It's time to ditch the discourse over Friends in wake of the reunion special
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Friends: The Reunion was good, but it was also a reminder that there’s very little, if anything, left to say about this show, says Angela Watercutter. "Perhaps it’s time to say goodbye to Friends," says Watercutter. "No, no one has to stop watching reruns when there’s nothing else worth the time—it’s not like you can avoid them, anyway. And no, this isn’t a screed about how it’s a bad show that no one should discover, or rediscover, ever again. This is about the discourse; the constant dredging up of the 1990s Thursday night sitcom every few months to relitigate its merits and shortcomings. Friends is a good show. It does not, however, need to spark this much conversation....If there’s one thing Friends: The Reunion is missing, it’s a substantive conversation about Friends. The reunion special was, ostensibly, created to capitalize on the show’s resurgence and lure subscribers to HBO Max, but in addition to memes and BuzzFeed quizzes, the discourse about the show has brought to the fore its shortcomings: its lack of racial diversity, its less-than-stellar treatment of queer issues, its recurring jokes about Monica’s weight. None of those things get addressed here; though there is a somewhat awkward segment full of people all over the world talking about how much they love the show while avoiding the fact that many weren’t represented in it. Perhaps that’s a lot to ask of a touchy-feely TV special hosted by Everybody’s Biggest Fan James Corden, but if there would be any reason to continue talking about Friends, that would be it. (And truly, there’s room to have a discussion about the fact that Friends was progressive for its time and use it as a signpost for how much things have changed.) Instead, Friends: The Reunion involved a lot of cameos (Lady Gaga singing 'Smelly Cat'! Justin Bieber for some reason!) and not-surprising confessions (David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston did crush on each other! People hated Marcel the monkey!), all of which amount to a send-off rather than just a celebration. That’s the way it should be. Nostalgia has been getting a lot of folks through the Covid-19 lockdowns and subsequent isolation. Watching a show like Friends not only reminds people of a time when luxuriating in coffee shops and sharing beers was possible, it also reminds them that they once watched Friends during less fraught periods. Friends: The Reunion itself was delayed by Covid, and now that it’s here, it serves as a healthy reminder that sometimes it’s OK to honor a beloved thing and move on."
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TOPICS: Friends, HBO Max, Ben Barnes, Matthew Perry, Retro TV
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