Matthew Perry at the Friends Reunion. It's Not Good

Husky silver daddy Matt LeBlanc is 50 times hotter than he was

it's amazingly boring

He looks like he had a stroke.

Okay, when the show first aired the beauty rankings were:

Courteney Cox

Matt LaBlanc

Lisa Kudrow

Jennifer Aniston

Matthew Perry

David Schwimmer

Now it’s:

Jennifer Aniston

Lisa Kudrow

Matt LaBlanc

Courteney Cox

David Schwimmer

Matthew Perry

None of them aged well. Even the heavy make up doesnt help. Maybe Aniston and Kudrow still keeping it together still, but others are sad to look at. Life is so cruel.

Matt is zaftig but not unattractive.

He looks like he’s getting ready to play Lyndon Johnson.

Who had the most work done?

Courtney Cox looks like she's auditioning for a new cast member of Real Housewives of [wherever rich women do that to their skulls and skin.]

Matt L and Lisa deserve kudos for aging naturally. They both look better than Courteney and Matthew P, who overdid it with cosmetic procedures. They also look the happiest of the bunch.

Lisa Kudrow is almost 58 and doesn't seem to have much work done. Her instagram posts show her wrinkles yet I think she looks the best. Perry is for sure drugged out of his mind. There was a blind item on Deux Moi that he was in rough shape at the taping.

Friends is the new Gilligan’s Island - a show that won’t go away for 40 years. And every 10 years there are reunion shows where audiences get queasier & queasier looking at the aging stars. Except for Mary Ann (Phoebe).

Aniston and Leblanc look good. So does Schwimmer, who’s grown out of his nebbishness.

Cox looks good but waaaay too “preserved.”

Do you think Matthew wipes well?

Perry is stoned out of his mind and the other two know it, you can see them flinch when he “quips” about their sexual chemistry wtf!

Aniston has so much filler in her face her speech is impaired. Great body, no need to destroy your face.

They should do a new show together: The Golden Friends.

"Shady Pines, Matt!"

Wow Perry is zonked the whole time. Just staring. Looks like any actor who's ever played drunk - badly - in a scene.

Schwimmer looks best. Never thought I'd say this.

[quote] Who had the most work done?

Please, it’s not even a competition!

[quote] Schwimmer looks best.

He’s almost as fat as Matthew Perry!

Schwimmer manages to look....sexy. Wow. His hair is so epic, I'm jealous. Poor Matt Perry. He seems incredibly unwell.

The ladies look great.

Aniston clearly looks the best. She easily looks 15 years younger than she really is. She’s had work done, but it’s not drastic or hideous.

Cox knows her work isn't great and she regrets it as she has mentioned before.

Lisa Kudrow is so much better than that show and all her co-stars on it. The Comeback is one of the greatest comedy series of all time. Friends is like Saved By The Bell.

Omg Matt lurching in his chair, looking like a rough 70 years old, staring into space, disengaged.

I feel sorry for Matthew Perry. Due to COVID precautions, there probably wasn't a craft services table for him to hover over all day.

"Family Feud" once hosted the "Gilligan's Island" cast playing for charity. Jim Backus appeared having already suffered a stroke. He could stand and talk, but barely walk... and he STILL looked better than Matthew Perry!

Perry looks to be in full Methadone/Suboxone stupor.

The trailer is out!

[quote]Husky silver daddy Matt LeBlanc is 50 times hotter than he was

and about 150lbs heavier than he was

He's so sexy to me, he looks adorable chunky.

Why the fuck can't Perry sort out his problems?

[quote] Why the fuck can't Perry sort out his problems?

Do you hear that, Matthew? Sort them out! r32 is impatient!

Perry can't sort out his problems because he's a very wealthy addict. The money keeps him from experiencing the full brunt of his addictions, so there's no incentive to get sober.

Did this need a new thread?

Matt hot? Are you all chubby chasers?

[quote] Cox knows her work isn't great and she regrets it as she has mentioned before.

Has she?

She has a gazillion dollars. What’s her excuse for having bad work done?

[quote] Matt hot? Are you all chubby chasers?

[italic]One[/italic] poster said he's attracted to him, and from that you've leapt to the conclusion that somehow [italic[]all[/italic] of us are chubby chasers?

Repeat after me: "All the other posters on Datalounge besides myself are not just one person..."

The guys all look positively ancient. The dark, drab colors they’re wearing are doing them no favors.

Surprisingly, Courteney looks the best out of the ladies. She must’ve had some of that atrocious work fixed. Lisa looks terrible and that outfit she’s wearing looks like something out of Dorothy Zbornack’s closet.

Lisa Kudrow looks like the only one whose face has not been frozen in some way.

[quote]Did this need a new thread?

Did this thread need you?

Schwimmer looks like a gargoyle whose had too much botox. He is repulsive.

Except Kudrow they all have old people voices: either hoarse, raspy or quavering. Yikes!

Kudrow truly seems the most youthful of them all. She doesn’t look “terrible”, for fuck’s sake. She also might be the most stable of them all, but I don’t know much about Schwimmer or Cox.

Aniston’s voice is starting to sound like Carrie Fisher’s. What’s up with that? Combination of smoking and too much filler?

Perry is tragic. He looks like my alcoholic father when he would go on weekend benders in his seventies.

We've know Perry has been going to seed for several years. But I guess I'm most shocked at Matt Le Blanc. He looks easily 20 years older than his age (53).

I think Lisa looks really good here, and Courtney's work has been either fixed a little or has settled into something that looks much better than it used to.

Matt Le Blanc looks fine, he's just heavier than I expected. He doesn't look even remotely in his 70s.

I'd guess Matthew Perry has some lingering problems thanks to doing drugs while recovering from GI surgery.

Courtney Cox’s sure do look elderly in that photo at R46.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

The boys' clothes @ R46 all look so new - did they take them shopping before the shoot?

Courtney’s HANDS, I meant to say.

Kudrow looking her age in this interview.

I hate gurls wearing black. It doesn't look good and it also looks lazy.

Kudrow looks like a well-preserved almost sixty-year old woman, which is what she is. She’s the only one of the women who could be believably cast as anything other than an over-the-hill Hollywood actress, which is ironic given that she gave the comedic performance of her generation playing one on The Comeback. Aniston’s hair and figure still looks terrific, but her features have really thickened and coarsened - and al the filler doesn’t help. The best that can be said for Courtney is that the face work seems to have settled a bit.

[quote]Husky silver daddy Matt LeBlanc is 50 times hotter than he was

He's now looking like he belongs on the Sopranos - but he doesn't look bad...Perry, on the other hand, wow

Jennifer looks like she can blink and move her lips - and that's about it. Kudrow looks very good; if she's had work done, it's very subtle

[quote] Except Kudrow they all have old people voices: either hoarse, raspy or quavering. Yikes!

I think except for Kudrow they're all smokers of either tobacco or marijuana, and that does a number on your voice.

I think Kudrow has had some work done, but not much. She is probably the most secure of the six as a human being, and I've heard she was much friendlier to guests on the show than Cox or Aniston, who have been repeatedly said to have been bitchy and cliquey.

One thing that's interesting about Kudrow is that she went to a very good college (Vassar) and majored in Biology, intending to become a physician. Schwimmer also went to a good university--Northwestern--and took his degree. Aniston and Perry did not even go to college or university; Cox and LeBlanc dropped out of college to pursue modeling and acting.

Hasn't Perry spent the better part of the last decade in and out of hospitals to treat the damage the drugs have done to his body? I'm surprised they were able to catch him upright.

True fact that sounds fake: Matt LaBlanc is a 7-time Emmy nominee for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (3 for Friends, 4 for Episodes). Only 6 other actors have more nominations (Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Michael J Fox, Carol O’Connor, Alan Alda, Tony Shaloub)...and he’s tied with Alec Baldwin, John Goodman, and Hal Linden.

Unfortunately, Matt’s the only one without a single win (although all of Linden’s are Daytime Emmys).

Episodes is one of my favorite shows of all time. He deserved an emmy

Straight men played by gay men

I feel like the guys would look better if they dressed not only their age, but "now". The faux hawk and suit coat over hoodie went out in the early 2000's.

Matthew Perry’s vibe here is your sad oxy-fried Q-anon uncle.

Perry is obviously still using, even after having a bowel resection because of a perforated intestine (caused by his drug abuse) not too long ago. He's only 51 and already looks like an old man. JFC he's a mess.

I feel bad for Matthew Perry.

He seems like he had a fairly normal upbringing.

What happened to him?

I agree r24. I was never a Friends fan because it was so lame and for flyover fraus. The Comeback was brilliant. Lisa Kudrow is seriously talented.

I don't know what you all are ragging on Courteney Cox about.

I think she looks fantastic.

If she did have plastic surgery, I can't tell.

Lisa Kudrow's son is hot.

R18, I agree! Never thought I would be saying that. Lisa Kudrow looks great.

She never starved herself like the other two did in the late 90's and early 00's. I will never forget Anniston at the Emmy's with her hip bones jutting out.

I have matthew perry in the death pool.

Perry is actually looking better than he has in YEARS, R68.

He might very well still be on drugs, but he has gotten his looks together.

Jennifer is so pathetic. still the same hair!

Matt le blanc is chubby but he's got a great smile.

Lisa looks good.

Don't like the others.

I probably only watched 1 episode of this series.

And Daily Mail has an article where other people are asking WTF is wrong with Matthew Perry.

I see the reruns on all the time. Just doesn’t hold up well for me. Meh

I was reading through the comments section at R66, and Kudrow seems to be friendly with many other female celebs.

Lisa Rinna, Maria Shriver, Reese Witherspoon, and Rita Wilson all posted comments on that photo.

They have all aged poorly, the boys worse than the girls. It sounds like their publicists are trying to convince us otherwise on this thread.

r54 I don't know if Kudrow is still a smoker, but she was one for many years.

Matthew Perry stuns fans with slurred speech in ‘Friends’ reunion promo

It's a shame to use that pic....drawing attention to the rectum that once was as tight as those lips!

I guess these "stunned fans"have all been living under rocks for 15 years to be unaware the guy they are fans of is a lifelong addict.

Matthew Perry has always looked like Beaker from the Muppets. Now he's drunk and stoned Beaker.

I saw about two episodes of Perry when he was in that remake of “The Odd Couple”. It was awful. His speech was impaired by something I couldn’t figure out. I thought it might be some sort of dental prosthetic issue. He really lost whatever spark he had.

Jack Mackenroth is the same age as Perry and looks and sounds far worse. The difference money makes in addiction.

All that money and Schwimmer never fixed that botched nose job.

Matt Le Blanc has become a no neck monster.

Jenn's head looks enormous. Is that the bair or facial fillers?

Lisa Kudrow (WTF with that brown shirtwaist frock??) will make a big Jean Smart comeback in the next year playing some movie star's smart aleck mother..

Should call it "Friends in Depends" and get some product tie-in revenue.

I was enjoying Matt LeBlanc's filled out legs - wouldn't mind seeing his new chubby butt in those jeans!

I like this old picture of the girls - they were EXTREMELY thin back then!

Matt LeBlanc looks pretty good and would look like an even more handsome daddy if he lost about 30 pounds. His face still looks okay, and he's also one of those guys who look good in gray hair.

Matt needs to lose that jacket he's wearing in the interview. It accentuates his weight and makes him look like a stuffed sausage.

Remember when he played the boyfriend to that Karen Carpenter Jr and died on tv from alcohol driving?

All the outcry over black people not being included in the reunion. Honestly do black people even want to be associated with this shit?

Le Blanc would also look better at his age in a shirt with a proper collar. The tee-shirt just lays bare his lack of neck.

Jacket looks like crap under those lights.

That's what friends are for.

LeBlanc, Schwimmer and Kudrow look good.

Courteney looks surprisingly ok. Aniston looks old.

Matthew Perry looks not long for this world.

Miriam is the main event in this but Matthew doesn’t look nor sound okay.

I guess because Friends reruns are still on, and I watch them occasionally--not often but once in a while, I have the cast frozen in my brain. And even seeing them on occasion now individually as a late night talk show guest or on some red carpet event, their aging didn't look so jarring. However, to see them altogether now and see how they've aged as a group was a bit startling. Maybe that's the reason they've resisted a reunion all these years until they finally gave in in this "real time" interview format. To do an actual sitcom reunion would have been weird to see a bunch of middle aged friends reconnecting in some concocted scripted show.

Matthew Perry was pretty heavy just a few years ago.

So how did he end up looking thinner than LeBlanc and Schwimmer?

LeBlanc couldn't zip that jacket up if his life depended on it.

I believe the cast of Will & Grace is slightly older than the cast of Friends. However, when W&G had their reboot, they all looked good. Granted, they had aged a bit, but for the most part, they looked surprisingly good and as we remembered them. But the Friends cast has aged much more than the Will & Grace cast.

It's hard to be objective about myself, but I wonder about the impression I give to people who haven't seen me in a while. I hope I look okay, but damn, now I'm not so sure.

perry needs neck lipo

Yes, Matthew Perry has had some troubles, but he would looked so much better if he just sat up straight. The director of the interview should have instructed him to sit up straight. Hunched over like that just draws attention to the awkwardness that he may be feeling being together with his castmates who are somewhat trying. But really, for such actors who know each other so well, that interview was silly and dumb. They all could have done so much better. Maybe they're not good on their own. Maybe they really do need a script to appear human and engaged.

Jeez...listen to the question, respond, elaborate. But their stilted, blah answers all sounded like they were telling an inside joke to each other and was much less than expected from professionals who have been in the business for years.

Jen Aniston is looking really haggard. Her body and hair still look good but the face and voice are rough. She also sounds drunk most of the time when she's talking and seems like she can't really complete a sentence. I know part of that is just the way she talks and what made Rachel seem quirky and endearing, but now it makes her sound like she has dementia.

[quote]Unfortunately, Matt’s the only one without a single win (although all of Linden’s are Daytime Emmys).

LeBlanc did win a Golden Globe for Episodes.

I posted an article a while back about Cox and how she was having the face fillers 'dissolved'. Doubt she can go back to how she'd look w/o any procedures, but I think she looks good. Aniston has definitely had something done since the show. Her face seems pinched (for lack of a better word).

This is elder abuse.

People are shocked!

He can't sit up straight coz he's wasted!

I feel like Matt just needs a scotch on the rocks in one hand so he can wave it around in the air clumsily, spilling it on people as he's slurring his speech and making incoherent points.

Wasn't Matthew Perry engaged to some female?

Whatever happened to that?

I'm assuming that she was just P.R. for this new "Friends" re-boot.

doesn't he still carry around a shit bag?

Matt Perry looks like he's had a stroke. Even his body is slightly off.

Matthew Perry is going to go into isolation when he reads the press and other comments about him. I suppose he did the best he could.

Why did Perry even do the show? Why did any of them? They don't need the money.

[quote]Aniston clearly looks the best. She easily looks 15 years younger than she really is.

She's 75??????????

^^There has been so much chatter about a Friends reunion, the producers finally wore them down. Plus, no one is ever too rich. They are actors, and actors rarely turn down publicity or money if it seems like a worthwhile project. It's an easy gig to just sit around and talk; no writers coming up with a plot, no memorizing scripts, no bad reviews for an actual scripted show other than catty remarks about how everyone has aged during a casual sit-around and chat opportunity, a chance to reconnect with your castmates. They all seem to like each other. There are many reasons to reunite.

However, as someone said before, for those not invited to this reunion (diversity, minorities, etc.), be thankful. You didn't miss anything.

Can you someone who knows about these things explain to me what is wrong with Aniston's face? Is it alcohol bloat? Botox? She looks like when Kathleen Turner played Chandler's mom.

OH...MY...GOD!

good one R114

I feel bad for Matthew. Money doesn't mean shit. His health issues and drug addiction are tragic. I never liked LeBlanc. He always seems quite smug, he also has one of the worst nose jobs in the biz.

Matthew has enough money to never work another day. He could check into the best rehab out there, or have the best addiction specialists come to him and work one to one.

He could have walked out of showbiz the day after Friends wrapped and gone off the grid.

Courtney's work has settled VERY well, while Jennifer's on the other hand is too stretched and tight and the smoking and perma-tan just make her look older now. Lisa Kudrow looks fine and happy. Like a mostly normal, little work done person. David Schwimmer looks the best of the men. Matt is cute but where did his neck go? The stylist for the jacket should be horsewhipped. Matthew Perry is higher than a kite and fighting the opiod nods HARD. He can barely sit up or form a thought. Just stares off with dull eyes and makes a weird joke with bad timing.

Mathew has been several times in long term residence at those California luxury detox centre. And its been revealed they are complete rackets where the rich addicts rehabilitate their PR and never stop using.

R24 The Comeback was awesome and Lisa was great in it... I always felt her pain in that show

Why did Perry become a junkie? What was wrong? That’s pretty severe. Why was he filmed like that?

I think Shwimmer and Leblanc look the best. If the latter was slimmer, he’d look amazing. He still basically looks the same. The women, Kudrow looks the best. I have to disagree about Aniston looking that good. She has a face full of fillers. Courtney Cox and her look about equal. As for Matthew Perry, maybe his medical problems (besides drugs) contributed to the slurring. He’s not a well man.

Why did Perry agree to do this? Well, he may have felt that a Friends reunion without him would have generated more negative publicity solely about him. So as to not create the "elephant in the room," he agreed to do it. Of course, the audience and every TV and social media critic would have been writing about it if he weren't there. So perhaps the cast, his manager, producers, etc., probably convinced him to do it, that it would be fun and easy, and they would present him in a friendly, non-threatening way.

Perry also may have convinced himself that he could do this. He probably wanted to be included. Like "Friends" or not, the show is part of television history and he's in (or was in) the business, and he probably wanted to be part of it. If for nothing else, the show may represent to him a happy time in his life and he wanted to be there. He also could have rightfully sued the producers if he weren't asked to be part of it.

Yeah, I guess its like families that have the dignity to let every member attend a funeral and be civil to each other for a day.

He looks completely drunk. Friends reunion will suffer the mockery and hatred of idiots on Twitter. How could the production allow this to be filmed ??? It hurts my heart to see him like that.

Perry looks like he's got early onset dementia.

Could Matthew BE any more fucked up?

How does Gunther look?

Aniston looks very puffy from her fillers. Like they took away her cheekbones so her face no longer has any angles. I adore Lisa Kudrow. She is so real and everything she's done, from The Comeback, to Web Therapy, has been hysterical. If you haven't seen Web Therapy, look on Youtube. I wish she'd do more.

Hard to believe they'd film with Perry in that condition. They must have thought they could edit around him. Just tragic to watch.

Oh no... why? Poor Matthew. Even Shwimmer and Leblanc look embarrassed.

From a time when the Big Three networks still ruled. It would be impossible for a network show to have such a cultural foothold toady.

Today, not toady lol! Sorry!

Schwimmer and Aniston look the best.

If you knew them 25 years ago and then ran into them again, they are the two who don't appear to have aged much from that time--they still look more or less the same.

LeBlanc, OTOH, is the hot guy who got fat. He doesn't look bad, he just looks nothing like he did in 1996.

Kudrow looks good too, Cox and Perry look a little haggard.

So I live in LA and I am going to sound like a total star fucker but here goes.

I belong to Soho House and have seen Lisa Kudrow up close. She looks every bit her age. Especially her neck.

Matt Perry has been trying for years to get sober. I've seen him at meetings counting days. Sober companions. He has tried it all. He can not put any time together. Its so sad. He's probably not going to live past 55.

Schiwmmer's a dick. Enough said.

Courtney Cox. Could not be nicer. I have met her a few times socially. Completely unpretentious. Love her.

Anniston-never met.

R129 as a young Millennial, I know and love Kudrow more for her VA work as Aphrodite on the Disney Saturday cartoon HERCULES, rather than the loathsome straining joyless FRIENDS (that was everywhere, noxiously inescapable when I was little).

She was perfectly cast as a laconic love Goddess.

I've seen enough. I'm not gonna watch this reunion. It's irresponsible to have recorded this in Matthew's state. He is indeed in extremely poor condition. They should have sent him for rehab first. I will not condone this way of denigrating a man in such a degraded state.

I saw Perry nude at the gym about a decade ago - even sat next to him in the sauna.

His body was mostly nothing to write home about, but believe it or not, he had a beautiful round ass and a plump, juicy dick.

Any guesses on what WB Press will whip up as an "excuse" for Matthew's drunken appearance?

"Meds" for a debilitating illness, but Matthew was DESPERATE to be a part of the reunion, despite his medical problem?

C'mon, they are going to come up with SOMETHING to explain it away to the unwashed masses (who WILL fall for it!).

R138 he looked tall and lanky on Friends when he was young so why not a good ass and big dick?

He was the sexiest of the boys. He was naturally witty. Schwimmer's face always looked squashed. He's an odd looking man.

[quote]"All the other posters on Datalounge besides myself are not just one person..."

I'm gonna need some proof.

[quote] Can you someone who knows about these things explain to me what is wrong with Aniston's face?

Honestly, it just looks like she either just woke up or hasn’t gotten enough sleep.

[quote]Jen Aniston is looking really haggard. Her body and hair still look good but the face and voice are rough. She also sounds drunk most of the time when she's talking and seems like she can't really complete a sentence. I know part of that is just the way she talks and what made Rachel seem quirky and endearing, but now it makes her sound like she has dementia.

She's a huge pothead.

I think Perry had some pretty severe stomach issues a while back. It looks like he’s in extreme discomfort more than anything.

OH MY GOD!

He had a bowel perforation that caused sepsis, an extremely serious medical emergency. It's common with long-time opioid drug abusers.

Thank you, WB shill at R145.

He's DRUNK and HIGH.

Chanandler Bong was three sheets to the wind that day. "Could we [italic][bold]be[/bold] [/italic] more white trash?"

Lisa and David look the best - imho. Aging naturally but you can still see their younger versions.

[quote]Yes, Matthew Perry has had some troubles, but he would looked so much better if he just sat up straight. The director of the interview should have instructed him to sit up straight. Hunched over like that just draws attention to the awkwardness

I think he's had a stroke at some point. He has facial drooping and slurred speech. He might not be able to sit up straight if he has one-sided muscle weakness. He also had a colostomy bag for a while, and still might.

I honestly don’t think he’s drunk or high. This is years of abuse. I’ve seen it in meth heads. There faces start to atrophy. My God it’s so sad. They never ever should have let him do that.

I just watched that and I wasn't expecting the men to have aged SO badly. Jennifer Aniston looks beautiful. As does Lisa. Courtney was very open about having plastic surgery and how she regretted it. But yeah, the men look like shit. I shouldn't be surprised as at my high school reunions the men looked horrid compared to the women.

He won't be around for many more years, and he's only 51. Does he have any heirs who'll get that Friends money?

Maybe he has Parkinson’s disease. Everyone thought that Michael J. Fox was back to drinking and drugging when he actually had Parkinson’s disease. Hard to believe MP is only 51.

Aniston looks okay. She's an attractive woman so it's going to take some time for her to fall apart. However, she appears to be doing that Joan Van Ark thing by covering up her face with her hair. Joan did that in interviews after Knot's Landing when she was still out there, doing interviews but not much acting. Yet like everyone, she was aging but she was on the public circuit, and her hair all ended up in her face as if to mask the aging process.

Surprisingly, Addict Perry still has more money than the other two men. And hardworking Matt LeBlanc is in last place.

Also, I want to shape David's eyebrows. They're a little scraggly. He was so handsome, especially in those bulge-snug leather pants. Sigh. I hate what time does to us.

Is there a source for Cox talking about her plastic surgery?

Aniston sounds like she smoked a carton of cigarettes before taping.

Schwimmer was the only non-smoker in the cast. The rest all smoked like chimneys.

Cox talked about fillers and Botox, not surgery.

Aniston has that filler fat-face look.

[quote]Is there a source for Cox talking about her plastic surgery?

R93 Wow, it's crazy how that video was only 5 years ago... Matt has really spiraled even more since then.

He should have returned to live in Canada with his fortune. Hollywood is not a holy place for celebs. Hollywood has supplied all of its stars with drugs from the start. He fell very quickly and very young in it but he should have fled Los Angeles years ago.

Does Schwimmer have a big dick? I feel like he does...

The mistake 40 something yo actresses were making was redoing their faces and bodies to stay "sexy" looking on camera which means behind the layers of makeup, lighting, lensing, reproduction, etc. You can really overdo it and look facsimile "hot". Then what do you do at 50? So as to avoid looking like the many freaky has been stars at 60.

Movie stars who made the same mistake: Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock to name a few. They leave no room for aging and looking feminine and beautiful.

Sometimes it best to leave people with great memories of the past. This reunion just taints the memory of the show. And they are probably just doing this so there is renewed interest in the show. The royalties might be decreasing. I never liked the show and from the very few episodes I watched it has not aged well.

Yikes! Poor Matt.

[quote]Perry looks like he's got early onset dementia.

My first thought when watching this was of the Who's The Boss reunion from a few years ago where they dragged a clearly out of it Katherine Helmond to the interview and you had to watch her looking blankly around, oblivious to what was going on. Obviously she was a main cast member so they wanted to include her but it was just incredibly awkward to watch. They did the same thing as in the Friends interview, cutting around her and framing shots without her as much as possible.

Times and mores have so changed. All of these guys can try still to want to suggest young adulthood with all their attempts at youngish hairstyles, clothes and plastic surgery. And then you think back a couple of generations when actors and people in general, especially women, were expected to decidedly look, wear their hair, and dress in a more matronly and mature style once they got into their 50s and 60s. Imagine if one of those in the reunion special had been 50ish, "The Lucy Show"/"Here's Lucy"-era Lucille Ball. (Oh wait, Gary, would've talked her out of that appearance, buh-DUHMMM..)

We’ve been so blindsided by the Perry trainwreck and the dodgy surgeries we missed this from the trailer - that insufferable fat cunt James Corden is the host! Literal violence.

Matt LeBlanc looks very muscular and strong.

Who dressed these people? Excuse me, this a reunion show on a major streaming network. Spend a few bucks, goddammit. Obviously, no one from the hair, makeup and wardrobe department was hired to dress these people before they went in front of the cameras. A casual format or not, they looked like shit, and I'm not talking age. I'm talking about how they left the house, presented themselves and got paid for that stupid, ridiculous appearance.

The audience is paying with their money and time to tune in and see "Friends," not a bunch of slobs who just came from a Costco run.

There’s always a Nancy McKeon or Dustin Diamond...even if Matthew Perry is a bloated mess, at least he showed up.

[quote]The audience is paying with their money and time to tune in and see "Friends," not a bunch of slobs who just came from a Costco run.

There ain't nobody that's paying for this shit.

I guess Matthew Perry's embarrassing exchange with a blonde skank on that celebrity dating app didn't sour his engagement to that "literary manager."

They all sound retarded (except for Lisa)

Regardless of LeBlanc's looks (we all age), he is the most comically gifted of the group. He was very entertaining in Episodes. I couldn't watch this interview however. Uncomfortable.

[quote]I've seen him at meetings counting days.

The second A. stand for Anonymous, and in this case, asshole.

Perry's hair looks kinda fake

[quote]There’s always a Dustin Diamond...even if Matthew Perry is a bloated mess, at least he showed up.

To officially participate, one needs to be invited.

I think I might be the only person of my generation who has never seen a complete episode of Friends. I've only seen bits and pieces of various episodes and I was never impressed. From what I saw, it was pretty lame.

I watched one episode and didn't think it was funny at and the men were ugly

[quote] They have all aged poorly, the boys worse than the girls

What exactly have Kudrow and Cox done wrong, in your estimation? They both look perfectly fine.

Perry has an illness. It is more serious than addiction now. He looks like he has neurological damage.

He looks so much older than 51. Poor guy.

I’m glad to hear Cox is a sweetie-pie. Thank you to the L.A. SoHo DLer for sharing.

SoHo House*, I meant

HBO MAX has the WB catalog including Friends and paid them all a shitload for this exclusive to draw in new subscribers.

The One Where Chandler Has Cognitive & Physical Decline

Aniston is fucking hideous.

R18- AGREED.

Ain't it time we said goodbye?

With all my money up my nose And my chubby thighs Chafing your throat Please be a friend JUST Shoot it in my eye.

R184- Agreed.

R189- How nice of the WB to reach out to the mentally disabled.

Matthew Perry reminds me of my brother who is in a nursing home with cognitive decline. He might be sober, my brother talks just like that and stares off into space. My brother never did drugs but his brain is damaged by lupus.

The problem with Jennifer is that she has a ton of contour on her nose in an attempt to make it appear slimmer. All it does in my opinion, is make her look like the Scarecrow:

I just saw it. Omg.

Matthew Perry appears to have cognitive decline, like R197 says. If he does, it’s pretty advanced. I noticed the other men didn’t look at him or interact with him much. If they were joking about something, they didn’t glance over at him. They were trying to take the attention away from him. He had his face pointed down for a lot of it, like he didn’t want his face to be seen. These are actors, they’re aware of how to hold their heads.

That didn’t look like somebody that’s drunk. If it was, they could wait for him to sober up or take something to sober him up. It could be a stroke. He seemed to have a flat affect, or his reactions lagged. It wasn’t that he couldn’t make the right expressions, it was like he wasn’t quite in the room. But I guess it could also be that he’s had a stroke and finds it very difficult to speak or form expressions, so he doesn’t want the focus on his face or speech. He was deliberately tilting his head down, that could signify a drooping face he wanted to hide. Generally you can tell by the eye expression whether somebody is having cognitive decline. They have a blank look in the eyes.

All of the comments on the women still having great hair, this is Hollywood. It’s all smoke and mirrors, they have great hairpieces to go with their natural hair.

I have a friend who works as makeup artist in the industry, she says most female stars use hairpieces when they do photo shoots, awards show or promotional interviews. Some even wear them while out running errands because they might be photographed by paps. She said wig/ hairpiece experts make than makeup artists and regular hair stylists. A female star in her 50-60s with good hairpieces could take more years off than surgery and makeup. There are exceptions like Sharon Stone, who isn’t into the illusion of “youthful” hair but nevertheless looks great.

Cox looks a lot better than she did a decade ago.

LeBlanc looks great I think. He embraces his age and changing hair colour.

Aniston's gettin that puffy, wide face that is common among greek women as they age.

From my observations over the years, if someone is still an addict in their 50’s, they are for the rest of their life. Most people who make the decision to get clean do it by 50 at the latest. Not saying it’s impossible, but not likely.

It's funny to read all the wildly different takes on who has aged well and who hasn't. IMO, all three women look pretty good and all three men look like shit (with Perry a thousand times shittier than the other two, obv).

[quote] He was deliberately tilting his head down, that could signify a drooping face he wanted to hide.

I think it's that he was on the nod. His tilted head and overall posture remind me exactly of how a heroin-addicted former roommate looked when he was high and nodding out. Regardless of whether he's an active junkie, a stroke victim, in cognitive decline or something else, I agree with the posters who've commented that it was extremely irresponsible of the producers to put him on camera like that. (And, ugh, r170, I didn't even click on your link, but just that photo of Helmond is tragic.)

Also agree that somebody should have dressed and styled all six of them! I mean, presumably someone did, but WTF?

r172

r200, there is so much variety in people's hair, especially Caucasians, it's daft to lump them all in together

R205 haha exactly! Who thought fat cunt James Corden is the ideal host for this? Jesus.

When Perry started to speak around 2:30 in the video I was shocked.

He did a couple years (at least one season) of THE ODD COUPLE remake not long ago and was perfectly fine. This was a real decline.

....

They each got $7 million for hanging out for a few days.

The dude who played Joey is so fat. What is it with men and letting themself go as soon as they reach middle-age?

Matthew Perry looks like shit - even for a normal man standard, he looks like something somebody threw up. He only gets laid because he is rich.

I think that's partly because W&G was about slightly older people already r97, plus the show didn't come on the air until 1998, several years after Friends. Combine that with several on Friends aging more rapidly than expected and you get a much bigger shock when seeing them in a reunion than you did when seeing anyone on W&G.

R121 I'm reasonably certain he had problems before he was even on Friends. He'd been acting since 1979 and was in a ton of stuff prior to the show, he played Desi Jr in "Call Me Anna!"

A long time ago I happened to catch some low budget TV movie he was in that happened to be on cable, it was made before Friends, he was chubby in it and also drunk as a skunk in some scenes. I mentioned it on some Usenet group and multiple people said the gossip was that he was only hired on Friends with the agreement he would lose weight and get sober.

He was fine until 2017 it seems r208, he worked steadily, he must have had a health decline of some sort that we weren't aware of.

R180 I never said AA I said meetings. Whose the asshole? Btw he’s openly talked about going to 12 step programs.

This is stupid. They should have done a one hour scripted episode. Who wants to watch what is basically an extended interview. It didn’t work when the Golden Girls did it, it didn’t work when the Nanny did it, and this one won’t work either.

As for Perry, it reminds me of the infamous clip of Whitney on tour trying to hit the high notes on I Will Always Love You. Mathew probably had a lot of people telling him he could do it, and maybe he even believed it, but, this is the end result. Sad.

I outsourced watching "Friends" to others.

I'm rarely a contrarian, but when it first became a hit, EVERYBODY was watching and talking it, so I refused to watch it. Big Deal. So what.

But my contrarianism paid off. this This thread is so entertaining, I didn't need to watch it.

Is this the reunion? (The video in OP’s post.) I thought they were doing a few shows to update the characters.

[quote] This is stupid. They should have done a one hour scripted episode

Now, that I would have considered tuning in, r217 even though I never watched "Friends".

I wonder how much annual income the cast receives in residual payments.

R179 I didn’t watch Friends but loved Episodes. LeBlanc was so daring and ego free.

LeBlanc looks great. He's fat, yes. Very fat. But if he lost weight he would look really handsome.

Matthew Perry seems to have A LOT going on. He's clearly got some very serious medical/neurological issues in addition to whatever substances he's taking, prescription or otherwise. He must not have a very good agent/manager to let him go on in that state.

so did I R219. I didn't realize that is the reunion...how depressing!

Lisa had a nosejob before she got famous, so she technically has had work done.

People saying they should have done a scripted show: Can you imagine Perry's comic timing now?

"Could, ur, you . . . be anyMORE, ummm, self . . . ish . . ."

It's so sad to see the TV stars of my college years looking so old and haggard. I feel so old.

You can literally see all the fillers in Aniston's puffy face, Cox looks haggard, Kudrow looks like a wrinkly old grandma now. Schwimmer IMO looks better than the rest of the men. It looks like they tried to make Matthew Perry presentable for this special and did something with that double chin situation (or whatever was going on there) and unhealthy looking skin. Matt LB's skin looks very yellow, but he's ok for his age.

Damn, I wish they would have left Friends alone and not reminded us all of our age. I'm late 30s now and probably look like shit too. Why can't we all just stay young and hot and fuckable forever.

The girls seemed to have an authentic friendship going back to the days when they were filming. Do people believe that? I tend to think they are being mord or less honest with perhaps a little exaggeration. The guys have no chemistry at all. They are just straight (or straightish in Matt's case) guys who were never close and just went their separate ways after the show ended.

^I think only Aniston and Cox are close friends in real life. The rest probably all moved on and only see each other at industry events, awards shows or pose together for the occasional social media selfies to keep people interested in the show and the residuals flowing.

R226 you’re not there yet! The cast is in their 50s, not 30s.

I always Schwimmer had sexy big dicked Jewish boy energy. So it's sad to see him looking so aged here.

It seemed pretty clear to me from the interview that the Cox and Aniston are quite close in real life, though you could tell they were a little embarrassed/defensive when Kudrow said she thought they talked everyday, and that Kudrow is “friends” with them in so much as she has their numbers in her phone. That is still more than can be said for the relationship between any of the guys - they seemed like 3 people at a college reunion who maybe lived on the same floor during freshman year.

Didn’t the guys have enough time to hit the gym before this? I would have made sure I had 4 months before I’d shoot the interview.

Schwimmer has always been my least favorite. Unlike the rest of them, he never paid his dues as an actor. Dude grew up in Beverly Hills and networked his way to a lucrative gig. You can’t convince me he was the obvious choice for Ross. The rest of the cast seemed perfect for their roles....but not him. Edward Norton would’ve been perfect.

It always cracks me up how when the show first started, Courteney Cox was without a doubt the most famous cast member (she had even starred in Ace Venture, which was hit, before Friends aired). By the end of the show, she was the only one who hadn’t been nominated for an Emmy (the only female cast member to not win), and she had been eclipsed a thousand times over by Jennifer Aniston.

[Quote]Didn’t the guys have enough time to hit the gym before this? I would have made sure I had 4 months before I’d shoot the interview.

Especially with the lockdown. They get paid millions for a special, have a ton of free time anyway and the studio can't hire a personal trainer to get them in shape?

Not cool R135, you shouldn't be talking about anyone in meetings regardless of who they are. You sound like a star fucker and a horrible person. Have some fucking integrity.

Actually, R135 is why we come to DL. It's fucking GOSSIP site.

Sanctimonious twat at R235 can fry in hell.

Please carry on, R135.

My personal take is that all six cast members have been done and over with Friends for a long time - they've all moved on with their lives and careers - and they're only doing this reunion so everybody can STFU and stop pestering them about it. Their hearts aren't really in this, it's just like "let's just do this damn reunion and get it over with so we can get everybody off of our backs."

honey, they sit down and chit chat for a couple of hours or days for a few million bucks, easy gig...why not?!

who in the right mind is gonna turn that down?

I'm surprised Perry even was able to do this, or get out of bed.

This is not about giving the fans a reunion. HBO max knows that a reunion will create new interest in the show and old episodes. It's all about money and business. Netflix paid $100m for a one year streaming deal. This show is still a huge money maker.

They’re all in their 50s now. A 10 year reunion wouldn’t have been feasible because they still had opportunities unrelated to Friends to exploit. Now, they’re all desperate for any role thrown their way. I mean, I binged the Morning Show and considered Jennifer (especially when paired with Billy Crudup) the highlight, but even that was a step down.

[quote] He was fine until 2017 it seems [R208], he worked steadily, he must have had a health decline of some sort that we weren't aware of.

The drugs he was doing made him so constipated that he had to have surgery to remove the “obstruction.” I’m pretty sure it almost killed him.

yes, I agree, he almost died and yet he still hasn't learned his lesson, he looks wasted.

It could be methadone, R243. My mother was on it for years and it often made her kind of zoned out like that.

His bout with pancreatitis in 2006 almost killed him.

R227, I believe the girls are all close friends in real life.

Back in the mid-00s a former writer’s assistant filed a lawsuit because the environment in the writers room was alleged to be toxic. In order to provide some insight onto the onset environment, she claimed Courteney, Jennifer, and Lisa would often band together to demand script changes, and the assistant’s boss would take out his frustration on her (and make lewd jokes about the actresses). I remember there were other parts of the lawsuit where she painted a picture of them banding together to get their way (and not even in regards to the famous contract negotiations that resulted in everyone getting paid $1M+ per episode.

Despite it’s fluffy, water-cooler reputation, there was always a lazy mean fratty undercurrent to the writing of Friends. I’m not surprised the female cast members had to advocate for better scripts. I mean remember Janice? She was like something of Portnoy’s Complaint. I actually ended up rooting for her because it was clear she was a vector for the writers fairly naked misogyny and internalized anti-Semitism.

This thread is a milestone of sorts for DL. When the site was initiated, the hotly discussed shows of "yesteryear" were MASH and Bewitched. Then it was the Golden Girls. Then came Cheers. Now it's Friends as GenXers grow long in the tooth. In the not-too-distant future, there'll be hilarious discussions of how haggard and frumpy the Housewhores have become and how fat Jaime Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen have become as Millennials fondly reminisce about their favorite fading TV stars.

This is how Datalounge marks the grim and unforgiving passage of time.

^WW from this GenXer mournfully reminiscing in 2021 about his favorite fading TV stars on DL.

Maybe I'm wrong but I read somewhere that when Matthew P had his emergency bowel blockage removed they decided on a colostomy bag because it was a rupture. Anyone else remember hearing this before or around the time of the Odd Couple series?

I haven't watched the interview yet, too sad. Remember how C U T E Matthew was when he was on 90210? He should have gotten a jaw implant or something back then before Friends.

From the way they're dressed, the slouching, the awkwardness, the lethargy... Friends: The Funeral.

The money must have been munificent.

Matthew Perry has the AIDS you know.

Rachel bullied Julie and Bonnie and got away with it. She also screwed up Emily's wedding due to her selfishness. Not surprising they didn't get invited to the reunion. Rachel could be a real Mean 👧.

[quote] there'll be hilarious discussions of how haggard and frumpy the Housewhores have become

Those Housewives shows have a small niche audience, they're not mass favorites like Friends was.

r250 there were photos of him wearing sweatpants and the outline of the colostomy bag was obvious. Opioid drug abusers can have bowel obstructions or perforations in the bowel that cause sepsis. He was very, very ill.

[quote]Those Housewives shows have a small niche audience, they're not mass favorites like Friends was.

You haven't been on DL very long, have you? There have been scores and scores of threads about them – not to mention about Andy Cohen – over the years. Just because you may not watch them, like some people on this thread claim never to have seen an episode of Friends, doesn't mean millions of others haven't. They're ubiquitous.

I wonder if Ben and Emma and the triplets will show up.

R246 Miriam Margolyes called Marta Kauffman a monster in front of Matt Perry and..... he didn't deny it. David Crane is apparently wonderful though.

FFS. If there was a penultimate straight middle aged white woman thread on this site, this is it.

r256 those Housewives shows are a niche audience of basic gays. I don't know anyone who watches them. The threads on here are from a few posters, like the Timothee threads that plagued us for awhile. The Andy Cohen/Housewives/Reality tv audience is really lower-class.

Matt Perry was the most talented of the cast.

R261 = Matthew Perry

A straight white middle-aged colleague admitted she watched 18 seasons of Keeping up with the Kardashians while she was on sick leave and in less than 3 weeks. I guess people who watch those Housewives shows are equally brain dead.

r259?

R260 thinks she's high-brow and cosmopolitan because she haunts a thread about an ancient 90s show. 🙄

Why does Matt Leblanc always wears clothes a size to small for him? When did Jennifer had all these plastic surgeries? She looks worse than Courtney now. David Swimmer is naturally funny.

r265 Friends, whether you like it or not, had a big impact on the culture and Genration X. I've never cared for it but you can't deny its impact. The Andy Cohen garbage is more of a niche thing and more hype. Friends had a genuinely huge fanbase, and a mass audience. I never liked the show, but there's no denying that. It's a part of the cultural consciousness in a way that those Housewives shows never have been. For example even though I have never seem a complete episode of Friends I know all the names of the characters and some details about them. I cannot offhand name a single Housewife.

R260, the Housewives shows are certainly niche - I think Atlanta is the perennial ratings champ among the franchises and it probably doesn’t get much more than a couple million live viewers, I would imagine Friends was frequently well north of ten times that back in the day. That being said, I would wager that the average Housewives viewer could be typed as a youngish “New York Magazine” striver type and watches Bravo as the “junk food” in the entertainment diet which would also consist of prestige programming on the streaming services, Bon Appetit, etc., whereas Friends was always aimed directly at the “People Magazine” audience.

The Housewives phenomenon belongs to the younger generations. That's why most Boomers & some GXers aren't familiar with them. But based on the number of threads about them over the past several years, they're certainly popular with DLers (which is what was specified at R248), although like all shows, their popularity has waned.

Oh, Perry's been in the news for years with weight gain, rehab and general schlubbiness. Why is everyone acting so surprised?

He's just scared the Millennials that they're getting old.

I was shocked at Matthew Perry when he guested on a few episodes of the Good Fight 4 or 5 years ago. He was fat and slovenly, plus he was speaking totally different and in a nasally way like all of the mountains of cocaine had blown out his sinuses. He was reprising a role he played on the Good Wife, where he appeared more normal and healthy. I don't even want to watch this, it just seems sad.

Ditto for Kudrow and the Comeback, she was awesome in that. Also good in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as Kimmy's roller coaster riding mom. She looked very natural there and not like a Hollywood plastic surgery victim.

Aniston appears to have facial paralysis to me, based on some of her more recent movie and commercial appearances. Her mouth seems to be developing that weird thing like Nicole Kidman has. It's very distracting, I just end up staring at her mouth.

Agree that LeBlanc would be a hot silver daddy if he lost 30 or so lbs. Maybe he's a big eater like Joey, except it's not so easy to burn off those calories in middle age.

Matthew Perry could have "Pre-Alheimzer-Dementia" He has the same look an old work buddy had before he faded away. That scared behind the eyes look.

This wasn't a reunion. And if anyone wants to call it as such, it is because they were all in the same room together, but that's about it. It had no charisma or sizzle. For all the talk about having a Friends reunion throughout the years, this little gathering seems to have been thrown together. Everyone (actors, writers, producers, etc.) had plenty of time to prepare for something that would have been much more worthy. They were probably all paid a million to come in for a couple of hours and show that any natural chemistry didn't exist or had vanished.

As a previous poster said, they should have done a scripted show, but that may not have worked--and it would have been too much work. So we ended up with a haphazard extended interview. And it's Friends for god's sake with six well-known actors. There was no need for the likes of the unrelated and overexposed James Corden...or even Tom Selleck for that matter, although he was on the show once or twice.

After this "reunion," the public will stop driving everyone crazy and pestering the Internet about a Friends reunion. And the Friends cast can stop responding.

It's now been done, and it didn't work.

Designing Women! Okay people, this is how you do a popular show reunion. It happened 12 years after the show ended without endless Internet chatter begging the cast to come back. The Designing Women all looked good, dressed well and they had genuine chemistry with each other. They laughed, hugged and reminisced with lots of humor, love and sincerity. They all seemed very happy to be together. They were still funny, and the show was well-produced giving each person a time to shine and interact with fellow castmates. The Designing women were a classy bunch.

Jan Hooks and Judith Ivey didn't participate for whatever reason

On second thought, I'd still do David Schwimmer.

Thank you, r264. Was about to suggest a dictionary.

"... had plenty of time to prepare for something that would have been much more worthy."

The trainwreck is appropriate, since the show was shit.

I remember Kudrow saying she wished Friends had played longer because they were just starting to make money. Weren’t they making a million an episode?

r274 I believe that's exactly why the cast did it. They just wanted everyone to shut the fuck up and stop bothering them.

Damn this was hard to watch

Matthew Perry looking and sounding totally fucked up/impaired is all anyone is talking about. Not exactly what this reunion was supposed to be about!

"I remember Kudrow saying she wished Friends had played longer because they were just starting to make money"

The dumb cunt still makes tens of millions a year from residuals.

Kudrow is worth about $90 million. And yes, at a million dollars an episode after a few years, she was making money; they all were...lots of it.

Aniston is worth about $300 million. She was the break-out and the one who got movie star money, plus those Aveno skin care ads.

[quote]Rachel bullied Julie and Bonnie and got away with it. She also screwed up Emily's wedding due to her selfishness.

Emily was an awful cunt.

Should someone start a "Who was the bigger cunt? Rachel Greene or Carrie Bradshaw?" thread?

Yes, those Aveeno ads made Aniston a nice chunk of $$$.

It's hilarious that people believe celebrities actually use cheap drugstore products.

Maybe Matthew Perry thinks the OP is not good

Did people actually expect Matthew Perry to not look and sound totally fucked up/impaired?

You could not escape from Friends in the ‘90s. I’m one of the few people who’s never seen a full episode then or now. But if you were a teen or in your formative years during the ‘90s, you could not escape from it. I’ve always found the premise and characters of the show to be asinine. Even so, I knew the pop culture references and actors associated with Friends. I also understood why it was so popular with so many people.

Friends was basically a whitebread representation of NYC. People who aspired to be urbane city dwellers, but who nevertheless only wanted a sanitized, bland version of urbane.

[Quote]The show's success still pays dividends for the cast. In 2015, USA Today reported that Warner Bros. earns $1 billion a year from "Friends." Of that amount, 2% -- or $20 million -- goes to each of the stars every single year.

Kudrow is still getting paid almost $1 million per episode every year without actually shooting a single new episode.

[quote] Friends was basically a whitebread representation of NYC. People who aspired to be urbane city dwellers, but who nevertheless only wanted a sanitized, bland version of urbane.

But Ross dated a black girl that one time....

The people in this thread who said any of them look "good" in the People video are lying or shills.

Cox and LeBlanc have hideous cigarette-smoker's lines on their lips - disgusting!

Maniston sounds like a man. Her hair is ridiculous, still thinking she looks like she did in 2001.

Schwimmer has a horrible makeup job. WTF is up with his shiny eyebrows? He's still as pompous as ever.

Matthew Perry is fucked up, on drugs, and drunk. That's not a cognitive disorder.

Cox's FACE!!!!!! She looks like the Crypt Keeper!

Many people I know from 17 years ago look much younger and natural than these weathered, used-up caricatures of their former selves.

Same, r292. I was in high school/college at the time and you could not escape Friends. It was everywhere, and wildly popular with my peer group. I'm also one of the few who has never seen a full episode. It seems so quaint now that a network sitcom could have such cultural ubiquity and be so popular, those days are over.

Friends was definitely a sanitized version of NYC for Middle America, there was nothing NYC about that show at all. They could've set it in Columbus or Denver or any number of other cities.

if you need evidence of cognitive disorder from drink and drugs...go check out shane macgowen's insta page. videos of him "talking". He's now in a wheel chair coz he falls down a lot (drunk). He can barely formulate a sentence. He was hooked on H and heavy booze. I think he still drinks (wine).

Aniston also gets that sweet "I have dry eyes" money from her commercials.

[quote] Cox's FACE!!!!!! She looks like the Crypt Keeper!

Nah, she looks a hell of a lot better than she did a few years ago. I remember when she did that show Cougar Town and thinking whoever did her face work should’ve been taken out and shot.

Speaking of “Cougar Town,” that’s the show I actually associate with Courtney Cox now. It was much funnier than Friends. I rewatch “Cougar Town” when I want a comfort food show.

Cox is also lying by saying in recent interviews that she’s happier now that she’s had fillers and Botox dissolved in her face. Liar. Her mid-face has telltale signs of fillers, plus she’s obviously botoxed to the hilt. Aniston too, they’re all such liars.

[quote]Jan Hooks and Judith Ivey didn't participate for whatever reason.

Well known to them.

This show was about young single people. Nobody wants to see these actors all together pushing 60. They should have just let this show and these characters die when they went off the air in 2004.

Aniston in the pic at R301! With her hair pulled to the side, her face is SO WIDE!!!!!!!!!

Ha ha!

Perry and Leblanc were so cute back then, Schwimmer was always a homely doofus.

What happened?

Seinfeld had a NYC vibe. Will & Grace had a NYC vibe. Friends did not.

It's shocking that he's only 51, he looks like a decrepit old man. This is what drugs and alcohol can do to a person.

R18, you need your prescription checked. Schwimmer almost has bigger bags, darker circles under his eyes than Perry. And as other posters have said, WHO LIT THESE GUYS? Schwimmer could've looked better if they'd degreased his face, and lit him in FRONT, instead of a little in front, but mainly from the sides.

And while LeBlanc looks good, it's mainly because of his amazing smile. He's gotten REALLY chubby. Look away from his face and you see his beer gut hangin' over the chair. Too bad he's smoked all these years too.

The women: Aniston looks 'hard'...she's a chain smoker as well. Cox is the most inflated (w/rubber fillers). SO refreshing it to see Kudrow is happy with herself and doesn't feel the need to have anything lifted.

Aniston often does the Joan Van Ark thing covering her face with her hair.

I don't understand how someone like Leblanc, who has millions of dollars and tons of free time, could turn into such a fatass. I would have a trainer and a chef and be in pristine shape.

Leblanc's boyfriend must like bears 🐻!

He's not a bear, he's a giant fatassed whale.

R311, he's been there, done that. Made zillions. I have a feeling the only one who really cares about working anymore is Aniston.

Also, getting in shape would equal -- are you trying for a comeback? And with a comeback, comes those pesky questions about his orientation.

How did Perry’s addictions start?

Aniston's face looks stretched like a canvas. You guys have got to be kidding that she looks good.

Lisa Kudrow looks amazingly young. I thought the same thing when Colbert interviewed her this week from her home (which I assume means without special lighting). It was the world's most awkward interview but she looked terrific. LeBlanc and Schwimmer look more like their ages but they are good-looking men of that age.

This Oprah clip is interesting.

This second interview is from 2011 with Bill Maher.

My favorite old picture of LeBlanc, in case you missed it the last time I posted it.

I remember for me the big “this is a bunch of LA hacks writing about New York for Middle America” moments was when Monica and Chandler decided to move to the suburbs because they were starting a family. Only lunatics with a financial death wish would give up a large two bedroom rent-controlled apartment in the village (that a sous-chef and a barista were able to afford) in order to buy a house in fucking Westchester. They’d be paying ten times the monthly rent in property taxes alone.

Off topic and it's probably been discussed here ad infinitum, but WTF happened to Joan Van Ark? Not trying to be mean here, but she looks like a burn victim.

^^Getting older can be frightening. You do weird things.

[quote]Only lunatics with a financial death wish would give up a large two bedroom rent-controlled apartment in the village.

Unless they wanted to raise their children in the suburbs.

Aniston has had TONS of work done. SHe can barely speak properly anymore. I worked on a movie and in the dailies you could see all the smoking wrinkles around her mouth which were digitally removed.

it's funny that Kudrow and Le blanc look the best BECAUSE they havent had work done.

Six people in their twenties in NYC in the fucking 90s and there was no drinking, no coke, no general debauchery and sleeping around. God, what a fucking ridiculous show.

Well, r327, "Friends" was a primetime network sitcom, so you weren't really expecting any of those elements, were you?

Sounds like you just like to bitch.

They could have set in Salt Lake City or somewhere, r328.

[quote]Sounds like you just like to bitch.

Is this your first day around gay men, dear?

R320, he has added about 30 pounds around his middle since that shot

Aniston is good in The Morning Show but her face is so frozen it’s distracting

[quote] The dumb cunt still makes tens of millions a year from residuals.

My guess would be that the "dumb cunt" never actually said they were just starting to make money. That statement sounds more like the product of some dumb cunt DLer's defective memory or desire to troll.

R181 Bald spot alert... scroll down to see the back of Matt's head in the photo of him on the balcony/deck of his old Malibu house.

Oops, I posted in the outrage thread by mistake... Someone was talking about Perry’s changing voice. I’ve actually been very surprised to hear Aniston in this and another interview at some award show. Her voice has really changed. About Matthew P. I am actually shocked to learn he’s only 51. I thought he was closer to Kudrow’s age. Even with chronic drug use, isn’t 51 early to display such physical altering signs?

R334 By Matt, I meant Matthew Perry not Matt Le Blanc. Perry is the one with the bald spot.

Matthew Perry’s issues are probably the reason none of them were really interested in doing a reunion in the first place. And it’s good their doing it now because I’d be surprised if he’s still around in a few years.

He's an addict. Im glad he attended the taping. Could have dropped out last minute, claiming to be sick but showed up. We wanted all six friends together again and they gave it to us. he knows it reflects badly on him and probably is embarrassed. He didn't do this for the money. It's not a long term gig. Would have been better for him to be sober but that's the Matthew Perry that exists today. Take it or leave it.

r316 Drugs and alcohol usually play a role.

Lisa Kudrow had a nose job many years before Friends started. I think she looks great, and she seems the happiest.

I'm a chubby chaser, so Matt LeBlanc looks great, too. Matthew Perry looks out of it, and looks close to 70. That girl needs help.

Jennifer is still annoying.

[quote] We wanted all six friends together again

Speak for yourself.

Life just punches you in the face.

The sad thing is, Perry might have actually been sober for the taping. We might be seeing neurological damage from decades of hard drugs and booze. In other words, this might be him at his best these days.

Matthew Perry in and out of nod is my new fave ASMR video.

What I'll never understand is why parents or siblings of "kids" who get SO messed up like Perry, don't repeatedly try to help them get help. Yes, he's a grown man, but he's had this problem since (almost) the beginning of the show. Where was his once-famous father?

Addiction happens for a reason, and it's usually because the person feels unworthy, unwanted or unloved.

[quote]it's funny that Kudrow and Le blanc look the best BECAUSE they haven't had work done.

That's adorable.

"Adorable" or not, they clearly haven't had work done R346.

you can't blame the parents or siblings or friends of the fucked up cunt. If the fucked up cunt doesn't admit he/she has a problem, no amount of help or rehab will work.

usually the fucked up cunt is a selfish cunt who loves all the attention his addiction is giving him, while his whole family and friends are suffering with worry etc

If rather live with Matthew Perry than R348/R349.

*I'd

At least he doesn't want to be called They/Them.

Joe Biden sticks by Hunter.

Adderall Don sticks by Coke Queen Jr.

^ Unless Shitler is beating the shit out of Traitor Tot at any given moment.

I don't know why they didn't set this show in LA, all of those characters were so fucking LA.

Southpark should base an entire episode on the cast. I envision:

* Matthew Perry as a slobbering mess in a wheelchair (with plenty of colostomy bag jokes) until he croaks halfway through the episode and nobody notices, so they continue to half-heartedly interact with them a la Weekend At Bernie's. (Rachel: "Did Matt say something?" David: "Yeah, I'm sure I heard him grunt something just now. He's probably tired from that 'relaxant' he took earlier."

* Matt gets fatter and fatter as the episode goes on until his clothes are about to burst.

* Jennifer and Courtney keep going to the plastic surgeon for tune-ups until they end up looking like marionette puppets. Jennifer's head is five times its normal size by the end of the episode and sounds like Harvey Fierstein. Courtney looks like the puppet from Magic.

* Phoebe looks great, but she digs up Smelly Cat and cooks him in a pot like Azalea Banks did in an attempt to revive him.

* The Grim Reaper keeps following them and buzzards circle overhead.

Matt LeBlanc's face actually looks less asymmetrical now than it used to be.

Its funny because the roles I associate most for LeBlanc, Cox and Kudrow and Anniston have nothing to do with this show. Kudrow will always be Valerie Cherish to be in The Comeback. The most perfect show ever.

LeBlanc is fantastic in Episodes.

Cox I loved in Cougar Town.

And I think Anniston did the best work of her career in The Morning Show.

Huge mistake for them to do this. HUGE.

R346 Matt is fat. David looks early better than him.

The Comeback was a brilliant show. Kudrow's performance of Valerie Cherish is flawless.

r55 I know many who were the crew of Friends who did most of, or all of the seasons. They said Aniston was a really sweet lady.

The Matt's were fun, loved to go into the set dec lounge (aka goldroom) and play video games with the set dec guys.

[quote]Southpark should base an entire episode on the cast.

Do you really still watch that? Haven't watch since they put out that awful puppet movie and admitted they were Republicans,

[quote]Aniston has had TONS of work done. SHe can barely speak properly anymore.

I wondered what was wrong with the way she speaks, she has a little bit of a slur that comes in every now and then.

I wonder what MP was almost crying about. 😢

He burst his colostomy bag.

I don't want much or any work on my face but I would love to get every single thing done to Cox's neck and under chin.

I wonder if there will be a big revelation coming from Perry during the reunion.

R368, didn’t the reunion happen? Wasn’t the video at HBO the reunion?

Is Marlo Thomas part of the reunion special?

May 27th on HBO Max

Is Marlo Thomas still with us? She's gotta be at least in her 80s.

Good god, I thought you bitches were exaggerating about Perry. Holy fuck! He looks ancient!

The girls still look pretty good. The guys look like trash, with Leblanc being the best of the worst.

[quote]Is Marlo Thomas still with us? She's gotta be at least in her 80s.

I'm sure she's still a cunt, dead or alive.

I mean I've dated fat and chunky dudes, but none of them was an iconic sitcom star or former heartthrob. Didn't Matt LeBlanc think, "Well, maybe I could knock off ten pounds, that wouldn't be too hard"? I guess he really has all the fuck you money he needs and his ego doesn't need more stroking, but he looks really porky, and not they way he used to, it's just a big dad gut now.

Marlo Thomas, 83, is still alive and sends her love. Marlo dodged a bullet not participating in this mess. Although Elliott Gould, 82, is a guest on the show.

What about ME?

Did Brad Pitt show up?

Matt LeBlanc was always on the thicker side. He’s not even as blimped out now as he could be, being over 50.

I always thought Brad Pitt’s episode was cringe. Never found him to be a great actor and I guess doing comedy exposed it. I also never saw a great connection between him and Aniston, despite the hype over their marriage.

[quote]they clearly haven't had work done

Bless your heart.

R380 are you kidding me? The Brad Pitt episode was hilarious. He was terrific in it.

[quote] He’s not even as blimped out now as he could be, being over 50.

I'm over fifty and I'm slender.

[quote]I also never saw a great connection between him and Aniston, despite the hype over their marriage.

Their relationship was based on a shared love of smoking weed.

R88 No! Most Black folks don't care about this show. The whole premise of White people living in the middle of NYC in the 90s with virtually no interaction with Black folks is a MAGA fantasy so they can keep it. Personally, I always thought Matt LeBlanc was kinda cute. He can still get it but I'm not interested in the rest of these people.

Morgan Fairchild and Kathleen Turner didn't get invited.

No Brenda Vacarro either.

How about Fun Bobby? Was Fun Bobby present?

Are they casting for Rachel's glamorous daughter? Asking for ME!

Ugly Naked Guy got the shaft

I’ve just added Matthew Perry to my 2021 Death Watch list after watching that vid. He’s gone.

Does Marta Kaufman still walk around acting like she created this nifty concept herself?

Queen Latifah confirmed the gossip that Warren Littlefield was a huge fan of Living Single and pressured NBC intro creating an all white version for their network. They originally wanted Lisa Whelchel and Nancy McKeon for the Rachel/Monica roles.

NBC I loved when Schwimmer tried to get SJW on Twitter by demanding that NBC redo Friends as an black show and Erika Alexander responded that one had already been done and he should watch. He couldn't apologize fast enough.

Bullshit on the Lisa Whelchel and Nancy McKeon rumor. Omg. For the hundredth time. Lisa was on list to READ for the role of Rachel Green. She never actually read, she never auditioned. She was on a list with probably 100 other actresses. She makes it sound like she turned it down which is entirely untrue.

Nancy McKeon however did get down to the final two. It was between her and Courtney. I think she could have more than held her own.

Hey. Don't forget about me!

[quote] The whole premise of White people living in the middle of NYC in the 90s with virtually no interaction with Black folks is a MAGA fantasy so they can keep it.

Actually that was pretty much reality. Your workplace was white, the bars and restaurants and various cultural things you went to were all white, etc. Back then if you lived in Manhattan you never really interacted with black people in work or social settings.

I can’t picture either Leah Remini or Nancy McKeon as Monica. They are tougher and butcher than her.

Janeane Garofalo was in the running for Monica. Ironically, she was a pretty authentic "New York" personality so of course she didn't get it.

This show wasn't about New York. It could have been set in any predominantly white Midwestern city.

Courtney was the perfect choice. Beautiful and neurotic.

Alex P. Keaton was a fool to dump her.

R394 Actually that is NOT accurate. What workplace in NYC in the 1990s is all white? What restaurants? What bars? What theaters? LOL Maybe they could pull this off in Wyoming somewhere! But have you been to NYC? This is the 1990s, not the 1890s!

Where it really should have been set was Los Angeles in a Melrose Place style apartment building. Despite being the only one who was passable as a New Yorker, Joey’s meathead himbo actor is really more an L.A. type - as was Phoebe’s woo woo earth mother and Ross’ ultra-sensitive 90s guy. To say nothing of Jennifer Aniston, who really is the quintessential Gen X California girl.

[quote] Especially with the lockdown. They get paid millions for a special, have a ton of free time anyway and the studio can't hire a personal trainer to get them in shape?

Why bother? They're very rich, middle-aged and only did this out of obligation. Besides they knew the condition Perry was in and figured they'd still come out looking pretty good in comparison. Perry's condition is chronic and he probably was not high or drink during the taping. He couldn't be excluded from the reunion just because he has a chronic illness that has altered his appearance, disposition and speech pattern, that would have been cruel.

r399 I was there in the 1990s and there were many offices that were mostly white, many bars and restaurants that were mostly white.

Exactly r400, all of the characters were totally LA. It would've been a much better fit to put them in a Melrose Place-type apartment situation.

I think now that everyone's seen what condition Perry is in, there'll be no more talk about a limited series reboot. He's obviously in no condition to work anymore.

Wasn’t the reunion supposed to happen last year but got Covid delayed? Maybe Perry was in better shape then and LeBlanc hadn’t gained weight in quarantine.

R405 was better when he was only doing PR stuff for Baby Spice. We know who you are Edina!

Had they done that, r403, the series might have had a long run!

r407 the show would've made more sense.

Yes, r408, but it wasn't a show about making sense.

It was all about make belief.

Yet again.

It's a sitcom, not a documentary.

Why couldn't they get Paul Rudd or Eddie Cahill or any hot guys who used to be on Friends to appear at this reunion?

Johnny Messner is the hottest man who ever appeared on FRIENDS.

[quote]the studio can't hire a personal trainer to get them in shape?

Shut the fuck up about trainer shit. They are people living their lives and aging and not obsessed with being their high school weight.

Janeane would have had to drop some lbs, stop scowling, and display believable romantic chemistry with male guest stars. Can't imagine that.

R399, the residents of gentrified Manhattan neighborhoods like the West Village are still predominantly white. Ross, Rachel and Monica all grew up on lily white Long Island, Joey in an insular Italian-American Queens neighborhood. Chandler was Ross' college roommate. Their job fields (academia, high-end retail, mid-level restaurant industry (i.e. not waitstaff), acting (especially on stage and in soap operas), unnamed white collar executive field) were and are mostly white or highly segregated. Their social and professional circles would not have been a Rainbow Coalition. In this respect Friends was no different from Seinfeld, Will & Grace, Kate & Allie, or Sex and the City. It was still an idiotic show and none of the characters seemed like authentic urban denizens, but it's not as if they lived in upper Manhattan or worked as public school teachers or in social services.

R402 and R415 it may seem convenient to rewrite history for your beloved show, but it was largely panned in the 1990s as being unrealistic in its lack of diversity. I was in NYC in the 90s and no way was this show realistic depiction of the people of the city.

Their jobs? IT Procurement (Chandler); College Professor (Ross); Actor (Joey); Masseuse (Phoebe); Chef (Monica); Rachel (Waitress). They were in Manhattan just starting their "careers." In a portion. of the city that is almost 30% Black, they had Black co-workers, (maybe bosses) and they were dealing with the public in all those jobs.

They were young and inexperienced. They were not at a level in their "careers" where they could push people off to lower level employees like their racist bosses could. Nobody said they would have Black "friends" (there are plenty of Racist White people in every NYC) but they would have AT LEAST encountered Black folks in the public spaces. Who's zooming who here? Nice try, but no cigar!

[R402] and [R415] it may seem convenient (and even fun) to rewrite history for your beloved show, but a lot of us know better. That may work for some in the flyover states, but the show was largely panned in the 1990s as being unrealistic in its lack of diversity. I was in NYC many ties in the 90s (I have family there) and no way was this show a realistic depiction of the people of the city. NYC is one of the most diverse cities in the world!

Their jobs? IT Procurement (Chandler); College Professor (Ross); Actor (Joey); Masseuse (Phoebe); Chef (Monica); Rachel (Waitress). They were all in Manhattan just starting their 6 very DIFFERENT "careers." A lot of people flow in and out of Manhattan on the daily. There is a lot right there in that portion of the city drawing people from all over the region. We're not talking racist ass Staten Island. LOL

NYC was almost 38% Black in 1990. They would have had Black co-workers, (maybe bosses) and they were dealing with the public in all those jobs which would have certainly included Black people.

They were young and inexperienced. They were not at a level in their "careers" where they could push the minorities off to lower level employees like their racist bosses could.

Nobody said they'd have Black "friends" (but the fact that they didn't have any Black friends in a city as diverse as NYC says a lot). There are plenty of racist White people in NYC and it would have been better had they openly "owned it" (although in actuality they did kinda own their racism in the eyes of people who understand the demographics of NYC - or really any large city in the 1990s).

As gay men, y'all know that plenty of TV shows (and movies) ignore realities of race and gender. This is nothing new, but to set a show in such a diverse city and totally erase minorities is a big "ask" in the suspension of disbelief. They were rightly and roundly criticized for this in the 1990s as they are rightly and roundly criticized for it today. I mean, these characters should have AT LEAST encountered Black folks in the public spaces. Who's zooming who here? Nice try, but I'm calling bullshit!

R415 A large part of the population of NYC was Black and Brown people in the 1990s. The characters were young and inexperienced. The show was widely criticized for its lack of diversity (not just by me) by all familiar with the demographics of the bustling Manhattan in the 1990s. They would have all dealt with Black folks in their jobs and anytime outside their apartments.

Jesus! America you all are REALLY annoying with your never ending racial war. If it was only between you I wouldn't complain but as usual you are exporting your internal poisons all over the Western world and destroying the West. It's exhausting and really annoying. This selfishness and this way of maintaining hatred is no longer bearable. I have seen a lot of American series where there were only black actors and I did not find that disturbing. But it's a prroblem only when whites makes series with a white cast ? . So it's a one way thing?

It is almost impossible to read a thread without it ending up in a racial war. Like DlL is like a virtual psychiatric hospital. You all are exhausting!

It always pained me to think that my beloved Manhattan would ever host a coffee place with the witless name of "Central Perk."

There was one near Prospect Park in Brooklyn named Prospect Perk, R421. Established after the show came out.

I wonder what is at the root of Matthew Perry's addiction and why he can't kick it and stay clean, with all the money and resources he has at his disposal? Why does happiness elude him?

OP- It's not GOOD.

When was that mediocre show EVER good?

I take exception to R417’s comment that white people are racist if the don’t have black friends. Does the same go for blacks, Hispanics and Asians who mainly have friends within their community? There is such a double standard that’s so persuasive these days of anything white people do being called out as racist. Fact check, most people of all walks of life relate to people within their own groups. The people who have issues with that are the ones who desperately want to infiltrate said groups and resent when they can’t.

[quote] The people who have issues with that are the ones who desperately want to infiltrate said groups and resent when they can’t.

Get a load of Frat Boy Dim at r425.

R425 I'm tired of White victimhood. "I'm offended by this and that." Just try being a regular decent person and not whining about everything all the time. It is not appealing. You wanna know what's offensive? Some thick headed person not wanting to understand that "some experiences are not and NEVER will be your experiences." You might want to at least listen to a different perspective on things you know nothing about.

FYI I don't resent anyone. I'm educated and go in and out of many spaces quite easily. I've met many people of all races and walks of life and many I consider to be my friends. I never said not having Black friends made you racist. Listen carefully and try not taking things out of context. We are talking about these specific people under these specific circumstances. Don't play crazy.

My point is that none of these particular 6 young White characters over the course of 10 years never having any kind of meaningful relationship with Black people [LIVING, WORKING AND FULLY INTEGRATED IN A CITY AS DIVERSE AS NYC] is weird and yes, racist. Ross screwed a Black chick towards the end of the run but that was really small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.

Setting this show in NYC with no prominent Black characters is like setting a show in Germany and nobody has a German accent. You can "protesteth too much" and take exception all you want, but the bottom line is that something MAJOR was missing from this show, and we all know why.

-R417

I lived in NYC in the 1990s and in the real-life circles the Friends moved in, both professional and personal, it was very white. Sorry. That's just the way it was. Bars, restaurants, workplaces etc. You just didn't see much diversity. Hell, even today the West Village is pretty damn white.

The bubble has to deflate at some point, right?

What happens when all the residential real estate owned by corps sits empty for a while? Meaning, no one can afford to rent it? Or is buy-and-keep-vacant the new business plan?

[quote]Meaning, no one can afford to rent it? Or is buy-and-keep-vacant the new business plan?

Bingo, R249!

I always chuckle at this fixation over the set. It was a sit com, not a documentary. Like everything else fully reflected reality?

The fixation is not a mystery. It's because it was and continues to be wildly successful. No one gives a shit about middling or completely unsuccessful shows that featured an almost or even entirely white cast. It's entirely about money, it isn't about representation. No one is going after or writing diatribes about Blossom or We've Got it Made or any of the hundreds of shows that have come and gone over the years. It's about money.

It really becomes clear reading through these comments how narrow minded the topic of diversity really is, and is simply about skin tone. Yes, Matthew Perry has addiction issues. Matt LeBanc. Others on the cast dared to age with debatable levels of success or failure. According to this, and the numerous other threads all of them should never see the light of day again for these very reasons. Never mind the fact that all of these factors are the very things are part of the human condition. All of these things effect literally everyone on the planet.

It's clear the people on here want "reality" based on how someone looks, but do not want reality on how people really do exist. People age, they are themselves or know others who are addicts, they get fat, they grow disinterested in things you think they should still be interested in.

It's bizarre reading these comments. It's listening to people who think they know what people should be like, but don't really know anyone at all.

It's a stupid fest on here, yet Friends is supposed to stupid.

oh r432 is so above it all. He is the font of wisdom on the human condition.

People all around the world do get fat, do have lives that have been effected by addiction, and do age. So while those don't sum up the human condition, I would say they are definitely aspects of the human condition.

This whole thread, and all of the Friends threads are a pearl clutchers delight of how people look. The color of their skin and what they look like after however many years of being seen together, and judging them based on whatever standards they're supposed to adhere to.

Yet no one is talking about the giant and fabulous apartments they were all able to afford.

R379, what are you, TWELVE? A lot of folks in their SIXTIES aren't chubby and in excellent health. He's only 53, but loves the ciggies and donuts. As does his partner...

Spot on R432, 434.

R417 Or at least you would see people of color in the street scenes . There was nothing NYC about Friends. The entire cast would have been pushed under a subway train the first time they ventured down into it.

Does anybody remember that when the show wrapped up 17 years ago they ran a retrospective before the finale and Matt LeBlanc introducing it said something like you may think we all got so old looking over the last ten years but so did all of you!

The unbelievable apartments were a subject of conversation when the show first aired, r435. You were just expected to go with it.

Yeah, the apartments were/are the poster child for classic "unrealistic movie/tv tropes" for decades.

NYC apartments are rarely done right, in respect to the character's socioeconomic status. SVU is a perfect example of this. Public school teachers and city employees live in big apartments in the West Village, for example.

The Travel Channel has the most ridiculous Bigfoot shows where they always hear them but miss seeing them, show after show. Oh so close!

I think Seinfeld got Jerry’s apartment right. However, Elaine’s was not and the fact that Kramer seemingly had no source of income and lived next door to Jerry was BS.

OMG. Go back and order an IRS audit on these fictional characters. We as citizens need to know.

Seems like the six of them didn't really have any other friends, black or otherwise. I'm not a show historian, so I'm sure some troll on here will tell me I'm wrong and they had lots of other friends.

[quote] The Travel Channel has the most ridiculous Bigfoot shows where they always hear them but miss seeing them, show after show. Oh so close!

Whoops meant for basic cable thread..

[quote]My point is that none of these particular 6 young White characters over the course of 10 years never having any kind of meaningful relationship with Black people [LIVING, WORKING AND FULLY INTEGRATED IN A CITY AS DIVERSE AS NYC] is weird and yes, racist.

No, that’s reality.

Wait, are you all saying there were black people in NYC in the 1990s?

I got to go on the "Friends" set on the show's hiatus and walk thru and Monica's apartment isn't really as big as it looks. The couches weren't there or in Central Perk which was directly behind the girl's bedrooms but the foosball table was there in the guys place and I played with it.

Did the "Living Single" cast have any white friends, or characters?

R32, That's my question, too. What are this guy's issues? He seems profoundly damaged. Is it just alcoholism? Does he have some deep psychological problems also. He's been a mess for his entire career and shows no signs of getting better. I look at him and Demi Moore and realize that being rich doesn't solve your problems.

Matthew Perry’s situation screams child abuse and / or molestation.

There really isn’t any other explanation.

R451 it's been like 20 years, but they had white characters and guest stars on all the time. Including Will Farrell.

There is zero white in My Wifes and Kids serie with Damon Wayans and Tisha Campbell and my white ass enjoyed it lto the point i was addicted to the show. It never bothered me that there was no whites in it. I couldn"t care less tbh

Rosie O was on LS. Her acting was really bad.

Joyce DeWitt played herself.

Aniston's face looks extremely masculine

NBC didn't cancel [italic]Silver Spoons[/italic] until after this human Hoover vacuum was a guest star.

R428 And the fantasy continues. Man that's just a lie. What you describe would not have even been NYC during Jim Crow. LOL Have you walked down an NYC street? There are 100s of people, all types, including Immigrants. It is a fucking rainbow, EVERYDAY! LOL

R431 I don't care about the set. Nobody wants to look at a shitty apartment. LOL There could be many reasons why they have a nice apartment. But there's really no explanation for erasing Black folks from one of the largest and most diverse cities in the world... except the obvious one.

R439 My thoughts exactly! They spent lots of time in public spaces. Virtually no encounters with Black people in 10 years in the middle of NYC is just plain ridiculous.

R446 The show focused on its core 6, but they did have other White friends. Even if we overlooked them having no Black friends or co-workers (which is pretty unbelievable for NYC), they ALL woulda been in spaces with Black folks at some point.

R448 No, that is only reality in a MAGA sort of way.

R449 Exactly. LOL

R454 My Wife and Kids had White people - Larry Miller, Clint Culp, Kelly Coffield, Phil Reeves were all on multiple episodes. But that show wasn't set in NYC. Try to stay on topic. (Distraction Alert: Apples & Oranges)

R451 Yes, Living Single had multiple White characters with recurring roles.

Thank you R454 R456 and R457 I remember Will Ferrell on Living Single. Many other guest stars rolled thru including Bobcat Goldthwait, Joyce DeWitt, Rosie O'Donnell and even Ed McMahon.

Ok, so the distractions are kinda cute, but this is about "Friends." Can y'all stop with the false equivalencies!

And by the way, I know y'all are die hard fans. Go ahead and love your show, but this aint Fox News. You're not talking to the Trump base in fly over states. Many of us know what NYC is like. Claiming anyone could spend a normal day on any street in Manhattan and not see Black or Brown people is just plain fantasy. You're making a fool of yourself!

Jesus Christ, R460. Could you BE anymore invested in this? Let it go.

Sure r461, a thread gets almost 500 replies about a mediocre, whitewashed 1990s sitcom, but r460 is the one "invested".

What r460 points out is valid.

I'm continually astounded, however, but I guess I shouldn't be, that anybody of whatever race, ethnicity or what perspective you're coming from, assumes or expects the popular product spewed outta Hollywood to contain racial and social accuracy.

This is an industry that cranked out, and made millions of dollars out of "Westerns" both in film and TV that could not have been more wrong about what actually happened in the West. This is an industry that glorified the Confederacy in "Gone With the Wind".

But Americans are stupid and bigoted. I can't blame Hollywood for making a buck off of that.

And I write this as a fan, and consumer, of some of the product that comes out of the movie and TV industry.

R460 sucks donkey dick.

I never lived in NYC but in the 90s I was there for work once a week. I often extended that visit with an adjoining weekend to enjoy the city. I can honestly say I never saw any people of color in Chelsea. None at restaurants, bars, gyms, parks or stores. Maybe the occasional taxi driver but that’s it. Maybe it was a priced-out of the neighborhood kind of thing, but I never thought about it, until the comments in this thread. Just because you have an opinion that NYC was always multicultural, doesn’t mean that was everyone else’s experience.

R461 you sound like the type of person who'd be quick to disregard "White Privilege or "Systemic Racism." It is more "convenient" to not talk about these things isn't it? But do you know who hates having to discuss race issues more than anyone? Black people. Unfortunately we have to discuss them since people like you wanna white wash and gloss over realities that are uncomfortable which is even worse than the lies.

R462 I have no problem with people putting on any kind of show they like. I agree with you that [probably about 95% of the time] Hollywood is full of shit when it comes to racial and cultural accuracy. Black people being erased (when not being stereotyped) is nothing new. However, it is offensive when folks try to rewrite history. A history that many of us were a part of. The 90s is not that long ago. Many of us were in NYC while they were putting on this farce of a show. And the show was widely panned for its lack of cultural accuracy. That is one reason why the character who played Ross pushed for a Black love interest in the 9th season. This is ALL well documented. I also agree with you that a lot of Americans are stupid and bigoted. It's the feeble attempts at gaslighting which is astounding. The way people are defending the show's blatant racism reminds me of how MAGAts (and a lot of the MSM) defended Trump when he flat out lied. This is the same kind of ridiculousness.

And R64 your statement on its face is a joke.

"I can honestly say I never saw any people of color in Chelsea. None at restaurants, bars, gyms, parks or stores. Maybe the occasional taxi driver but that’s it. Maybe it was a priced-out of the neighborhood kind of thing."

Really? I mean really? Is Archie Bunker your daddy? LOL Maybe you weren't looking for any Black people? LOL And did you really say Chelsea is a "priced out of the neighborhood thing?" LOL I know Black people who live in Chelsea. I don't know where you were coming from for your "once a week visit" to NYC but there are actually quite a few wealthy Black people living in NYC in various fields: doctors, lawyers, Broadway performers, even some Black folks on Wall Street. "Weez aint all Po' unedumacated Black fowks waiting on youse to gives us a dolla boss man!" HAHAHA You're not a credible source. Dude you are so out of touch with reality. I got a nice chuckle out of your comment though. People like you continue to prove my point. LOL

Chelsea in the 90s? White white white. Sorry, but that's just how it was.

R463 is a homophobe whose anti-gay slurs prove R460 right.

This show sucks and anybody who likes it is a moron, a bigot, and an asshole.

I loved the show “Friends” so much. It always gave (and still does) me a warm, fuzzy, happy, wholesome feeling. And I had so many laugh-out-loud moments in every episode. I just don’t get all the hate on it here! I loved seeing people who looked like me. That doesn’t make me a racist. The show is entertainment. Quit tearing it down over some “inclusivity” issue you have.

Yes, it fucking does make you a racist, R488. It is not funny. You have been coached to laugh by the laugh track.

It's a white supremacist lie. They ripped off a Black show yet had to be goaded into casting an actual Black person on it. That's racism.

Archie Bunker came into contact with Black people more than they did. Stop making excuses for the racism of this vile, unfunny travesty.

A good sitcom can make you laugh.

A great sitcom can do both that and tell you a lot about the real world we live in.

[italic]Friends[/italic] does neither.

Can’t we all just get back to discussing what a skeevy fucking trainwreck Matthew Perry is and how Jen Aniston can barely move her face it’s so full of fillers?

R471 - Aww your ignorance is abundant. FYI, the descriptive words “good” and “great” are also subjective.

R473 proved my point with ad hominem attacks, death threats, and a self-contradictory statement.

"Good" and "great" are objective concepts and they are antonyms to this show.

[italic]The Golden Girls[/italic] is a great show.

[italic]Silver Spoons[/italic] is a good show.

[italic]Friends[/italic] is a bad show.

And you are projecting your ignorance onto me. Meanwhile, your violent threats prove that anyone who doesn't hold this show in contempt is a sick, twisted, sociopath who needs to be locked up for the benefit of society.

R474 - You’re a delusional loon. And they weren’t death threats. I simply wished death upon you.

Mental health slurs are hate speech. You keep proving my point that this show is the worst show ever and that its fans are bigots and bullies. Typical wypipo behavior.

R476 - Get help...seriously. You’re a psychopath.

R477: More mental health slurs. More hate speech. More psychological projection. More, I say.

Every single word of it proves not only that [italic]Friends[/italic] is the worst TV show ever, but that its fans are all racist violent thugs who need to be put down like the rabid dogs they are.

Calling someone a psychopath after wishing death on them is pure projection. Another reason to ban this show.

They banned [italic]Amos 'n' Andy[/italic] for less than this. That show is actually better than this. So is every other TV show in history. Even the bad ones. TV shows don't get any worse than this or they'd have made a worse one by now.

This show is yet more proof that so-called SJWs don't go far enough, and why so-called "Cancel Culture" also does not go far enough.

If hating bad TV for being racist, sexist, antisemitic, and homophobic makes me a fascist, then in the words of Mel Brooks, "heil myself!"

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I hated the Odd Couple reboot because Matthew Perry was completely miscast as Oscar Madison. It had none of the charm of the original.

Even Ron Glass and Demond Wilson were less miscast in the 1980s reboot. Once again, stealing from Blacks and Jews and turning it into white noise.

[italic]Friends[/italic] is not funny for the same reason [italic]Who's the Boss, Growing Pains, Saved By the Bell[/italic] and [italic]Full House[/italic] are not funny. Bad writing, bad acting, unsympathetic (and frankly creepy) characters whose sociopathic behavior is treated as normal. At least on [italic]Seinfeld[/italic] you're not expected to like the characters, which is a twist on the usual expectations of sitcoms up to that point, and they get their comeuppance in the end.

White hetero-gentile privilege is the only reason crap like this is not canceled sooner. A show with Black people that was as badly made as this one wouldn't even have run 13 weeks on UPN back then. And don't bother pointing out any Jewish actors on those shows since DL hates Jews but considers Jews white. No wonder you hate Jews. Who wouldn't hate a religion that didn't excommunicate David Schwimmer, Judith Light, or Bob Saget?

R463 and R466 It's time for your nap. Does your mommy know you're playing on her computer and spitting gibberish?

R468 Sweetums my problem with the show isn't with inclusivity. It is with exclusivity. Stop trying to exclude Black folks to fit your fantasy. It aint real!

R469 Bravo! Everyone knows that Friends is just a cheap imitation of Living Single with White people which NBC chose to push harder and market better. Of course ignorant bigoted Americans ate that Friends shit up.

R470 And Archie Bunker was actually funny. There is no excuse for being racist AND not funny. C'mon what did Friends really offer you people? It certainly wasn't entertaining.

R471 I don't think the work "awful" would be subjective in describing friends, but why the violence?

R473 RIGHT! Golden Girls (which of course had a rainbow of diversity to reflect their lives in Miami) will always be a favorite across many demographics because the shit was actually funny. Those old White women actually entertained.

R474 This Buzzfeed article is so on point about what an AWFUL show friends was. I love this quote:

"But loving Friends in 2019 requires a level of mental gymnastics that should force the show to remain a forgotten blip in the past. "

And I loved this quote:

"Save for a few token characters of color that popped up every now and then, the show was so white that Phoebe, as the only blonde, could be considered a minority."

Suffice to say, I won't be watching this trash of a reunion. Garbage in, garbage out. Besides from the clip, it looks like these people aged almost as badly as the show. LOL There you go R472 are you happy now?

*word awful

They took a Black show with a former [italic]Facts of Life[/italic] cast member, made it white, dumbed it down, then asked the two least overweight white girls from the earlier show to try out for it. They stole more from it than [italic]Webster[/italic] stole from [italic]Diff'rent Strokes[/italic] or [italic]Dynasty[/italic] stole from [italic]Dallas[/italic], and whatever they didn't steal from [italic]Living Single[/italic] they stole from [italic]Seinfeld[/italic] and [italic]Full House[/italic].

R487 You betta PREACH! C'mon now! And of course an imitation is never good as an original especially when all the "new" characters are so fucking stupid! Friends has no socially redeeming value!

It's not even as good as shows aimed at children. The 1990s had a lot of cartoons that were appealing to both kids and adults. Nostalgia for (some) of those is justified.

When Courteney Cox was on [italic]Family Ties[/italic], she wasn't in either of the Very Special Episodes about racism they did: "Read it and Weep" from season 6 and "All in the Neighborhood" from season 7. I do not believe that was an accident. The only funny episodes of the last two seasons were those from which she was mercifully absent.

And Alfonso Ribiero can do her own dance better than she can. It probably wasn't even hers to begin with; she most likely stole whatever "moves" she had from a Black girl in Alabama.

"she most likely stole whatever "moves" she had from a Black girl in Alabama."

I'm dead.

HAHAHAHA! Truth! The ones that don't ever want to discuss racial inequality or their own inadequacies despite their White Privilege are the same ones stealing everything from Black folks that aint nailed down and then claiming they got everything based on MERIT! HAHAHAHA!

Even that obnoxious theme song is a lie. Life is not going to be the way this show depicts it. People do not act this way in real life.

Right! The dumbass theme song presumes they have crises in their lives. Almost all their "problems" stem from things the average 12 year old would have never gotten into in the first place. The show is just so fucking stupid!

I don't believe this. They spent $10 million on a glorified clip show! No wonder AT&T wants nothing to do with WarnerMedia anymore.

R490, are you impugning Courtney Cox's terpichorean gifts?

"Offensive novelty rap" made little weirdo Emma laugh. But at least she embraced Black culture before her parents did.

"Friends" is allowed to prosper because fake "trans women of color" stole Stonewall from white gay men!

My batshit comment makes ten times more sense and is a hundred times more truthful than the last thirty comments before it.

Facts!

The latter half of this thread needs a Midol STAT!

R460 needs a Prozac the size of a basketball.

This thread got weird.

I never really liked Friends, but I sorta get it; quirky 20-somethings rooming together and their hijinks. I can watch bits and pieces here and there while understanding that it in no way reflects any kind of reality at all (diversity, living conditions, behaviors, etc.), much in the same way Full House doesn’t represent the typical American family or their experience (my childhood was more of the Roseanne kind). Same with the un-reality of Sex and The City, although I still find it funny at times. It’s superficial fluff and escapism.

^ agree. This thread is a mess. I grew up watching Friends, it was part of my adolescence and I, and just about everyone I knew, loved it. If people are offended by it they need to get a thicker skin. I haven’t watched it since tbh, so I don’t know if it holds up or not, but I’ll always have a nostalgic affection for it. Although Frasier was much better and I’ve rewatched that many times since.

R499 I know you are not calling me a professional victim when people like you under the Former Guy have made White Victimhood an art form. Come back and tell me about your victimhood after your people have been enslaved for 400 years. Or when your people are still being slaughtered in the streets because White men feel insecure about themselves. Or when your people are being discriminated against in every aspect of this so-called "American life" so much that White people are terrified of Black people even voting. You people are fucking sick.

Yeah the thread is about a dysfunctional idiotic show about what White people fantasize their life to be, which is why so many of you want to try and gaslight the fact that it was racist as fuck!

BTW, R501 Frasier was an "ok" show. I occasionally watch those reruns. They were corny ass White people living in Seattle. LOL They brought in a few Black guest stars as a nod to Seattle's diversity, but they never tried to be something they weren't. AND they were occasionally funny.

"Friends" on the other hand was never funny. It was stupid. They coulda set this dumb show anywhere in the world, but they made a conscious choice with NYC. They wanted the uniqueness and coolness of living in NYC while also choosing to eliminate all the people of color which is part of what makes NYC so unique and cool. That show was so fucking inauthentic. And those of you trying to gaslight (for the sake of nostalgia) should not be surprised that you got dragged for it, just as the producers were dragged for their gaslighting 25 years ago. And if you can't accept reality, maybe YOU should get a thicker skin!

Perry looks like he has dentures.

We get it, R502. You hate Whitey.

Since DL seems to be mostly white, perhaps you'd feel more comfortable somewhere else.

r504 don't be a racist. do you know what day today is?

I never understood the appeal of Friends. Stupid jokes, bad writing, lousy characters. And why did they have four men and two women?

R460 - I’m reading (trying) some of your posts. You’re a fucking psychopath. I don’t know how you found yourself here, but it appears you’re receiving the attention you obviously crave. Get back to the facility you escaped from and back on your zombie meds.

Yeah, I put R460 on ignore and about 20 long-winded posts disappeared from this thread (and only this thread). Someone clearly has out-of-control anger issues when it comes to this show.

R504 and R507 you are proving my point. So because I disagree with you, all of a sudden your racist ass doesn't want me on the platform? Only your delusions matter... because you're White? Get the fuck outta here.

And R507 Why do you racist assholes always resort to violence? Why do you hate Black people so much especially when we disagree you?You uncivilized fuck!

R508 I wonder if it's actually a racist white person trying to stir up anti-black feeling. A Stormfronter or something. Because they're way over the top.

R510

FYI, I'm not the only Black person responding here. There are several. And some White have chimed in regarding "Friends" intentional erasure of POC.

What is funny is that there are people who were involved with the show who admit it. Only racists choose to ignore and continue to gaslight the point.

R460/R509/R511 is right and anyone who disagrees is a racist.

R510 is projecting his anti-Black racism onto Black people in order to justify racism against Black people. Stop telling me to stop condemning racist sexist antisemitic homophobic hate speech disguised as comedy. Start getting offended by stupid and unfunny shows such as that stereotype Jewish men as emotionally abusive, unattractive wimps and stereotype Jewish women as needy, selfish, and materialistic. If you are not offended by that, then that's because you're an antisemite and therefore a racist.

Now I've put R512 on ignore and another 20 posts disappeared. And, again, the only thread they're posting in is this one. Interesting.

R460 - Is King-God of the world and the beholder of all correct and true knowledge. We bow down before you and your limitless intelligence.

R508/R514 is the same racist ofay making excuses for this show's racism and projecting his own "issues" with Black people onto Black people for objecting to this racist propaganda.

This thread is why [italic]The Jeffersons[/italic] holds up better than [italic]All in the Family[/italic]: because George Jefferson was right.

Keep defending white supremacist crap, and you will keep being subjected to verbal retaliation.

R504 is another racist projecting his own hatred of Black people onto whites in order to justify the anti-Black racism of unfunny comedy.

So many White Gays are racist as fuck! No wonder so many end up as pedophiles rapists and serial killers! A lot of hate in these people's hearts. Friends was a crappy racist show. Just face it and move the fuck on!

Gays of color and gay Jews still have to deal with the real-world effects of white gentile gay racism. Their affinity for shows that defame people of color and Jews is part of that problem. Denial only compounds that problem.

You say "get help" for confronting you on your fetish for racist hate speech disguised as entertainment, which is just more gaslighting, DARVO, and psychological projection. You're the one who needs help for refusing to acknowledge your racism.

And I'm getting sick and fucking tired of Asians and Mexicans taking the side of wypipo in a white/Black racial conflict.

Yes, indeed, R514. Very interesting.

Don't ever argue with anyone who calls you a racist. Just walk away. They're only saying it to goad you into an argument or a fight. If you won't be drawn into that conflict, you win and they lose.

Courteney looks much better now than she did in the Scream 4- Cougar Town era. I think it was when she and David Arquette split that she started seriously fucking with her face. I LOVE Cougar Town, but YIKES to her face through most of it.

Matthew is in trouble again for selling insensitive. Covid 19 t-shirts 👕

Courtney looks like she had one too many shots of toxic cum shot in her face that she didn't immediately wipe off!

No, R523, they're only saying it to point out racism.

R523 You spoke that like a true MAGAt. That was awful advice. Why would you wanna stay in an ignorant racist bubble and not expose yourself to rational thought? You do realize that racism is illogical... it is a form of mental illness? You do know that right?

Even whites made better shows than this.

White people never watched Living Single.

Just watch something else. It's not hard. There is an unlimited supply of things to watch right now. I didn't hear this much bitching when there was only 3 channels, virtually no one had cable, and no one had internet. Seriously, Shut the fuck up and watch something else.

[quote] I loved seeing people who looked like me.

And that is oh-so-hard to do when you are white, right? Why, back in the 90s, I bet Friends was just about the only show you could tune into and see white faces all over the place.

Friends wasn't FOR black people, just like how Beyonce's fans say that her albums aren't FOR white people.

Here you go. Watch this, and think about what you might want to do about it other than bitching about Friends.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

In the Before Time, I traveled a lot for work. I don't have cable at home, but when you turn on a TV in a hotel, 2 things are almost GUARANTEED to be on: Friends or Law and Order SVU

stupid show

Then don't watch television

It was an insipid show for basic people but holy shit was it popular, and continues to be. 17 years after it ended, it's still a part of the cultural landscape and is referenced constantly.

They are now blaming his "condition" on dental work!!!!!

[quote] White people never watched Living Single.

They watched enough of it to plagiarize it outright and remove almost all traces of Blackness.

Plenty of white children watched [italic]Family Matters[/italic] along with Black ones.

Friends was a cultural phenomenon. Living Single was a tv show.

[italic]Living Single[/italic] was not terrible.

[italic]Friends[/italic] is terrible. Only racists disagree.

Whew.....Matthew was pretty slow, but to his credit, he did know the difference between “axe” and “ask.”

Friends was no better or worse than any other sitcom of its era.

Yes, it was worse, R545. It is the worst TV show of any era or any genre. Why would you watch it when there is literally always something better to watch?

Speaking of which, "worst since 1994" is no coincidence.

This show is not good for the Jews.

R532 Is preaching the Gospel Truth!

R468 If you like Friends because it has people who look like you WTF does that say about you? 99% of TV Shows have somebody who looks like you if you're White. Surely you could find a better show than this racist garbage with people who look like you. There is A LOT to choose from as a White person.

R533 did you really say "Friends wasn't FOR black people?" Why is that? Why have shows designated by race? The Black shows weren't just for Black people. I'm hearing you acknowledge Friends is racist. If that is the case then it should not be on public airwaves in the United States - you know, since this is a country where everyone is equal, right?

R530 Enough White people watched Living Single, The Cosby Show, Family Matters and many other Black shows in the era as all were top ratings getters and lasted multiple seasons despite White shows stealing from them and Networks pumping millions of dollars of advertising into awful White shows.

Living Single featured successful Black characters where Friends featured a bunch of uninspired "LOSERS" by all objective standards. It must have made mediocre White people feel better about their lives.

But why don't you stop deflecting. This really isn't about any of those other shows. This is about how Friends was such a shitty show!

If this show's reruns are so popular, then why has Warner Bros. been bounced from owner to owner since it began? First to AOL, then to AT&T, now to DiscoveryMedia.

More like they count people who watch 5 seconds then change to something else as "a view."

Wow r549 you know fuck all about business. Maybe you should just just up and watch your reruns of Living Single.

Seriously though, why does every thread about Friends (and usually SATC) descend into post after post about diversity and how black people weren’t represented? The outrage thread from a week or two ago and so many past threads basically had the same conversation going. Is it one or two people hijacking the threads or do people care that much? This thread was about Matthew Perry appearance at the reunion.

No, R550, you shut up and stop projecting your ignorance onto me. The studio is lying about the popularity of the show, and the crappy merchandise related to it is made by slave labor in sweatshops.

Get some rest r552 hon. It's just a fucking tv show.

No, R553, you stop defending crap and start protesting it off the air.

[quote] Seriously though, why does every thread about Friends (and usually SATC) descend into post after post about diversity and how black people weren’t represented?

Because it's set in New York City in the then-present day yet it looks like fucking Idaho compared to the real NYC, or even to [italic]Sesame Street[/italic], [italic]All in the Family[/italic], [italic]Barney Miller[/italic], and [italic]Diff'rent Strokes[/italic].

r554 as has been explained the NYC depicted in this show was pretty white IRL in the 90s. It wasn't the entire city, it was a subset of the city in establishments and events where the people who gathered were mostly white. Have you ever been to a fundraiser at a museum, for example?

R551 actually the thread is about Perry AT THE REUNION. The door was opened to a discussion about this shitty White Supremacy extravaganza! But you are missing the big picture here. Instead of attacking those criticizing the show has it dawned on you to consider all the racists defending it... even when the people involved with producing it have themselves ADMITTED the show was racist? Why defend this? Why allow the gaslighting? That is the problem here.

They deliberately chose the whitest places because of their whiteness. This is one percenter propaganda. It is not funny. It is anti-funny. And its influence on popular culture has been nothing short of disastrous.

How was the show racist? The circles of people depicted in Friends were not a rainbow of diversity IRL.

Using real-life racism to defend racist media is racist.

Archie Bunker came into contact with more Black people. Seriously.

[quote]They deliberately chose the whitest places because of their whiteness.

They wrote about the world they knew about.

They know nothing about the real world and it shows. Stop defending them.

They ripped off a Black show and removed the Black people from it. Plain and simple. This is indefensible.

R558 are you serious? Scroll up! They set this fucking show in one of the most diverse cities in the world so they could look cool and hip but it is a fraud because they ignored where they were and erased many of the inhabitants. It was rude and disgusting. How can people support this racist shit?

r532 the world these people lived in was pretty white IRL. NYC is not a rainbow of diversity in many places around Manhattan. Esp. not back then.

The hell it isn't, R563. New York City is a melting pot. It's where the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are.

[quote]How can people support this racist shit?

Because they are racist in real life. Not since Tony Danza ripped off Nell Carter's show and got away with it has there ever been such a flagrant act of white-on-Black plagiarism.

As a white person, I enjoyed seeing a show just about white people, for once.

America IS A FUCKING MELTING POT! We celebrate diversity not erase it. This was a fucking travesty. Everyone associated with this shitshow should be ashamed. Would you put a show in China Town with no Chinese people? Would you go to Africa and film a movie with no Africans? Other cities you might be able to slide by with the erasure of Black people, but NYC??? Really? C'mon man this is not that difficult to grasp. I know a lot of you are public school educated and oblivious to people who don't look like you but connect the fucking dots!

[italic]Amos 'n' Andy[/italic] was actually less offensive than this. I could actually make it through a whole episode. I tried to watch 10 minutes of this crap before I turned it off in disgust.

OK, now I’m really starting to think that there’s trolling going on here. Some of the stuff being posted is beyond ridiculous.

R532 sure there are segregated spots in every city. So you are saying they only went where there were no Black people? That's even worse. This show intentionally tried to erase Black people from NYC which any tourist whoever has been to any part of that city knows that there is no way anyone could last more than a day without seeing Black people, much less be there for TEN YEARS! It is utterly ridiculous and an insult to the intelligence of anyone who's been outside his small town in Iowa or Minnesota!

Matt LeBlanc was kind of playing a black-man-trapped-in-a-white-body, wasn't he? There's your black representation there.

So the closest they can get to Blackness is using a white ethnicity with a long history of racism, sexism, antisemitism, and homophobia and projecting Black stereotypes onto them.

I dread to think what would have happened had Hitler used a laugh track.

[quote]OK, now I’m really starting to think that there’s trolling going on here. Some of the stuff being posted is beyond ridiculous.

That anyone still gives a shit about a terrible 1990s sitcom in this day and age is what's beyond ridiculous, especially a year after the country rioted over police violence against Black men.

LeBlanc literally means "the white".

Back on topic - the Daily Mail today had an article saying that Matthew Perry sounded like he did because he had had emergency dental work done earlier that morning (not kidding).

M. LeBlanc is an anagram for Mel Blanc, who voiced all those classic Looney Tunes which, unlike this show, actually are funny.

[quote]Back on topic - the Daily Mail today had an article saying that Matthew Perry sounded like he did because he had had emergency dental work done earlier that morning (not kidding).

That's right up there with the similarly untalented Danny Pintauro claiming to have gotten HIV from some hole other than the asshole he opened to the world in a pale imitation of goatse.cx.

R569 I wish the white people posting here were trolls, but sadly I don't think they are. They actually believe they can fool us with the bullshit they are typing. They are such pathetic myopic white supremacists that they would rather spew racist bullshit than accept the reality that America is not a "White"country. It never has been and never will be. Stop the gaslighting. It's not working.

You people supporting this racist tripe are fully showing your asses on this post. And to be clear I could give a shit about a post, but it reveals who you are away from here which is really sad. Do you really think Black people do not see through your bullshit here... and more importantly elsewhere? As a people, Black folks are very polite so we are not always gonna tell you we know when you're racist, but we know. Trust me we know. And we see that in Friends which is why we reject it. Nothing you can say will convince us otherwise. Why do you continue to make fools of yourselves?

Especially when it's Black shows that are more likely to get slapped with warning labels for "offensive" content.

R571 Nothing about Matt LeBlanc (or his character) represented Black people. He was the court jester, i.e. the fool of the show. He was the dumbest and most mediocre White man in a whole pool of dumb and mediocre White people. You can keep him along with the rest of those racist idiots.

Can someone repost the interview that’s in the OP? I can’t get the original post up even when I go to google and search Datalounge for it. I can get the whole thread but not the OP.

It wasn't just race they had blind spots about.

R580 - oh, you're right, it was Ross who was representing a black man.

Only pathetic white fauxgressives hissing "Racist!" at everyone feel they are really moving the bar in America by taking a LOUD UNWAVERING STAND about....."Friends", which ceased production seventeen years ago! Of course this remains the singular pinnacle of their activism.

You're all making America a better place to live!

And for fuck's sake, "The Jeffersons" remains an unwatchable sitcom. Thirty percent of the black actors on the show were playing Lionel!

Yes R582 Friends was a really shitty show then and now (it hasn't aged well)! Only people without a moral compass (translation: ASSHOLES) defend this shit-show!

R583 - Ross did have black curly hair, for starters.

R583 Ross fucking a Black woman as the show ends doesn't make him a Black person. The men on the show were dumber than the women which says a lot especially considering "Phoebe" said things the dumbest 6 year old wouldn't utter.

[quote]Back on topic - the Daily Mail today had an article saying that Matthew Perry sounded like he did because he had had emergency dental work done earlier that morning (not kidding).

The old chestnut excuse of "dehydration and exhaustion" can't be used anymore, like it was for years, because even your great-aunt Edna in Bumfucke got wise to that one and knew what it really meant. So the celebrity spin doctors had to change it up and go with "dental work."

OG Aunt Viva played Chandlers boss and he talked all over her.

The reviews are very mixed. And it does seem like HBO went over the top. Did anyone need Lady Gaga or fucking Bieber involved? And James Corden hosting? Just put the 6 of them on the couch and let them reminisce the way Entertainment Weekly does their reunions

They didn't need any guest stars for this, the six cast members definitely could've carried the whole thing on their own since the show is still very popular. And Gaga is getting overexposed, she needs to cool it.

FYI: There are only two accounts posting all of the "Friends was racist!" crap.

[quote] And for fuck's sake, "The Jeffersons" remains an unwatchable sitcom. Thirty percent of the black actors on the show were playing Lionel!

It was a classic then and it is a classic now. And there were only two Lionels.

Stop projecting this stupid show's flaws onto actual comedies, racist!

Racist whites whining about so-called "fauxgressives" are giving their racism away.

Attacking Black shows to defend white ones is another sign of their racism.

[quote] FYI: There are only two accounts posting all of the "Friends was racist!" crap.

It's not crap. Many people were offended then and are offended now.

The critical bias in favor of Italian-Americans over Blacks is fucking sickening. Remember what Mussolini did in Ethiopia.

Black Sitcoms Matter!

Black Sitcoms Matter!

Black Sitcoms Matter!

Black Sitcoms Matter!

Black Sitcoms Matter!