“Friends: The Reunion” Could We BE Any More Nostalgic?

Well, it happened. The much-anticipated reunion of the Friends cast finally aired last Thursday, much to the delight of fans all over the world. Love them or hate them, nobody can deny the popularity and impact these people and the show has had over the last 27 years.

I was way too young to watch the show during its heyday, but now I’m in my 30s, it just hits a little different. It was actually the show that kept me sane while I was across the Pacific when my father passed away. I couldn’t go home for days since it was Thanksgiving, so my then-boyfriend thought it would be a good idea to turn on Friends to try and make me laugh. I put on all 10 Thanksgiving episodes of the show, and for a brief couple of hours, I wasn’t as miserable.

This is just one of the reasons I love the show. I could binge the whole series in a matter of days, I could watch a random episode that would pop up on TV at any given moment, or I could go to Youtube and watch specific clips of certain gags or even bloopers, and then everything’s alright again even if only for a while. I love it because it has a lasting impact on me, and not simply because it’s become a prerequisite for people of my generation and the generation before mine.

I actually grew up sort of watching it, since all my siblings are Gen X-ers who were of the proper age when the show first aired. They would watch in our parents’ bedroom, where the (I’m guesstimating) 14″ TV was. I’d barge in, being 7 years old and knowing nothing about what’s going on, and they would shush me. Because of course. I never understood why they did that, but now… sorry, sibs!

Anyway, by the 2000s, I was in high school and the show was starting to make more sense. In addition to watching reruns on cable, I’d also watch current episodes when available. As a teenager, I started to understand the show’s themes of friendship and romance, albeit surface-level. It wasn’t until college until my 20s when the show’s dirtier jokes became funnier and deeper storylines became more relatable. This has only gotten better in my 30s.

While I haven’t binged the whole show in quite some time, as mentioned I still play random episodes and YouTube clips when I need a quick pick-me-up. I send ridiculous clips and gifs to my siblings, my friends, and to my man (who’s never seen an episode of Friends, by the way). In fact, it’s funnier because he plays the bagpipes and I sent him a clip of Ross playing, and that’s now become a bit of an inside joke between us. I quote the characters on the regular, as in, during casual conversation. I once went on a little adventure with my sisters while on vacation in Singapore to one of the many Central Perk tribute cafes worldwide. Heck, I even have a few Friends shirts, one of which earned me exposure on the Hot Topic Instagram just before the show’s 25th anniversary, a literal dream come true.

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When the show bid farewell in May of 2004, I was 17 and had just graduated from high school. Friends concluding felt like the end of an era, but clearly, I was wrong. While there are no more new stories and episodes to wait for, their popularity is pretty much unmatched. I’ve connected with so many people since then who share the same love and adoration for that show, and have influenced a good number of people to either love it as much or at least give the show a chance.

Granted that in the time of wokeness and better-crafted stories of newer sitcoms, Friends will have its share of naysayers, yet the show remains as one of the most popular and sometimes polarizing sitcoms of all time. It usually gets compared to shows with similar premises, with How I Met Your Mother topping the list. But a very common sentiment I kept hearing throughout the two decades is that people wish either Friends continued for more than 10 years, or that there would be a reunion or revival of some sort.

With so many shows rebooted, revived, and remade, the idea of taking Friends into the 2010s and beyond seemed very appealing to many. I was maybe one of the very few who didn’t want this happening. I felt like a revival might ruin what seemed like a perfect ending to a show that has obviously run its course. But I guess, there’s a compromise. Instead of a new season, HBO picked up the show on its streaming services (HBO Max in the US and HBO Go elsewhere), and dropped one hell of an announcement. “Friends: The Reunion” was happening.

Even with last year’s pandemic going on well into this year, people were psyched! All six main cast members started having their own social media accounts, most notably Instagram. The show had its official social media pages. Nobody knew what to expect. What is this reunion?! Is it a new season? A new series? Fans were speculating, especially when the cast members started posting sometimes cryptic images and videos.

Fast forward to May 27, 2021: “The One Where They Get Back Together” premiered on HBO streaming services worldwide. It was a reunion special that ran for 104 minutes, but brought back memories for fans of the show over the last 27 years. Delayed twice due to the pandemic, I can say that as a fan, this was definitely worth the wait. It didn’t ruin what the show established in the 90s and 2000s, and brought back some amazing memories from the show and beyond.

Without spoiling it for people who for some reason still haven’t seen this one-off, I can safely say that this nearly two-hour special has brought so many laughs and tears, and even a few “Whoa, really?” moments even the most die-hard fans would still be surprised to find out.

Haters can say all they want, “Friends: The Reunion” was definitely worth it. So, to Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer, thank you for portraying these characters perfectly. To the creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman, thank you for the gift of this series. Literally anyone who worked on the original series and the reunion show, we owe you so much.

And if you haven’t seen it and consider yourself even just a casual fan, I urge you to take about two hours of your time to relax and take the proverbial stroll down memory lane. Your soul will love you for the serotonin boost.