Another year, another plea for a F.R.I.E.N.D.S. reunion. Since the finale of the iconic sitcom aired in 2004, fans have been praying that Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer would reconnect at Central Perk coffeehouse just one last time.
Then, last week, it seemed like that was going to finally happen.
The awfully convincing “movie trailer” turned out to be a fan-made video, E! News reports. Millions of hopeful viewers (including me) were left disappointed when the video was proven to be a simple hoax.
“The One With the Reunion” may not be a reality just yet, but the editing wizard behind the video has some solid ideas for a present day episode. The “trailer” incorporates clips of Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross reconnecting in their 2018 lives, but the friends seem to have separated since we last saw them.
The video’s description explains, “This picks up a few years where the final season left off with Ben and Emma grown up. Mike and Phoebe have trouble with marriage, Monica and Chandler are getting a divorce, Joey couldn’t find someone, and Ross and Rachel have trouble after many years of not being together! Filled with some surprise appearances by today’s actors, along with some old friends (no pun intended), this movie will be an all-star extravaganza, while showing a lesson in being there for each other.”
As it turns out, all the scenes were pulled from other projects that the cast has worked on since their days together on NBC. So we aren’t being blessed with a reunion film, but at least fans can pretend that TV’s favorite gang is back together for the two minutes and 57 seconds of this viral video.
To avoid false hope arising once again, let us be reminded of the words of the show’s creator, Marta Kauffman. As she told Deadline in 2016, “A show has a lifespan I believe, it has a lifespan like anything else, and there’s no reason to continue doing it just because people miss the characters. Watch the old ones, there is no way we could win that. And there’s no way it would be satisfying and it’ll never happen. We’ll never do it.”
As Ross Geller would say, “Really, I’m fine.”