FRIENDS reunion – review

I actually had no intention of watching it anytime soon and was waiting for it to be thrown open on all OTT and other tv channels. Ever since the reunion show was announced FRIENDS fans were abuzz on what to expect and how the gang that shaped the lifestyle of a generation couple of decades back, would look like now. More importantly, how alike or different they are/were from the characters. It begins with the cast coming one by one to the very set where their life got made. As they keep talking with each other, hugging crying and joking, the show slowly moves into its rhythm. A talk show host, interviews them in front of the famous fountain where the show’s name credits begin. There are short voice bites from famous followers of the show, some regular characters throw their voice in, sitting along with the audience. There are some surprise special visits by celebrity guests and AV voice bites by lot more of them. The most touching and awesome ones being the fans from all over the world, who had their moments in the sun by voicing their opinion on the show. The only irritant being, the Indian had a subtitle running in English even though his English was much clearer, whereas the African and European folks, whose language itself was undecipherable, didn’t had one. That apart, it was heart warming to see the effect the show has had on people world over. Apparently it has been aired a billion times since its inception and has been made in several foreign languages. Wonder if it would’ve made any impact other than English for it is impossible to think of witty one liners by Chandler in a Japanese or German. My peeve about this reunion thing being, my favorite character – Chandler, played by Mat Perry hardly spoke. That in a way was relatable. Made me felt more close towards that character for, cracking jokes doesn’t mean you will always be comfortable in front of people with a joke every minute. His silence, his real life failures as against the success of some of his colleagues was as real it could be. The other being, how OLD THEY ALL looked!!! Jennifer Aniston and Courtney cox looked like walking billboards for Botox!! Joey still being part of successful comic franchise had put on a bulk. Chandler used to look different each season and was not better in real. Ross and phoebe were the only ones who had aged decently. But again, its 27 years since the show was launched. That is almost half a life time ago for many. To me the epitome of the show was the timing - the situation world-wide when it got released and its light hearted take on everything. The witty one liners definitely helped along with good looking cast. With world opening up to global setup, this show capitalized fully on that. Certain things are meant to be. This show is like that. How else would you expect a Sachin to find a place consistently in ODI’s having scored his first 100 almost nearly 100 games later. He might’ve been a good test bat but anyone making any unwise move on his ODI career meant, we would’ve lost a god. Same goes for FRIENDS show. It does have its detractors and critics but no one can deny its impact culturally world over and on sitcom’s. I don’t think there would any more shows with studio audience and recorded laughter for any show any more. The impact created by this show is evident on so many other series like Big Bang theory, that liberally borrowed some scenes or situations, Suits – where even the characters were named as Ross and Rachel, How I met your mother – that again had “inspired” scenes. Such was the force with which the show took control of the TV was that even today, it is running on any given channel across any country in the world at any point of time. I personally was so smitten that, I didn’t want to write a review post for this series, but created one of my own with my own mokkais as scripts. I wouldn’t call it a tribute, but I really love the show and it continues to inspire a post each time I think about it. That is the best reunion on mind you can ever have, every time you want to, for like their title song – They will always be there for you.