When I think of Friends, I prefer to think of all the good things that make it one of the best sitcoms of all time — Chandler’s hilarious jokes, Phoebe’s most offbeat moments, Joey’s ever-growing food obsession, etc. However, for the sitcom’s six principal actors, the price of such monumental fame could be hard to deal with — particularly for Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc.

We all know about Matthew Perry’s struggles with addiction that ultimately led to his death in 2023 at age 54. He had opened up about his dark times in his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, which came out almost exactly one year before a ketamine overdose caused him to drown in his hot tub.

The Chandler Bing actor reflected on how bad his addiction was and how it could be tracked by his weight fluctuations throughout Friends’ 10 seasons. He said one time Jennifer Aniston even confronted him about his drinking, and Maggie Wheeler — who played Chandler’s ex-girlfriend Janice — said he talked to her about his struggles. Matthew Perry’s story came to a tragic end, but he wasn’t the only one who went through hard times.

David Schwimmer Had ‘Terrifying’ Fan Encounters That Made Him ‘Want To Hide’

While playing Ross Geller undoubtedly changed David Schwimmer’s life, he told the Making a Scene podcast in 2025 that it took him a long time to adjust to the kind of fame he and his co-stars experienced. Cars tracked his every move, people staked out his house, and that dang Friends theme song haunted him everywhere he went. He recalled a scary fan encounter he had one time, saying:

Back in 2016 he told THR’s Awards Chatter podcast that his fame messed with how he related to other people and how he moved through the world — including how he did his job. David Schwimmer said:

He also took the same approach as Jennifer Aniston after the show ended and took roles that were nothing like their Friends characters. David Schwimmer also turned to directing.

Matt LeBlanc Went Into Self-Imposed Exile

For Matt LeBlanc, his troubles went beyond not being able to separate himself from Joey Tribbiani (though that was definitely an issue too). The year that Friends ended, LeBlanc’s daughter was born, but within the first year, she began having seizures and was diagnosed with a form of dysplasia. Then he and his wife Melissa McKnight divorced in 2006.

That was around the time the Friends spinoff Joey was canceled, and Matt LeBlanc told The Mirror in 2016 that he went into hiding and basically told his agent to lose his number. He said:

Because he’s so well-known for his role on Friends, Matt LeBlanc told The Sun that it affects how people talk to him, saying:

But do they ever offer him meatball subs? It seems like that might be a perk.

It’s terrible to know that the price of fame was so high for the men on Friends, especially because in Matthew Perry’s case, some of that damage can never be undone.

However, if you prefer to keep your Friends fandom in a more optimistic headspace, just take a deep breath and fire up that HBO Max subscription for another rewatch or two.

Fame is a funny thing. Many people certainly hope to experience the (assumed) effects of becoming famous, but it seems like any good also comes with negative or just plain strange stuff. The stars of Friends know a lot about what that’s like, having immediately become famous when the comedy debuted in 1994, and lead Matt LeBlanc relayed a story about a woman driving next to him getting into a car accident upon recognizing him.

How A Woman Driving Next To Matt LeBlanc Got Into A Car Accident After Seeing Him

The 2026 TV schedule is in full swing, but I doubt that most of us even consider that one day soon we might happen to see one of our favorite current television stars as we’re just going about our day while stuck in traffic. Well, that’s just what happened to one Friends fan during the height of the show’s popularity, when she ended up driving next to Matt LeBlanc, who, of course, portrayed the funnily food-loving Joey Tribbiani for all 10 seasons (and the only Friends spinoff) of the show’s run.

When speaking to his Man with a Plan co-star, Kevin Nealon, on the SNL funny man’s podcast, Hiking with Kevin, LeBlanc was asked if it was “fun” to interact with fans and be recognized while Friends was on the air. He responded by saying, “I don’t know if it was fun,” and added that “some weird stuff happened” before telling this brief tale:

I can only imagine that innumerable celebrities have unknowingly and unwillingly caused accidents, but it must be a real trip to witness someone become so shocked at realizing you are nearby that they do something like cause a fender bender. It’s actually lucky for everyone involved that this happened at a time when traffic was basically at a standstill, otherwise the result could have easily been much worse.

As this occurred in the Los Angeles area, it makes sense that spotting the guy who actually played Joey (a character who’s said to have been inspired by a similarly named character on the sitcom, Blossom) would be relatively easy to do. However, LeBlanc said previously that the reach of not only one of the best NBC comedies but one of the best sitcoms of all time goes way further than even he suspected. The Emmy nominee once noted that he was recognized during a trip to the remote location of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, and there just aren’t many people who’ll have that kind of fame during their lifetime.

Since 2023, Ben Affleck has been working with Dunkin’ on Super Bowl ads that have kept TV viewers amused and confused, and the Oscar winner’s latest effort will no doubt match up with past merch-inspiring efforts like the DunKings. The company unveiled a video setting up what we’ll see on February 8, with Affleck rocking a thick-as-fahck Boston accent to pitch an idea to “Jen and Matt,” two names he’s quite used to saying. But it’s not what you think.

Guzzle whatever coffee you have near and check out the new ad teaser below. Anyone who can make it through the whole thing without impersonating Affleck’s accent either gets a free box of donuts or my temporary respect; whichever is cheaper to ship.

“Jen, Matt: I got a pitch for ya.” The ad kicks off with those two names but without ever showing anyone on-screen beyond Ben Affleck. Already that should have sent off warning bells that expectations would be upended here. Plus, the pitch here is about looking back to the past for something new, and that...

Well, I guess Affleck and JLo did go through two distinct relationship eras that would play into the Dunkin' ad's theme. As well, he and Matt Damon did just share the screen again in Netflix's action romp The Rip, and they do tend to reteam every so often. But let's refer to the biggest piece of evidence pointing to who else will actually be seen in the new ad.

Why I Don't Think Ben Affleck Is Referring To Jlo And Matt Damon

Back in November, word spread that Ben Affleck and Dunkin' would once again attempt to break the Internet, this time with a curated selection of sitcom stars whose runs took place during the very VHS era thats' being called back to in the ad above. Some of those cameos will come from stars of past NBC megahits like Cheers, Seinfeld, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and...Friends.

If that last show starting ringing connection bells, it's likely because two of its hugely popular stars include JENnifer Aniston and MATT LeBlanc, and we'll almost definitely discover that they're the two people Affleck is pitching to.

At the time, it was rumored that Aniston and LeBlanc would be joined by Jason Alexander, Ted Danson and Alfonso Ribeiro (as well as DunKing Tom Brady), and that the ads would center on a Good Will Hunting riff called "Good Will Dunkin'." Nobody saw that pun coming. In the initial report, it was stated that Ted Danson would be portraying Sam Malone, but it sounds like the fictional representation won't carry over to the Friends co-stars.

To be sure, however, just because Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc are allegedly in this ad technically doesn't make a JLo or Matt Damon cameo impossible. What better way to throw everyone off than by featuring other celebs with the same first names? I guess it depends on how much this creative team is prioritizing fan befuddlement.

Now if it were up to me...

My Wish For Who "Jen And Matt" Would Actually Be

• Mattrick Pahomes, a Bizarro universe version of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes
• Jenson Ackles

It's unclear whether or not Ben Affleck & Co. reinlisted the efforts of John Candy's son Chris Candy to direct the latest batch of ads, after previously bringing him into the mix without being aware of his parentage. But we'll hopefully find out more around the time when we see more of the ads on Super Bowl Sunday, which is happening on February 8 this year.

Don't forget to tune into NBC (or stream via Peacock subscription) to watch the game, or more importantly to anyone who has zero interest in this year's faceoff, the celebrity-filled ads.

For the past few years, Ben Affleck has been contributing to some of the funniest Super Bowl commercials with his star-studded, Boston-loving Dunkin’ ads, and it looks like that trend will continue in the new year. When Super Bowl LX airs on the 2026 TV schedule, the two-time Oscar winner will reportedly be peddling those holey breakfast pastries with the help of several stars from the best sitcoms of all time — including Friends’ Jennifer Aniston and Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander.

After another round of the super-popular DunKings commercials during the 2025 Super Bowl, Ben Affleck is allegedly doing a Good Will Hunting riff for the upcoming big game in Levi’s Stadium, which will be titled, naturally, “Good Will Dunkin’,” per Page Six. Some big names have apparently signed onto the project, including Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Jason Alexander, Alfonso Ribeiro, Ted Danson and Tom Brady.

What in the 1990s is going on here? Whatever it is, I really do hope we get to see a Friends reunion between Matt LeBlanc and Jennifer Aniston in these wildly successful Dunkin’ commercials. There’s no word on whether they’ll be playing their characters Joey Tribbiani and Rachel Green, but Ted Danson will allegedly appear as his character Sam Malone from Cheers.

It will be interesting to see how all of these actors come together, with Jason Alexander (aka Seinfeld’s George Costanza) and Alfonso Ribeiro (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s Carlton Banks) in the mix.

Tom Brady, meanwhile, obviously has a meaningful connection to Boston following a long career with the New England Patriots. He also previously appeared with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as a member of the fictional boy band The DunKings.

Details of the upcoming commercial are being kept super secret, sources say, as the production staff reportedly were required to put “tape over the cameras on their cell phones for added security” while shooting in Los Angeles.

It’s not surprising that the actor wants to churn out another doughnut-themed mini-movie, given how much he makes from the Dunkin’ commercials. Plus, fans get pretty excited, too, when Ben Affleck is seen sporting that Dunkin’ Donuts tracksuit.

The most recent offering, which came at Super Bowl LIX in February 2025, featured appearances from Donnie Wahlberg, Jeremy Strong, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Casey Affleck, Bill Belichick and Belichick’s girlfriend Jordon Hudson, who reportedly “forced her way” into the commercial.

I’m sure more surprises are in store this time around, but the actors who have already been allegedly announced are exciting enough for me. I can’t wait to see Ted Danson (presumably) back behind the bar as Sam Malone, and this will be Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc’s first time on-screen together since the Friends reunion in 2021 (available to stream with an HBO Max subscription).

Speaking of the Morning Show star, Jennifer Aniston has also appeared in Super Bowl ads in the past. She previously reunited with Friends co-star David Schwimmer in an ad for Uber Eats and continued to flaunt her comedic skills in a funny Skinny Pop commercial earlier this year.

We’ll definitely have our eyes peeled for what she, Ben Affleck and the rest are up to when the Super Bowl airs Sunday, February 8, on NBC and streaming with a Peacock subscription.

There are so many examples of popular TV shows that formed great spinoffs — for example, Breaking Bad spawned Better Call Saul; All in the Family gave us The Jeffersons and many others; and Young Sheldon came from The Big Bang Theory. It’s surprising, then, that Friends — one of the best sitcoms of all time — inspired just one series (a failed spinoff at that) in Joey. Turns out, things could have been different if not for one big “no” from Jennifer Aniston.

Joey, starring Matt LeBlanc, premiered four months after Friends’ “The Last One” in 2004. However, it turns out the New York Knicks-obsessed, food-loving soap opera actor was not the first character NBC wanted to center a spinoff around. According to executive producer Kevin Bright, it was Jennifer Aniston who was first approached. He told Collider:

It seems like if we were going to see Rachel’s story continued, David Schwimmer would also have to be involved, given the fact that Ross and Rachel reunited in the series finale. However, I can see a world where Rachel ended up taking the job in Paris anyway and there would be mention of Ross taking care of their daughter, Emma, back in the States.

We’ll file that in the “what could have been” category.

Matt LeBlanc was actually the most sensible actor to lead a spinoff, because Joey was the only character whose future didn’t really play into the Friends finale’s plot. Ross and Rachel got back together, Monica and Chandler had surprise twins (I will never buy this as plausible), and newlyweds Phoebe and Mike had plans to start their own family.

However, after Jennifer Aniston said no to a Rachel spinoff, there was apparently another option before they landed on Joey. Kevin Bright said:

That is kind of understandable; it had been 10 years of their lives, after all. So, in the end, they landed on a show that followed the life and career of Joey Tribbiani because, the EP said:

That statement seems to be lacking the enthusiasm one would hope for in a Friends follow-up, but maybe I’m reading too much into the tone because I know how things worked out.

For as much flack as Joey got from critics and fans alike, it’s surprising that the sitcom aired 46 episodes over two seasons before being canceled by NBC. None of the other five Friends stars reprised their role in that time to visit Matt LeBlanc’s character (so much for “I’ll be there for you,” am I right?), and outside of the 2021 Friends reunion special, the six actors never shared the stage again.

Would things have been different if Rachel had been the show that premiered in 2004? There’s no way to know, but at least we can continue to stream Friends episodes with our HBO Max subscription. Also, the first two episodes of Joey are available to stream on YouTube.

In the entertainment business, sometimes actors happen upon a role that, for better or worse, sticks with them for the rest of their careers, and there’s no getting around it. That’s definitely the case for Jennifer Aniston and the cast of Friends. Despite the actress currently starring in another hit series (The Morning Show’s fourth season is airing on the 2025 TV schedule), to some, she will always be Rachel Green. So, with that in mind, she opened up about what that means and bluntly stated the chances of a Friends reboot.

Jennifer Aniston Opens Up About The ‘Lifetime Commitment’ The Cast Has With Friends

Thanks to endless reruns and the ability to stream all 10 seasons with an HBO Max subscription — not to mention lovable characters and jokes that somehow hit just as hard the 86th time as the first — Friends remains as popular as ever, despite having been off the air for 21 years. Jennifer Aniston and her colleagues likely couldn’t have predicted the level of success that would come from the NBC sitcom, and she told Harper’s Bazaar the experience bonded them together like a family, saying:

What I would give to be able to see that text chain!

I love to hear that the Friends stars still keep in touch, and Jennifer Aniston said she even had dinner a few weeks ago with Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow. As with any tight-knit group, it sounds like they — along with David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and the late Matthew Perry — have had their ups and downs, but the six of them are bound together forever.

So will we ever get an update on the Central Perk coffee-drinkers?

Jennifer Aniston Shuts Down The Idea Of A Future Friends Revival

The six members of the main cast came together in 2021 for Friends: The Reunion, where they revisited the set, discussed whether Ross and Rachel were on a break and relived some of the show’s more iconic moments. As far as Jennifer Aniston is concerned, that’s all we’re going to get as far as a revival or reboot. She said since Matthew Perry’s death in 2022, there is no world where a sequel or remake could happen, giving a blunt, six-word response:

It’s tough to think that the six of them could never share the stage again, even if they wanted to, since the man who had the funniest lines as Chandler Bing drowned in his hot tub at age 54 after taking a large amount of ketamine.

However, even before Matthew Perry’s untimely death, the idea of a reboot or revival was shot down, and Courteney Cox also said the Friends cast wasn’t likely to do another reunion.

Friends fans will just have to settle for the glorious videos and photos the actors share when the besties do get together, as well as the knowledge that the actors have taken the words of their iconic theme song to heart and will always be there for each other.

Friends celebrated its 30^th anniversary in 2024 but, no matter how much time has passed, it remains one of the best sitcoms of all time. That's partly because of the show's lovably relatable characters and hilarious characters. There have been more than a few ridiculous episodes of Friends, and a handful of its wildest moments come courtesy of Matt LeBlanc’s Joey Tribbiani. And, as it turns out, Joey was actually inspired by a character from Blossom.

Four years before Friends premiered on NBC, the teen sitcom Blossom made its debut on the channel. Starring Mayim Bialik as the titular teen, the '90s network TV show lasted for a few seasons. The show actually ended not long after Friends debuted but, by that point, the series had made an impact, especially on LeBlanc. Joey Lawrence, who played Blossom’s older brother, Joey Russo, revealed to Us Weekly that LeBlanc would watch Blossom rehearsals and take notes on Lawrence’s portrayal:

A shared first name isn’t all that the two sitcom characters have in common. Both Joeys also aren't exactly the brightest within their groups of friends. They're also both known to be popular with the ladies, and they have specific catchphrases. Of course, the two Joeys aren't exactly the same, as they’re different ages and have different passions.

Still, the knowledge of Matt LeBlanc sitting in on tapings makes total sense, considering how similar his character is to Joey Lawrence's. I'd say that LeBlanc was smart to watch how Russo was performed, as Joey Tribbiani is arguably one of the best parts of Friends. During his interview, Lawrence went on to explain his approach to Russo and how it differs from LeBlanc's situation with Tribbiani:

It’s not unusual for an actor to take inspiration from something when fleshing out a character. As a fan, I loving learning the story behind Joey Tribbiani’s origins, and I think it serves a sweet piece of connective tissue between two fun shows. It's crazy to think that Friends' Joey may not have been played the way he was if not for Blossom's Joey. Of course, LeBlanc is a talented actor, and there's a firm chance he may have landed on a way to play his character without having seen the aforementioned teen sitcom.

Blossom also remains a favorite among fans to this day, so much so that the series very nearly got a reboot. A possible comeback for the series was discussed for a while, but it was canceled before seeing the light of day. Whether or not the project could be revived in some form is unknown but, in this era of reboots and revivals, I wouldn't be surprised if someone takes steps to jump over corporate tape to make it happen.

When it comes to the two Joeys, though, fans may have their favorites, but both Joey Lawrence and Matt LeBlanc both carved out their places in TV history. Anyone looking to watch Friends should grab an HBO Max subscription and stream it. Moving forward, I'm personally not sure I'll be able to watch Tribbiani without thinking about Russo.

It’s been over 20 years since Friends aired its final episodes and, as it remains one of the most rewatchable shows in TV history continues, behind-the-scenes stories continue to come out. We’ve gotten funny anecdotes — the epic prank pulled on Jennifer Aniston — as well as scary moments — Matt LeBlanc’s “genuinely frightening” injury. Now, Courteney Cox has revealed a sweet memory, as she recalled the pre-show ritual she and her co-stars had.

The six stars of Friends skyrocketed to fame in 1994, and going through that whole experience together — including famously negotiating their contracts as a group — formed a bond between them that continues today. It seems like that support for each other started pretty early, as Courteney Cox said at the Inc. 5000 conference (via People):

Somebody cue the Friends theme song, because wow! What a sweet way to center themselves before going out in front of the studio audience and showing their confidence in one another.

In addition to Courteney Cox, the ensemble included Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry, who passed away in 2023 in an accidental drowning caused by the “acute effects of ketamine.”

There are plenty of instances that prove the Friends co-stars’ pre-show huddle wasn’t just for show. For example, Matt LeBlanc helped Lisa Kudrow when she had problems playing Phoebe early on. Jennifer Aniston reached out to Matthew Perry about his addiction several times, as the actor explained before his death. The colleagues were together for a pretty significant decade of their lives, seeing each other through marriages, breakups, fertility issues and more.

It may have actually been director James Burrows who set the tone for the six actors to become lifelong pals. In his memoir, he recalled the fabled trip to Las Vegas that he treated them to ahead of Friends’ 1994 premiere, telling them this was their last shot at anonymity. He was right.

They stuck together after that, with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow eating lunch together every day (though they didn’t have the viral salad that many have attributed to Aniston). Aniston became the godmother to Cox’s daughter, and the actresses still shout out each other’s birthdays and even get together every once in a while. Also, while there’s probably no pre-show huddle anymore, the actors have often made cameo appearances on each other’s projects.

Given how much the Friends actors make in residuals each year, they probably don’t even need to keep working; however, the actresses are all involved in some highly anticipated projects. Courteney Cox will reprise the role of Gale Weathers in Scream 7, set for release on the 2026 movie calendar. Lisa Kudrow also has big things happening next year, as it was recently announced she’ll return for a third and final season of The Comeback, and Jennifer Aniston will also return to the small screen as executive producer and star of The Morning Show Season 4.

While we wait for these to happen, we can always relive the days of yore (or yesteryear) by streaming all 10 seasons of Friends with an HBO Max subscription and imagining the sweet pre-show huddle that came before.

With Friends turning 30 years old in 2024, the always excellent Lisa Kudrow and her famed co-stars have reflected quite a bit on heading up one of the biggest TV shows of all time. Though for all the mega-success and pleasure that the Must See TV sitcom delivered, it wasn’t always the easiest fit for Kudrow as an actor, since playing a ditzy character doesn’t come so naturally to non-ditzy people.

Kudrow has shared previously that other jobs since Friends have paled in comparison to having “won the lottery” with her five co-stars, but she sometimes struggled with playing a character who exists on such a different and kooky wavelength. Speaking with White Lotus Season 3 standout Parker Posey for Variety, Kudrow was asked if the sitcom process felt akin to a sport at the time, and the actress addressed that despite all the positives, getting into Phoebe’s headspace presented the biggest challenge. In her words:

That take is totally understandable, since there are so many shows out there that feature quirky Phoebe-esque characters who feel far more like cartoonish caricatures than real people. So it's a testament to Kudrow's talents that she was able to ground her performance in a way that made it easy to understand why she'd be a constant presence in everyone else's lives. (Except for twin sister Ursula, of course, but that's a different convo.)

Kudrow talked about a point in the early seasons when she struggled over thinking she wasn't doing enough in the role, which sparked a sweet reaction from co-star Matt LeBlanc:

Now, for the most part, one can assume that LeBlanc's intentions were completely genuine and kind-hearted. And that he only meant to imply that Lisa Kudrow was such a natural talent that she embodied any role she took on, as opposed to him saying, "You're naturally a nutty woman."

But even if that was the point, Kudrow still felt there was something slightly off, in that she felt like she needed to put more of a measurable effort in, which is what ended up hurting her the most during Friends' run. As she put it:

We often do hold ourselves to the highest standards, even when others don't, so it's good to know that Lisa Kudrow was able to settle into portraying Phoebe with more ease as time went on, allowing for the day when her character would get married to Paul Rudd, er, to Crap Bag, er, to Mike.

Lisa Kudrow went on to play characters who were surprisingly even more uncomfortable than Phoebe, from The Comeback's Valerie Cherish to No Good Deed's Lydia Morgan, and hasn't ever seemed like she was struggling, so hopefully all of those feelings were shed and forgotten a long time ago.

For the past 30 years that we’ve been enjoying Friends — one of the best sitcoms of all time — a lot has been said about how often the six main characters sat around drinking coffee at Central Perk rather than working. Another big question should have been how they managed to stay in shape despite rarely working out. The magic of A.I. has now reimagined our Friends as gym rats, and fans have some pretty clever reactions, including a great Joey callback.

Over the course of its 10 seasons (which can be streamed with a Max subscription), we saw hints of the group working on their fitness. One of Phoebe’s most hilarious moments involved her and Rachel going for a run, and Monica was determined to help Chandler lose a few pounds in Season 5. This Instagram post, however, takes things to a whole other level with the A.I. Check it out:

Why does Rachel (or A.I.’s version of Jennifer Aniston) look like she went full beast mode with Kim Kardashian’s trainer? Meanwhile, it looks like Courteney Cox’s Monica is ready to star in her own action movie franchise.

Then there’s Joey. Friends fans know how much Joey liked to eat, and despite this A.I. image of Matt LeBlanc’s soap opera actor looking quite juiced, fans like @sr9el came to the comments of the above post to recall one Season 10 quote where, after being shamed by Rachel’s sister Amy (Christina Applegate in her iconic guest role) over some pizza, Joey shouted:

I mean, don’t you remember how contentious a relationship Joey had with his weights? (“Damn you, 15s!”)

The above quote from “The One Where Rachel’s Sister Babysits” pops up quite a few times under the A.I. post, but it was far from the only clever retort. Many people (including @sofiamelone_ and @ ___bad90s_) recalled “The One With the Ballroom Dancing,” where Chandler (Matthew Perry) tried to get out of his gym membership:

In this A.I. alternate universe, Chandler couldn’t leave Ross without a spotter, and Ross clearly couldn’t say no to Maria, the Lycra spandex covered gym treat. However, fans were a little weary of the powerful paleontologist, saying:

• That’s clearly Russ. – ashleygreen026
• That ain’t Ross that’s Russ – youngsavagemydude

A.I. certainly does have a way of making the characters look just a little bit off — much like David Schwimmer’s alter ego in Season 2’s “The One With Russ.” My favorite part of the Ross image is the picture of himself that’s eerily popping out of the picture frame behind him. Yikes.

Last but not least, there’s Lisa Kudrow’s Phoebe, who looks like she’s been doing a lot more than just running away from Satan (the neighbor’s dog). Instagram user @_cnnr_0818_ might have won the comments with this simple but effective edit to Phoebe’s name, writing:

There are definitely instances of the misuse of artificial intelligence, but sometimes the technology can be used for some frivolous fun, like imagining the Harry Potter cast as Grey’s Anatomy doctors or as stars of The Office.

If seeing Ross, Rachel, Joey, Chandler, Phoebe and Monica as gym rats has you craving re-runs, you can stream all 10 seasons on Max, including Friends’ most ridiculous episodes.

While not every TV show cast gets along as well off-camera as they do on screen, one of the things that made the Friends cast so special — and one of the best sitcoms of all time — is just how close the six actors were in real life. When Matthew Perry died in October 2023 in a drowning due to the effects of ketamine, his former co-stars were “utterly devastated,” saying they’d lost not just a castmate but a family member. As hard as the year has been for those closest to the Chandler Bing actor, an insider said there’s actually one positive aspect that’s come from it.

If we’re looking at the Friends characters, it was probably Lisa Kudrow’s Phoebe Buffay who was best able to find the silver lining in every cloud, and while that’s an admittedly tall order in this case, if there’s any good that Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc could take from Matthew Perry’s tragic passing at age 54, a source told Life&Style it’s this:

We’ve seen evidence of how close the six Friends leads have remained in the 20 years since its finale aired. Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox having dinner together, Lisa Kudrow getting lots of birthday love and all of them making cameo appearances on each other’s projects. Aniston even said she was texting with Matthew Perry the day he died.

However, it seems like the tragedy has only strengthened the bond of the five remaining cast members, and it sounds like now they’re keeping in touch pretty regularly. Lisa Kudrow even started rewatching Friends in Matthew Perry’s honor.

The actor who made us laugh so much as Chandler Bing even addressed how important they all were to each other during the Friends reunion in 2021 (available to stream with a Max subscription), saying that anytime they would run into one of the castmates at a party, “you apologized to the people you were with, but they had to understand you had met somebody special to you and you were going to talk to that person for the rest of the night.”

For someone who is being remembered as a man who embodied the “I’ll Be There for You” theme song, one would have to think Matthew Perry would be happy to know he was able to bring his friends together in this way. And if there are silver linings to be found, It’s also undeniable that the actor was able to help so many people by speaking candidly about his addictions. Perry will always be remembered for his role on Friends, but helping people was the legacy he hoped to leave behind.

In addition to streaming all 10 seasons of Friends on Max, you can continue to see the cast on new projects, and we’ve also compiled a list of the best Matthew Perry movies and shows to remember him by.

When you think about Matt LeBlanc’s portrayal of Joey Tribbiani on Friends — one of the best sitcoms of all time — you might recall his most hilarious quotes about food or the disgusting task of eating Rachel’s Thanksgiving trifle. David Schwimmer, however, has one not-so-fond memory. The actor who played Ross Gellar recalled one “genuinely frightening” incident that happened on the set of Friends that involved LeBlanc getting injured while shooting a scene.

David Schwimmer, who is set to star on the new season of Goosebumps on the 2025 TV schedule (streaming with either a Disney+ subscription or a Hulu subscription), recalled a pretty scary scene back when they were filming a Season 3 episode of Friends. In “The One Where No One’s Ready,” Joey and Chandler’s fight over a chair had quite a painful ending for Matt LeBlanc, as Schwimmer told EW:

If it weren’t for the fact that Matt LeBlanc was injured in the filming of that scene, it would actually be pretty funny that the characters’ childish argument ended in one of them getting hurt. Joey and Chandler (Matthew Perry) were being quite petty, with Joey stealing the chair cushions — “the essence of the chair” — when he went to get ready for Ross’ work event. He then realized that Chandler had hid all of his underwear and responded by putting on everything Chandler owned. “Could I BE wearing any more clothes?”

To have to see Matt LeBlanc hurt in such a way, however, must have been so unsettling for David Schwimmer and his co-stars — not only to see the dislocated shoulder, but to see how the injury affected LeBlanc. Schwimmer said he quickly called for help, continuing:

With Friends being one of the most rewatchable TV shows, some fans might not have realized that Matt LeBlanc actually hurt himself in that episode, but they likely remember the one that followed — “The One With the Jam.” At the beginning of that episode, Chandler is shown reacting to Joey supposedly dislocating his shoulder while jumping on the bed, thus explaining why his arm was in a sling for the rest of that episode.

More than two decades later, that’s one behind-the-scenes story that David Schwimmer hasn’t quite gotten over, as he emphasized:

If you want to relive one of David Schwimmer’s scariest moments from Friends (and Matt LeBlanc probably doesn’t love it either), all 10 seasons of Friends are available to stream with a Max subscription. You can also see Schwimmer when Goosebumps premieres on Friday, January 10 on Disney+ and Hulu.

It’s pretty amazing to me that after 30 years of being obsessed with Friends, there continue to be bits of trivia and behind-the-scenes antics I haven’t heard. As one of the best sitcoms of all time, Friends delivered hundreds of laughs over the course of a decade, but the stories behind many of those scenes are often just as hilarious. Take “The One Where Ross Got High.” I just learned the full story behind the filming of that Thanksgiving trifle scene, and what Matt LeBlanc actually ate was so much worse than Rachel’s dessert.

Joey Tribbiani said some funny things about food during the NBC sitcom’s run, but one of the most memorable scenes came in Season 6, when Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) accidentally combined two recipes to make a dessert that was half English trifle, half Shepherd’s pie. Matt LeBlanc once talked about that scene in an interview on The Graham Norton Show, setting up the scene where the gang is trying not to let Rachel know she messed up the dessert. The actor recalled:

Now it’s important to note here that David Schwimmer and the others — including two of Friends’ most beloved side characters, Jack and Judy Gellar — weren’t actually eating a dish of beef and custard. Matt LeBlanc said what the actors had was mostly whipped cream and bananas. But I’d take jam-covered peas and onions any day over what happened next. LeBlanc continued:

So rather than ingesting a savory dish combined with a sweet dessert, Matt LeBlanc was eating whipped cream and bananas that had been in David Schwimmer’s mouth.

That is simply nauseating. To make it worse (or better, if you’re the “ignorance is bliss” type), nobody said a word to LeBlanc or questioned him on it. In fact, it wasn’t until much later that he even learned the truth.

Matt LeBlanc went on to say that they included that whole situation in the Season 6 blooper reel (which is a special feature on the DVD set), and it was only when they showed that at the wrap party that he realized he’d gotten more than he bargained for with David Schwimmer’s leftovers.

Yuck, yuck, yuck. A lot of Friends lore has been reported over the years, but none of the tales makes me want to gag as much as this trifle backstory. If you want to check that scene out, or any others, all 10 seasons of Friends can be streamed with a Max subscription.

To this day Friends remains one of the best sitcoms of all time, and that's partly because each of the main six characters had their own uniquely hilarious personality traits. For Joey Tribbiani, who was portrayed by Matt LeBlanc, he was quite the ladies' man with his famous "How you doin'?" pickup line, but his love for food was also a big part of his character. Below are 32 of the funniest things Joey ever said about food.

"Pizza! We like pizza. Get out!"

Joey hired Carl, a fellow actor, to be his identical twin so he could take part in a medical trial for some extra cash. However, Carl continuously disappointed Joey by not being able to pull off his pickup line and then having the nerve to ask for cake, rather than one of Joey's favorite Italian delicacies.

"Remember when you were a kid and your mom would drop you off at the movies with a jar of jam and a little spoon?"

Who knew that Monica's jam-making hobby would strike such a personal chord with Joey? You can't blame Joey's mom, though. With eight kids to feed, I'd make them bring their own snacks to the movie theater too!

"Joey doesn't share food!"

It's bad enough that Joey wouldn't let his date steal a couple of french fries off of his plate, but to not let Ross and Rachel's daughter Emma eat one of his grapes? That's pretty intense.

"Two pizzas?!"

Several times throughout Friends, the gang refers to the "Joey Special," which is really just ordering two pizzas. When Monica, Chandler, and Joey traveled to London for Ross' wedding in Season 4, Joey got homesick when he learned that Phoebe and Rachel were back home ordering the Joey Special.

“Half the taste is in the smell. You’re sucking up all the taste units.”

In Season 5's "The One With the Ride Along," Joey's meatball sub smelled so good Chandler could taste it. But how dare Chandler waste all those good taste units by inhaling them into his nose? This was a sandwich so good Joey was willing to take a bullet for it. (He didn't have to, of course. He was just willing to.)

“Oh God, I want both! I want girls on bread.”

Joey's brain nearly broke in Season 10 when he was asked the hypothetical question of whether he'd rather give up women or food. He bounced back and forth before realizing it was just an impossible choice.

"So stupid ordering cheesecake, trying to be healthy."

Cheese = protein = nutrition, right? I love this logic because cheesecake does seem like it should be the healthier option on the dessert menu over a gooey chocolate cake. Too bad Joey didn't like the raspberry coulis on top, because the fruit adds a whole new food group!

“Is it my bologna sandwich?”

While it was funny enough that we learned in Season 4's "The One With the Fake Party" that Phoebe (a vegetarian) was craving meat while pregnant with her brother's triplets, it was even more hilarious to find out that Joey brought sandwiches with him into the shower. Wet bologna ... yum?

“Hang up. You get food poisoning just talking to that place. ... All right, I’ll have a sandwich.”

You don't have to ask him twice. The first time Monica accidentally dialed the deli rather than the couple she and Chandler had met on their honeymoon, Joey warned her not to eat from there. The second time the deli picked up, though, Joey couldn't resist the temptation.

"Great story, can I eat it?"

Hell hath no fury like a hungry Joey. After most of the gang was late for Phoebe's birthday dinner in one Season 9 episode, Joey couldn't have been less interested in hearing their excuses.

"All right, what are we having?"

In Season 7's "The One With All the Cheesecakes," Rachel and Chandler's obsession got so bad they were eventually eating cheesecake off the floor of the hallway. When Joey caught them, he did not react with judgment, but rather by pulling his own fork out of his pocket to see what all the fuss was about.

“Let me explain to you how the human body works. I have to warm up my stomach first. Eating chips is like stretching.”

After Monica warned Joey not to ruin his Thanksgiving appetite by eating chips before the big turkey, he gave her a little lesson in physiology.

"Here's where I win all my money back."

Las Vegas was apparently not very kind to Joey (just like it wasn't kind to Matt LeBlanc on the Friends stars' infamous trip to Sin City before the show premiered), but that's the beauty of an all-you-can-eat buffet, right? At least that seemed to be Joey's logic as he may have recouped all of his slot machine losses with scrambled eggs alone.

“All right, now, I'm gonna get back to my bucket. I'm only eating the skins, so the chicken's up for grabs.”

After Joey proved he was not guilty of the gross behavior that his friends had accused him of in Season 5's "The One With Ross' Sandwich," the man with the insatiable appetite proceeded to exhibit other disgusting habits, like eating just the skin off of the fried chicken and leaving the meat behind. I mean, I'm not saying that the skin's not delicious, but still.

“What’s not to like? Custard? Good. Jam? Good. Meat? Goooood.”

When the pages of the cookbook stuck together, leading Rachel to add beef sauteed with peas and onions to her traditional English trifle, most of the gang couldn't stomach the Thanksgiving dessert. Ross even said he thought it tasted like feet. Joey, however, found nothing to complain about.

“Where are you going? He said she wanted the shrew!”

Monica and Chandler’s argument wasn’t quite over when they showed up to the restaurant in “The One With Phoebe’s Birthday Dinner,” so when Monica angrily jested that her husband would order the smoked duck, Chandler countered by saying that she would have “the manipulative shrew.” The waiter offered to come back when they’d made real decisions, and Joey was clearly unaware that “shrew” wasn’t on the menu.

"You're wasting good pastrami!"

After Rachel made the humbling realization that she was turning into her father in the way she was teaching Joey how to sail, Joey experienced a similar moment when he shouted at Rachel for holding her sandwich in such a way that its contents were falling out. We all become our parents in some way, don't we?

“We're talking about whipped fish, Monica. I'm just happy I'm keeping it down.”

A rare instance of Joey talking not-so-positively about food came in Season 1, when Monica was preparing a tasting menu for a potential job and had her friends sample several different iterations of salmon mousse. When she expressed frustration that Joey couldn't tell her if "creamier" meant "better," he put it into perspective for her.

"You hung up on the pizza place? I don't hang up on your friends."

In Season 8's "The One With Ross' Step Forward," Rachel was really just calling the pizza place to see if the cute pizza delivery guy was working that night, so when Joey walked into the apartment, she quickly hung up. Maybe she should have lied about who she was talking to, because how dare she end the call without ordering a Joey Special?

"Mmm, noodle soup."

Sometimes it's astonishing that Joey Tribbiani makes his living as an actor. In Season 5 when he auditioned for a soup commercial, he was simply supposed to say, "Mmm, soup." However, when he was presented with noodle soup and not the tomato he'd rehearsed with, Joey was unable to keep himself from adding "noodle" to the line. Spoiler alert, he didn't get the job.

“Dinner for six for one. Well, you boys are about to see something really special.”

After waiting forever for everyone to get to the restaurant for Phoebe's birthday dinner, they all ended up leaving before their food arrived. All of them except Joey, that is, who seemed to relish the opportunity to eat all six meals. The servers and fellow diners seemed curious to see what happened next, as they stood around staring at the feast.

“Hey, no matter what happens with Ross and Emily, we still get cake, right?”

If the Internet was big enough to break back in 1998, Ross definitely did that in the Season 4 finale when he said Rachel's name at the altar instead of Emily's. Friends fans waited for nearly five excruciating months to find out what would happen with this wild love triangle in Season 5, and here is Joey, worried about the cake.

“Well, the fridge broke, so I had to eat everything.”

Never accuse Joey of being wasteful. When his refrigerator broke, rather than letting anything get thrown out, he saddled up and ate everything. We're talking cold cuts, ice cream, limes, and whatever abomination was in that brown jar.

“No, no. These are my Thanksgiving pants.”

Joey should have known better than to wear jeans to Thanksgiving. Denim has no give! Good thing Phoebe had given Rachel her old maternity pants. Now Joey can enjoy his turkey in comfort.

“Don’t you put words in people’s mouths. You put turkey in people’s mouths.”

Joey didn't take too kindly to Monica not wanting to cook Thanksgiving dinner in Season 10, especially when she used Chandler to deliver the message.

“Man, this is weird. You ever realize Cap’n Crunch’s eyebrows are actually on his hat?”

I have to admit, I never realized this until Joey pointed it out, and I have to disagree with Chandler that it's weirder that Cap'n Crunch is the captain of a cereal. His EYEBROWS are on his HAT!

“Hey, you’re having an affair. I’m chopping garlic. It’s a wacky world.”

After Joey found out his dad was cheating on his mom in Season 1, he took to the kitchen for a bit of therapeutic cooking. So when Joey Sr. asked his Italian son why he was chopping the garlic rather than crushing it, Joey Jr. had a pretty sarcastic response. This part of their exchange was cut for TV but aired in full on the Season 1 DVD collection.

"Here come the meat sweats."

I assume if you put down an entire 19-pound turkey in one sitting, you'd have the meat sweats too. This is actually really gross.

“Well, I mean, don’t waste it, it’s still food.”

Rachel didn't have to worry about spilling when she moved into Joey's place, but her new roommate definitely had no tolerance for wasting food. Even the forkful of spaghetti she dropped on the floor was worth saving, in Joey's eyes.

"I'm not even sorry."

Joey found himself in quite the pickle when his date turned his "no sharing food" policy back on him and wouldn't allow him to try her chocolate cake. When she excused herself to make a phone call, however, that cake didn't stand a chance, and apparently it was good enough that Joey had no regrets.

Peanut Butter Fingers

This isn't so much a quote from Joey as an action, but it's definitely one of his best food moments. He was supposed to be helping Monica narrow her wedding's appetizer menu down from 12 items to six. When Monica got the list back, he'd added three, and the bride-to-be foolishly asked, "What are peanut butter fingers?" Joey responded by pretending to dip his fingers into a jar of peanut butter.

“Just cut me a little sliver. A little bigger. Little bigger. What, you afraid you’re gonna run out? Cut me a real piece!”

Everybody knows dessert goes in a different part of your stomach than other food (that's some Joey logic right there if I've ever heard any), so even after eating so much turkey on Thanksgiving, Joey wasn't about to skip dessert. He thought he just wanted a little taste but changed his mind when he saw what Monica was slicing for him.

Friends is considered one of the best sitcoms of all time, and it really did offer the roles of a lifetime to Jennifer Anison, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer back in 1994. While the actors will forever be associated with those characters, they have accomplished far more than portraying, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross. Here are 32 other movies and TV shows that feature the main cast of Friends.

The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

When Ryan Murphy tackled O.J. Simpson's trial for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, many were surprised that David Schwimmer was cast as Robert Kardashian. However, Schwimmer's portrayal of Simpson's best friend and attorney was praised by Kim Kardashian, who said it was "just done so well."

The Comeback

In Lisa Kudrow's first big TV role post-Friends, she starred as Valerie Cherish on HBO's The Comeback. The concept was actually pretty meta, featuring an actress (Valerie) joining a series in a humbling (and often cringeworthy) attempt to recapture the fame she'd previously found on another sitcom — all while a camera crew documents her journey for a fictional reality show.

Lost In Space

Around Friends' midpoint, Matt LeBlanc took some time to star in the 1998 sci-fi adventure Lost in Space. He plays Major Don West, a hotshot fighter pilot who is part of the crew that gets lost while attempting to lead a planet-wide emigration from a dying Earth.

Scream

Courteney Cox has found fame on several projects outside of the famed NBC sitcom, but arguably her next-most-recognized character after Monica Gellar is Gale Weathers in the Scream franchise. The cut-throat journalist holds the distinction of being the only main character to appear in every film through Scream VI, but thankfully Gale's infamous bangs did not survive all the sequels.

Fools Rush In

Matthew Perry may have had some hilarious lines as Chandler Bing, but he had some good moments outside of his and Joey's apartment as well. Amongst Perry's best movies is the romantic comedy Fools Rush In, which also stars Salma Hayek in a story of a would-be one-night-stand resulting in a pregnancy and the couple's efforts to make a marriage work despite having just met.

The Morning Show

Jennifer Aniston and her Friends sister Reese Witherspoon reunited in 2019 to executive produce and star on The Morning Show on Apple TV+. The workplace drama tackles issues straight from the headlines, as Aniston and Witherspoon play news anchors who are often right in the center of the turmoil.

Better Nate Than Ever

Better Nate than Ever is a coming-of-age story and celebration of musical theater, as 13-year-old Nate sneaks off to New York to audition for a Broadway show. Once in the Big Apple, he enlists the help of his estranged aunt Heidi (Lisa Kudrow), who has dreams of the Great White Way herself.

Dirt

Three years after Courteney Cox bid goodbye to Monica Gellar, she joined the cast of FX's Dirt as Lucy Spiller, the editor-in-chief of a sleazy tabloid. The show ended after two seasons, doomed by the 2007 writer's strike, a timeslot change, and other factors, but fans did get to see a fun guest appearance by Jennifer Aniston.

17 Again

In 17 Again, Matthew Perry plays 37-year-old Mike O'Donnell, who loses his job and is on the brink of divorce from his high school sweetheart Scarlet (Leslie Mann). After an accident, Mike finds himself back in his 17-year-old body (portrayed by Zac Efron) with the chance to relive his high school experience and perhaps make some changes to ensure a happier future.

Picture Perfect

The Friends cast periodically took part in other projects during the 10 years that the sitcom aired on NBC, and 1997's Pitch Perfect was one of those for Jennifer Aniston. In the rom-com, she plays the advertising executive Kate, who lies and says she's engaged to Jay Mohr's Nick in order to make it look like her life is more stable than it is. The only thing missing from these complicated relationship dynamics was someone shouting, "We were on a break!"

The Pallbearer

It's pretty obvious why the Friends stars were tapped for so many romantic comedies in the '90s. David Schwimmer, for his part, took a break from Ross Gellar to play Tom Thompson in 1996's The Pallbearer. Tom is a struggling twentysomething who agrees to be a pallbearer for a former classmate who has died, despite not remembering him. A strange love triangle forms between Tom, his high school crush and his late friend's mother.

Mad About You

Friends fans know that Phoebe Buffay was a twin, with Lisa Kudrow pulling double duty as both Phoebe and Ursula on eight episodes. What people may not know is that Ursula Buffay was a fully formed character on Friends' fellow NBC Must-See TV offering, Mad About You. Kudrow appeared as Phoebe's ditzy counterpart alongside Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt in 24 episodes from 1992 to 1998.

Episodes

Five years after Matt LeBlanc's Friends spinoff Joey was canceled, the actor returned to the sitcom space on Episodes. LeBlanc plays a fictionalized version of himself — a charming but arrogant actor who signs onto the American remake of the British series Pucks. LeBlanc was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor during Episodes' run and won one of two Golden Globes for Best Actor that he was up for over those years.

Cougar Town

Premiering in 2009 and running for six seasons, Cougar Town stars Courteney Cox as Jules Cobb, a divorced woman in her 40s trying to reintegrate herself into the dating world. The role nabbed her a Golden Globe Award nomination in 2010, and Friends fans were surely delighted to see cameos from Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry.

The Odd Couple

In one of Matthew Perry's final TV roles, the man most famous as Chandler Bing took on another iconic comedic character in The Odd Couple's sloppy Oscar Madison. He starred in the CBS adaptation opposite Thomas Lennon, who played the obsessively clean Felix Unger. Sounds like he and Monica Gellar would have gotten along.

Cake

Jennifer Aniston has proven over the years that her talents stretch far beyond the spoiled Rachel Green, and her performance in 2015's Cake earned both critical praise and a Golden Globe nomination. The actress plays Claire Bennett, a woman who abuses pain medication to deal with the physical and emotional effects of the car accident that killed her son. After the suicide of a woman in her chronic pain support group, Claire forms a bond with her husband and son.

Romy And Michele's High School Reunion

In one of the best movies about female friendship, Lisa Kudrow stars alongside Mira Sorvino in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. Ten years after graduating, Romy and Michele are roommates who haven't made much of their lives, but they decide to return to high school with fake stories of success in order to face the ex-classmates who bullied them. This 1997 comedy is a cult classic and features a great cast, not to mention an iconic dance from Alan Cumming.

Top Gear

Taking a step away from scripted TV, Matt LeBlanc got to show off his expertise as a car enthusiast when he signed on BBC's Top Gear as a co-host from 2016 to 2019. Even shooting episodes of this show abroad, LeBlanc wasn't able to escape the grasp of Joey Tribbiani, as he has said he once encountered a Moroccan group living in caves far from civilization who, upon seeing him, called him Joey and affected an accent to say, "How you doin'?"

Shining Vale

Courteney Cox has established herself both as a comedic actress on Friends and a scream queen in the Scream movies, and in the 2022 Starz series Shining Vale, she gets to show her expertise in both genres. In the horror comedy series, Cox plays Pat, who is convinced that something is going on in her dysfunctional family's home, with terrible things having taken place in the past.

Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip

In 2006 following the end of Friends, Matthew Perry signed on to Aaron Sorkin's NBC dramedy Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. The series depicted the behind-the-scenes antics of a live sketch comedy show similar to Saturday Night Live, but it was strangely made to compete with 30 Rock, a comedy with a very similar premise, which premiered on NBC only a month after Perry's project. Studio 60 was canceled after its first season.

Office Space

Office Space is considered one of the most Gen X movies of all time, and Jennifer Aniston perfectly embodies that spirit in her role as Joanna, the waitress who gets fed up for her lack of enthusiasm and flair.

Band Of Brothers

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg teamed up for the powerful miniseries Band of Brothers, which was based on the nonfiction book by Stephen E. Ambrose and premiered on HBO on September 9, 2001. David Schwimmer was in the midst of his stint on Friends but found time to portray Herbert Sobel in the World War II saga that followed soldiers preparing to fight in one of the biggest military conflicts of all time.

Web Therapy

Years before telehealth was a common and necessary thing, Lisa Kudrow tackled the subject in her web series-turned-Showtime-show, Web Therapy. The actress portrays therapist Fiona Wallice, who offers abbreviated sessions to her clients via the Internet. The show utilized a computer screen POV, and featured a number of fun cameos over its four seasons on Showtime, including appearances from Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer. If only Jennifer Aniston could have made it a clean sweep!

Man With A Plan

Matt LeBlanc found himself another sitcom in 2016, starring in Man with a Plan on CBS. He played Adam Burns, who must take on more responsibilities of raising his three kids when his wife Andi decides to go back to work. The series was largely panned by critics, who called it "bland and forgettable," among other things, but it still managed to air for four seasons.

Family Ties

Years before Monica Gellar would enter the realms of television history, Courteney Cox had a recurring role on Family Ties' sixth and seventh seasons. She played Lauren Miller, the girlfriend of Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox) in 19 episodes from 1987 to 1989.

Go On

Matthew Perry took yet another stab at NBC sitcom glory in 2012 with Go On, where he played Ryan King, a sports radio talk show host struggling with the recent death of his wife. He joins an emotional support group, where he's introduced to a motley crew of characters and personalities. Despite being previewed following NBC's Olympics coverage and getting a boost from The Voice as a lead-in, the series was canceled after a single season.

The Good Girl

Jennifer Aniston really got about as far away from Rachel Green as she could in 2002's The Good Girl. Aniston stars as Justine, an employee at a small-town big box store who seems stuck in an unhappy marriage. She engages in an affair with the new cashier Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal), which ultimately ends in tragedy on multiple levels.

The Whole Nine Yards

Approximately halfway through his stint as Chandler Bing, Matthew Perry teamed up with Bruce Willis for the 2000 crime comedy The Whole Nine Yards. Perry plays a dentist named Oz who discovers that his new neighbor Jimmy (Willis) is a highly sought-after former hitman. Oz decides to go to Chicago to inform the mob of Jimmy's whereabouts in order to collect a reward. The pairing of these actors in this movie led to Willis' memorable guest appearance on Friends as the father of Ross' college student girlfriend.

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

The same year that Friends debuted, Courteney Cox appeared alongside Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. She played Melissa Robinson, the publicist for the Miami Dolphins, as the zany animal detective is hired to find the team's dolphin mascot after an abduction.

Time Bandits

Lisa Kudrow has said it was "heaven" to work with Jemaine Clement, Iain Morris and Taika Waititi on the Apple TV+ adventure series Time Bandits. Kudrow portrays Penelope, the quasi-leader of a ragtag group of time-traveling thieves, in the 2024 adaptation of Terry Gilliam's 1981 film.

Lovesick

Ten years after Joey Tribbiani finally gave up his key to Monica's apartment, Matt LeBlanc starred in the rom-com Lovesick. In the 2000 movie, he portrayed Charlie Darby, a man who can't find love because of a psychological condition. He must figure out how to overcome this when he meets the girl of his dreams. The film was not well-received by critics, but Friends fans might find something to like in LeBlanc's performance.

The Break-Up

Ironically, The Break-Up inspired a real-life romance between its doomed couple, Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. The 2006 rom-com sees Gary and Brooke end their relationship but remain roommates, as neither agrees to move out. It's funny. It's awkward. It's ultimately a little heartbreaking.

As the investigation into the death of Matthew Perry remains ongoing, the actor’s longtime Friends co-star Lisa Kudrow is remembering the good times. She recently shared that she has been rewatching the beloved comedy series in honor of the late actor, and she has a lot of sweet things to say about the sitcom in retrospect.

Kudrow played Phoebe Buffay alongside Matthew Perry’s Chandler Bing for 10 seasons and 236 episodes of Friends. Here’s what Kudrow recently said about how she’s looking back at her friend:

Kudrow got to experience all our favorite Friends moments in real-time, but now she is getting the chance to see the episodes we’ve seen over and over, and perhaps attach to those episodes that really made us Matthew Perry fans. While Lisa Kudrow spoke to THR about her time watching one of the best sitcoms, she also said this:

I don’t know what’s more embarrassing, Kudrow watching her work in one of the best sitcoms of all time, or me wanting to rewatch the whole series (probably for the 20th time) with my Max subscription? While many of us can’t say we have hours and hours of recordings of a decade of our life to look back on, I’m sure many of us would spend some time looking back on it if we did.

It’s sweet to hear Kudrow is returning to Friends following the death of Matthew Perry, who sadly was on the list of actors we lost in 2023. He died back in October at the age of 54 from the acute effects of the anesthetic ketamine. This week, the law enforcement looking into his death told People the investigation is “nearing its conclusion” and believes “multiple people” should be charged for the actor’s death.

Following the Friends finale in 2004, the core cast has remained close. Jennifer Aniston even said that she was texting Perry the morning of his death. When speaking about his memory, Lisa Kudrow shared this as well:

Despite the sadness that comes with knowing that the Friends cast will never be completely reunited again and Perry’s life was cut too short, the actor certainly has left behind an incredible legacy, between Friends and being an advocate for others who struggled with addiction like he did.

Lisa Kudrow’s words about Matthew Perry came as the actress stars in a new series called Time Bandits created by Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement and Iain Morris. The fantasy adventure series premieres on the 2024 TV schedule for those with an Apple TV+ subscription on July 24.

It’s hard to believe that two full decades have passed since Matthew Perry spoke the final line on Friends — a joke about where the six core characters could go for a cup of coffee. As the 20th anniversary of “The Last One” approaches on May 6, it will be a bittersweet day, falling less than a year after Perry died at age 54. Sources say the surviving cast members still want to celebrate the milestone, and they are allegedly figuring out the most appropriate way to do that without their Chandler.

The six stars of Friends — Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry — all came together on-screen just one time after the 2004 series finale, for Friends: The Reunion (available to stream with a Max subscription). The knowledge that they can never do that again is reportedly weighing on the actors as they approach that 20-year milestone. According to an insider for US Weekly:  

Matthew Perry delivered some of Friends’ most hilarious quotes as Chandler Bing, and just like the sitcom couldn’t have existed without the statistical analysis and data reconfiguration expert, a formal reunion to mark the finale’s 20th anniversary wouldn’t be the same without Perry. 

The cast, however, is still in touch with each other “frequently,” the source reports. They have group chats and will get together one-on-one, with Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox apparently being in “constant contact.” The insider said Matthew Perry’s October 2023 passing was a wakeup call for the other five friends, explaining: 

The fact that they have Friends to thank for their success and the relationships formed through that shared 10-year experience isn’t lost on them, and that’s why they “most certainly” will be commemorating the May 6 anniversary. The source continued: 

The Friends cast paid tribute to Matthew Perry with a touching message after his death, and it will be interesting to see how they decide to handle this first big milestone fpr the show. 

If you want to honor the late actor, you can check out some of Matthew Perry’s best movie and TV appearances or relive some of Chandler’s best episodes. All 10 seasons of the sitcom can be streamed on Max (one of the best streaming services to purchase, per CinemaBlend staffers). 

Friends aired for 10 years on NBC — from 1994 to 2004 — and during that time the world experienced a lot of change. Inarguably, one of the things that affected our country the most over the course of that decade was the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. 9/11 affected every facet of our lives at that time, from politics to entertainment, and not surprisingly, that included the sitcom Friends, which was set in New York City. Specifically, a Season 8 episode involving Chandler Bing and Monica Gellar’s honeymoon had to be retooled in the aftermath of that day. 

While Friends takes place in New York, the 9/11 attacks were not woven into the show as a storyline, but subtle steps were still taken to honor New York’s first responders and the nearly 3,000 people killed that day. The episode “The One Where Rachel Tells…” also went through major rewrites due to jokes that many would not have found humorous at that time of our lives. Let’s take a look at what the script originally had in store and how it was altered to what we ultimately saw on TV. 

How Chandler And Monica’s Honeymoon Plot Was Changed After 9/11 

In the Season 8 episode that aired October 11, 2001 — exactly one month after the tragic attacks — Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) set off on their honeymoon. At the airport they encounter another newly married couple who are upgraded to the last first class seats (complete with access to the exclusive first class lounge) because they’re on their honeymoon. Chandler and Monica are bested again when they reach their destination, and the other couple are given the honeymoon suite, basically for arriving just seconds ahead of the newlywed Bings.

Later in the episode, Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) and Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) call Monica, lying to say there was a gas leak in her apartment in order to justify them busting down her door. This story would turn out to be relevant to the original story as well.

As originally written, there is no second couple. Chandler and Monica get the upgrade to first class; however, they never make it onto the plane to enjoy it. In that scene that never aired, Chandler — who is responsible for some of Friends’ most hilarious quotes — reads a sign that says jokes about aircraft hijacking or bombs are strictly prohibited, and then promptly tells a member of airport security: 

When pleading his case, Chandler proceeds to tell the authorities that their issue should be with the guy who has bombs, not the guy who jokes about bombs, reasoning that if he were actually carrying a bomb, he likely wouldn’t be joking about it. After they’re cleared to leave, that’s when Monica gets the call from Joey about the fake gas leak. When he asks if she’s sure it’s OK that they break down her door, Monica sarcastically responds:  

This, of course, lands them right back in the custody of airport security. Much of that dialogue made it into the final product, minus the above quote. While this version of the episode was never broadcast, the scenes were apparently included as bonus material on the UK’s Season 8 DVD release, per Business Insider, ultimately making their way onto YouTube. You can see the scenes in question in full below: 

While humor can be an important tool to help people sort through their emotions and even deal with grief, it’s easy to see why airing this version of Monica and Chandler’s story would have been seen as insensitive and tone deaf in the weeks following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.  

How Friends Paid Tribute To The 9/11 First Responders And People Of New York 

Some fans thought it was preposterous that a sitcom set in New York City wouldn’t acknowledge the events of September 11, 2001. Executive producer Kevin S. Bright has spoken about that, saying that at first the creative team wasn’t sure about the correct way to address it. In the end Bright said they thought the show would be most effective if it stayed in the comedy lane, telling Digital Spy: 

When Season 8 premiered on September 27, 2001, “The One After ‘I Do’” was dedicated to “The People of New York,” and small nods were made to the events of 9/11 throughout the season. There was now a flag hanging in Central Perk, for instance, and in “The One Where Chandler Takes a Bath,” Joey wore a T-shirt honoring Billy Burke, an NYFD fire captain who died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

The board hanging on Joey’s apartment door also could be seen nodding to New York and the fire department. In “The One With Monica’s Boots” — also from Season 8 — you can see a drawing of the Statue of Liberty, as well as “NYFD.”

Whether or not the showrunners were correct to address (or not address) 9/11 in the way they did can be debated, but it does seem like a good call that they restructured Chandler and Monica’s honeymoon story to leave out the jokes about hijacking a plane and bombs — especially with that episode airing just weeks after the Twin Towers fell. 

If you want to relive any of Friends’ 10 seasons — including the retooled version of “The One Where Rachel Tells…” the entire series is available to stream with a Max subscription. Be sure to also take a look at our 2024 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming soon. 

There was a time when music videos were as important as the radio in promoting the hottest artists and songs of the day. Back in the '80s and '90s, MTV was one of the most powerful cultural forces in the country, and that was reflected in how many stars you can spot in videos from the day. 

Sometimes, they were already huge stars, like Robin Williams and Chevy Chase, other times, they were actors looking to get their break and now, years later, we can marvel at their humble beginnings. This is a list of famous people in videos from the zenith of MTV highlights both.

Alicia Silverstone - "Cryin'"

Alicia Silverstone first got famous for starring in videos, specifically Aerosmith videos. The Clueless star appeared in three videos for the Boston rockers, the first for the song "Cryin'", then later showing up in the videos for "Amazing," alongside Dazed & Confused cast member Jason London. Silverstone's final appearance, and maybe the most famous video, was for the song "Crazy," alongside Steven Tyler's daughter, Liv Tyler. 

Courteney Cox - "Dancing In The Dark"

One of the most famous examples of a star getting her first break in a music video is, of course, Friends star Courteney Cox in the video for Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark." The video, which came out in 1984, was directed by Brian De Palma and, according to Cox, she was one of several women Springsteen could have picked out of the audience, and it was random that he chose her. What kismit! 

Cindy Crawford - "Freedom '90"

Director David Fincher, who has had quite an amazing career in film, started in music videos. One of those videos, George Michaels' "Freedom '90," was challenging because Michaels told Fincher he wasn't going to appear in the video. Fincher decided to cast a bevy of famous supermodels to lip-sync the song, including Cindy Crawford in a bathtub. 

Eva Mendes - "Miami"

In 1998, a young actress from Miami was cast in a video for the Will Smith song, "Miami." Eva Mendes had starred in one direct-to-video movie at that point and was that actress. It would be another three years before her breakout role in Training Day. It's a brief moment in the video, as she drove her convertible next to Smith's on the causeway to Miami Beach.

In 1993, Janet Jackson was on top of the world. Her fifth album, janet. was another huge hit, selling millions of copies, partly on the strength of the single, "That's the Way Love Goes." Little did anyone know at the time that one of the extras in the video would go on to a career that eclipsed even Jackson's, a then-unknown Jennifer Lopez. 

Matt LeBlanc - "Miracle"

Bon Jovi's "Miracle" is, let's be frank, not the New Jersey legends' best work. One thing they did get right was the casting for the video. Matt LeBlanc was a young actor and model just starting out on a career, so while his job is really only to look good in this video, he certainly does. It would be a few more years before America was introduced to his comedic chops too. 

Hugh Laurie - "Walking On Broken Glass"

By the time Hugh Laurie appeared in the video for Annie Lennox's "Walking on Broken Glass" in 1992, he was already very famous in the UK. It would be a few more years until the legendary TV show House would debut in the US, making Laurie a household name on both sides of the pond. John Malkovich also stars in the video, reminding fans of his role in Dangerous Liaisons. 

Angelina Jolie - "Wondering"

Angelina Jolie was a model in Hollywood from her teen years on, so it's no wonder she would have a few videos of her resume, including The Rolling Stones' video for "Has Anybody Seen My Baby," but it is surprising to see her in a video for the Athens, GA-based jam band Widespread Panic's song "Wondering" from 1993. Jolie also appears on the cover of the band's album Everyday, which includes "Wondering."

Zooey Deschanel - "She's Got Issues"

Zooey Deschanel is as successful in music, with her duo She & Him as she is on the big screen, so of course she has an early credit in a music video. Deschanel appears with fiery red hair in the video for "She's Got Issues" by The Offspring. 

Naomi Campbell - "Is This Love"

Bob Marley died over four decades ago, but his legacy is as big as ever, with the release of the biopic One Love in 2024. Back in the day, the reggae superstar filmed a video in London for his song "Is This Love" featuring a couple of local kids, including a 7-year-old Naomi Campbell!  

Macaulay Culkin - "Black Or White"

Michael Jackson redefined what a music video could be with "Thriller" and after that, he often released short films that were much more than just a song, and often they had big stars in them. For "Black or White" in 1991, MJ brought in Macaulay Culkin and George Wendt to play father and son, for example. 

Christina Hendricks - "One Hit Wonder"

Long before Christina Hendricks hit the big time with her role in Mad Men, she was a model and struggling actor in the '90s. One of her earliest roles, way back in 1998, was in the video for "One Hit Wonder" by Everclear. Luckily for all of us, that wasn't her only hit. 

Matthew McConaughey - "Walkaway Joe"

Alright, alright, alright, we'll concede that Dazed and Confused is what made Matthew McConaughey famous, but before that, he appeared in Trisha Yearwood's video for her hit "Walkaway Joe," playing the titular character of the song. 

Wesley Snipes - "Bad"

For the second single, "Bad" from his album of the same name, Micheal Jackson teamed up with Martin Scorsese to make an 18-minute short film for the video. In the video, Jackson famously has a dance-off with his rivals in a New York subway station. One of the baddies is none other than Wesley Snipes, who only had a few credits under his belt previously. 

Patrick Swayze - "Rosanna"

Toto's song "Rosanna" is famously about Rosanna Arquette. Less well-known is that if you watch the video closely, you'll notice a familiar face as one of the West Side Story-like dancers. Patrick Swayze, one year before his big break in The Outsiders is one of the dancers. In an even cooler bit of trivia, another one of the uncredited dancers in the video is Cynthia Rhodes, who would co-star as Swayze's first dance partner, Penny, in Dirty Dancing. 

Elijah Wood - "Forever Your Girl"

Elijah Wood has been working in Hollywood forever. He started as a child actor in films like Back to the Future II and The Good Sun, but before those even, he had a part in Paula Abdul's video for "Forever Your Girl" in 1989. 

Chevy Chase - "You Can Call Me Al"

Chevy Chase was one of the biggest stars on the planet in 1986 when he starred in the video for "You Can Call Me Al" with his buddy Paul Simon. It is, no lie, one of Chase's best performances, and it's impossible not to crack up at his facial expressions and physical comedy in the video. 

Johnny Depp - "Into The Great Wide Open"

Johnny Depp has always wanted to be a rock star, so it was a great move by Tom Petty to get him to play the part of one in the video for "Into The Great Wide Open" in 1991. The video also stars the legendary Faye Dunaway and Gabrielle Anwar. 

Jennifer Connelly - "I Drove All Night"

The late, great Roy Orbison found almost as much fame after he died as he found in life. Two albums of all-new songs were released posthumously and one song, "I Drove All Night," released in 1992, featured Jennifer Connelly alongside Jason Priestly, in the video, along with Orbison in grainy images of an old TV appearance. 

Kirsten Dunst - "I Knew I Loved You"

Does anybody remember the band Savage Garden? The Aussie duo had a string of huge hits in the late '90s, including the song "I Knew I Loved You" which features Kirsten Dunst as a woman on a subway with whom the lead singer, Darren Hayes, is in love. 

Robin Williams - "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Bobby McFerrin's 1988 song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" has to be one of the most surprising #1 hits of all time. The song was huge when it came out, and went on to win three Grammys. Someone must have had an inkling though, because superstar Robin Williams co-stars in the video with McFerrin. 

Kim Basinger - "Last Dance With Mary Jane"

Tom Petty made some legendary videos during his career, but the strangest has to be the one for "Last Dance With Mary Jane" which features Kim Basinger playing a corpse, dressed up as a bride. Great song, but a very weird video.

Keanu Reeves - "Rush, Rush"

1991 was a big year for Keanu Reeves. Not only did he star in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and Point Break, but he also appeared as a James Dean-like character in the video for "Rush, Rush" by Paula Abdul. 

Eddie Murphy - "Do You Remember The Time"

In case you've forgotten just how huge Michael Jackson was in the early '90s, remember there was a time he could premiere a video on MTV, BET, and Fox all at the same time. The video starred Jackson, of course, along with Eddie Murphy and Iman as ancient Egyptian royalty. Magic Johnson also appeared. 

Katie Holmes - "Tongue Tied"

Katie Holmes' career was just starting to take off in 1999 with her starring turn on Dawson's Creek. She also found some time to appear in the video for the song "Tongue Tied" by pop punk band Eve 6. It's not the last time Holmes has appeared in a video, either. A year later, in 2000, she starred with Micheal Douglas and others in a Bob Dylan video. 

Winona Ryder - "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child"

By far the award for the strangest appearance on this list goes to Winona Ryder in the video for Mojo Nixon's song "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child." Leave it to the late Nixon for coming up with the most ridiculous premise for a song, then landing a star like Ryder to star in the video in 1989, the same year she appeared in Heathers. 

RuPaul - "Love Shack"

If one were to guess which 1980s video to expect a RuPaul appearance, the smart money would be a B-52's video. That's exactly what happened in 1989 when RuPaul popped up very briefly in the video for "Love Shack" as a dancer and partygoer. He wasn't close to famous yet, but he was good friends with the band and he fits right into the campiness of the video. 

Benicio del Toro - "La Isla Bonita"

Benicio del Toro made his big screen debut in 1988 in Pee Wee's Big Top, but a year earlier, he was one of the extras in the video for Madonna's "La Isla Bonita." He is way in the background and can only be clearly seen in one shot, but when you watch the video, it's unmistakenly del Toro. 

Liv Tyler - "Crazy"

According to Liv Tyler, she didn't meet her biological father, Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, until she was eight, and didn't know he was her father for another few years. Still, by the time she starred in the video for "Crazy," they had developed a healthy relationship, and the video, in which she co-stars with Alicia Silverstone, launched her career.

Captain Lou Albano - "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"

Cyndi Lauper was one of the biggest breakout stars of early MTV and for good reason. The low-budget video for her debut single, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" featured a quirky cast that included her mother (playing her mother), her lawyer, and wrestling star "Captain" Lou Albano as her father. It's a video as fun as the song and it was played on repeat in those early MTV days. 

John Goodman - "Wild Wild Life"

The song "Wild Wild Life" by The Talking Heads was part of their soundtrack for the David Byrne-directed film True Stories. For the video, he recruited some of the people who appear in the film, including John Goodman, who lip-syncs along with the song in a karaoke bar. 

LeVar Burton - "Word Up"

LeVar Burton first found fame as Kunta Kinte in Roots, one of the most memorable performances by any actor, ever. About a decade later, between Roots and Star Trek: The Next Generation, Burton popped up in the video for "Word Up" by Cameo, playing a police officer trying to arrest the band. 

One video we left off this list because it's just too big a list on its own is the video for Ghostbusters which, in addition to the stars of the film also includes Chevy Chase, Danny Devito, Peter Falk, Al Franken, John Candy, and more. It's all too much to add to his list of some of the coolest appearances of stars in music videos! 

Over the 10 years that Friends aired from 1994-2004, the six main cast members formed a tight bond, and it’s so much fun to see that those friendships are still active today. The former co-stars continue to bless us with glimpses into those relationships, including Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer’s fun shower exchange and birthday tributes full of throwback pics and Friends bloopers. Aniston recently unearthed an old Matt LeBlanc interview, and fans of their famed sitcom were having a blast with the Joey references in the comments.

Matt LeBlanc has found success in other sitcoms since the end of Friends — namely Episodes and Man with a Plan — but no role has struck a chord quite like Joey Tribbiani, and fans seemed to find some similarities between the actor and the character in this interview clip that Jennifer Aniston shared on Instagram: 

Matt LeBlanc divulged that his “absolute favorite thing in the world to do is nothing.” He said he was “great at it,” too, because it’s so easy. Jennifer Aniston, who famously played Rachel Green on Friends, was feeling that sentiment, as she said, “Same,” in the video’s caption.

The comparisons to Joey Tribbiani were immediate, with @danyajoedo’s comment drawing over 10,000 likes:

That wasn’t the only Friends fan who thought of the meatball sub-loving Days of Our Lives actor. Other comments included: 

• Just like Matt Perry was Chandler in real life, Matt LeBlanc is Joey in real life!😂❤️ – kris_sashank
• Love him 😂. I miss Friends. ❤ – bitsietulloch
• I never get tired of watching Friends. Matt in real life is actually Joey 😂 – queenpassion71
• So much Joey Tribbiani in this ❤️ – the_jordanmichael
• Matt being Joey Tribianni – marcelajaureche
• Matt’s so Joey and Joey’s so Matt ❤ – jelopezdeiana
• Could it be anymore Joey? – rusthy_iris_vannas

Joey Tribbiani was known for a few things on the classic sitcom. For one, he had a way with the ladies, and Matt LeBlanc could deliver his character’s pickup line, “How you doin’?” with such perfection he even blew Reese Witherspoon’s mind. Joey was also a little dim-witted, enjoyed a good meal and loved to hang out with Chandler (Matthew Perry) and watch Baywatch. 

In fact, a number of comments on Jennifer Aniston’s post included images of Joey and Chandler lying back in their recliners to enjoy some television.

In 2021, the cast of Friends came together as a group on-screen for the first time since the show had ended in 2004 (the emotional Friends: The Reunion, which can be streamed with a Max subscription), and afterward, Jennifer Aniston confirmed in early 2023 that they all continued to stay in touch with each other. She even said she was texting with Matthew Perry on what turned out to be the day he died.

On October 28, 2023, Matthew Perry was found dead in the hot tub at his home in California. It was determined through an autopsy that he died of “acute effects of ketamine.” Matthew Perry penned a tribute to his on-screen roommate, writing that it was “with a heavy heart,” he said goodbye. 

As much of a blow as that was to the actors, it likely only reminded the Friends stars of how much they meant to each other, and fans continue to cherish the small moments between them like Jennifer Aniston’s post. All 10 seasons of Friends can be streamed on Max, and be sure to check out our 2024 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming soon. 

Over the years, Alison Sweeney has become one of the most recognizable faces on Hallmark, with dozens of credits that include two The Wedding Veil trilogies, several Murder, She Baked mysteries and most recently Love & Jane — part of Hallmark’s “Loveuary” tribute to Jane Austen. To many fans, though, Sweeney will always be Sami Brady from Days of Our Lives. The NBC soap opera has been a huge part of the actress’ career, and in a recent conversation with CinemaBlend, the actress recalled how much fun she and her co-stars had watching their show depicted through Joey Tribbiani on Friends.

Alison Sweeney has appeared on more than 3,600 episodes of Days of Our Lives, dating back to 1987, and apparently when a fictional version of the soap opera became part of Friends’ storyline in the ‘90s — with Joey (Matt LeBlanc) being cast as Dr. Drake Ramoray — it was quite a treat for the show’s real-life stars. I spoke with Sweeney ahead of her new Hallmark movie’s premiere, and she fondly recalled watching Friends satirize her show. In Sweeney’s words: 

Soap operas are known for their melodrama, and the version of Days of Our Lives that was portrayed on Friends was just as exaggerated, if not more, than the actual series on NBC. Joey’s character was involved in a number of fun plots, including Drake undergoing a brain transplant and the fictional surgeon having to deliver twins, “but only one of them is mine.” One can see how Alison Sweeney and her co-stars might have enjoyed such a humorous take on their show.

The actress even guest-starred in one Friends episode — Season 7’s “The One With Joey’s Award” — but not as Sami Brady. Instead Sweeney played fictional Days of Our Lives actress Jessica Ashley, who scoffed after winning a Soapy Award, deeming it less prestigious than her other trophies. Her response upset Joey, who had desperately wanted to win in his own category, and he ended up stealing her trophy. Sweeney “loved the whole storyline,” saying: 

It was certainly a fun episode to watch, and it’s made even better by knowing how beloved Dr. Drake Ramoray was to the real Days of Our Lives cast. If you want to relive Alison Sweeney’s guest role on Friends, all 10 seasons of the sitcom can be streamed with a Max subscription, and you can catch her latest movie Love & Jane next at 6 p.m. ET Saturday, February 24, on Hallmark. 

There are so many incredible episodes of Friends that highlight Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc’s dynamic duo Chandler and Joey. However, when I think about specific moments starring these two that made me cry with laughter, one of the first scenes that comes to mind is when Joey passionately yells at his friend while wearing all of his clothes: “Could I be wearing any more clothes?” This instance helped cement the “Could I be” bit in Friends history, and it turns out the way they pulled it off is just as entertaining as the episode the bit was featured in. 

In the early days of Friends, there were a few instances where Matthew Perry’s character started passionate statements with “Could I be.” While used unironically at first, eventually it became the main way the cast of Friends mocked, impersonated and made fun of Chandler. Eventually, this led to Joey’s heavily clothed and hilarious moment in Season 3, however, before we get to that, let’s talk about the bit’s origins.

A Brief History Of Chandler’s “Could I Be Joke”

Going back to basically the start, in the episode “The One With The Butt,” which is the sixth episode of Season 1, Chandler is having a conversation with Rachel, Ross and Pheobe about a girl he likes but doesn't think he can ask out. While Rachel encourages him to do it, he says:

Ross then confirms that she is out of his league, and Pheobe tries to encourage her friend to shoot his shot. 

Also, memorably, in Season 1, Episode 18 – “The One With All The Poker” -- Chandler is conversing with Ross about a crush, and says:

While the “be” isn’t in there, the inflection is the same. From then on, while Matthew Perry’s character does say “Could I be” from time to time, more often than not the phrase is used to mimic Chandler. Every character gets their time to shine when it comes to playing out this bit – from Monica using it to hide the fact that Chandler is with her to Pheobe impersonating him, even Perry used it when he’s making fun of himself. 

However, arguably the best use of this joke came during Joey’s iconic moment in “The One Where No One's Ready.” In the scene, he walks into Rachel and Monica’s apartment wearing all of Chandler’s clothes, and he says one of the most iconic quotes from Friends:

Of course, this happened because Chandler hid Joey’s underwear, and then Joey said he was “going to do the exact opposite” to his roommate. That, obviously and logically, meant putting all of Chandler’s clothing on. However, there’s more to this story than Matt LeBlanc simply putting on all of Matthew Perry’s costumes to pull this bit off. They had to construct a special costume for him.  

The Story Behind Joey’s 'Could I Be Wearing Any More Clothes' Costume

When Joey emerges wearing all of Chandler’s clothes, he’s piled them on so high that the jackets he’s wearing don’t stand a chance of zipping and his arms can’t rest totally at his sides. He piled on sweats, shorts, ties and tons of shirts, and the look was hysterical – especially since he passionately burst into the apartment wearing this silly ensemble. The commitment to the bit of impersonating Chandler along with the absurdity of putting on all of his clothing is a big reason why this is one of the most iconic instances of the “Could I be” joke. 

Practically speaking though, they didn’t actually have Matt LeBlanc put on all of Matthew Perry’s wardrobe (although that would have been a fun story too). When Debra McGuire, the costume designer on Friends, spoke to Metro she revealed that they constructed a special costume for Joey’s big moment. She said: 

So, they basically made one giant costume of connected clothing that LeBlanc could get in and out of relatively easily. This made it so he didn’t have to spend hours layering on shirt after shirt and pants after pants. Instead, he could simply step in and out of the outrageous outfit.

Continuing to describe the mechanics of the costume, McGuire explained that it opened in the back, and they were able to Velcro LeBlanc into it. She said:

It truly was an “amazing” construction job, and learning how into the bit the costume designers were honestly made the moment even funnier. The reason why this joke works so well is because LeBlanc fearlessly commits to the bit as he exaggerates his impression of Chandler while wearing a hilarious amount of clothes. 

Like the story behind how they switched apartments on Friends, this tale shows why the series became one of the best sitcoms of the ‘90s, and why it’s still beloved today. This cast and crew were creative and resourceful, and because of it, they were able to create hysterical moments like the time when Joey barged into Rachel and Monica’s apartment to yell at Chandler: “Could I be wearing any more clothes?”

If you want to go back and watch this legendary moment from Friends, you can stream “The One Where No One's Ready” as well as the entire series with a Max subscription. 

Whether it's doing stunts or just freak accidents, even the biggest Hollywood stars aren't immune to getting injured on set. While we mostly think of stars chilling in their posh trailers while their stunt people take the biggest risks, sometimes it's the celebrities themselves who get the worst of things. Here is our list of big stars who have been injured while filming, and what happened after. 

Daniel Craig 

You can't just pick one of the James Bond movies that Daniel Craig was injured during the filming of, because the truth is, he's been injured a lot. In No Time To Die, it was his ankle, which required surgery and he was off-set for a couple of weeks recovering. In Casino Royale, he knocked out two teeth filming a fight scene. In Quantum of Solace, he injured his shoulder, and in Spectre, it was his knee. It's easy to see why Craig has retired from the role, filming James Bond movies can be dangerous. 

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise famously does many of his most intense and dangerous stunts himself. It's become his brand, but it doesn't mean he doesn't get hurt. In fact, while filming Mission: Impossible – Fallout, it was one of his more innocent stunts, jumping from building to building, that caused an injury when Cruise broke his leg landing the jump. Filming halted for a few months while Cruise recovered, but the footage was included in the movie. 

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford has a long history of getting injured on movie sets. Maybe the most high-profile time was when a door fell on his leg while shooting Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He broke his leg and director JJ Abrams injured his back helping pull the door off the Han Solo actor. 

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone is one of the premiere action stars of the last 50 years, and as such, he's been injured a few times on set doing stunts. The worst, according to Stallone, came while filming the boxing match with Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in Rocky IV. Lundgren hit him so hard in the chest at one point that it caused his heart to swell and he ended up in intensive care for eight days. 

Isla Fisher 

One of the best scenes in Now You See Me is when Isla Fisher's character performs the underwater escape trick. It wasn't so great for the actress though, as she nearly drowned during the filming. Luckily a stuntman was there to flip the safety switch and save her. 

Leonardo DiCaprio

One of the most intense scenes in Django Unchained is Leonardo DiCaprio's speech after dinner. He bangs his hand on the table and slices his hand on a glass. DiCaprio, ever the pro, kept going without missing a beat. It's so good, director Quentin Tarantino left that take in the final cut. 

Kristin Chenoweth

TV stars aren't safe either. Kristin Chenoweth was almost killed on the set of The Good Wife when part of the lighting rig fell on her. According to the actress, she had a "skull fracture and a rib issue and a hip issue" as a result. 

Bruce Willis

Like a lot of action stars, Bruce Willis has had his fair share of injuries in stunts gone wrong. In Live Free or Die Hard, the Hollywood legend suffered a serious cut above his eye that required stitches, after Maggie Q's stunt doubled kick him with high heels on. 

Mariska Hargitay

Sometimes, the extent of the injury isn't immediately understood, as was the case with Mariska Hargitay after a fall on the set of Law & Order: SVU. Hargitay performed a stunt that required her to land on some pads, but, in her words, something went wrong. She shook off the injury at first, but a few months later, she felt a sharp stabbing pain and ended up in the hospital with a collapsed lung. She recovered after surgery, though a second surgery was needed later. 

Charlize Theron

Æon Flux is not one of Charlize Theron's best movies, and it did almost leave her paralyzed. The actor fell on her neck performing a stunt and had she not been lucky and fallen just a centimeter differently, according to her, it could have been very bad. 

Malcolm McDowell

One of the more terrifying scenes in A Clockwork Orange is when Malcolm McDowell's character is "rehabilitated" by being forced to watch violent videos while his eyes are held open. For McDowell, it was even worse, as the setup caused his corneas to be scratched and he was blinded temporarily as a result. 

Brad Pitt

In the weirdest of coincidences, there is Brad Pitt in Troy. In the film, Pitt plays the Greek hero Achilles. Achilles is famous for one thing, his armor not covering that one tendon in a person's heel... Well, it just so happens that while filming Troy, Pitt tore his Achilles Tendon. 

Uma Thurman

During the filming of the Kill Bill movies, Uma Thurman crashed a car she was driving into a palm tree in Mexico and suffered injuries to her knees and a concussion. Years later she exposed what she claimed was a cover-up by the film's producers in an Instagram post. 

Orson Welles

The great Orson Welles really gave everything he had to make Citizen Kane. That includes chipping a bone in his ankle that forced him to use a wheelchair on set for two weeks while he directed. The injury occurred when he fell down some stairs while filming, and the scene made it into the final cut. 

Linda Blair

During the iconic scene in The Exorcist when Linda Blair's character, Regan, thrashes around as the bed levitates, the scream queen injured her back due to a mechanical default. The injury caused scoliosis, which still causes her problems today, though she's found ways to make it less painful. 

Jim Caviezel

The list of injuries that Jim Caviezel suffered while filming The Passion of the Christ has become the stuff of internet legend. Some injuries are hard to verify, but others aren't, the most notable of which is that as Caviezel prepared for the Sermon on the Mount scene, he was actually struck by lightning. That's got to be some sign, right?

George Clooney

The head injuries George Clooney sustained while filming the torture scene in Syriana were so debilitating that the actor says he even contemplated suicide. Eventually, doctors were able to alleviate the headaches after surgery, but in the meantime, Clooney called it "the most unbearable pain I've ever been through."

Orlando Bloom

There were a few injuries on the set of the Lord of the Rings movies, and one notable one was Orlando Bloom. Bloom broke some ribs when he fell from a horse while filming LOTR: The Two Towers. His fellow cast members gave Bloom a little...uh... ribbing in a behind-the-scenes video as well. 

Martin Sheen

There may be no more infamous Hollywood production than Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. No one had it worse than the film's star, Martin Sheen. As told in the documentary about the filming, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, Sheen not only suffered a near-fatal heart attack during production, but he also suffered a nasty cut on his hand. In the famous opening scene, Sheen punched a mirror and sliced his hand open and it bled badly. If you've seen the movie, you know what it looked like, because Sheen continued the scene and all the blood is very real.  

Michelle Yeoh

As an actor known for doing her own stunts, it's no surprise that Michelle Yeoh has been injured a few times on set. The most notable came when Yeoh tore her ACL during the production of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She was flown from China to Baltimore where surgery was performed to fix the injury at Johns Hopkins. 

Tom Hanks

Sometimes the most innocent-sounding injuries can be the worst. Such is the case for Tom Hanks, who cut his leg filming Cast Away. While a cut doesn't seem all that serious, it caused sepsis and landed Hanks in the hospital, who almost died as a result of the blood poisoning. 

Buddy Ebsen

The Beverly Hillbillies star Buddy Ebsen could claim one of the weirder injuries on this list. Ebsen was the original actor cast to play the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz and as part of the role, he was painted silver. The aluminum powder in the paint caused a reaction that landed Ebsen in the hospital due to breathing problems and he was recast by actor Jack Haley in the role. 

Winona Ryder

Accidents happen, even on movie sets of comedies, not action movies. Such was the case for Winona Ryder while filming Mr. Deeds with Adam Sandler. While filming the scene on the bike in Central Park, Ryder took a tumble off it and broke her arm in three different places. Ouch. 

Matt LeBlanc

Injuries even happen on sitcoms. Even the biggest ones. While filming a scene for Friends, Matt LeBlanc fell into a chair and dislocated his shoulder. Production was delayed briefly, but the evidence is still on the screen, as LeBlanc was seen wearing a sling for a couple of episodes as his shoulder healed. 

Michael J. Fox

One of the scariest injuries didn't happen during a proper stunt. In Back To The Future III, Michael J. Fox almost died in the scene where his character, Marty McFly, is hanged. A mishap meant that he was actually getting choked and at first no one noticed. He passed out before he was lowered to the ground. 

Ed Harris

Ed Harris was almost killed while filming The Abyss. In one of the many underwater scenes in the movie, Harris ran out of oxygen and no one else on set realized he'd signaled that he did. He passed out from a lack of oxygen, but luckily someone finally noticed and they got him some air. 

Vincent D'Onofrio

Marine boot camp is intense, even for actors just playing Marines. Vincent D'Onofrio, who played Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket, injured his knee so badly during filming one of the training scenes that he ended up needing surgery to fix it. 

Melanie Griffith

One of the most notoriously dangerous movies ever shot is Roar by director Noel Marshall. In the 1970s, Marshall was married to Tippi Hedren, which also made him Melanie Griffith's stepfather. The movie filmed Hedren and Griffith (who was a kid at the time) living with lions. Real lions. According to legend, at least 70 people were injured by the big cats, including Griffith, who was "mauled near the eye" and needed plastic surgery to fix it. 

Jackie Chan

One actor you won't be surprised to see on this list is Jackie Chan. The martial artist and stuntman has pulled off some of the most insane stunts in film history, so it's no surprised he's been injured along the way. One notable time was while shooting Police Story. In one scene, Chan slides down a metal pole, which he did so quickly he suffered third degree burns on his hands. The shot was used in the movie. 

Al Pacino

Injuries can occur when actors don't quite make the best decisions. Take, for example the great Al Pacino. While filming a scene in Scarface, Pacino grabbed the business end of a gun that had just been fired and severely burned his hands. According to Brian De Palma, the actor was off for the next two weeks. 

Matthew Fox

Every now and then, one actor will injure another one, as is the case with Terry O'Quinn and Matthew Fox on the set of Lost. In a fight scene, O'Quinn stabbed Fox with a knife, which O'Quinn thought, incorrectly, was a prop knife, but it was very real. Thankfully, Fox was wearing a protective Kevlar vest that saved him from actually being stabbed. 

Dylan O'Brien

Dylan O'Brien was almost killed while shooting The Maze Runner: The Death Cure. While shooting a scene, the star of the movie was struck by a car. According to Vulture, O'Brien had a "concussion, facial fracture, and brain trauma among his injuries." Production on the movie was halted as he recovered, which, according to O'Brien, was one of the worst periods in his life. 

Dominic Purcell

Even without stunts and other action, injuries happen. Prison Break star Dominic Purcell broke his nose and had other facial injuries while filming for the show in Morocco. It was a freak accident as a lighting truss fell from the set and hit him. It could've been very scary, as those kinds of accidents have killed people, but luckily for Purcell, his injuries healed quickly and production on the show wasn't impacted.

Most of the time, when actors are injured on set, the injuries are minor, thankfully. Of course, that isn't always the case, and though deaths on movie sets are rare, they happen, so anytime someone is injured seriously, production is usually halted. Just looking through this list, you can see just how close some of these big names came to serious injury, and in a way, they're lucky (and we're lucky) that they are still around.   

Matthew Perry’s co-stars from Friends promised there was so much more to say about the actor when they released a joint statement in the days following Perry’s death of a suspected drowning at age 54. Now Matt LeBlanc has posted his own personal tribute to the man who played his best friend and roommate for much of the popular NBC sitcom’s 10 seasons, noting that he’s saying goodbye “with a heavy heart.”

Matt LeBlanc played Joey Tribbiani on Friends, and given his character’s close friendship with Matthew Perry’s Chandler Bing, it’s not hard to believe that the two formed a pretty tight bond that continued long after the sitcom ended in 2004. LeBlanc paid tribute to the late actor on Instagram, writing: 

Matt LeBlanc included several images of Joey and Chandler together on Friends and one behind-the-scenes shot of the entire main cast gathered together in a group hug. It’s fitting, given the actors’ comedic tendencies, that his caption ended with a joke about not ever getting the money back that Matthew Perry owed him (especially since $20 is next to nothing for the cast members who reportedly still make $20 million a year in residuals from the show). 

Also, wasn’t it always Joey who needed to borrow money from Chandler? Anyway, you can see Matt LeBlanc’s sweet message to his friend below:

Several other actors have paid tribute to Matthew Perry in the weeks following his passing. Hank Azaria recalled the actor being even funnier in person than he was as Chandler Bing. Azaria also said Perry was an important part of his sobriety, which I imagine would have made The Whole Nine Yards actor pretty happy, as Perry hoped to be remembered for helping people as much as he is remembered for Friends. 

More former Friends guest stars spoke out as well, with Selma Blair saying she loved Matthew Perry “unconditionally.” Paget Brewster, meanwhile, recalled him being “lovely” to her, both on the set of the sitcom and in the decades that followed.

The “Must See TV” program — which also starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer — remains as popular as ever today, and it seems everyone has their own favorite episodes that made us fall in love with Matthew Perry. As hard as his death is for Friends fans everywhere, I can only imagine the heartache that Matt LeBlanc and the others who were closest to him are feeling. If you want to relive the happier days of J-Man and Channy, all 10 seasons of Friends can be streamed with a Max subscription. 

In the beginning, the cast of Friends reportedly made $22,500 per episode, by the end all six actors famously had astounding salaries of $1 million per episode. However, at one point, all of these stars were not set to make the same amount of money. It turns out that David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston actually played a big role in helping the ensemble eventually get to their gigantic paydays, as the late Matthew Perry revealed in his book. 

As many reflect on and pay tribute to Matthew Perry, including his fellow Friends alums, discussions about the legacy of Friends and just how popular it was (and still is) have been reignited. Along with that, the crew’s famously high salaries have been explained, and thanks to the Chandler actor’s book, it’s also been revealed how the crew was able to stand together, and make it so they were all paid equally. 

David Schwimmer Had The Idea For The Cast To Negotiate Salaries As A Group 

In Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry wrote about how the Ross Geller actor was considered the big star of the show. However, instead of taking a larger raise than his co-stars, Schwimmer approached the cast and proposed the idea that they all negotiate their salaries as a unit. 

After Season 1 of Friends, as reported in The Guardian, David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston were earning more than Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox because of the buzz around Ross and Rachel’s relationship. When Season 3 rolled around, Schwimmer asked Aniston if she’d be willing to take a pay cut, so all six members of the ensemble could receive equal pay. In his memoir (via The Guardian), the Chandler Bing actor gave big props to his co-star for making this choice, as he wrote:

Later on, Perry wrote about how grateful he was to Schwimmer and that decision made during the early seasons of Friends. He explained:

In the end, the cast went on to famously make $1 million per episode during the last two years of the show. Series co-creator Marta Kauffman called the salaries “ridiculous.” However, considering how beloved the show was, and how much appreciation there still is for the series, it seems like it was worth every penny to pay all six actors so much.  

By The Last Seasons, The Friends Cast Was Making $1 Million Per Episode 

By the time Friends entered into its later seasons, the cast had become bonafide superstars, and the show had been a pop culture phenomenon for years. In an interview with the Huffington Post Matt LeBlanc commented on how the ensemble ended up making $1 million per episode, saying:

The Joey Tribbiani actor went on to say that if anyone is in a position to get a raise, and they don’t, they’re “stupid.” He then explained that he and his castmates were “in a position” where they could “pull it off,” so they did. 

By the end of its run, the stars of the hit sitcom were making $1,100,040 per episode, and it was in big part thanks to David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston deciding to take a pay cut early on and stand in solidarity with their colleagues. To this day, the Friends cast still makes money in royalties, and the story of their incredible salaries is legendary.

To go back and watch all eight seasons of Friends, all you need is a Max subscription. 

The Friends cast lost a member with the passing of Matthew Perry at the age of 54 at his home on October 28. He played Chandler Bing through ten seasons of the beloved comedy, alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer. Now, two days after the sad news, his former castmates have joined together with a touching message about their friend. 

In a joint statement (via People), the surviving members of the Friends cast said:

The message from the five stars follows guest stars like Selma Blair and Paget Brewster speaking out about Matthew Perry, and establishes that this will not be the only time that Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc, and Schwimmer address the tragedy. The sad news comes just over two years after the six leads came together for Friends: The Reunion.

When Perry's death was first reported, it was said that he drowned in his jacuzzi following cardiac arrest, with no drugs or foul play involved. The sitcom legend had been open about health struggles in the past, including an accident when he was given 2% chance of survival and his addictions throughout the seasons of Friends. He credited Jennifer Aniston for reaching out to him.

In his memoir that released almost exactly one year prior to his death, Perry also expressed that he hoped Friends was not remembered as his biggest accomplishment in life, as (via The Wrap) he "did try to help other people." He wrote that "the best thing about me is if an alcoholic or drug addict comes up to me and says, 'Will you help me?'" According to the actor, his response was always "'Yes, I know how to do that.'" That could involve helping in a group setting, or one on one. 

For their part, Friends co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, along with former executive producer Kevin Bright, commended Perry for his performances as Chandler Bing was well as what he brought to the show with his personality behind-the-scenes. In a joint statement (via People) on October 29, they said: 

Matthew Perry was clearly beloved for his work on screen as well as his presence and personality off-screen, and fans have been posting messages of their own on social media ever since the news broke. TBS is running a marathon of episodes that showcase his character from November 1 - November 5. Our thoughts here at CinemaBlend are with the family, friends, and loved ones of Perry in this difficult time.

My all-time favorite episode of Friends, and I think this is the case for many, is “The One With The Embryos” from Season 4. While it’s named after the storyline regarding Phoebe and her pregnancy, the part of the episode that sticks with me is the silly trivia contest that led to Chandler and Joey switching apartments with Monica and Rachel after they made a bet. It’s a hilarious game of whits that leads to one of the most jarring and hysterical plot points when the boys join the list of people to live in Monica’s apartment, and the story behind how this episode came to be makes it even better. 

The Trivia Contest Was Born Out Of An Effort To Save Money And The Pad O’ Guys 

Sometimes the best ideas are born out of limitations, and that’s exactly what happened with this episode of Friends. In an oral history about “The One with the Embryos” for TV Guide, executive producer and director Kevin S. Bright opened up about how the idea for the trivia contest, and ultimately trading apartments, came to be. He said:

Amy Toomin Straus, a co-producer and co-writer on the episode, then said the writers were told that if they could get the entire cast of Friends in one room, “it’s like magic.” So, that’s essentially what they did. This led to Seth Kurland, another co-producer and writer, explaining how he came up with the idea for the trivia game Ross moderates and Chandler, Monica, Rachel and Joey play. He said:

So, the idea for the trivia game, which led to some of the most iconic quotes from Friends that fans still reference – “Miss Chanandler Bong” and “That’s not even a word!” are staples in my vocabulary – came from an effort to cut costs and a random story about a few of the writers. That alone makes this episode even, better, but there is more to how this hilarious story, and the eventual apartment switch, came together. 

The Friends Crew Fully Decided To Commit To The Bit Of Switching Apartments

One of the reasons this storyline works so well, and is my favorite, is because the cast and crew fully committed to the bit. The exaggerated reactions the girls have to getting questions wrong, Ross’s seriousness as the game show host, and the boys’ glee about winning all come together to make a gloriously hilarious episode that culminates in one of the best and most unique bits of the show: they switch apartments. 

David Crane, the show’s co-creator and executive producer, explained why they decided to not just make the apartment switch a gag, and actually go through with the flip to TV Guide, saying:

I’m so happy they owned it! The bit was truly hysterical, and the creativity behind it, plus the dedication to pulling it off is one of the many reasons why Friends is one of the best ‘90s sitcoms. Seeing all the boys' furniture in the girls' apartment was so jarring, especially against those purple walls, and the same can be said about Monica and Rachel moving into Chandler and Joey’s place. Greg J. Grande, the set decorator, explained why just the set changes made the sequence so funny, and it makes complete sense. He said:

John Shaffner, a production designer, also weighed in on the set decisions made to pull off the apartment switch, and he noted how it feels like the boys are “trespassing” when they move in. That feeling of misplacement really makes the entire situation wild, and incredibly funny. He said:

I think one of the reasons this episode is a favorite of mine comes down to how goofy the premise is. I feel like my friends and I would totally do a trivia game like this, and place a funky bet on it. However, I’m not sure if we’d go through with it. The fact that the Friends actually switched apartments, and this bottle episode became the biggest gag of Season 4, is a major reason why it’s not only hysterical but truly legendary.  

The one with the trivia contest, the switching of apartments, and the embryos is a top-tier episode of Friends. Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer gave it their all, brought the funny, and the writers and crew created a story and a set that amplified their hilarious performances. Overall, this episode, which started in an effort to save money, ended up being one of the most unique installments of Friends, and even though it’s been decades since it aired, it’s still regarded by me and many others as one of the comedy’s best storylines. 

You can stream “The One with the Embryos” (which is Season 4, Episode 12) and all of Friends with a Max subscription. 

For the 10 years that Friends aired on NBC in the late ‘90s and early aughts, one of the things the sitcom was known for was its impressive roster of guest stars. A-listers who graced the soundstage included Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Aisha Tyler, Tom Selleck, Reese Witherspoon, and the list goes on. One member of television royalty who played a small but important role on the show was Marlo Thomas, who recently spoke about her experience with Matt LeBlanc, as their characters shared a big kiss in Season 2, and she recalled the question he supposedly asked her about it.

Marlo Thomas was featured in three episodes of Friends as Sandra Green, mother of Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel. In the Season 2 episode “The One with the Two Parties,” the gang aims to keep Rachel’s divorcing parents from running into each other at her birthday party, and at one point Joey (Matt LeBlanc) distracts Sandra by kissing her when she’s about to come face-to-face with Rachel’s father (Ron Leibman). The That Girl star told US Weekly: 

Yes, I'd have to agree that consent is pretty cute. Matt LeBlanc seemed to know that moment would hit the hardest if both actors just fully went for it, and I love hearing that he spoke to Marlo Thomas about the scene first. 

Some of Friends’ guest stars have said they found it intimidating to work alongside the established six main cast members — Tom Selleck was “scared to death” — but here it sounds like it was Matt LeBlanc who was a little nervous about his impending intimate moment with Marlo Thomas. Clearly the actress was game, and it resulted in a hilarious moment for the ensemble. Check it out below: 

Joey really does lay one on Sandra, and Marlo Thomas showed off her comedic chops perfectly, as her knees buckled, arms falling limp to her sides, as she stood lip-locked with her daughter’s neighbor. Even after the kiss, Sandra remained hilariously flustered. 

Reese Witherspoon seemed to have a similar experience with Matt LeBlanc when she guest-starred as Rachel’s sister Jill. In addition to how exciting it was to sit on Central Perk’s famous orange couch, she had her mind blown when Joey delivered his signature pickup line, “How you doin’?” to her.

All in all, it sounds like the experience was a positive one for the actresses who portrayed Jennifer Aniston’s family members, but not every guest star enjoyed their time on the Friends set. Jennifer Grey, who played Rachel’s frenemy Mindy, has spoken candidly about her anxiety and how multiple script changes added to the already-daunting experience of guest-starring on the show. When Grey was asked to reprise the role later in the series’ run, she had to turn it down, forcing Friends to recast Mindy.

If you want to relive Marlo Thomas’ appearances on Friends, all 10 seasons can be streamed with a Max subscription, and be sure to also check out our 2023 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming soon. 

For 10 years in the ‘90s and early aughts, the writers on Friends had their work cut out for them, tasked with providing funny and memorable storylines for Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer. Somehow, they succeeded in not only making lifelong stars out of the show's main six but in creating a universe that included a long manifest of A-plus guest stars and beloved recurring characters. One of the most iconic of those was Ugly Naked Guy. So who exactly was this “unattractive nude man”? What happened to him, and why didn’t we ever see his face?

What’s notable about Ugly Naked Guy is that while he was talked about several times in the first five seasons of Friends, he was actually only seen twice, and both times his face was hidden. So let’s dive into the story behind one of the sitcom’s most enigmatic characters. 

Who Played Ugly Naked Guy, And Why Didn’t We Get To See His Face? 

First things first, the character of Ugly Naked Guy was the man who lived in the building across from Monica Gellar’s apartment. The gang often watched him through the window, commenting on whatever he was up to — playing the cello, using a Thighmaster, trying out Gravity Boots, etc. The actor, however, was an uncredited extra, and until 2016 — 17 years after his final appearance on Friends — nobody even remembered the actor’s name. 

Enter Todd Van Luling of the Huffington Post, who went on a yearlong quest to solve the mystery. He followed the Ugly Naked trail back to Jon Haugen, and all those years later, Haugen explained why his identity remained hidden for so long, saying: 

Friends producer Todd Stevens provided even more clarity as to why they kept the character uncredited, including why his face was never seen. Stevens told Van Luling: 

It’s true that Ugly Naked Guy wasn’t the kindest name the group could have picked, and I can see why there was apprehension to have an actor’s name and face associated with the character and all of his exhibitionist hobbies. But that begs the question … 

Was Ugly Naked Guy Really Naked? 

Ugly Naked Guy made physical appearances in two episodes: Season 3’s “The One With the Giant Poking Device” and Season 5’s “The One Where Everybody Finds Out.” In that latter episode, the unnamed character was moving out, and as Ross Gellar hoped to snatch up the apartment for himself, he attempted to bond with Ugly Naked Guy by stripping down. The extended version of the episode showed the two disrobed men sitting together and enjoying a basket of mini muffins. As for whether they were really nude or not, Jon Haugen revealed to the Huffington Post: 

It makes sense that Jon Haugen and David Schwimmer weren’t actually naked during shooting, but the production made it look realistic enough that the scene was kept off of the original NBC broadcast. 

How Was Jon Haugen Cast As Ugly Naked Guy? 

When the decision was made to find an extra to play the subject of the group’s voyeurism, there was likely no expectation that the character would become as iconic as he did. So how did Jon Haugen happen upon the opportunity? Executive producer Kevin Bright gave some insight on the casting process, saying on the DVD commentary for “The One Where Everybody Finds Out”: 

I can imagine that was one of the stranger casting processes anyone on either side of the table ever had to do. With the emphasis being on what the actors looked like in their boxer shorts rather than any actual acting prowess, the actors had to actually audition in their underwear. Even though the job only resulted in two episodes’ worth of work, Jon Haugen at least has lifelong bragging rights. 

What Happened To Ugly Naked Guy? 

As previously mentioned, the decision was made in Season 5 to have Ugly Naked Guy move, with Ross taking the apartment across from his sister. This served two purposes, the creators said in the episode commentary. For one thing, they felt it was time to move on from the “Ugly Naked” jokes. David Crane said: 

Marta Kauffman concurred and added that while Ugly Naked Guy had served them well as a source of humor, having Ross and Monica be able to see into each other’s apartments served as an even-better setup for stories and jokes in the latter half of the series. Ugly Naked Guy may have moved out, but Friends fans will never forget what he contributed to the early seasons. You can see a compilation of “Ugly Naked” jokes below: 

Ugly Naked Guy may seem like sort of a thankless role, with only two appearances over 10 years, an objectively unflattering nickname, not having his face shown or his name in the credits. Jon Haugen, however, didn't see it that way. He said he loved the character and had nothing but great memories of the cast and crew, telling the HuffPost: 

You can revisit Ugly Naked Guy’s episodes of Friends, or any of your other favorites, as all 10 seasons — and the 2021 reunion special — are available to stream with a Max subscription. Be sure to also check out our 2023 TV schedule to find out about all of the upcoming television and streaming premieres. 

Not all social media filters are created equal. There have been some truly frightening experiences out there when Instagram or TikTok purports to be able to turn users into a celebrity, swap their genders or otherwise alter their image. Just take the viral Friends filter that Courteney Cox tried out on herself: You know it’s pretty bad if even she couldn’t figure out which of her faces was supposed to be Monica. One aging filter, however, which a TikTok user applied to the same sitcom’s cast, returned some eerily accurate images.

The popularity of Friends has not waned that much in the two decades since its final episode aired on NBC in 2004, thanks in large part to near-constant reruns on cable and the entire series available to stream on Max. The familiarity of Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry and the rest of the cast’s characters make them popular subjects for many A.I.-generated images, and the below TikTok video almost makes it look like the actors today were digitally inserted into old scenes! Check it out: 

The cool thing about this using the aging filter on the Friends cast is that we actually know what those actors look like now, since it’s been nearly 30 years since the show’s premiere. It’s also been only a couple of years since the cast reunited on the old set, giving a strange familiarity to the digitally aged characters in the TikTok video. 

When an artist used artificial intelligence to reimagine the Friends characters as kids, the comparisons were not quite as accurate (or easily comparable).

Lisa Kudrow’s Phoebe and David Schwimmer’s Ross, to me, look the most like their real-life portrayers, but it seemed like everyone in the comments had their own opinion about who looked the most accurate. Strangely enough — or perhaps not strange at all — Jennifer Aniston didn’t pop up much in the post, and when she did, it didn’t appear that her Rachel had gotten any older. Many people amusingly pointed out that the technology even nailed that aspect of the actors’ current looks. Some of the comments included:

• Even the filter says Jennifer Aniston never ages. – Ally Garrard
• Wait .. Jennifer Aniston did not age 🤔 – Shann_McC
• My girl aged like the finest wine 😭✋ – regulus_black_cant_swim
• frkn Rachel!!! I need to know her skin care! PRONTO – alea.8g

Others didn’t like what the filter meant for their own futures, as the Friends cast seemed to prove they were getting a pretty accurate prediction of what they will look like in the decades to come. TikTok users wrote: 

• If it’s this accurate it means I-😭😭😭😭😭 – fiiloeee
• I started saving up for plastic surgery since I saw mine 😂 – TheHolicraft
• Wait.. If this is actually accurate. BRO I DON’T WANNA GET OLD I LOOK DEAD – zainabazharr_
• Oh hell no. I saw myself. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Oh no – Audrine Rosnovski

As Jennifer Aniston says, aging is inevitable, and there’s always the chance that the years will be kinder to you than the filter. If you want to catch all of the Friends back in their earlier decades, all 10 seasons of the comedy are available with an HBO Max subscription. 

Friends had quite a few A-list guest stars in its time, including Brad Pitt, George Clooney (basically half the cast of Ocean’s Eleven), Bruce Willis, Susan Sarandon and the list goes on. Among those amazing names was Brooke Shields, who was absolutely unhinged as Joey Tribbiani’s stalker Erika in “The One After the Super Bowl: Part 1.” The actress has been in the news lately for broaching some big topics in her powerful new documentary, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, including that iconic hand-licking scene. She’s also since opened up more about how angry her then-partner Andre Agassi was about it. 

Brooke Shields ‘Begged’ The Showrunners To Keep The Licking In The Scene 

“The One After The Super Bowl: Part 1” aired in 1996 following, you guessed it, the Super Bowl. Joey (Matt LeBlanc) started getting hand-delivered letters from a stalker who believed his Days of Our Lives character Dr. Drake Ramoray was real. The full scope of her mania really came out when the two were out for dinner (because of course Joey went on a date with his stalker). Friends’ showrunners were apparently apprehensive at first about Brooke Shields taking her performance to 11 the way she did, as the actress recalled to the New Yorker: 

Network execs apparently had their eyes opened to Brooke Shields’ comedy prowess, and that turned into Suddenly Susan, which aired for four seasons on NBC. 

The actress also revealed the funny exchange she and Matt LeBlanc had before filming that career-altering moment, recalling:

Some guest stars may have been terrified to film alongside the stars of the most popular sitcom of its time, but Brooke Shields fought for what she knew the scene needed and even brought a mint to a hand-licking scene. What a pro. 

Andre Agassi Had An Over-The-Top Reaction To Watching Her Film That Scene 

It may have been a big career moment for Brooke Shields, but it also caused some turmoil in her relationship with Andre Agassi, who apparently did not appreciate seeing Shields act in such a way with Matt LeBlanc. Shields recalled: 

Brooke Shields and Andre Agassi, who were married from 1997 to 1999, have both spoken about the tennis icon’s drug addiction in their respective books, even mentioning this specific instance on the set of Friends. 

Andre Agassi Broke His Tennis Trophies After Brooke Shield’s Hand-Licking Scene 

In his 2009 autobiography Open (via USA TODAY) Andre Agassi opened up about the incident, in which he said he broke all of his tennis trophies, one by one, after he returned home from the Friends set and ripped apart the walls. He said in the book: 

That’s a pretty extreme — and very scary — reaction to someone just doing their job as an actress, and it’s unfortunate that such a fun scene and important moment in Brooke Shields' career was tainted. 

Fortunately for us, though, we can relive that scene and all of our favorite Friends moments, with all 10 seasons available to stream with an HBO Max subscription. Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields will be available to stream with a Hulu subscription on April 3. 

A ton of A-list guest stars came and went over the 10 years that Friends was on the air, including Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, Tom Selleck and George Clooney. But as Season 10 wound down, and the six core actors filmed their final scenes in Monica and Rachel’s purple, rent-controlled apartment, there was only one outsider who’d earned a place in the inner circle. Paul Rudd was featured in Friends’ 2004 series finale, playing Phoebe’s husband Mike, and the actor recently spoke about why he felt “strange” about being included.

Whether he was flirting with the guy from the children’s charity to get their donation back or calmly explaining why Phoebe couldn’t keep rats as pets, Mike Hannigan was the perfect complement to Lisa Kudrow’s kooky character. He added stability to her life without taking the spotlight. To be part of the final episode, though, felt weird because of what the experience meant for actors who’d been together for a decade. He told the hosts of Heart Breakfast:  

Paul Rudd made his Friends debut in the third episode of Season 9 and appeared in 16 altogether over the final two seasons. In “The Last One,” Mike is there with the whole gang, when Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) come home from the hospital with their twins. That’s when we learn what Pheobe’s future holds, as she and Mike decide to start trying to have their own baby.

As important a moment as it was to put a bow on Phoebe’s story, the eternally youthful-looking actor seemingly felt a little awkward, given how poignant a time it was for the other actors. He continued: 

It seems the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star had the same philosophy off-screen as on — not wanting to take the attention away from the main cast. He knew what the moment meant for Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and the rest, and he was just trying to stay out of the way.

Matthew Perry wrote in his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing that when the first AD yelled “that’s a wrap” on the series, “tears sprang from almost everyone’s eyes." Jennifer Aniston, in particular, seemed to have had some intense emotions surrounding the end of Friends’ run — which, incidentally, coincided with the end of her marriage to Brad Pitt — and Perry recalled the Rachel portrayer crying so hard he “was amazed she had any water left in her entire body.”

I can definitely see how Paul Rudd might have felt like an interloper during that emotional series finale — the same way his daughter felt about him being on Friends in general — no matter how important it was that Mike was there for Phoebe. You can relive the series finale or any of your favorite episodes, as all 10 seasons of Friends and the reunion special are available to stream with an HBO Max subscription. 

In its 10 years on the air, Friends featured some unbelievable A-list guest stars who came and went out of the six lives of the central (perk) characters. Even for big names like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Christina Applegate, Bruce Willis and so many more, appearing on the beloved sitcom could be a “terrifying” experience. (Tom Selleck, for example, has admitted to being scared to death.) While Reese Witherspoon verified that she, too, was nervous about her 2000 guest appearance, she recalled the excitement of sitting on Central Perk’s orange couch, as well as having her mind blown by Joey Tribiani actor Matt LeBlanc.

Today, Reese Witherspoon stars and executive produces The Morning Show on Apple TV+ with Jennifer Aniston — with fans impatiently waiting for Season 3 to hit the 2023 TV schedule — but the two actresses first crossed paths a couple of decades ago, when Witherspoon played Rachel Green’s younger sister Jill on two episodes of Friends. The Your Place or Mine star spoke on Late Night with Seth Meyers about what that was like, and told an envy-inducing story about meeting Matt LeBlanc. Witherspoon said: 

Is it not a bucket-list item for every Friends fan for Joey (or Matt LeBlanc, whatever) to use his signature pickup line on them? Not even Seth Meyers’ sarcastic remark that “he didn’t just say that to everybody,” while true, shouldn’t be enough to ruin that memory. 

Reese Witherspoon also talked about how much fun it was to come in and play not just Rachel’s sister, but someone who actually stood in the way of Ross and Rachel when they were on a break. She told the host: 

That’s not the first time Reese Witherspoon has made reference to that scene from her two-episode stint in Season 6. Jennifer Aniston actually teased her about “that line you love so much” when the two re-enacted the exchange on the Little Fires Everywhere actress’ Instagram last year. Witherspoon pointed out how much Friends is still quoted regularly nearly two decades since the series ended, saying: 

It’s so true! There are certainly enough quotable lines for die-hard Friends fans to continue to regurgitate to this day. If you weren’t convinced yet that Reese Witherspoon was a true Friends fanatic, consider that she released photographic proof of the time she asked her hairdresser for “The Rachel.” Celebrity Friends fans — they really are just like us! You can see Witherspoon’s full interview with Seth Meyers below: 

In addition to rewatching old Friends episodes with your HBO Max subscription, you can catch Reese Witherspoon in a number of upcoming projects. Her most recent movie Your Place or Mine is available for streaming now with a Netflix subscription. 

Criminal Minds fans are undoubtedly excited to see Paget Brewster amongst the cast members who returned for the series’ Paramount+ revival, Criminal Minds: Evolution. The actress who portrayed Emily Prentiss for most of the show’s original run on CBS showed off a “slightly older, sassier” look for the streaming series when it premiered in November. The gray-haired, bangs-less ‘do is a great look for the Section Chief, but it’s a big change from the auburn bob Brewster sported during her recurring role on Friends 25 years ago. That doesn’t keep her from getting recognized, though, as fans apparently make the connection a different way.

Years before Emily Prentiss took up the task of hunting down serial killers, Paget Brewster guest-starred on six episodes of Friends during the iconic sitcom’s fourth season. Her character, Kathy, dated both Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) and, while six appearances may not be a lot in the grand scheme of things, she must have made an impression. Brewster still gets recognized, she told TV Insider, just not for her looks. The actress said: 

There is something distinctive about Paget Brewster’s voice that even 25 years later can apparently spark recognition with Friends fans (and the seemingly non-stop re-runs don’t hurt, either). Many wonderful guest stars came and went over the course of the sitcom’s 10-year run, but Kathy was memorable for a number of reasons. For one, she was one of few supporting characters to date more than one member of the main cast (another being, coincidentally, Brewster’s Criminal MInds co-star Aisha Tyler).

Kathy’s story arc — in which she cheats on Joey by kissing Chandler — is also responsible for one of Friends’ more memorable Thanksgiving scenes, in which Chandler spends the holiday in a box as punishment.

Many won't forget that Paget Brewster’s Friends character is that despite the fact that she cheated on Joey with Chandler — driving a wedge between possibly the series' most beloved friendship — and also ended up cheating on Chandler (because of course she did). But despite all of that, Kathy was so dang likable that she never felt to me like that much of a villain. That is no small feat for a then-unknown actress on an established series like the NBC sitcom.

Feel free, however, to draw your own conclusions about Paget Brewster’s days as Kathy by streaming the Season 4 episodes (and the rest of the 10-season series) with an HBO Max subscription. Anybody looking to see what Emily Prentiss is up to these days can catch the revived Criminal Minds: Evolution, plus the original first 15 seasons, with a Paramount+ subscription. Also be sure to check out our 2023 TV schedule to see what new and returning series will premiere in the new year. 

Monica and Rachel’s apartment on Friends is one of the most recognizable locations in television history. The unbelievably spacious two-bedroom abode boasted beautiful purple walls and a balcony (even if their only view was into Ugly Naked Guy’s apartment). As far-fetched as it seemed that these 20-somethings could score such a lovely living area — albeit with help from Monica’s grandmother — what was even more implausible was the comically low amount they forked over for rent each month. Nearly three decades since the NBC sitcom premiered, just what would it cost to live in such an establishment in 2022?

Because of rent stabilization established in the 1940s, Monica was able to move into her grandmother’s old apartment for the low, low price of just $200 a month. This proves Chandler was right when, in the series finale, he commented that rent control made living there a “friggin’ steal.” 

So how much would that same apartment cost today? Hoval, an interior design institute, estimates (via Fox 10 Phoenix) that a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan’s West Village today would put you out about $6,554 a month. That’s almost three years of rent in Monica and Rachel’s time.

All six of the main characters lived there at some point, and why wouldn’t they? Splitting the rent between two roommates makes that monthly bill just $100, and it suddenly makes a lot more sense why they were able to spend so much time drinking coffee at Central Perk, rather than, you know, working. Central Perk waitresses and freelance massage therapists likely aren’t pulling in the $3,200 it would take to make their half of what that rent would be today.

It also makes one realize just how high the stakes were when Monica and Rachel were forced to switch apartments with Joey and Chandler after they lost a game to see which roommates knew more about the other pair in Season 4’s “The One With the Embryos.” Check out that classic moment:

Monica’s trademark, “Nooooooo!” at the end of that clip really takes on a new meaning when you realize she just gambled on paying $100 a month to live there. Over the course of 10 seasons, we saw different combinations of the Central Perk 6 taking up residence in the apartment. Monica (Courteney Cox) met Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) when they lived there together before the events of the sitcom. Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) moved in in the series premiere after running out on her wedding day.

We later saw Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) temporarly lived there after winning the apartment from the girls, and Chandler moved in with Monica after they became a couple. In the series finale, Monica pointed out that Ross (David Schwimmer) had also lived there for a summer before college, when he was pursuing a career in dance. (Between that and Chandler’s history as a mime, the potential exists for a really interesting series, should Friends ever be reimagined as a drama.)

For now, fans can revisit all 10 seasons of Friends, including 2021’s Friends: The Reunion, with an HBO Max subscription, and check out our 2022 TV schedule to see what other series are premiering soon. 

Former Friends star Matthew Perry apparently has a lot to say in his upcoming memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. Ahead of the book’s November 1 release, fans have already gleaned some knowledge about how bad his addiction got on the set of the ‘90s sitcom, and that Jennifer Aniston once confronted him about his drinking. Despite the fact that stories will be regaled about events that happened during this extremely important decade of the six actors’ lives, Perry said he doesn’t think that his co-stars will read his memoir.

Well, none of them other than Lisa Kudrow, that is. The actress who played Phoebe Buffay read an advance copy of Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, so that she could write the book’s introduction. As for Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox and David Schwimmer, however, they aren’t likely to do the same, Matthew Perry told GQ: 

Matthew Perry has said he thinks his memoir will help other people who are struggling with addiction. Longtime fans of the show, meanwhile, will be interested to learn more about the man who played the hilarious Chandler Bing — as well as get some good behind-the-scenes stories about Friends, including the wild way he convinced Julia Roberts to make a guest appearance on the sitcom. But Perry said his former colleagues don’t really have a reason to read it.

The argument could be made that they were there alongside Matthew Perry for those 10 years, and therefore already know the stories he’s going to tell. However, Lisa Kudrow and Jennifer Aniston expressed disbelief during their 2021 reunion special, when the actor opened up about how much anxiety he had over being able to make the audience laugh. It's probably safe to assume there will be things in the book that he never revealed to his co-stars.

You’d think the other four actors would at least be curious to see what Matthew Perry wrote about them, as he had promised not to sugarcoat anything, including his feelings about his castmates. The actor has already had to issue an apology for apparently dragging Keanu Reeves in the memoir, so it definitely looks like Perry isn’t pulling any punches.

Whether or not the rest of the Friends cast reads the book, fans are likely to experience a whole range of emotions, as Matthew Perry describes a time that being on the show possibly saved his life during a medical emergency but also reportedly describes having a crush on Jennifer Aniston.

Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing will be available on Tuesday, November 1, and in the meantime, you can stream all 10 seasons of the iconic sitcom, including Friends: The Reunion, with an HBO Max subscription. 

The cast of the classic ‘90s sitcom Friends thrilled fans last year when they got together for the first time on screen since the 2004 series finale for Friends: The Reunion. There were some truly fun moments for fans — including a fashion show with celebrities like Cara Delevingne recreating some unforgettable wardrobe moments, and Lady Gaga joining Lisa Kudrow to sing “Smelly Cat.” But going back to that set after 17 years also packed an emotional punch for the six actors, and Jennifer Aniston explained what was “so creepy” about the experience.

Jennifer Aniston spoke to Sebastian Stan for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, where she talked about reuniting with Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and Matthew Perry in front of the camera for the first time since Friends went off the air after ten seasons. When the Pam & Tommy actor asked Aniston what it was like to see everyone in that setting again, she said it was emotional beyond what they’d anticipated:

It must have been off-putting to return to that set that was so preserved in time, even though the actors had all gone on to other experiences — both good and bad — in the years that followed. Jennifer Aniston previously spoke about getting so emotional that she had to walk out, and how the special made her feel “a little melancholy” when thinking about how young and optimistic they were when the show ended in 2004. Despite all that, she said, she “wouldn’t change a lick of it”:

This nostalgic look at the past followed Jennifer Aniston’s recent comments on The Ellen DeGeneres Show as a guest on the final episode. The Rachel Green actress had been Ellen DeGeneres’ first interview 19 seasons ago and made frequent appearances on the show. The host asked the actress’ advice on how to handle the end of such a substantial era in her life, Aniston gamely recalled that with the ending of Friends also came the end of her marriage to Brad Pitt, so she dealt with it by starting therapy.

Friends: The Reunion may have been more than the actors were ready for, and even Courteney Cox has said they’re unlikely to do that again. That’s truly a shame for diehard fans, but at least we can continue to rewatch the 10 seasons in syndication and on HBO Max. Be sure to check out some of the other best shows on HBO Max while you’re at it!

When Friends premiered back in 1994, there’s no way its stars could have predicted the level of fame the show would bring them. While Courteney Cox was relatively well-known, thanks to her appearance in Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” music video, the careers of all six actors — who also included Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer — skyrocketed only after the launch of the NBC sitcom. Ahead of the first season, the new group of friends famously went away on a bonding trip, where one of the Central Perk crew proved hilariously unlucky.

There’s a story in Friends lore that famed television director James Burrows took the six cast members to Las Vegas ahead of the show’s premiere. Unlike the Season 5 episodes that would follow, nobody got drunkenly married or found their hand twin (I’m assuming). But Burrows did recount what happened in his upcoming memoir Directed by James Burrows (via ET), recalling how he predicted the enormous success that was about to befall the group:

I can imagine it would be pretty hard to believe you could go from anonymity to international fame as quickly as these actors did. Courteney Cox, however, might have had some inkling of what was about to happen, as it’s said she made a pretty big purchase following her audition to play Monica Gellar. Matt LeBlanc, meanwhile, has famously said he was down to $11 before he got the role of Joey Tribbiani, and according to James Burrows, his money trouble continued when they reached Sin City: 

It’s amusing to think about a time when $200 would be a lot of money for any one of those actors — especially considering how many millions they make each year off of royalties — but it's really funny to imagine Matt LeBlanc losing all of his money in one fell swoop. I’m surprised that story didn’t make it into Joey’s plotline in “The One in Vegas.” The director said all six of them did pay him back after the trip.

James Burrows was certainly right that the six of them would never be able to go into public together unnoticed ever again, but he said the trip did more than provide them with one last opportunity for anonymity. It was also about bonding, and their tight off-screen relationships proved important over the years as they went through salary negotiations together.

Friends was on the air for 10 years, though, so it wasn’t foosball and coffee houses the whole time. The actors endured a number of personal obstacles over the years, including divorce, fertility struggles and substance abuse problems. Matthew Perry has his own memoir coming out this year that promises not to sugarcoat the tougher times. Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing is due for a November 1 release, and until then, all 10 seasons of Friends, including the 2021 reunion special, is available for streaming with an HBO Max subscription. 

Friends is a far-reaching phenomenon, with fans just as passionate now — 18 years after it went off the air — as they were in the '90s. Thanks to syndication and streaming, the public basically has 24/7 access to the show and can thus recite entire episodes from memory. This fact makes it almost hard to believe that the iconic actors themselves might have struggled to remember the dialogue, as Courteney Cox admitted when recalling a prank Matt LeBlanc played on her during a taping of the hit NBC sitcom.

Courteney Cox played Monica Gellar on Friends, and the actress recently opened up on The Graham Norton Show about how she didn’t always know her lines. (To be fair, the actors did not have the benefit of watching every episode 2,500 times like some of us have, and don’t judge me, because I know I’m not alone.) So Cox found ways to maneuver around the challenge. Her co-stars, of course, knew her tricks, and Matt LeBlanc, who played her neighbor Joey Tribbiani, used that knowledge to pull a prank on her on set. Cox recalled: 

Monica was always known to be cleaning, so it would be completely in character for Courteney Cox to go over to the sink or adjust the fruit in the bowl. Now, I feel like I should go back and watch for any hidden scripts! Apparently, the playfully shady Scream actress was not prepared for her long speech on the day in question, and the fact that she had a lot to say that day is probably exactly why Matt LeBlanc decided to strike when he did. Apparently, whatever she said worked, regardless of what was written on the page. 

Courteney Cox also revealed that she didn’t even find out that she’d been the victim of a prank until 2021, when the Friends stars reunited for the HBO Max special. Now that, sir, is a good prank. Cox has said it’s unlikely the reunion will happen again between her, Matt LeBlanc and their other co-stars — Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry — but maybe it should. Because I bet there are more memories the actors could knock loose about the fun they had on set during the show's decade-long run. 

If you want to relive the “Must See TV” fun, and look for scripts in the sink while you’re doing it, all 10 seasons of Friends, as well as Friends: The Reunion are available for streaming on HBO Max. And be sure to check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what shows are coming soon. 

Friends, the iconic NBC sitcom that premiered in 1994 and ran for 10 seasons, became a phenomenon around the world that continues today. Fans are still buying the merch and quoting the lines and arguing over whether or not Ross and Rachel were on a break. So it didn’t get past viewers when the contestants on the British version of The Chase all shared names with the actors who portrayed our famous coffee-drinking New Yorkers. The reason why, however, actually makes total sense.

On the British version of The Chase, which was adapted in the U.S. in 2013 for four seasons on the Game Show Network before being revived on ABC in 2021, four strangers form a team to compete against a professional quiz master. The Sun reports that showrunners have been known to give the team members names that connect them somehow. Eagle-eyed fans were quick to spot the pattern on the January 3 episode, which featured Matt, Jennifer, Courtney and David:

Although viewers likely know by now to watch out for the fun connections, it’s still pretty impressive that Friends fans were able to pick this one out, since the first names of Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and David Schwimmer are pretty common. The Chase also used the more traditional spelling of “Courtney,” which could have further thrown a die-hard Friends fan.

It’s also not the first time The Chase paid homage to the sitcom, which honored its loyal British fanbase in Season 4. In 1998, the production traveled to London to film the two-part finale, “The One with Ross’ Wedding,” in which Ross famously said Rachel’s name during his wedding vows instead of wife-to-be Emily. In 2017, The Chase featured an episode of the game show with a team of contestants named Rachael, Ross, Phoebe and Joey. Perhaps Monica and Chandler were off having some private time, as London was where their relationship started, after all.

Other famous connections on the British game show include a nod to the royal grandchildren, as a September 2021 episode featured Archie, Louis, Charlotte and George. In November, the show honored some legendary singers with the team of Prince, Tina, Elvis and Adele. The Chase got creative in December 2020, when it created a team of Ginger, Roger, Fred and Alistair, clearly a shoutout to the dancing Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. 

The American version of The Chase — which features teams of three rather than four — doesn’t seem to have followed suit on its creative team-naming tactics, which is kind of a shame. I do see, though, how it’s a little strange to change the name of your contestants for the sake of an Easter egg. If you want to catch The Chase on this side of the pond, the Season 2 winter premiere starts at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, January 5, on ABC. Check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what else is coming back this month.

Friends fans around the world were saddened to hear of the passing of one recurring character that really brought Central Perk to life. James Michael Tyler, better known as Gunther to show devotees, passed away this past weekend at the age of 59. To honor his memory and what he brought to the show, both on and off screen, Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, and the rest of cast paid tribute to the late actor.

When the Friends Reunion aired on HBO Max, James Michael Tyler’s absence was noted, though he did appear virtually. It was later revealed that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. Tyler’s portrayal of the love-stricken barista was a staple of the hit sitcom, and Jennifer Aniston had pretty much the perfect Instagram tribute post honoring the person behind the character who so loved her Rachel Green. You can check out the loving post below:

Although their characters weren’t nearly as connected, Courtney Cox also sent out a touching tribute to her former co-star. Cox speaks of gratitude in her post, and says she is grateful to have known James Michael Tyler. You can check out her post for yourself below:

Lisa Kudrow joined her two co-stars in sending her love for James Michael Tyler out into the world. Using the same headshot of the late actor, Kudrow wrote “thank you” to the late actor on her Instagram. Here’s what Kudrow says, exactly, in her tribute post:

David Schwimmer follows Lisa Kudrow’s lead in posting the same image, as his colleagues while sending out his thanks to his former colleague for being the person he was. Schwimmer goes even further, though, and touches on the icon Gunther was as well as how memorable Tyler was as a person. Here it is in Schwimmer’s own words:

Joey Tribianni himself, Matt LeBlanc, focused more on the laughs had between himself and the late Gunther actor in his own tribute post. LeBlanc shared a still from Friends, in which he and Tyler are on screen together. Check it out below:

Matthew Perry joined the rest of his friends in remembering their co-star. Perry took to Twitter to make his regrets for the loss known. You can find his tribute below:

Although he wasn’t one of the show's main six characters, James Michael Tyler certainly left a mark on the hit series. He showed up in well over 100 episodes, across all 10 seasons of the NBC sitcom. Here at CinemaBlend, our hearts go out to his family and “Friends”, as well as all of those he touched through his work.

During its epic ten-season run, NBC’s hit sitcom Friends was an awards-show darling, collecting an impressive 62 Emmy nominations (and six wins), amidst other achievements. Those many nominations included individual acting awards, of course, with 16 Emmy nods for Outstanding Actress or Actor in a Comedy Series spread among the six main cast members. Well, make that five main actors. As hard as it is to believe, Courteney Cox was the only series lead to never be nominated for her role as Monica Gellar. Geez, who was doing the voting, Ross and Monica’s parents?

Courteney Cox is now finally is getting some Emmy love, as she was nominated for Outstanding Short Form Daytime Non-Fiction Program for her Facebook Watch show 9 Months with Courteney Cox. (The category name is almost longer than the episodes.) In her web series, the Friends alum provides narration and commentary while giving viewers an intimate look at the pregnancy journeys of families in all types of unique circumstances - a topic that Friends was familiar with, considering Phoebe had her brother's children.

Better late than never, I guess, with the third season of the weekly series having debuted in May. That said, Courteney Cox recently spoke on The Howard Stern Show about how it felt to watch her Friends co-stars receive the accolades and recognition that she never got. In her words:

In a show where the six A-listers so publicly banded together not only on-screen, but also behind the scenes during salary and contract negotiations, it’s understandable why being the only one without such a prestigious honor would be hurtful. Courteney Cox’s work as Monica Gellar may have been understated, but that character was intrinsically important as the glue that brought the friends together, as she was Ross’ sister, Rachel’s childhood friend, Phoebe’s former roommate, and Chandler and Joey’s neighbor. There simply wouldn’t be Friends without Monica. Though I guess there are no awards for Most Outstanding Glue.

While Monica’s storylines did pick up later in the series when she and Chandler got together, I think it’s fair to say her character didn’t always land the same caliber of emotionally poignant plotlines as her co-stars. Clearly, nothing drew audiences in more than Ross and Rachel’s on-again, off-again romance, which eclipsed the "Monica and Chandler" of it all. As well, her neurotic cleanliness and weight-obsessed flashbacks just weren't as in-your-face and nuanced as Phoebe’s eccentricity, Chandler’s jokes or Joey’s acting career. But in my opinion, the show benefited from Monica’s voice of reason, which often kept it from coming off as a caricature. Someone has to be the facilitator, right? And that’s the beauty of an ensemble.

So who did get the most Emmy love amongst the six? It was actually Lisa Kudrow who led the way with six nominations and one win in 1998. Jennifer Aniston garnered five nods, with a win in 1996. Matt LeBlanc was nominated three times, and David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry were each nominated once. The only other two wins Friends earned were for Directing (Michael Lembeck) in 1996 and for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2002.

Hopefully getting an Emmy nomination of her own will take some of the sting away from being left out in the past. But official recognition or not, Courteney Cox continues to entertain fans, whether she’s getting pranked by Ed Sheeran or recreating classic Friends scenes on social media. Aside from 9 Months with Courteney Cox, the actress recently finished filming Scream, the fifth installment of the horror franchise, and you might have heard of a little project, Friends: The Reunion, which is streaming now on HBO Max.

Light spoilers for anyone who hasn't yet watched the Friends: The Reunion, so be warned!

For Friends fanatics who waited more than 15 years to see the cast back together again to talk about the good ol' days, HBO Max's recently released reunion special was tailor-made to hit all the pleasure points. From the too-quick cameos of returning faves like Maggie Wheeler to the 2.0 version of the trivia contest from "The One with the Embryos," it was largely the purest of delights. It all started off with some emotionally poignant notes featuring the cast members arriving at the immaculately crafted studio sets, but it turns out that opening came close to getting ruined before it started.

A big reason why Friends: The Reunion works so well is because of the vision of director Ben Winston, who had some very clear and present ideas about how to bring the beloved six stars together again. So before anyone - David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, and Matt LeBlanc - arrived, Winston plotted to have things play out as audiences saw them, with the actors showing up one at a time, with each mini-reunion being recorded as it happened. But Winston's goals were in danger of being derailed after he realized each of the actor's trailers were all parked right next to each other, making it far more likely for the actors to bump into each other before appearing on camera.

In an interview with The Times, Ben Winston explained how he accepted that setback and figured out a way to work past it.

So in the end, capturing those quietly magical moments on the set came down to setting up physical makeshift barriers around the trailers, as well as metaphysical trust barriers with the various cast members. And those very same cast members apparently gave Ben Winston a good-natured hard time about the specificity of his requests, saying that they were all driving to the set together, and Matt LeBlanc joking that he was already lying in bed with David Schwimmer, likely a reference to Joey and Ross' sleeping preferences shown in the episode "The One with the Napping Partners."

Thankfully, it all worked out in a way that allowed Ben Winston to get his wishes, and his instincts were right on, given how impactful it was to see the cast members popping onto the sets with wistful appreciation for everything within Monica's apartment set. And the director was definitely appreciative that it all worked out, saying:

Even at more than 90 minutes, Friends: The Reunion still felt like it was too short a celebration for an event of this magnitude. Could there BE any more magnitude? For anyone who hasn't yet watched, or can't wait to watch again, all Friends episodes plus the special are available to stream in full on HBO Max.

This is not a drill. The Friends reunion on HBO Max is finally coming to fruition, as Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and the rest of the gang are actually filming this month. It’s been a year since COVID derailed the original plans for the reunion, and fans have only been clamoring for a reunion for the past 17 years. But it looks like the wait is finally, finally over, and die-hard fans like myself can transition from if the reunion will happen to what we want to see when Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe and Joey all share the screen again.

Of course, we know by now that the actors won’t be reprising their iconic roles, but instead will be taking the stage as themselves. This might be a good thing — and a huge relief for Matthew Perry — since seeing our Central Perk regulars in character would come with ridiculously hard-to-meet expectations. The bar is pretty high as it is, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s spent time wondering what would make this reunion perfection. Here are some things I’m hoping we’ll see when the time comes.

Appearances From Recurring Characters

OH. MY. GOD. Would a Friends reunion even be a Friends reunion without Janice? Many of the recurring characters on Friends were absolutely vital to the series, and I’m hoping a reunion pays homage to Maggie Wheeler’s Janice and the consistent hell she caused Chandler. To James Michael Taylor’s Gunther, who kept the coffee cups full and the flame burning for Rachel. To Carol and Susan (Jane Sibbett and Jessica Hecht) for navigating the world of co-parenting with Ross (David Schwimmer). Paul Rudd may have come late to the party as Phoebe’s eventual husband Mike, but that makes him no less important — he was the Crap Bag to her Princess Consuela Banana Hammock, after all.

Drop-ins From Famous Guest Stars

Friends is widely known for the impressive array of A-list guest stars who appeared over its 10 seasons. Short of a Seinfeld finale situation, it would be impossible to revisit all the celebrities who graced the Friends stage, and in the world of COVID and quarantining, it’s a moo point. But what would be amazing was if we got to hear — perhaps virtually — from some of the more notable guest stars. Brad Pitt has a much friendlier relationship in real life with ex-wife Jennifer Aniston than his on-screen persona Will, who co-founded the “I Hate Rachel Green Club,” does with Rachel.

And who wouldn’t want to hear from Tom Selleck (other than Chandler, I guess), who made America swoon as Monica’s boyfriend? I could drop names until my fingers fall off, but it would be so cool to hear what some of those famous faces have to say this many years after their stints on the show: George Clooney, Reese Witherspoon, Bruce Willis, Jill Goodacre, Ben Stiller… seriously, I could go all day, but could we at least find out if Jon Favreau’s Pete Becker ever became the Ultimate Fighting Champion?

Settle The “We Were On A Break” Debate

Friends has a unique opportunity in the HBO Max reunion special, in that it could settle one of television’s hottest debates: Were Ross and Rachel on a break? Or is Ross “once a cheater, always a cheater”? Let’s get Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer to put this one to bed once and for all, with help from their friends — who don’t need to hide in the bedroom eating Waxine this time around.

Was Ross within his rights to sleep with Chloe the Copy Girl on the same night that Rachel suggested they take a break? Does it make a difference that they got back together the next morning, or that Chloe was still at Ross’ apartment when Rachel went over? How does Mark play into it? It’s hard to imagine fans of the show will be open to changing their opinions — and believe me, we all have opinions — but it might be super cathartic to hear how time has shaped Ross and Rachel’s POV.

New Stories From Behind The Scenes

Since Friends went off the air in 2004 — and even before that, really — there have been books written, episode commentaries and gag reels on the DVDs, podcasts dedicated to the series, and countless interviews with the cast and creators. It’s hard to believe there could possibly be any behind-the-scenes stories or Easter eggs that haven’t already been divulged. But, man, I hope there are.

Ten years is a long time — a lot of Thanksgivings — so the actors naturally had to deal with issues in their personal lives over the course of the show, including addiction, infertility and divorce, to name a few. Since this special has been compared to HBO Max’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reunion, I wonder if or how much this cast will similarly dip into more serious territory, or if they’ll prefer to keep the mood light?

Musical Performances

The Rembrandts have been known to perform their iconic theme song "I'll Be There For You" in celebrating big anniversaries of the show, so that’s an easy item for the “Want” list. But Friends featured another musical superpower whose songs haven’t gotten quite the same amount of air-play. I’m talking about song-writing phenom and truth-telling guitar player Phoebe Buffay, of course.

I would love to see today’s singers or musical groups adapt some Phoebe Buffay hits. “Smelly Cat” is a shoe-in, and speaking of shoes, could we possibly get a good bluesy version of “Sticky Shoes” (sexy phlegm optional)? Don’t forget this old favorite — the scandalous “Two of Them Kissed Last Night.” Yeah, let’s get a compilation album going.

Regardless of what HBO Max's Friends reunion special brings to the table, I, surely like millions of fans worldwide, am grateful that it’s actually happening, after years of speculation and the delays brought on by the pandemic. Seeing Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and the rest share the screen together again is sure to bring the laughs and nostalgia, and I'm so Bamboozled, I could dance in a fountain. There's been no update on when the Friends reunion will air, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend’s 2021 TV schedule to find out when it gets announced.

After more than a decade of fans hoping that it could one day actually happen, the Friends Reunion Special is steadily getting closer to being a reality. The program, which will bring all six cast members (including the likes of Jennifer Aniston and her onscreen former roommate Courteney Cox) together, is set to premiere relatively soon on HBO Max and we could not be any more excited.

Since the hit sitcom saw Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Ross, Chandler, and Joey moving on to new stages of life in 2004 after 10 seasons on NBC, the cast of Friends has entertained fans by coming back together in small doses, onscreen and off. For instance, Courteney Cox would play a love interest to Matthew Perry on his dramedy Go On after playing the same kind of role on her sitcom Cougar Town. Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow would also appear on Cougar Town, after Cox did an episode of Kudrow’s Web Therapy, on which David Schwimmer also guested before playing himself opposite Matt LeBlanc on Episodes. Those are only the few examples.

However, this is the first time in many years in which all six cast members will share the screen together again, which is especially exhilarating since doing anything “together” is particularly difficult these days. In fact, if it were not for social distancing, we would have gotten the Friends Reunion Special even sooner. We can elaborate on that and more regarding this highly anticipated event in the following quick convenient breakdown of seven essential things to know about the upcoming special, starting with news that will surely make your day, your week, your month, or even your year.

The Friends Reunion Special Will Premiere On HBO Max In May 2021

After the series became no longer available on Netflix at the end of 2019, HBO Max has become the only place to stream Friends since it launched in May 2020. The streaming platform will also be home to the Friends Reunion Special, adding that already legendary program to its long list of highly anticipated exclusive content. At long last, HBO Max has confirmed that the Friends: The Reunion premiere date is set for May 27, 2021.

In addition to confirmation of the premiere date, HBO Max announced appearances of a number of special guests, including: David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin, Mindy Kaling, Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon and Malala Yousafzai.

If you're not a subscriber of HBO Max you can sign up for it here.

The Friends Reunion Was Set To Start Filming In April 2021

With the May premiere date quickly approaching, it's likely that at least some of the special has filmed, if not all of it. Filling us in on this information was Ross Gellar himself, David Schwimmer, who was a guest on the SiriusXM show Radio Andy on March 3 and revealed to host Andy Cohen that he was flying out to Los Angeles "in a little over a month" to shoot the reunion, meaning that filming may have started and possibly completed in April. Based purely on the confidence in his voice from audio clip, this sounds like promising update yet of the special's status, of which there have been many that, unfortunately, came to no avail.

The Friends Reunion Special Was Originally Meant To Come Out In May 2020

Anticipation for a Friends Reunion Special has been high since the series ended, if we are being honest, but really kicked into gear once it was officially announced in early 2020. The event was given a release date for the following May on HBO Max, to coincide with the launch of the streaming service that same month until the outbreak of Covid-19 incited the first of multiple delays over the past year. In fact, until David Schwimmer's recent update, the special was most recently intended to shoot in March, but perhaps they needed the extra time to figure out the safety protocols.

Some Portions Of The Friends Reunion Will Be Shot Outdoors

In July 2020, David Schwimmer mentioned how the cast and crew had hoped to film the Friends Reunion Special in front of a live studio audience, which Covid-19 made "tricky." However, the actor would say in his recent Radio Andy interview that they "finally we figured out a way to film it safely," adding that some of the special will take place in an outdoor setting. This might be amusing to fans who were excited to see more fountain dancing and less of the gang catching up on each other's separate lives over a Central Perk coffee, even though neither should actually be expected for the event.

The Friends Reunion Will Be An Unscripted Gathering Of The Full Cast

We imagine most fans probably wanted something along the lines of a reboot or revival for the Friends reunion which would see Ross and Rachel's daughter, Emma, and Monica and Chandler's twins grown up or Joey finally becoming an A-list actor. Well, as early reports of the special suggested and Lisa Kudrow later confirmed on Rob Lowe's podcast Literally, the show will not be a scripted sequel of the sitcom. It will simply show the cast as themselves reminiscing about the series' greatest memories and preceding legacy, a la the last time HBO Max hosted a reunion show with the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air cast in November 2020.

Some Cast Members Have Already Shot Portions Of The Friends Reunion

While speaking to Rob Lowe on his Literally podcast in January 2021, Lisa Kudrow (who more recently starred on the Netflix comedy Space Force with Steve Carell) added that she has actually filmed some of the Friends Reunion Special herself ahead of the upcoming shoot with the full-cast. That being said, we can likely infer that her former co-stars have done the same and will have their own little individual moments in between footage of the gathering.

The Cast Is Reportedly Receiving $2.5 Million To Appear In The Friends Reunion

The cast of Friends is famous for (other than acting on the show, of course) becoming some of the highest paid actors in history by demanding equal pay among the six of them. It appears that tradition will be honored for their participation in the reunion special when they each receive $2.5 million, instead of the $3-4 million as earlier reports had suggested initially.

I actually agree with most of what the cast and creators of Friends, David Crane and Marta Kauffman, have said about bringing the cast back for a scripted special or multi-episode event: that it never would have been able to top that once-in-a-lifetime success they achieved with the original long-running sitcom. Then again, instead of calling it a "reboot" or "revival," they could have just said they were on a break... On second thought, maybe not.

Well, this has certainly turned out to be a weirder television season than anyone could have expected. Many shows had to shutdown production early and were then forced to end their seasons with finales that were actually one or more episodes away from the previously planned finale episode the showrunners had in mind. But, we're in May now, and as this is the time of year when shows tend to be renewed and cancelled en masse, we're finally getting to our first news of what's sticking around and what's saying goodbye after the 2019-2020 TV season is over. Unfortunately, this means that Pauley Perrette's new sitcom, Broke, along with the shows of some of her CBS cohorts, have now been cancelled.

CBS announced the cancellations today, and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Broke is joining three other shows on the schedule in making their swan songs at the end of the current TV season. Edie Falco's cop drama Tommy, Patricia Heaton starrer Carol's Second Act, and the Matt LeBlanc family sitcom Man With a Plan will all be joining Broke in that big TV graveyard in the sky.

Broke

When Pauley Perrette decided to leave her gig as an original cast member of CBS' hit crime procedural NCIS behind in late 2017, fans were stunned, and didn't know when they'd be able to see one of their favorites on TV again after her last episode aired in May 2018. But, it didn't take long for Perrette to find something that suited her even better than her former role as Abby Sciuto, because she signed on for Broke in March of the following year, with the show premiering just a little over a month ago, on April 2.

Broke followed Pauley Perrette as feisty single mom Jackie, who feels forced to put up with her snobby sister and brother-in-law when they lose all of their money and come knocking on her door for a place to live (along with their loyal assistant / driver / friend) while adjusting to financial ruin. The estranged family then had to deal with class differences, as well as there now being too many folks in a small home, but it would seem that while fans loved Perrette on NCIS, Broke was not enough to their liking.

Man With A Plan

As one of the stars of possibly the biggest sitcom of the '90s through mid-'00s, Matt LeBlanc could have probably easily retired after he finished his run on Friends. While he tried to keep that magic going with Joey, he hit another comedy stride playing an outrageous version of himself on Showtime's Episodes, and then decided to head back to network sitcoms with Man With a Plan in the fall of 2016. While reviews for the show were lackluster, it's clear that fans enjoyed seeing LeBlanc back in a sitcom, which led to Man With a Plan being the longest-running show in this batch of cancellations.

Man With a Plan saw Matt LeBlanc's character take on additional parenting duties for his three children when his wife returned to work after being a full-time parent for 13 years. It's clear that the show connected with audiences for a time, as it just returned for Season 4 at the beginning of April. But, Man With a Plan was never a big hit for CBS, and the ratings fall that began in the second season continued into Season 3, and wasn't able to rebound to the relative highs of Season 1 after it's recent debut.

Tommy

Tommy saw Sopranos alum Edie Falco return to TV after another long run on a very different, but still prestigious show: Nurse Jackie. Fans were, once again, excited to hear that Falco would be coming back to television, this time on network TV as the first female Chief of Police in Los Angeles on Tommy. The drama debuted in early February to average views, with most saying that Falco was the real key to any success the show might see.

Ratings for Tommy were likely a lot lower than the ones CBS was hoping to see for a police procedural starring an actor as beloved as Edie Falco, so while the weekly numbers were never a complete disaster, clearly the network felt that the hour it had devoted to Tommy would be better served elsewhere.

Carol's Second Act

Just like Edie Falco, Patricia Heaton had come off of two major hits by the time she landed on CBS with Carol's Second Act. Known for her runs on long-time sitcom favorites Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle, she headed back to the network that helped raise her profile for a new comedy.

Carol's Second Act saw Patricia Heaton's Carol try for her dream job as a doctor after raising a family, getting divorced and leaving her career as a teacher in her 50s. The series made its debut in September, and while it was a consistent performer for CBS, its ratings and total viewer averages were down 25 and 17 percent, respectively, from what the Murphy Brown revival did in the same timeslot in the previous season. That, added with some behind the scenes issues, probably led to the network deciding to give it the boot.

While these cancellations are certainly tough blows for the fans of each series, CBS did renew 15 scripted shows, which now join Young Sheldon, Evil and Mom in getting to shine for another year.

Until we see how CBS' new schedule shakes out for the 2020-2021 season, be sure to check out our Netflix guide and see what's coming up on TV this summer!

Despite ending in 2004, Friends has maintained a surprisingly strong grip on people who have zero problems repeatedly watching all 236 episodes. To the point where hypothetical Friends-themed karaoke bars would be filled with people performing classic quotes like "Dear God, this parachute is a knapsack!" Thankfully, the show's licensing has gone wild, giving fans tons of merch to obsess over, such as the excellent Funko Pop collectibles celebrating the six main Friends characters: Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Ross, Chandler and Joey. (As well as Marcel, Duck and Chick.) But, uh, we need a lot more than that.

As excellent as both of the Friends Funko Pop sets characters are, especially the Joey figure wearing Chandler's clothes, it's still strange that the second series only featured different versions of the core sextet, rather than any of the many memorable side characters that had us laughing during the ten-season stretch. Rather than complaining about that or the lack of Friends on streaming platforms, I'm going to gather all the Fun Bobby vibes I can to point out the 14 Friends Funko Pops that I can't believe haven't been made yet.

1. Dr. Drake Ramoray

This Friends Funko Pop is no mere alternate take on Joey Tribbiani, but rather a tribute to his Days of Our Lives neurosurgeon whose brawn outmatched anything involving brains. Speaking of, the Drake Ramoray figure should definitely have some stitches across his head as a reminder of the brain transplant that brought the character back to life, five seasons after he'd fallen down an elevator shaft and was presumed dead. He should also have his trusty stethoscope, and perhaps a slip of paper featuring the name and number of Brooke Shield's dangerously obsessive Erika Ford.

2. Janice Litman-Goralnik

Oh. My. God. How in the world did Janice not get immediately fast-tracked for a Funko Pop doll the moment they were brought into existence? In the first place, these collectibles don't make any noise, so Janice's ear-gouging laugh wouldn't be on aural display. Second, without a Janice figure, who's going to make Funko Pop Chandler's balls crawl back into its body? A Mattress King sign would be a nice accessory for this. Or maybe she's missing one of her shoes, in reference to Chandler limply taking one as leverage during their Season 3 break-up.

3. Mike Hannigan

With the exception of his quasi-nemesis David (Hank Azaria), Paul Rudd's Mike is easily the best boyfriend-turned-husband that Phoebe ever had, despite their relationship being based on one of Joey's lies. Obviously, the most ideal look for Mike would be to have him wearing a shirt, or perhaps a sports jersey, that depicts his name as being "Crap Bag," which he proposed as his new name when Phoebe changed hers to "Princess Consuela Bananahammock." (In an episode that featured an early TV appearance from Craig Robinson.) Plus, Rudd needs more Funko Pops, since his only other one is for Ant-Man.

4. Copy Place Chloe

No other tertiary character has been at the middle of as many serious Friends debates as Angela Featherstone's short-lived character Chloe, as she was the woman that Ross slept with when he was under the assumption that he and Rachel were on a break. It wouldn't make much logistical sense to have her Funko Pop be in possession of the long-ass letter that Rachel wrote to Ross at the beach house, but it would be so fitting nonetheless. Perhaps she could come with an attachment of Ross' apartment door to hide behind.

5. Eddie Menuek

Maybe Adam Goldberg's Eddie wasn't generally the worst roommate in the world, but he was definitely the worst replacement for Joey. Not only because he felt comfortable watching Chandler sleep, though that is a high qualifier. The Eddie Funko Pop should definitely be holding either a fruit dehydrator or, at the very least, a platter of dehydrated fruit. Perhaps Eddie could even have a wet fish tail dangling out of his pocket, since that's how he chose to transport his pet after being kicked out of the apartment.

6 & 7. Amy & Jill Green

It's our first Funko Pop pairing! Here we've got Rachel's two sisters, Amy and Jill, played respectively by Christina Applegate and Reese Witherspoon. Each sister only showed up for two episodes apiece, and Applegate and Witherspoon never actually appeared together in the same one. So this would create the perfect opportunity for fans to have all three Green siblings together, so long as Jill doesn't try to make out with Ross and max out anybody's credit card. I'm thinking Amy should either come with a broken china plate or a tiny ear-piercing kit.

8. Russ

Like Dr. Drake Ramoray, Russ is no mere double of a previously released Ross Funko Pop, but a full character on his own. It's just...one that happens to look a lot like Ross, or perhaps Bob Saget (or even Fun Bobby, if we're just talking jackets and hair). The Russ collectible should definitely have a bigger nose and chin than Ross, and would also be pretty cool if he had a tattoo of Lauren Tom's Julie somewhere, since those two ended up getting together after Rachel broke up with him.

9. Carol Willick

As Ross' first wife who divorced him after embracing her latent lesbianism, Carol was truly one of a kind. (Also, because Ross was sober and got her name right at the altar, which wasn't the case for his other weddings.) Carol is a no-brainer for Funko Pop collectibles because they could release the main version based on Jane Sibbett, who portrayed her in all but one episode, and the company could then follow that with a limited release of Anita Barone's Carol, who was only used in a single episode. Then, of course, they could release a dual-character package with Carol and Jessica Hecht's Susan on their wedding day. $$$!

10. Charles Bing (Helena Handbasket)

If we're being real here, this entire list could have featured solely Funko Pops based on all the parents of the Friends leads. But the parent who would create the most magnificent looking figure is obviously Chandler's cross-dressing father Charles – stage name Helena Handbasket – as played by Kathleen Turner. Like quite a few elements from Friends' ten-year run, Charles is a particularly un-P.C. character, but considering the Funko Pop would only need to convey Turner's glorious visage, as opposed to the character's backstory, it'd be less awkward to revisit on a daily basis.

11. Charlie Wheeler

First appearing in Season 9 as further proof that Ross is the worst at making dinosaurs sound cool, Aisha Tyler's paleontology professor Charlie was a romantic interest first for Joey, then for Ross, and then her ex-husband Benjamin Hobart again (as played by Greg Kinnear). Beyond Tyler being great in everything, Charlie also deserves a Funko Pop figure for being the only recurring black character of note that Friends ever had. It might be overkill to have Charlie holding a picture frame with photos of Joey, Ross and Hobart in it, but not the same kind of overkill as pairing Charlie's Funko Pop with a limited edition version of Gabrielle Union's Kristen Lang.

12 & 13. Frank and Alice

Admittedly, I briefly thought about adding Phoebe's sister Ursula to this list, the sibling far more worthy of inclusion is Giovani Ribisi's Frank Buffay Jr., who would obviously need to be paired up with his wife and former home-ec teacher Alice, as played by Debra Jo Rupp. The lovingly ditzy and naive characters were excellent every time they appeared, so what better to add as "accessories" than the triplets that Phoebe served as the surrogate for. (I would actually go for a whole Friends Pop Funko set just based on that hospital, complete with the Fonzie-loving Dr. Harad, the barely post-pubescent Dr. Oberman, Patrick Fabian's hunky Nurse Dan, and Iqbal Theba's doctor who tends to Joey's "kidney stones.")

14. Estelle Leonard

Along with Kathleen Turner's Helena Handbasket, June Gable's Estelle Leonard would make for the most distinct looking Funko Pop figure, what with her wild curls, her colorful and/or patterned jackets, and a cigarette always in hand. As Joey's endlessly questionable agent, Estelle wasn't the most prominent character, but she was definitely a fan-favorite up to and beyond the character's death in Season 10. The collectible should definitely have a green phone receiver put against her ear, and if they wanted to go dark with it, she could be holding a copy of the obituary that Phoebe read to learn of her death.

These 14 characters were larger than the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Friends Funko Pops we can't believe already on the market, but there are definitely still tons of characters not mentioned here that also deserve to get their own standalone figures in the future. Maybe we'll get around to tackling those one day. Until then, stay patient for Friends' return to streaming once the HBO Max streaming service goes live in May.

Most people would, reasonably, assume that the popularity of a TV show, even one that was a massive hit, would dwindle considerably in the years after it finally stops making new episodes. But, that turns out to not quite be the case for Friends. The NBC megahit might actually be as popular today as it was during its initial run. Fans have been clamoring for a revival or reunion special for many years, and HBO Max is going to pay the stars a pretty penny to give them one.

Pretty much everyone who was relying on Netflix to stream Friends had a hard time when it was snatched away from the streamer at the start of the year, but, to help ease the transition to HBO Max, the new service is putting together an unscripted reunion special to kick off the availability of the comedy there. Each of the six stars will appear in the hour long special, and be paid between $3-$4 million for doing so. That's not bad for just talking about your old job for an hour, right?

Friends, which ran from 1994-2004 and launched the careers of Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry into the stratosphere, had already had a long (and very fruitful) life in syndication, but streaming really showed how much people were still addicted to the adventures, triumphs and woes of Phoebe, Joey, Ross, Monica, Rachel and Chandler. Fans have spent much of the past 15+ years since Friends went off the air losing their minds over any appearance of the cast together, to the point where Aniston joining Instagram and posting a picture with the whole cast basically broke the internet back in October.

There have been several teases from the stars that they were working on something together for months, and, according to Deadline, talks about doing the special began last fall. By the end of the year, though, negotiations had come to a standstill over money, but that's clearly been rectified now. It would seem that each party involved finally realized that the best thing would be to get this special on the air, because diehard Friends fans would absolutely be willing to pay to watch it go down.

Netflix knew what it had on its hands with Friends. The show landed squarely in the Top 10 of most popular Netflix shows last year, which makes the streamer's decision to pay $100 million to keep it around for another year, through the end of 2019, understandable. HBO Max is clearly hoping that investing in Friends will continue to be worth it, seeing as how the streamer reached deep into its brand new pockets and pulled out $425 million for the SVOD rights to the entire catalog of 236 episodes. And, if people flock to HBO Max after its launch in May to see the reunion special, it's not unlikely that they'll stick around to stream Friends.

There's no word yet on when the Friends reunion special will air on HBO Max, but stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest. In the meantime, see what you can watch right now by checking out our 2020 premiere guide!

Ever since it first aired on NBC back in September of 1994, Friends has been one of most popular sitcom phenomenons in television history, the likes of which are rarely seen in pop culture. The reason why it sparked $100 million deals from Netflix is because Friends is not simply adored, but it has sparked downright obsessions. Therefore, it should come as little surprise to know that the cast members of Friends have all become extremely rich thanks to their work on the famous show. Not just during the ten seasons, but particularly when collecting royalties.

Friends' six central stars – Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer – continued renegotiating their contracts and made sure they were all healthily compensated on the back-end of the production, so fans could easily assume that these actors were making out like bandits by the end of Friends' run, and still to this day, considering all the syndication value. Based on information gleaned through the years, let's try to figure out how much the Friends cast have made from royalties off the popular NBC sitcom. (While this information is usually pretty speculative for other series, Friends' contract details have spread fairly widely throughout the media.)

How Much Did The Cast Of Friends Make While It Was On The Air?

During the show's first season, the Friends cast members were reportedly each paid $22,500 per episode. But as the second season came into being, it seems that there were some discrepancies. Some actors, for instance, were compensated around $20,000 per episode, while other cast members gained $40,000. While these differences reportedly sparked some ill-will within the cast, they decided to band together and enter collective negotiations for the third season, assuring that each cast member received equal compensation. This idea went against Warner Bros.' history of making individual deals. Nevertheless, it worked.

Season 3 brought in big paydays, with each cast member reportedly paid $75,000 per episode, which went up to $85,000 an ep. in Season 4. The numbers started jumping even higher here, with the stars earning $100,000 per ep in Season 5, $125,000 per episode in Season 6, and $750,000 in Seasons 7 and 8.

When it came time for the final two seasons, though, that's when the contracts went into outer space. Each actor negotiated an astounding $1 million-per-episode deal, which made Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, and Courteney Cox the highest-paid actresses on TV at the time. There aren't many actors who get paid a million bucks to do a sitcom, and it even took The Big Bang Theory stars a while to get there.

How Much Does The Cast Of Friends Make From Reruns?

Suffice to say, Friends is one of the most lucrative syndicated shows out there, with 236 episodes ready for blocks of TV repeats. As such, the ceiling for royalties from those deals is infinitely high, especially with the solid back-end deals that were worked out with the actors' contracts. As it was reported in the past by USA Today, each actor within the Friends ensemble is estimated to make $19-$20 million a year from royalties off the show. That's a whole lot of moolah!

As it turns out, Friends itself makes an estimated $1 billion(!) a year for Warner Bros. through various deals and merchandising. The stars have been reported to earn around two percent of that syndication income, which may not sound like much, but clearly defies the odds. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who'd complain about receiving $20 million checks for work that was completed over a decade ago.

Friends Could Finally Get A Reunion Special, But Not How We Imagined

Ultimately, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc have certainly been compensated very, very well for their work on Friends. And there's a good chance they will continue to make a lot of money off the popular NBC show in the future when it hits the in-development streaming service. HBO Max, which is set to go live in early 2020.

It's the one with the reunion! Fans have long wondered whether Friends, arguably NBC’s most famous sitcom, would ever go down the revival route. Will and Grace got a revival a few years ago and Saved by the Bell is next on the list, with Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley already signed on to star. While the answer is usually no, Jennifer Aniston recently shared a reunion picture of the entire cast, sparking rumors about a revival series and fueling hope for fans.

Prior to today, Jennifer Aniston had avoided Instagram at all costs. Outside of interviews and press tours, the actress managed to stay away from all forms of social media. However, that changed when she created an account and the first picture she posted to Instagram was that of the entire cast of Friends, including Courtney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, and Matthew Perry.

You can check out the image below!

Alongside the post, the Friends star included a caption that read “And now we’re Instagram FRIENDS too. HI INSTAGRAM.”

That, of course, sent fans into a frenzy and everyone wondered if it meant the cast was reuniting because a Friends revival was in the works or if they were simply hanging out as, y’know, friends. While Jennifer Aniston doesn't confirm a revival is in the works or anything, it’s hard not to speculate considering that her new Instagram account appeared out of the blue. However, it’s best to keep in mind that Friends' co-creators said they’re not interested in doing a revival or reboot of the show.

The NBC sitcom has been a staple on Netflix for many years, but they announced in July that Friends would no longer be available to stream come January 2020. That news came soon after the announcement that WarnerMedia, Friends’ parent company, would be moving the series exclusively to HBO Max (think HBO plus Warner Bros. content) as part of a streaming deal.

The streaming issues are a bit confusing when breaking it down. After all, several other NBC comedies, like The Office and Parks and Recreation are moving from Netflix to the network’s new streaming service, aptly called Peacock, when it launches in 2021 while others, like Friends, will be available only on HBO Max. Meanwhile, Seinfeld fans are rejoicing because the series will be available to stream on Netflix for the foreseeable future.

Recently, The Office showrunner Greg Daniels was asked if he would consider reviving the beloved comedy and he was hesitant about it, because it’s “such a perfect thing” and he didn’t want to disappoint fans.

Despite fueling the rumors of a Friends revival, Jennifer Aniston remains booked and busy. She’ll be starring in the upcoming AppleTV+ series, The Morning Show, alongside Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. The series has already been picked up for two seasons prior to airing a single episode, so it’s best not to expect a Friends reunion outside of social media anytime soon.

You can still enjoy Friends while it’s still on Netflix. And if you’re looking for any new comedies to watch, be sure to check out our complete guide to every new and returning show this fall.