Matthew Perry thinks ‘Friends’ has remained popular because of the “character-driven” comedy.
Matthew Perry
The 51-year-old actor starred as Chandler Bing in the NBC sitcom, which has remained a mammoth hit over the years despite the show ending in 2004 after a decade on air.
And after recently filming a special reunion episode with his co-stars – including Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer – Matthew has said he thinks the show has stayed successful because it never relied on “timely jokes” that would no longer resonate with new viewers.
He said: "It was a character-driven funny, not timely funny. They didn't make timely jokes. They didn't make jokes about O.J. Simpson. They made character-driven jokes about people — and people are going to come back time and time again and watch that."
Matthew spoke to People magazine alongside his co-stars as they discussed their reunion show, which will air on May 27 on HBO Max.
The special episode, titled ‘Friends: The Reunion’, will see the six stars reminisce about their time on the show and will include table reads of fan-favourite scenes and re-imaginings of famous clips.
Courteney, 56, said: "I was flooded with 10 years of irreplaceable memories.”
While Matt, 53, added: "It's funny, when we do get together, it's like no time has passed. We pick up right where we left off."
And Matthew also said the chemistry that exists between the cast is still “magic”.
To which Matt quipped: "Awkward. I would say awkward."
Meanwhile, Lisa recently revealed she found it "really emotional" filming the 'Friends' reunion.
She said: "It was really emotional, and watching it again, watching it, I got emotional all over again. It's also really just so thrilling. We got to be together and [Matt] LeBlanc tells a story like no one else, he is so great. I laugh a lot."
Tagged in Jennifer Aniston Matthew Perry Courteney Cox