POP CULTURE REPORT: OK, I Can't Do It -- Why I Just Can't Watch The Friends Reunion
WarnerMedia's gone and ruined one of my favorite TV series under burdensome Hollywood schmaltz
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Okay, just get it over with now: call me a bad friend.
I just can't do it.
Tonight's the night, and I just can't watch the Friends reunion special.
I've got my credit card handy. I could fork over the $14.95.
But something is just telling me not to.
And it's not the Friends cast themselves.
It's not like I haven't seen them all age with the rest of us over the years.
And if the producers had put together a nice, intimate gathering of the six “Friends,” and several of the most relevant guest stars, they'd have had my 15 bucks by now.
This was a series I watched from the very first episode back in 1994, when it was just one of the scads of young-adults-in-New-York comedies on NBC's lineup.
Although it would certainly soon become something special, Friends just started out as just another really funny comedy.
And, now, more than a quarter-century later, here comes WarnerMedia ruining it with the schmaltz of Hollywood excess.
It's like taking a perfectly delicious ice cream sundae and ruining it by adding a lot of other flavors just for the added color — even if the tastes don't go well together.
I mean, James Corden? Getting “cheeky” with the “Friends?”
For crying out loud, back in the 90s, the man was still in Britain watching the BBC.
Are you telling me the producers couldn't have gotten an emcee more meaningful to the world of Friends? How about Greg Kinnear? The man was both a big guest star on the series, and got his start as a TV host on E!
If it had just been James Corden, I could have put up with it.
But it's not. Justin Bieber? WTF? BTS? What possible connection does this Korean pop band whose members who — at best — were in diapers when Friends was on the air have with this reunion?
I get it: WarnerMedia no doubt paid the Friends cast mucho dinero to appear in the reunion, and executives thought by adding some younger faces they'd get more viewers (ie viewers under the 50-plus age of the cast) to tune in.
But those couple of examples are just scratching the surface of annoying planned cameos.
And I know that I'm not the only fan to complain about these off-the-wall guests, but I know me. I can't just sit through that shlock.
All's not lost. I may yet still pony up my cash to watch the reunion in encore presentations.
Because in reruns, could I be fast-forwarding through the crappy parts fast enough?