Why a Friends reunion is a terrible idea
Joey, Phoebe, Ross, Rachel, Chandler and Monica left our screens ten years ago and I don't want them back, says Susanna Lazarus
As Friends fans go, I’m about as big as they come. I spend my evenings watching Friends repeats. I find a Friends reference in anything I can. I annoy my actual friends by quoting Friends at every given opportunity.
The cast’s repeated denials of a reunion should leave me distraught but they don’t. Instead the endless rebuttals they’re forced to issue fill me with relief because, in my humble opinion, a Friends reunion is the worst idea ever.
Why? Because to me their ten series are perfection (before you start, I’m well aware that opinion is often refuted). I know as a TV writer I should be seeking out the latest, trendiest dramas but, what can I say, nothing satisfies me like Friends. I can find endless comfort in watching an episode I’ve already seen five, ten, twenty times and the fond memories I have of the final one – crowded around a TV sobbing with my gaggle of friends – are precious. I don’t want them blemished by an ill-fated comeback for a fast buck.
And what do we really expect from a reunion. Old, pervy Joey still hitting on women? A panicked Chandler surrounded by boisterous children? Phoebe and Mike discussing their kinky couple sex? We don't really want to see that, do we?
Let's keep our memories, as they are. And while I'm at it, let's stop badgering the cast. How many times do we have to force their denials? Could we BE any more annoying? It's not going to happen, people. The vein has spoken. (I told you I was annoying).
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Instead, we should be celebrating what we've got. As we mark the tenth anniversary of Joey, Rachel, Ross, Phoebe, Monica and Chandler's final farewell, let's pay tribute to those 236 marvellous episodes – the characters, the chemistry, the comic timing. The "Oh. My. God"s and the "How you doin'"s. We are not on a break. This is permanent. And I'm ok with that.
