Thursday, the highly-anticipated “Friends” reunion special started streaming on HBO Max. The two-hour episode included huge bombshells from the six actors who starred in the iconic sitcom, reports BuzzFeed News.
- James Cordon interviewed Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer who played Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross, respectively, according to BuzzFeed News.
- This is only the second time the cast has all been in one room since the show ended in 2004, according to NPR. The reunion took place at the Warner Bros. set in Burbank, California.
1. Ross and Rachel almost happened in real-life
The biggest bombshell reveal of the night confirmed decades of rumors about Aniston and Schwimmer. The tumultuous relationship between Ross and Rachel remained a throughline in all 10 seasons of the series, said BuzzFeed News and HuffPost.
“The first season, we, I, had a major crush on Jen (Aniston),” Schwimmer revealed.
“It was reciprocated,” Aniston confirmed.
“And at some point we were both crushing hard on each other, but it was like two ships passing because one of us was always in a relationship, and we never crossed that boundary. We respected that,” Schwimmer said, according to BuzzFeed News.
- The pair did not kiss until their characters’ first kiss onstage in the coffee shop, the Central Perk, according to Yahoo News. Audiences on Twitter freaked out following this news.
2. Monica and Chandler almost didn’t happen in the show
“Friends” creators and executive directors Kevin S. Bright, David Crane and Marta Kauffman also made an appearance on the reunion special.
The executives revealed that they did not intend for the romance between Monica and Chandler to last very long. The characters first got together in the Season 4 finale, said BuzzFeed News.
- “That was the end of the season, so we had to really ruminate and think about it, but it was such a powerful moment that we knew we had to explore it more,” Kauffman said.
The directors credited the audience’s reaction as inspiration for changing the script, reports BuzzFeed News.
3. The reunion avoids digging into the complicated legacy of ‘Friends’
Amid the nostalgic reminiscing, the “Friends” reunion dropped a bombshell by choosing not to discuss the sitcom’s “complicated legacy,” according to NPR. In the 17 years since the show ended, “Friends” has come under criticism for its “overwhelming whiteness” and use of “gay panic” and “transphobia” in the comedy, says NPR.
- The interview with the cast focused on nostalgic remembering and did not discuss these more challenging topics, NPR reported.
The special also chose not to explore the actor’s lives — and challenges — since the end of “Friends.” The actors spent a decade starring in the TV series which was the highest commercial success in all of their careers, according to NPR.
Still, according to NPR and Yahoo News, the reunion special gives audiences a long-awaited wave of nostalgia for the iconic series.