We’ve all been campaigning for a Friends reunion of some description over the course of the last few years, and rightly so: because Friends, to this day, is still regarded as one of the best TV shows of all time.
Regardless of whether or not you buy into that theory, there’s certainly an argument to be made that the show has lasted much, much longer than anyone could’ve possibly anticipated.
With talks of a reunion being as prevalent as ever heading into 2020, we wanted to throw around some ideas that we believe would work really well all these years later.
Feature Joey Characters
While it may have been a show that didn’t really take off in the same manner as Friends did, the spin-off Joey was still pretty entertaining and featured some new characters that we all grew to enjoy watching.
We only wound up having a few seasons of Joey to enjoy, but even with that being the case, we feel like Gina, Michael, and Alex (and maybe even a few others) could be given the chance to shine in a Friends special.
They don’t have to be in it for long, but they definitely add to Joey’s story.
Keep The Same Style Of Filming
The traditional sitcom style of filming television shows seems to slowly but surely be going out of style, and we wish that wasn’t the case.
If they did wind up doing a reunion special you just know that they’d be tempted to switch things up, especially if they took it to the big screen. However, we can’t help but feel like they need to stick to the same old shots they used back in the day – and that goes for the quick flashes of NYC’s skyline.
It’s a minor thing, yes, but it’s still important.
Monica’s Cleanliness
One of the traits that everyone associates with Monica Geller is her need for everything to be incredibly clean and organized. It’s something millions live with, and it’s something that made Monica who she is.
As such, we think it’d be interesting to explore the idea of her becoming a lot less interested in keeping things tidy – mainly because she’s instead had to focus on her family life and raising (at least) two kids.
Perhaps one of the central stories behind the special can be her journey back to that point.
Use Flashbacks
One of the core elements of some of the show’s bigger episodes was the use of flashbacks to tell stories of the gang’s past. While we don’t think they should be overused and while we do believe they need to be careful about using them due to the age of the cast nowadays, we think using old footage could work wonders.
It’s that sort of trip down Nostalgia Lane that grabs our attention and really helps us to invest in the idea of a reunion – in our mind, at least.
Janice Cameo
Oh. My. God!
What good is a Friends special if you aren’t going to have Janice, the ex-girlfriend of Chandler & Ross, feature in some way, shape, or form? Her famous voice and catchphrases are well known throughout the Friends fandom, and rightly so.
Chandler always seems to pop up with an entertaining comment or two whenever Janice is around, and they’ve always had this fascinating chemistry on the show. Oh, and we also think there needs to be some kind of revelation regarding Janice and Joey having a secret friendship of some kind.
Don’t Change Joey’s Hair
Most of the cast have gone through some form of physical change since the show came to an end 15 years ago, because of course they have. One of the most notable shifts has been Joey Tribbiani, aka Matt LeBlanc, going from a full head of black hair to a full head of gray.
Instead of hiding it, we think it’d be funny to actually play on his new look and use it as a source of some jokes throughout the special.
He’s still the ladies man we all know and love, but now, he’s into his George Clooney years.
Thanksgiving
There’s never really been any sort of pattern to the episodes that Friends puts out in terms of the time of year that they’re produced, but one thing that we can always seem to rely on is a decent Thanksgiving episode.
We think that if they do a reunion, it only makes sense for it to take place at Thanksgiving with the entire gang getting back together. This gives us a logical reason as to why they’d all link up again, and it opens up the door to the possibility of some fun guest spots.
Gunther Is Rich
Gunther spent years running Central Perk and he did a pretty solid job of it, all in all. While there’s nothing wrong with this element of the Friends lineage, we do think it’d be fun to consider the possibility of Gunther now being rich.
It’d completely change his personality, or at least we think it would, and while it may only be a quick cameo we think he could bring some really fun moments to the reunion special.
He’s an underrated character and he deserves to have some kind of spotlight.
Phoebe & Mike Travel The World
Phoebe and Mike finally got married in the final season of Friends, and while it was hinted that they may have a whole load of kids, we think an even more intriguing idea would be for them to have traveled the world with one another.
They can spend most of their time in the special telling fun anecdotes about their trips, slowly but surely frustrating everyone else in the gang in the process.
Oh, and we still hope they have a whole load of kids, too – which serves as the feature of our final entry.
Feature The Kids
From the twins, to Emma, to Ben, to the triplets and beyond, there were already quite a few children featured in Friends back in the day.
Now, with most of them being a whole lot older and new faces to meet and greet too, it makes sense for the kids to be at the forefront of the story.
Their tales may not be as interesting as the parents, but if they can figure out a way to feature them and make it entertaining in the process, then we say go for it.
