"Friends" Reunion Show Analysis | What Happened to Matthew Perry?

hello this is dr grande today's question is can i analyze the friends reunion show just a reminder i'm not diagnosing you but in this video only speculating about what could be happening in a situation like this if you enjoy this video please like it subscribe to my channel and consider supporting me on patreon i'll put the link to patreon in the description for this video so to start off i will issue a spoiler alert for the television series friends and the reunion show friends was an exceedingly popular television series that ran from 1994 to 2004 which featured six main characters played by the actors david schwimmer jennifer aniston matthew perry courtney cox matt leblanc and lisa cudrow their corresponding characters were ross rachel chandler monica jelly and phoebe the show explored the lives of these six friends who lived in new york city as they moved from their early twenties to their early thirties they had many adventures related to romance career and friendships a reunion show for the cast was featured on hbo max in may of 2021 about 17 years after the series finale i will start with some brief thoughts on the series and then move to the reunion show i covered the personality characteristics of all six characters in detail on a prior video the characters complemented each other well many levels of the personality traits were represented there was quite a bit of variance on openness to experience conscientiousness and agreeableness for example phoebe was extremely high an openness to experience chandler was high in conscientiousness whereas joey scored low on that trait and monica and rachel were lower than the others in agreeableness monica because she was competitive and rachel because she was low in mothsty especially early in the series with the traits of extroversion and neuroticism we see a smaller range all the characters were essentially extroverted and neurotic this is typical in sitcoms extraversion needs to be high so that the person can interact with others they can talk they can do things that would attract attention and make a television show interesting eroticism is necessary for drama it creates the conflict that keeps the storyline moving forward when you take into account the quality of the writing to maintain the personalities and the level of acting we see there really was a chemistry on the set i think that friends might have been the best situation comedy that was ever made it came together as far as humor but there was also a tenderness and authenticity to the relationships now moving to the reunion show when the series wrapped up in 2004 the finale was handled very well i think the writers and the actors gave the audience what they were looking for all six characters were in a good place as they continued to the next chapter of their lives they grew as people they developed relationships and insight they learned what they needed to to move forward and it was time to go in addition to the characters the actors continued their careers with varying levels of success jennifer aniston of course seems to have had the most success but all the actors have kept working we see they've been in many movies and television series and they are fairly well regarded it was probably clear to the actors as it was to others that even though they have been successful after friends their time on friends was clearly special a period of time that cannot be revisited they did something that they can't repeat just like the characters the actors have to move on as well i think this is where the idea of a reunion show really comes in in a way the show friends created parallel worlds the world of the characters and the world of the actors a fictional story that has concluded and a real story that continues the characters can't speak to us anymore but the actors can which brings up several questions what about their feelings when they were on friends and their feelings now can they tell us anything about their time on the show that we didn't know what does it feel like to have been on the show and look back 17 years later here's why i think so many people had those questions and why the reunion show was significant many people like me watched friends in real time when it aired on television in 1994 i was 22 years old pretty close to the same age as the characters and the actors who played the characters it was easy to relate to their experiences it felt as though they were telling an important story that had practical significance their journey was one that could help the audience face various transitions to develop and move forward through different experiences therefore i think the natural question for the audience goes back to what i said before what was the experience for the actors did they feel the same way about that time in their lives did they appreciate the show did they understand how important the show was at a cultural level or was that something they would only realize later on as we move into the reunion show we see these questions were answered either directly or indirectly here's what stood out to me from the reunion show i'll offer my thoughts on what was presented as far as the quality of the show itself i thought it was good there were a few things that were a little disappointing perhaps things i would have done differently for example it would have been nice to see the behind the scenes people a little bit more specifically what it meant to them to be on the show i also thought the interview should have been more systematic in terms of making sure the same question was asked to each of the cast members and i think it would have been good to try to get into deeper issues the reunion show seemed to run a bit on the surface next item something that really caught my attention was the respect that the actors had for their experience on the show i think this was the most important element that was conveyed during the reunion special so many audience members hold the show in high regard and it would have been so disappointing to find out for the actors that it was just a job or an experience they regret it was satisfying to know that they appreciated what they had not only in terms of the accomplishment but in terms of the time they had with each other forging those relationships for the actors it was a special time when their friends were their family they were essentially living the essential theme of the show that was supposed to be the experience of the characters as well it was a time in their lives that has become nostalgic in a sense they did have the same experience as the audience in that regard moving to the next item one of the major revelations in the reunion show was that david schwimmer and jennifer aniston had romantic feelings for each other this was in season one this is something that should not be surprising but i think it did take many people off guard when i first heard them talking about this i was thinking to myself that this could go badly like if they were to say that they had been romantic and it didn't work out it would cast a shadow over the characters of ross and rachel that whole dynamic could change like it could sour the memory however as it turns out they just never connected and they remain friends i'm not completely convinced that is the entire story but it's what they're saying so i'll take their word for it moving to the next item one of my favorite parts of the reunion show was when the actors were conducting the table reads and the actual footage from the show was cut in with it i thought that was clever it was amazing how they were able to recreate the original performances like the characters just came back for them that quickly the last item that stood out to me in the reunion show is what we saw and heard from matthew perry before the reunion special came out there were concerns about perry based on the interviews that were released he looked like he wasn't alert and it seemed like he might have been slurring his speech in the actual reunion show he certainly seemed less vibrant than the other five actors it was reported that not long before the reunion show was recorded perry had emergency dental work which would explain all the symptoms he appeared to have i think the reason there was so much concern was that matthew perry had talked before about how he became dependent on vicodin after a 1997 jet ski accident he also had trouble regulating his intake of alcohol there were several seasons of friends that perry did not remember he was in rehab several times and there has been speculation that some of his medical problems like a gi problem treated surgically in 2018 might have been related to his alcohol use although that's never been confirmed outside of the drug and alcohol issues perry brought up something during the reunion show that i found interesting he talked about how he felt like he would die because of the pressure of trying to get laughs from the live audience if he failed to get the expected laugh he would start to sweat and going to something like a convulsion the other actors did not feel that way and they seemed surprised that perry had that experience i think this is notable because it illustrates how someone can be suffering right next to supportive people but feel isolated and afraid walking down memory lane isn't always pleasant i'm glad matthew perry was able to share his experience i think it was one of the more significant details revealed in the reunion show that's my analysis of the friends reunion special there is one last question i want to address and that is whether or not the cast should ever record another episode or show like a follow-up to the original an extension of the series so bring the same characters back and have another adventure or adventures i don't think this will actually happen based on a number of factors including what was said during the reunion show so the question may be academic but i would say that they probably should not i like the way the series concluded there's nothing that a follow-up episode could do to enhance the original series or to recapture the glory of that time sometimes it's better just to let things be i think the situation offers a great lesson about nostalgia when people try to recapture the nostalgia of an earlier time they are often disappointed it's better to forge ahead and do something different the series should inspire people to create new shows to come up with new ideas shows that themselves could be magical in a different way rather than to attempt duplication of the original those are my thoughts on the series friends and the reunion special please put any opinions and thoughts in the comment section they always generate an interesting dialogue as always i hope you found my analysis of this topic to be interesting thanks for watching

Channel: Dr. Todd Grande

Views: 125,788

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Id: Vtp9D1cfIXg

Length: 11min 8sec (668 seconds)

Published: Sat May 29 2021