Why the Friends cast didn’t reunite at the Emmys

Last Updated on January 24, 2024

The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards had a number of cast reunions, from Cheers to Grey’s Anatomy. One that was noticeably missing was that of Friends, especially considering the October loss of Matthew Perry. And while it would have been a touching moment, that is precisely why the surviving cast didn’t take the stage last Monday.

As one Emmy producer told The Hollywood Reporter, “It’s still very fresh for them.” Another added that a Friends reunion was on the table but the timing wasn’t sensitive. “We had talked about it early on — but I can imagine, from their side, they’re mourning someone who was still very close to them. I can’t speak for them, but we all have to respect that they were their own family. It was probably just a little too soon.”

While it may have been fitting for Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer to introduce the Outstanding Comedy Series award considering Friends won it for season eight (out of a total of six nominations), perhaps it was for the best that they didn’t show up in a mock-Central Perk. Still, Perry and the show were given special nods, as the In Memoriam segment began with Charlie Puth and The War and Treaty singing a cover of “See You Again” before transitioning into “I’ll Be There for You” and closing with an image of Perry.

Over the course of its 10 seasons, Friends earned 62 Primetime Emmy nominations, winning just six. Of the cast, only Aniston and Kudrow ever won for their performances. As for reunions, the cast did get together for a special in 2021, seven years after the show went off the air; that one-off itself earned four Emmy nods.

The Outstanding Comedy Series award was instead handed out by Natasha Lyonne and Tracee Eliss Ross, who also paid homage to I Love Lucy, a show that won the award – then called Best Situation Comedy – twice.

Would you have liked to have seen a Friends reunion at the Emmys or would it have been too soon? Let us know in the comments section below.