Memories, Surprises and How a Cast Romance Fueled the Show

It’s no surprise that one of the biggest sitcoms of all time absolutely

dominated the social media conversation — even in the middle of the

night — when the long awaited “Friends: The Reunion” special

finally dropped on HBO Max. It was nearly two hours of reminiscing for the cast, as we jumped from them sharing stories and unseen clips on a recreation of their very first sets to an interview segment with James Corden in front of the iconic opening credits fountain. Honestly, though, we could have probably skipped Corden altogether. They cast didn’t seem to need someone asking them pointed questions, though we did appreciate him having them muse about where their characters might be today. Overall, though, it was the segments back on the set — including the brilliant trivia game with surprise appearances from guest stars past — that really brought this special to life. It was far more impactful seeing these old friends experience that nostalgic rush together than having them sit there and have to endure weird things like a “Friends” fashion show or a way-too-short hello from Gunther actor James Michael Tyler.

Friends Cast: Then and Now (Photos) - Parade

We will have to give credit to Corden for asking one of the most obnoxious questions in media of any reunion special — were there any hookups on the show? — for perhaps the sweetest revelation of the whole special.

“Well, I mean David–” Jennifer Aniston started, as the audience erupted in cheers.

“Yeah, I mean the first season we–” David Schwimmer started, before correcting himself. “I had a major crush on Jen.”

We loved that while talking about this on the set — so it did come up even before Corden asked about it — the rest of the cast admitted that they all knew about this, even if the audience was finding out right now for the first time. Friends really do keep secrets.

“At some 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, and we never crossed that boundary,” Schwimmer said, “We respected that.” LeBlanc reacted by coughing, “Bulls—.”

“Honestly, I remember saying one time to David, it’s going to be such a bummer if the first time you and I actually kissed is going to be on national television,” Aniston noted. But then, that’s exactly what happened.

“So we just channeled all of our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel,” Aniston continued, which might just be the sweetest thing we’ve ever heard.

I Ranked the 6 'Friends' Friends From Worst to Best | Glamour

Later in the show, Corden asked the cast to speculate on where their characters might be today. Kudrow had already shut down hard the idea of ever doing a scripted reunion, saying she agreed with and respected the creators notion that they’d have to undo everyone’s happy ending and they just didn’t want to do it.

And to a one, everyone on the couch painted a rosy future for their fictional counterparts. “I think we’re, did we get married?” Aniston asked Schwimmer. “Let’s say we got married. I think we end up getting married and we had some kids and you’re still playing with bones.”

“That’s paleontology,” Schwimmer helpfully told the audience as Matt LeBlanc started giggling.

“It gets Joey every time, I don’t know why,” Aniston laughed.

“I think Monica is still really competitive,” Cox said. Her kids are probably not even in– They’re probably graduated, but she’s still is in charge of the bake sale at the elementary school. She’s gotta keep things going, PTA–”

By this point, Perry was waving his hands around as if trying to get her attention. Noticing him, she quickly added, “And you are making me laugh every day.”

“Just wanted to make sure I factored in there somewhere,” Perry deadpanned.

As for Phoebe, Lisa suspects she’s still with Paul Rudd’s Mike and living in Connecticut. “They had kids and I think she was like the advocate for her kids, who were a little different, and all the other kids who were just a little different, creating the arts program and the music thing and all that,” she said.

As for Joey? “I think he probably opened a sandwich shop in Venice Beach,” said LeBlanc as the show’s co-creators both laughed and nodded that this seemed perfectly logical to them, too.

We love that Crane and Kaufman, along with fellow producer Kevin S. Bright, broke down their casting experience for each of the six stars that would create this show, including details like having to convince Schwimmer to be involved and even showing clips from the shows Perry and Aniston were already booked on.

Perry’s other show, ‘2194 LAX,’ a show “about luggage handlers in the future at LAX, which just sounded insane,” as Kaufman described it … well, she said it.

Cox actually paved the way for Aniston’s casting by insisting that she was more of a Monica in real life when they were seeing her for Rachel. That much was clear in just how hyper-competitive she was getting during that aforementioned trivia game on the set during this reunion.

The producers said they’d cast Schwimmer first, having written the role of Ross with him already in mind. He’d actually given up screen acting and had returned to theater work in Chicago, so they had to lure him back out with a promise that it would be different.

Friends Reunion Special Guide to Release Date, Cast News, and Spoilers

As for Phoebe, as fans of the show know, there was a connection established with Crane’s partner’s other show, “Mad About You.” “My husband Jeffrey was writing and producing on ‘Mad About You’ and he said, Phoebe’s right here playing Ursula the waitress,” Crane laughed.

Ultimately, Lisa Kudrow would go on to play both Phoebe and Ursula, later establishing that they were twins and helping to link all the ’90s New York shows into a single shared universe.

He also shared the story of the time he dislocated his shoulder filming a bottle episode that was supposed to be a quick and easy shoot. Instead, the real injury led to Joey’s arm in a sling and they had to return to finish filming that episode after he’d recovered.

We loved the squeamish looks on the faces of the cast as they actually showed the footage of the take where he dove into the chair ahead of Perry and injured himself after tripping over the coffee table. As they all cringed and turned away, LeBlanc was just watching and laughing gently.

All in all, it was a satisfying way to remember one of television’s most iconic sitcoms at a time when the cast is still here to help us do that. It was nostalgic in all the right ways, with some fresh footage even the most hardcore of fans had never seen.

It was great sharing in the moment when the cast first stepped back onto that familiar set, first saw one another in that space again after all these years. Those are the kinds of true moments that can’t be faked.

“Friends” was always about surprise guest stars, laughs and tears, but mostly just about that good feeling you get when you spend time around genuinely good people you care about and perhaps more importantly, you know they care about you, too.

Related articles

One of Friends’ most iconic stars looks completely different 27 years later

Matthew Perry’s Friends outfit is being sold for thousands

Lisa Kudrow thanks Matthew Perry for ‘being brilliant’ in tribute

The One Where ‘Friends’ Turns 30 Years Old: 30 Facts from Behind-the-Scenes and More

Matthew Perry was raking in $20M per year in Friends residuals – but what happens to the money now…

Beloved Friends star makes race claim about the show 30 years after its first episode aired