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Obviously, Friends is now one of our classic sitcoms, and has long since been a part of pop culture that will not soon be forgotten. While many people still binge watch Joey, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross, and Rachel on a regular basis (even though the series ended 16 years ago after an incredibly successful decade on the air), there is something about the comedy's illustrious run that has always bothered Courteney Cox. And, Friends: The Reunion just helped her achieve a certain milestone Cox always wanted, which should help her rectify that.
The Emmy nominations were just handed out earlier this week, and among those was a nod for Friends: The Reunion for best pre-recorded variety special. That award will be given to the executive producers of the HBO Max special, and seeing as how Courteney Cox holds an honor as one of them, she has now, finally, landed her very first primetime Emmy nomination, but also her only nomination for Friends. Cox is also celebrating her second daytime Emmy nomination, for her Facebook Watch docuseries 9 Months With Courteney Cox (she was previously nominated in 2017 as one of the executive producers of the game show, Celebrity Name Game).
Cox even posted to Instagram to celebrate the special's Emmy nods, which also include nominations for direction, lighting, and production design. Take a look:
If you're like most Friends fans, it probably seems crazy to think about the fact that even though Courteney Cox played everyone's favorite anal retentive friend, Monica Geller, for a full 10 seasons, she never once even scored a nomination for her part on the series. Meanwhile, each of the other main cast members (David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, and Matthew Perry) all received at least one Emmy nomination for their parts, with Kudrow and Aniston winning in 1998 and 2002, respectively.
In fact, the cast managed 16 nominations during the run of Friends, in either supporting or leading actor categories, from 1995 through the show's last season, in 2004. But, none of those nominations were for Courteney Cox's role as Monica, and she admitted that it did get to her when she saw that everyone had been recognized but her. Cox told Howard Stern in a recent interview that while she "was happy for everybody," watching all of her costars get Emmy love "always hurt my feelings."
Can you imagine Friends without Monica? Sure, she may not have been as consistently wacky as Joey or Phoebe, as sarcastic as Chandler, or as involved in a high-profile will-they-or-won't-they romance as Rachel and Ross, but Friends needed Monica. She was all of our best friends with slightly mother hen tendencies, a strong desire to keep everything orderly at all times, and yet an intense need to win in all areas of life. How did Cox not get nominated for putting a turkey on her head so that Monica could apologize to Chandler?!
I think that everyone is glad to see Courteney Cox finally get an Emmy nomination for Friends, even if it doesn't directly involve her performance as Monica. Hopefully, this will still help her feel a bit less hurt by not being nominated all those years ago for playing the slightly obsessive compulsive chef.
You can watch Friends: The Reunion on HBO Max, along with the entirety of Friends, but for more to watch, check out our 2021 summer TV schedule!
