There weren’t a lot of people that were unhappy to hear that a Friends reunion was on the way, but among those that were was co-creator Marta Kauffman, who believed that a Friends reunion would just end up disappointing a lot of people since it was a one-time deal and wouldn’t go anywhere else. When it was deduced that the reunion is actually the core cast members getting together for a reunion episode to talk about the show Kauffman relented since that’s quite a bit different. Reunion shows are often different depending on which show is being used to bring the people together again, and Kauffman is right in her first estimation, as it’s likely that a lot of people would be very disappointed if the show came back for a regular episode, or special, and then hung it all up again. As Kauffman states, Friends ended when it needed to since everyone was moving on with their lives and it was time to say goodbye.
It was a moment that a lot of people have experienced in life and many more will experience as the years continue to pass. We find friends that we can share our time and our lives with for a while and then things have to change eventually. If our friends get to come along with us, or we go along with them, things still have to change since that’s the way of life. But the show had a good run, and on top of that it helped to boost the careers of the cast for a while, and at least one of them is still insanely popular to this day while the others have been doing what they can to keep working and keep their reputations moving forward in one way or another.
One downside of reunion shows is that it’s not just the fans that think that more can come from the show, since directors and producers might be tempted to see if they can build off of the show in a different direction, perhaps to influence a spinoff or two that might have a chance if everything went right. But not every spinoff is a great idea as it’s been seen throughout the history of TV, since not a lot of them end up becoming huge success stories. The one Friends spinoff, Joey, didn’t end up doing that well when all was said and done, especially since Matt LeBlanc can’t carry a show by himself no matter how funny he is. All respect to the cast, but not all of them can carry anything on their own, and it could have something to do with being a part of a group for so long, or it could be that they were brought together since it was obvious that they couldn’t carry a leading role all by themselves.
Even Jennifer Aniston, the most popular and successful of the group, can’t really take on a lead position by herself that often. Together, the cast of Friends was able to create a show that a lot of people looked forward to whenever it was on. They inspired people to dress a certain way, to style their hair like the characters, and to act like them at times, so it’s fair to say that the actors were best together and didn’t work as much when they were apart. But at this point a reunion show wouldn’t be a great idea anyway since it would take a lot of work to get it together, to determine where everyone was in their life, what they were doing, and all for a single show, even if it was an extended show at that. Besides, if there’s any understanding of how the fans work those that are paying attention will likely be able to find a number of fan theories on what happened to the characters, since a lot of fans love to work on these types of scenarios.
Fans are going to do what gets them by, but this also includes pushing for reunions, revivals, reboots, and remakes galore since a lot of fans believe that they know what could bring the show back and what would be perfect when it comes to starting things up again. To be fair, a few of them might actually have a few good ideas that would be able to kick things off, but it’s usually important to stick to your guns as a director or producer, or creator when it comes to the fans since as history has shown us more than once, bringing back something that’s been gone for years isn’t really a good idea. Friends ended the way it needed to, it wasn’t canceled or cut off suddenly, and it definitely didn’t end on a cliffhanger that needed to be solved. This reunion is a way for the actors to see each other and to be seen by the fans, as it should be.
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