6754/19674
We watched the Friends reunion show tonight which despite some expensive and unnecessary padding (supermodels and Justin Bieber wearing old Friends' costumes??) was surprisingly enjoyable. This blog is so old that it started when Friends was still on TV. I mean it's on TV constantly, but you know what I mean.
There was lots of fun, mainly revolving around Matt Le Blanc being reassuringly childish - when he signed the flats at the end of the final show, whereas everyone else was leaving heartfelt messages he wrote something like "I did a shit here" and then giggled about it with an incredulous, yet totally credulous David Schwimmer. Matt Le Blanc is my new hero.
Ultimately it all felt a bit tragic. Not because of it being a soulless cash grab or because James Corden was in it, but because it was mainly just a bleak testament to our lost youths and the ravages of ageing. Juxtaposing anyone against images of them in their prime from up to nearly 30 years ago is bound to make us contemplate the fact that we try to ignore, that we have also aged in that time. Those years have slipped by without us really noticing. And if the cutest people of their generation have faded or crashed into middle-age then what chance does that give us norms?
Why can't we be in our twenties forever?
A 76 year old Tom Selleck was hard to countenance too, as was an 82 year old Elliot Gould. None of us can escape. Well we can, but only by checking out completely.
I wasn't the biggest fan of Friends, but I watched it all and bought it on VHS (wait, I sound like the biggest fan) and those six actors were such a big part of our culture for a decade that it was impossible not to enjoy some of the nostalgia and it was enjoyable to witness them slipping back into their roles (though I could have done without Corden stating the bleeding obvious when it happened - but he wasn't overused, as odd a choice as he was to host this).
Lisa Kudrow and Matt Le Blanc seemed the happiest and the least haunted. I would have liked to see a more in depth journey into the psyches of the actors to discover what level of inner peace they had and whether being in a hit show like this is a blessing or a curse, but there were enough clues for me to make that show in my head. And in doing so I avoided having to make the show where I assessed my own achievements and happiness levels, so that was something. Arguably Friends has done better than my 1990s TV shows. But that's a debate for another time.
Get it down your sound holes and tell your pals to have a listen too.
