Zombie TV shows are popular right now, and no, I'm not talking about The Walking Dead. I'm talking about TV shows coming back from the dead. Several 90's sitcoms have clawed their way out of the grave, and came lurching back into our screens: Will & Grace, Roseanne, Murphy Brown. There have also been talks about rebooting Frasier and The Nanny. What's next - Family Matters? We need to know what Steve Urkel's up to today!
Actually, there's one 90's show people desperately want to come back: Friends, the sitcom that taught us spacious apartments in New York City are very affordable. Since all nine seasons hit Netflix, a new generation has discovered it, and fallen in love. Fans have fallen down wormhole of arguing over fan theories, and even which characters would have voted for Trump. The creator of Friends offered an update on four characters, but that's not good enough. Will the series ever come back?
Last February, Ellen DeGeneres asked Jennifer Aniston about the possibility of a reunion her talk show. Jen coyly replied, "Anything's a possibility." Now the 49-year-old actress has commented on the subject again, as part of a cover story with InStyle. She says she's down for a Friends reboot/revival/reunion/re-whatever:
"Before that show ended, people were asking if we were coming back. Courteney [Cox] and Lisa [Kudrow] and I talk about it. I fantasize about it. It really was the greatest job I ever had. I don’t know what it would look like today, but you never know.
"So many shows are being successfully rebooted. I know Matt LeBlanc doesn’t want to be asked that question anymore. But maybe we could talk him into it. Or we just give it some time and then Lisa, Courteney, and I could reboot The Golden Girls and spend our last years together on wicker furniture."
First of all, that reboot of the Golden Girls starring Rachel, Monica and Phoebe sounds amazing. But yes, one of the potential setbacks to the reunion is Matt LeBlanc. Matt played Joey on Friends, and the failed spinoff about his character moving to LA. While speaking to Brisbane radio station 97.3FM, he said it's beter not to do a reunion, because the show captured a moment in time.
"I don’t think anybody wants to see Joey at his colonoscopy. I understand people really want to see that reunion, but that show was about a finite period in these six characters’ lives, between 20 and 30. I think everyone’s imagination of what they (the characters) are doing is better. It’s not any one person. I think it’s better to just leave it."
Maybe Matt's right. What if they make a Friends revival and it's a disappointment? Isn't it better to go out on top? But I have to say, I'm definitely watching a revival if they titled it "The One With Joey's Colonoscopy."