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Producers say no to Friends reunion

"If anyone wants Friends, turn on your TV!" says co-creator.

2014-04-17_1538I’ve written a number of times about rumours of Friends reunions, generally fuelled by something one of the former cast has mentioned.

Until it happens I can’t see this question ever going away.

In May it will be 10 years since the show ended and September marks 20 years since it first launched.

Entertainment Weekly has asked creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane why they won’t do a reunion show.

KAUFFMAN: [Laughs] Honestly, I have to go back to: The show is over. What was at the heart of the show is done. And let’s be honest, it’s 20 years later. Nobody looks like they did then. And you’re going to spend the whole time going, “Wow, he’s aged. Or she’s…”

CRANE: If anyone wants Friends, turn on your TV! Amazingly, thank God, it’s there. And these are all great actors that you’re seeing all the time in other things. Marta and I’ve talked about this a lot: People say they want it, and the more that we say it’s a bad idea, people [disagree]. But I think if we actually gave it to people, there would be such backlash.
KAUFFMAN: This is about finales. It’s final.

But do you hear from NBC and Warner Bros. occasionally? Is this like a parole thing, where every 18 months they revisit it?

CRANE: [Laughs] That’s exactly what it is. … From both them and Warner Bros, there has been the periodic, “So what do you guys think?”

And you keep saying…?
CRANE: We don’t think it’s a very good idea. It’s like, we all worked hard to put the perfect bow on this. What are you doing?
KAUFFMAN: I was sitting in a bar one night with a friend — I don’t do that a lot, but we were going out before a premiere of something — and a bunch of 20-year-olds walked in and they just heard “It’s definite! Friends is coming back for another season!” And I’m sitting right there thinking, “Do I say something?”
CRANE: But be honest: Was there a little bit a part of you that goes, “Did they just not call me?”
KAUFFMAN: [Laughs] No, I was pretty sure it wasn’t.
CRANE: Really? Whenever I read something where it’s absolutely definitively happening, there’s a teeny part of my brain that goes, “Did they decide just to stop even bothering to ask us because they know we’re going to say no, so f— us?
KAUFFMAN: Could be. You could be right.

You can read more here.

9 Responses

  1. Veritas – Joey was cancelled after two seasons and NBC were so unhappy with the way the show was rating (against “American Idol”, which was the #1 show on TV at the time) that they never even showed the final eight episodes of the second season.

  2. Nah, give it another 10 years and then they can do a “Kids of Friends” series! Ben as the older, more settled member of the group… Monica and Chandler’s boy and girl… Phoebe’s triplets… Joey’s illegitimate child from a chubby stalker (or is that another show?)…

    The options are endless!

    **now, how do I get my tongue out of my cheek…**

  3. I don’t think NBC would be too thrilled at the prospect of a Friends reunion. They are probably still having nightmares about Matt Le Blanc’s spinoff show Joey which bombed badly in the ratings from the start but had to be kept in production and on air for three years because it would have cost much more to pay out the contracts of Le Blanc and the other cast members.

  4. It doesn’t matter how many times I see an episode, I still find it amusing. I own the entire series on VHS, DVD (several versions/box sets) and now Blu-Ray. Yes, I think it’s that good! I work with teenagers and am stunned that some of them know more trivia about the show than I do. What this means is that unlike any other sitcom before it (or since), it resonates with a number of generations. “Seinfeld” probably comes close, but to be honest, I’ve only heard a few teenagers talk about “Seinfeld”, whereas “Friends” is still very popular.

    I’d love to see a reunion, but if the creators aren’t interested, I can’t see it getting off the ground. A two-hour telemovie would be great, though!

  5. The six leads were walking away with $1 million each per episode in the last couple of seasons – how much money do you think they’d want for a reunion… ?

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