This week saw the tenth anniversary of the last ever episode of everyone’s favourite sitcom, Friends.
This week saw the tenth anniversary of the last ever episode of everyone’s favourite sitcom, Friends. The world spent ten long years waiting to see if Ross and Rachel would ever actually get together, but, in the decade since they were last on our screens, there’s been a whole other “will they/won’t they” debate surrounding the show: a reunion film.
Is it ever going to happen? Should it?
In my opinion, a reunion would be a terrible, terrible idea. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll struggle to find a bigger Friends lover than myself. Although I discovered the sitcom long after it ended, like much of my generation, I was hooked as soon as I stumbled across the nightly reruns on E4.
Like many other teenagers of the last twenty years, the trials and tribulations of the six friends saw me through my adolescence, and despite owning the full box set, nobody was more upset than me when Channel 4 announced they would no longer be airing the show (frankly, I just can’t handle change, and, well really, I’m sorry Comedy Central, but what use are you?! How many teenagers have Sky installed in their bedrooms?!).
Is a reunion really a good idea?
So, it may surprise you to hear that I don’t want a reunion. But, just because I’m not good at coping with change, doesn’t mean that I can’t recognise that all good things have to come to an end. Friends happened, it was hugely successful, and it ended. And, that’s how it should stay.
The show centred around six 20-somethings, struggling to make their way in the world, as they stumbled through relationships and careers, whilst drinking coffee together at Central Perk remained their only constant.
Too much of the original focal plot would have to change for a reunion. The gang can no longer be easy going young adults, they’d all be at least forty these days.
As the show ended back in 2004, Phoebe had settled down and married Mike, Rachel had got off the plane and finally got with Ross, Monica and Chandler had adopted twins and were moving to the suburbs, and Joey, well, the less said about Joey the better.
As a side note, surely the success, or, lack of success, of Joey’s self-titled spin off, cancelled after just two series, should be an indicator that Friends really needed to end when it did.
Are they still all Friends?
But the point is, the show wouldn’t work with forty-year old characters. Ross and Rachel’s on/off relationship kept viewers interested, and with it now decidedly on, this aspect of the show would be lost. And, sure, if the writers really wanted, they could see them go through a rough patch in their marriage, perhaps even split them up, but I don’t think this is what any Friends fan would really want.
They were supposed to end up living happily ever after, raising their daughter together, and they did.
Similarly, Monica and Chandler are parents of 10 year olds by now, and with them living in the suburbs, it’s hard to believe that they would be able to spend their days meeting up with the other four to drink coffee. The same goes for Phoebe and Mike, who, even if they still lived childless in New York, would probably have drifted apart from their friends a bit.
And, Joey, well has Joey settled down? If so, then his promiscuity, another key-plot point, is obviously going to be compromised, but if not, well does anybody really want to watch a middle-aged man attempt to hit on every young girl in eyesight? Doubt it, somehow.
Judging from my Twitter and Tumblr feeds of the past week, the show is still hugely important to millions of people, and I can see why; despite it being twenty years since it first aired, much of the plot is still hugely relevant to today’s twenty year olds, and probably will continue to be for decades more to come yet.
So, to all of you who are still praying for a reunion, I think it’s time you gave up, sat down, and watched the many reruns that are aired every single day, and remember the brilliance of the original show, because, honestly, I don’t think a reunion film could ever really compare.
Do you think there should be a Friends reunion? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
