When Jennifer Aniston posted that single photo on Instagram of the entire cast of Friends for the first time in a decade, it was no surprise that it became the platform's 11th most liked image. The show, which began in 1994, before many in the GenZennial generation were born, was and still is a huge pop culture phenomenon. With 10 years on tv, constant reruns, and now endless merch, it's about time this iconic show had its own reunion.
The cast got together for the first time in 17 years on the show's set to talk about their time in the Friends spotlight. Reading from episode scripts, watching never before seen bloopers, and even playing the iconic quiz game with David Schwimmer as the host, the reunion was everything we wanted and more.
In between all of that, the cast sat down on the iconic coffee house sofa and were interviewed by host James Corden about their time on the show and how it felt getting back together again. Here is what we learned from the reunion show.
1. Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer had a crush on each other in season 1
Thinking back to it now, it may have seemed obvious. There's a reason Ross and Rachel became the biggest couple of TV and that's the brilliant writing along with the sparkling chemistry between their actors. When host James Corden asked whether there had ever been any romance off-screen, all eyes turned to Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer. The two admitted that they had both had crushes on each other while filming season one, with David saying that they would cuddle and fall asleep together on the sofas between scenes.
While nothing ever came of the relationship in real life, the two channelled their feelings into their characters on screen and we got to see Ross and Rachel fall in love, break up, have a baby and finally get together again. Whether they were on a break or not, we can be thankful for that.
And another fun fact! Their first kiss was actually their characters' first kiss!
2. Matt LeBlanc really dislocated his shoulder on the show and shut down production
In the infamous bottle episode, where Ross is hurrying everyone to get ready as he prepares to give an important speech, Matt LeBlanc had a bit of a medical emergency.
During Joey and Chandler's fight over who got to sit in the chair, LeBlanc rushed over to jump in the seat. Despite doing it perfectly the first three times, on his fourth try he tripped over the coffee table and landed funny on his shoulder. The never before seen footage shows him trying to move the arm afterwards and it clearly falling lower than it should. LeBlanc said during the reunion episode: "I went to jump over the coffee table, somehow tripped, my legs went up in the air, and my shoulder came out of its socket."
The creators said that they had to shut down production of the episode while LeBlanc went to hospital. The show's co-creator David Crane said: "In come all the paramedics, they've got to take him to the hospital, and that was the end of filming."
3. Fake Joey was almost the real Joey
In the episode 'The One with Unagi' Joey tries to find an identical twin so that he can get into a medical study that pays two thousand dollars. The one guy he finds with just the slightest resemblance is Carl, played by Louis Mandylor. While it's obvious to us and the other characters that they are nothing close to identical twins, Joey believes it's Carl's acting that's the issue. But in reality, Mandylor's acting nearly beat out LeBlanc for the role.
Co-creator David Crane says in the reunion that Mandylor actually auditioned for the role of Joey with Matt LeBlanc. Despite not getting the role, the creators still wanted to give him a small part, and there came the twin storyline.
4. The cast can't remember episodes
It's pretty well known to many Friends fans that Matthew Perry doesn't remember a lot of his time on the show due his substance abuse, but it may be surprising that it seems the rest of the cast struggles to remember some episodes too.
While die-hard Friends fans, like myself, can quote nearly every episode, some of the cast have barely watched the show. David Schwimmer said he had only just started watching the show because of his daughter. He specifically says that he couldn't even remember the episode where Joey and Ross try to see how long they can throw a ball. With 236 episodes filmed over 10 years, I think we can let this one slide.
Speaking about how much of the show they've seen, Lisa Kudrow says: "There are seasons I've never seen. Michel [her husband] and I started watching some of season four, which I thought I had watched. He enjoys them more than I do, because I'm mortified with myself."
5. A Friends movie is not on the horizon... and may never will be
Despite seemingly every show getting a reboot these days, the reunion made it very clear that there is unlikely to be a new feature-length Friends episode. And for good reason.
When asked whether she has thought about doing a movie, Lisa Kudrow said: "No. I'm sorry, I haven't. I once heard Marta and David say, and I completely agree, that they ended the show very nicely, everyone's lives are very nice, and they would have to unravel all those good things in order for there to be stories."
While we'd love more of Joey, Monica, Rachel, Ross, Phoebe and Chandler, we think the show and its characters had the perfect ending. Why mess with perfect?
The reunion is now available to watch in the UK on Sky One and NOW TV.
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