I was browsing my facebook newsfeed yesterday and came across this article: NBC “confirms” Friends new comeback season reunion! Being a big fan of Friends, of course I had to check this out. I was very excited reading the first paragraph of the article, but the second paragraph was not as promising. It noted that NBC was not aware if the original cast members of Friends were all willing to participate in this new season. This made me think of copyright laws. Friends would just not be the same show even if only one cast member were to be substituted. Each character brings with them their own personal touch to the show and although a good actor/actress may be able to act out the lines well- the experience of watching the show would be completely different. Especially for the generations that watched Friends, swapping a new actor in for someone else would be terrible. I know, at least, I wouldn’t be able to get past the introduction of a new actor as Ross, Joey, Chandler, Monica, or Rachel. Perhaps for younger generations that were not as familiar with the show, a new actor wouldn’t pose any problem. But for the Friends fans, it would not be fair to change the characters who we grew up with and still call it the same show.
I don’t think I have ever met a person that didn’t like friends. My friends, family and I all love it. However, there has been this rumor before, and if this is just a rumor, I’m sure it will pop up again eventually. The problem I see of them doing a reunion, is fitting everyone’s expectations. Because the show is so widely loved and remembered, it will have to be able to stand up to some extremely high expectations.
A few lines into the post, I’m already surprised that NBC would release plans to have a reunion season without first checking if all the original cast members were available. Or even having decided on a cast.
I know that personally, if the actors of this show were to be changed for a reunion-type episode, I would not view it as being Friends at all but rather as a Friends-like show. I think a lot of people would be upset if the actors were to be changed but the show was still called Friends, because it would then have the potential to destroy the entire name of Friends if it was to fail.