The highly anticipated Friends reunion episode delivered benchmark viewing around the world and Australia where it set new records for its streaming provider.
The one that breaks all records.
Thursday night’s highly anticipated Friends reunion episode delivered benchmark viewing around the world and Australia where it set new records for its streaming provider.
The landmark special Friends: The Reunion Special which saw the full original cast from NBC’s sitcom smash return for a one-off walk down memory lane, set a record as the most-watched one-off event program ever for Binge which coincidentally hit its one year anniversary this week.
“As Binge turns one and celebrates bringing Australians the world’s best shows, none has been more popular than Friends: The Reunion which on debut became the biggest one off event,” says Binge executive director Alison Hurbert-Burns.
As well as the show’s core cast, the Friends reunion also featured some big-name cameos including David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Cindy Crawford and Lady Gaga – the latter who performed a duet of Smelly Cat with Lisa Kudrow.
But it was perhaps the revelation that David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston conducted a secret real-life romance while filming an on-screen romance – one which they kept hidden from their co-stars – which has shocked viewers most.
“At one point we were both crushing hard on each other, but it was like two ships passing because one of us was always in a relationship,” Schwimmer said, admitting that they would secretly sneak snuggles on the couch between scenes.
Aniston said she was disappointed her first kiss with Schwimmer happened on the show but acknowledged they channelled their unresolved sexual tension into that moment.
Oddly enough the pair were almost not part of the series, it emerged during the two-hour special. Schwimmer, who was the first to be cast, had given up on TV and was determined to make a career in theatre until writers Marta Kauffman, David Crane and Kevin Bright won him over with a gift basket.
Meanwhile Aniston was committed to another series and had to beg to be let out of that contract to continue playing Rachel.
“He (the other show’s producer) said, ‘I saw that show (Friends) and I’m going to tell you something, that show’s not going to make you a star!’” she laughed.
The show she ducked was Muddling Through, which was axed after one season, while Friends ran for 10 seasons and netted Aniston an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
Friends: The Reunion features the beloved comedy’s six stars — Aniston, Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox and Matt Le Blanc — reuniting, along with a horde of special guests and host James Corden, for two hours of anecdotes, re-enactments and skits.
Filmed in April, it was the first time all six cast members have been together on camera since the show wrapped in 2004.
While the group have vowed to see each other more often off screen, they ruled out ever reprising their roles in a film or reboot.
Lisa Kudrow said the show had ended on the right note, with every character finding their own happily ever after and reboots would risk unravelling all of that.
Yet, there were tears and laughter as Aniston, Schwimmer, Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry returned to the famous set, watched blooper reels and read from old scripts.
Perry and LeBlanc enjoyed a stretch in their recliners together while Kudrow strummed Smelly Cat on a guitar — with some help from Lady Gaga and a gospel choir.
“It’s been really emotional,” Schwimmer said of seeing his castmates again.
“Really fun, actually. After the initial shock of being in the same room together we just fell right back into joking around. We are a family.”
The cast reminisced about the big stars who had cameos such as Aniston’s then-husband Brad Pitt, Perry’s one-time girlfriend Julia Roberts, and Schwimmer’s hero Sean Penn.
And Schwimmer admitted there was one co-star he couldn’t stand — Ross’s pet monkey Marcelle. The actor said he couldn’t wait to see the back of the hairy pest, complaining that Marcelle kept missing his cues and would eat live grubs while sitting on his shoulder.
There was a warmer reception for other notable guest stars who returned for the special — Tom Selleck (who played Cox’s older boyfriend Richard), Maggie Wheeler (the screeching Janice), Christine Pickles and Elliott Gould (parents of Monica and Ross).
James Michael Tyler — the actor who played the barista lusting after Rachel for 10 seasons — appeared via Zoom and without his trademark bleach-blonde hair.
Three celebrities modelled some famous Friends fashion moments. Cara Delevingne wore Rachel’s puffy, pink bridesmaid’s frock complete with skirt tucked into her undies. Cindy Crawford strutted her stuff in Ross’s leather pants. And Justin Bieber rocked out in that Halloween Sputnik costume.
Friends: The Reunion is streaming now on BINGE, along with all 236 episodes of the hit comedy