FRIENDS Reunion 2021: The One With The Highlights

It finally happened! We finally got to see our favourite group of friends come together, 17 years later, to bring us joy amidst stressful times of the coronavirus. At 12:32 pm, 27th May, 2021, we got to see the Friends Reunion on Zee5 in India, at the same time as the rest of the world.

In case you were not able to watch the special, we have the highlights of the reunion that you had to unfortunately miss for whatever reasons. So let's see what happened in the 1 hour and 39 minutes special called, The One Where They Get Back Together.

Where It All Began

In 1994, six young actors came together for a sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and history was created in the run of American sitcoms. F.R.I.E.N.D.S is still one of the most loved sitcoms and the reunion begins with all the main actors meeting together on the set getting excited about the special.

Hosted by James Corden, we saw the cast sit in front of the famous fountain on the famous Central Perk couch and share many fun moments, their favourite parts of the show and even what they hated the most.
Courtney Cox mentioned that her favourite episode is The One With The Embryos where Monica and Rachel lose their apartment to Joey and Chandler as a result of losing Ross' trivia game.

The trivia game theme was a part of the reunion special as well with David Schwimmer asking questions from the same categories as in the episode but this time, asking new questions for the actors about the show. One of the best questions was for Courtney Cox to guess the voice on the answering machine which was Tom Selleck's entry in the reunion as he hilariously left a voicemail saying he, Richard, is no longer an ophthalmologist.

Another surprising entry during the quiz is of Mr. Heckles, the downstairs neighbour to Monica and Rachel. Portrayed by Larry Hankin on the sitcom, we see him quickly come, complain and go in the reunion as well. Similarly, Joey's hand twin, Thomas Lennon, was also a part of the reunion through this quiz!

The Table Read

A great highlight of the reunion is definitely seeing the cast sit around the table and reading some of the best scenes from the sitcom. From Rachel and Ross' first kiss at the Central Perk to the hilarious beach incident of the jellyfish stinging Monica, we got to see these heartwarming scenes being re-enacted by the actors again as they read the lines.

Behind The Scenes

From seeing blooper clips to the behind the scene videos, the hard-hitting moments were when the special showed us the scenes with the cast, young and fooling around on the set, reminding us that the show was wonderful because of these amazing, silly and fun young people who have a special place in our heart.

Speaking of the cast, David Crane and Marta Kauffman talked about how the show came to be and how the casting happened. From wanting David Schwimmer as Ross without any auditions, to hoping Jennifer Aniston would drop out of the show she was already working on, the cast was finalized with actors who fit the roles perfectly because of how similar the characters were to their actual personalities.

The cast sat around at the various cool spots from the show, like Monica's apartment to the couch at Central Perk and we also got to see Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc on their barcaloungers in their old apartment. 
While recollecting their memories from those days, one of the instances that they shared was from The One Where No One's Ready. When Joey runs to the chair to not let Chandler sit on it, we got to see how Matt LeBlanc actually dislocated his shoulder in one of the retakes of that scene. Therefore, the scene with Joey jumping on the bed and getting hurt in The One With The Jam was brought into the storyline so that Matt LeBlanc's sling could be incorporated in the show. As for the episode where no one was ready, it's shooting was completed after Matt's arm was okay again.

Many such instances were shared and hilarious bloopers and scenes were shown to us. Yet another highlight, and much anticipated part was, the guests on the reunion.

The Star Guests At The Reunion

From BTS about FRIENDS, to David Beckham describing his love for the episode where Chandler and Joey fight over the chair, to Malala Yousafzai with her best friend Vee talking about why they love friends, there were many people included in the reunion. There was a wonderful montage of videos of people from around the world sharing how important FRIENDS was and still is, for them.

Kit Harrington also spoke about how he loves the Pivot! scene especially because of how little the script has in terms of dialogue in that scene and hence, was one of the best because of how stellar these actors are.

Smelly Cat was also a part of the reunion as Lisa Kudrow and Lady Gaga sang Phoebe's bestseller together at the couch at Central Perk!

We saw some of the guest celebrities from the sitcom as a part of the reunion as well. Reese Witherspoon who played Jill Greene, Rachel's youngest sister, spoke about how it was a dream for her to be a part of the hit sitcom, especially when Joey hit her with his "How you doin'?" catchphrase. We also saw James Michael Tyler (Gunther) be a part through a video call.

We were delighted to see Maggie Wheeler on the special who played the recurring character of Janice, the one with the most unique laugh. Maggie revealed that the laugh was actually incorporated as a part of her character's persona because she couldn't keep a straight face while acting around Matthew Perry who is quite hilarious and blessed with the gift of the wit. So, thanks to Matthew Perry, we got to hear one of the most annoying yet hilarious laugh on Friends.

As James Corden asked the audience to ask any questions, two amazing things happened. One, we got to know that Marcel, the loved monkey was not so loved by David Schwimmer and Courtney Cox was quite scared of him too.
Two, the Geller parents were in the audience! Christina Pickles and Elliott Gould, who played Judy and Jack Geller, sat in the audience and spoke to the cast and us. They gave us an awe-moment where they shared that the cast would scream "the parents are here!" whenever they reached the sets which made them feel quite loved and they actually started caring for them as though they were their kids. It was really great to see the old Geller couple again.

The Friends Fashion Show

We also got to see a fun fashion show comprising of fantastic models, Cara Delevingne, Cindy Crawford and Justin Bieber, who rocked the top looks from the show. These included Rachel's bridesmaid dress for Mindy's wedding, Ross' leather pants, Ross' Spudnik costume, and Ross' get up of the Holiday Armadillo. Clearly, Ross was quite creative and quirky!

Finally, The End

No matter how many times we've got teary eyed seeing the final episode of Friends, in the reunion we got to see the shooting of it. David Crane, Marta Kauffman, and Kevin Bright joined in at the end of the shoot and cried as they wrapped up this perfect sitcom in 2004.  We see the entire team sign on the set, hugging, crying and ending a show that would continue to remain one of the most loved sitcoms even 17 years later in 2021.

This reunion was perfect in terms of its timing, its execution and the moments that it gave us. The creators mentioned that they felt the show had the perfect ending because the people who related to the show in 1994 and lived a life where their friends were their family, had become mature adults with their separate lives by 2004 and that's why, Friends had a perfect ending for them. That phase of my friends are my family was over and hence, Friends took that path and wrapped up leaving the 6 friends with a wonderful future to look forward to with a lot in store for their personal lives.

We all miss Friends and are going to keep watching its re-runs again and again. Like Lisa Kudrow mentioned, there is no reason to unravel the perfect closure to the sitcom and look for what happened next? The end was perfect and it was a happy one. We agree.

We know the reunion must have got you quite nostalgic and that's why we thought you should leave with some Friends goodies before you left to cosy up in bed and rewatch Friends again. So, here are some Friends themed products that you would love to get for yourself or your friends after watching the reunion!

1. Purple Door Friends Keychain

2. Friends Wooden Music Box

I'll be there for youuuu! We know you don't need to be convinced for this. This is the best Friends themed gift for friends or FRIENDS fans!

3. Rachel To My Monica Notebook

Did you start missing the Rachel of your life as you saw Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox get teary eyed? Then why wait to give one of these from our quirky notebooks range for the Rachel of your life!

4. Pivot Lapel Pin

Admit it, seeing the blooper from the Pivot scene on the reunion made you want to watch the episode and laugh out loud! Our fun lapel pins have this Friends lapel pin which will make your friends see you and scream Shut up! Shut up! Shut upppp!

5. The One with All The Cards Game

 

We know we got quite excited after seeing the reunion quiz and felt like playing a version of it too. That is why, from our absolutely fun party collection, we have the Friends themed card game which is a fun quiz for all the Friends fans of Ross' trivia!

We hope your day got a bit better after watching the Friends reunion just like ours did. Don't forget to be safe and keep shopping online for unique and quirky gifts just like the quirky reunion we got to watch today. Now let's get back to our re-runs!

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