-seen clips! Despite the many fun shenanigans showcased in the special, our favorite part was definitely when the six friends were alone and talking amongst themselves. Yep, that hits us right in our nostalgic spot!
There were also many guests who visited the gang from former co-stars to big-name celebrity fans of the show. Even global K-POP sensation BTS was there to pay tribute to the iconic sitcom.
READ: BTS will be there for you at the Friends reunion
RM has always been a Friends stan so this was a dream come true for him. He even shared, “My mom bought me the DVDs of the whole series when I was in elementary school. Friends really had a big hand in teaching me English.”
Considering how young the BTS boys are, this goes to show that Friends truly transcends generations and breaks through language barriers.
Speaking of musical guests, you can’t have a song number without flexing Phoebe Buffay’s classic songs, right?
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Yes, that’s Lady Gaga cosplaying as Phoebe (quirky fashion and all) while jamming with Lisa Kudrow. The award-winning singer-songwriter shows her vocal chops as she takes “Smelly Cat” for a spin.
Lady Gaga goes on to thank Lisa Kudrow for her role as Phoebe Buffay and for “being the person for all of us on Friends that was the different one, or the one that was really herself.” As for the biggest shocker from the show, it was revealed that just like Ross and Rachel, David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston were “crushing on each other” but decided to stay, well, friends.
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The chemistry was real, folks!
Jennifer Aniston explained, “We channeled all of our adoration and love we had for each other into Ross and Rachel.”
But what about being each other’s lobster?! BRB while us Ross and Rachel shippers weep for our OTP.
We wanted to know what fellow Pinoy fans thought about the Friends special. We asked a few of our own friends, Armina and Sionee, to share their experience watching the show.
Armina gushed, “My favorite part was when fans from all over the world were sharing their own experiences about Friends. They all had their own stories to tell about how the show made them feel included in a group. When I started watching Friends, I felt connected to each of the characters because they are so real to me. Parang kilala ko silang lahat! [Watching the show] helped me relax, especially when I was having an anxiety attack.”
Sionee shared, “My favorite moment was seeing them enter one by one on the set. You can feel nostalgic about seeing them back in that familiar environment—their apartments, Central Perk. [It was nice] reminiscing [about] favorite and memorable episodes plus seeing the bloopers that we’ve never seen before. The behind-the-scenes of the Pivot scene was hilarious! All in all, I had so much fun. They’ve always made me laugh. I will definitely watch it again ”
Which was your favorite Friends moment from the reunion? Which friend are you in the barkada? Are you Ross, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, or Joey?