Matthew Perry is undoubtedly thankful for the wealth and success that Friends provided, but he's not down to try and repeat the magic again and again. Perry shared with fans the nightmare he keeps having that plays a part in preventing him from ever saying yes to a Friends reunion. In his words:
I have this recurring nightmare -- I'm not kidding about this. When I'm asleep, I have this nightmare that we do Friends again and nobody cares. We do a whole series, we come back, and nobody cares about it. So if anybody asks me, I'm gonna say no. The thing is: We ended on such a high. We can't beat it. Why would we go and do it again?
I picture this nightmare then ending with Matthew Perry struggling for his life inside the water fountain from the opening theme, while the rest of the umbrella-opening Friends cast laughs and dances on the couch with their backs toward him. While I would kill to have a nightmare half as entertaining as a Friends reboot, I can completely see where Perry is coming from with his apprehension to jump back into the series. As he said to Variety, what's the point in trying to recreate that magic when they already went out on top? It's not like anyone on the cast needs the comeback, right? (And we're not talking about The Comeback Season 3, which we all do need.)
In case anyone had any doubts, Matthew Perry has made it clear he doesn't want to do Friends again, perhaps jumping ahead of any NBC executives energized by fan reactions anytime a rumor for a Friends revival circulates social media. Perry, whose most recent show The Odd Couple was recently dropped by CBS, has already moved onto the world of theater with The End Of Longing, a play he wrote himself. The rest of the Friends cast is busy as well, and with almost everyone enjoying steady work in Hollywood, it would be tough for NBC to wrangle the schedules and money required to get all those folks in the same room together. Though they'd do it in a heartbeat.
Something must have changed in the past year, perhaps involving The Odd Couple, as the last time Matthew Perry commented on this subject, he seemed somewhat open to the idea. He still maintains the fact that whatever reunion project that was pitched would have to be awesome, so perhaps he watched another network's recent series returns and realized Friends couldn't perform in a revivalist setting.
I keep trying to imagine it, but I can't picture Friends being all that great with Chandler and Monica out in a house with two kids, and Ross and Rachel finally together, with Ben past puberty and entering adulthood. And Phoebe and Joey...doing whatever they're doing. Everyone changed so much by the end of the show that returning to that world wouldn't work the same way it did for shows like Gilmore Girls and Fuller House.
Plus, I can't imagine a Friends reunion without Chandler Bing, can you? Hopefully, if plans are ever set in motion for a revival of some type, the creative team can get Matthew Perry on board. We'll keep an eye out for anything of that nature, and in the meantime, you can find the next great sitcom waiting for you on our summer premiere guide. If you're someone who missed the brutal week of cancellations and renewals, play catch up by visiting our renewal guide right here.
