HOLLYWOOD - Seminal sitcom Friends is returning to television after each of its six stars agreed multi-million dollar deals to star in four one-hour specials.
In a secret meeting before Christmas, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry reportedly agreed a $5 million apiece deal with NBC bosses in Los Angeles.
Scriptwriters have already started penning lines for the four double episodes, which are due to air next year.
Aniston, who has filmed a string of movies since the final Friends episode, was the last to agree to the new deal.
An NBC insider says, "She's the one who had been holding out. But she's now agreed to reprise Rachel (Green).
"Bringing them back is a dream come true. Ratings will go through the roof."
Network bosses have also hinted at a second spin-off of the hit comedy, following the disappointing performance of Matt LeBlanc's show Joey. The new program will see the three male stars--Perry, Schwimmer and LeBlanc--pilot a series called It's A Guy Thing.
An NBC spokesperson confirms, "Negotiations on future projects are going on all the time."
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How would they do the spin-off I wonder. Chandler & Ross break up with Monica and Rachel, Joey moves back to NY? What about Chandler's kids? Hmmmm, don't see how it would work.
But, I'm not holding my breath until we hear it officially.
I can't see that spin off either. Heck nailed it on the head... will Ross and Chandler dump Monica and Rachel, and say "screw it" to their children? That wouldn't go over with a lot of fans.
I normally can't stand to watch more than about 3 minutes of that giant flaming crap-fest that was known as 'Friends'
I watched the last episode though, mostly out of joy that it was the last episode
it was crap. But I at least had the consolation that it was the final spray of the Giant Diahrea known as 'Friends' that would ever plague this planet.
Thursday, January 26, 2006; Posted: 4:03 p.m. EST (21:03 GMT)
(CNN) -- One of my colleagues dropped by recently and asked me if I'd heard the news about "Friends."
What news about "Friends," I asked.
Seems that my colleague had been listening to a radio show the evening before, and the host said that the "Friends" cast was pondering a reunion show but that one of the cast members didn't want to do it. Or NBC didn't want to pay the $5 million-a-head asking price. Or something. The host wasn't quite sure.
We scanned through a bunch of sites -- including the reputable ones the host mentioned -- as well as the wire services and came up empty. I did find reports of a proposed "Friends" reunion dating back to February 2004 -- before the show went off the air -- and, on a Chinese site, an alleged denial of the current rumor by NBC President Jeff Zucker.
Who knows? Perhaps a cabal of the "Friends" cast and producers has pondered a reunion. (Some of the "Friends" are actually friends, after all.) I suspect that if such a reunion was in the works, it would be all over the Internet before you could blink.
Regardless, I hope it never happens. Reunion shows are usually a drag.
I think of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" reunion, which tried to be more than a rehash of old clips by actually having a plot. But the magic was gone, the timing was off. The performers, once so youthful and clever, seemed tired. The show made me sad.
Other series -- "Dallas," "Happy Days," "The Carol Burnett Show" -- also have tried reunions. They were worthwhile clip shows but sometimes ghoulish programs, as if the reason for tuning in was to see how well -- or poorly -- the cast had aged. (Indeed, if it's clips we want to see, there are DVDs and TV Land.)
Let's face it: Reunions are really opportunities for us, the audience, to reclaim our lost youth. My favorite reunion is the Beatles reunion in Mark Shipper's 1978 novel, "Paperback Writer." In 1979, the Fab Four gets back together -- but, to their horror, they discover they're out of gas. Their album tanks; they're forced to open for Peter Frampton on a concert tour. They play their new songs to silence.
But when they crank into "She Loves You," the crowd comes alive. It's not so much for the Beatles, circa late '70s; it's for the innocent days of the early British Invasion, when the audience was young and the whole world was still ahead of them.
So, "Friends," stay friends. Fantasize about what a reunion show could be. Commission a script if you want.
But let it be. You're better in reruns, and in our memories.
Well, now there is more reunion show planning, but there is a snag:
From TVGuide.com
"I'll be there for you.... And so will I. Me, too. Count me in. I'm game. Eh, I dunno about this." That's pretty much the scenario that's being reported by Newsday regarding a Friends reunion. Five of the sextet were into the idea — and Kathleen Turner even claimed to have been approached about reprising her role of Chandler's father — but, Lisa Kudrow is being quoted as saying, "One member has said no. It's one of the guys. I'm gutted." C'mon, after Joey, would anybody really miss Matt LeBlanc if the show went on without him? I hear Ugly Naked Guy is available to fill in.
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Schwimmer, Perry or Leblanc is balking at the idea? It has to be Leblanc because no one is watching his crappy show. What a tool. They should just go on with the reuinion without him! We have had 2 years to know what Joey was been up to. Let's take a look at the rest of the cast.
I don't think that they should worry about doing a reunion yet anyway... it's too soon, in my opinion. I would like to see a reunion like 5 years down the road.
That wouldn't go over with a lot of fans.
