Friends

[JasonB]

I’m pretty sure the Central Perk set at the Warner Bros lot is the original one? I read that’s been kept up part of the tour.

[Amber Avenger]

I think the confusion in here might be over the props, some of which have been replaced as the cast spoke in the show about taking some of the props home after the last episode. The sets themselves seemed the real deal.

[Flux]

I assumed the sets were recreations but then they had footage of them signing them 17 years ago and them reading those signatures on the backs of the rebuilt sets.

If you watch closely the signatures on the back of the set are actually behind plastic and only those two specific pieces of flats are there in isolation, presumably permanently kept for posterity somewhere on the stage. They’re not actually on the back of the recreated set.

I’m sure many of the props and some individual bits were originals which have been in storage, but I’d be very surprised if a lot of the flats weren’t (very accurate) new recreations. Even if the originals had been kept in storage, 17 years would have rather taken its toll on them.

[nwtv2003]

I watched it last night and I really enjoyed it. Corden was annoying as I’d expected, but I didn’t let that ruin the show for me. Pretty much every scene on set with the cast I found interesting. The table reads were excellent too. I was glad to see they hadn’t forgotten Elliot Gould and Christina Pickles.

Regarding the sets, I’d say it’s hard to judge, as they looked just as they were when the series finished. I remember when they did the Seinfeld reunion for Curb Your Enthusiasm and their sets had been in storage for 11 years and they didn’t age well at all. Jerry’s apartment looked green and Monks Cafe looked really dark as the brightness had gone.

Was anything else filmed at Stage 24 after Friends? The studio layout wasn’t too dissimilar to the one The Big Bang Theory used when you saw their behind the scenes set up.

[News junkie]

Was anything else filmed at Stage 24 after Friends? The studio layout wasn’t too dissimilar to the one The Big Bang Theory used when you saw their behind the scenes set up.

I think The Big Bang Theory used stage 25. Apparently Mike & Molly used the Friends stage. They also mentioned a pilot was due to be filmed after friends, but I don't know if that was Mike & Molly or something else.

[Brekkie]

Yes, when they mentioned a pilot coming in the next day I expected it to be something like The Big Bang Theory for the narrative of this unknown little pilot forcing a quick post-finale take down turning out to be the next big US network comedy, but wasn't that a couple of years later?

[JasonB]

Was anything else filmed at Stage 24 after Friends? The studio layout wasn’t too dissimilar to the one The Big Bang Theory used when you saw their behind the scenes set up.

I think The Big Bang Theory used stage 25. Apparently Mike & Molly used the Friends stage. They also mentioned a pilot was due to be filmed after friends, but I don't know if that was Mike & Molly or something else.

Apparently Mike and Molly also used the same set from “Roseanne” which was tweaked and updated for their show. I believe it was also set in the same suburb as Roseanne.

[jonnie]

Really enjoyed it, felt exactly like the hit of nostalgia we needed after the last year. Disappointed that Paul Rudd wasn't involved, even via Zoom - he was the one proper notable absence. I'm actually happy enough that they've said they would never do any more, because not trying to be ageist but they have definitely all gotten too old for any "revival" or "reboot" to work. If they were ever going to revisit it, they would have had to have done it like a year or 2 after it ended. 17 years on is too late. Will probably re-watch just for the warm happy feeling I got from it, which says so much about what the show meant to so many people.

For anyone who loved Friends, the reunion will hit the nostalgic spot just right and is definitely worth a watch.

[JasonB]

One thing i’ve noticed is the font in the logo appears to differ from the original. Could it be a case of the original font being lost or someone just finding a font similar?

[Brekkie]

I think it's just evolved over the years to a slightly more modern take on it. Even though the show ended the brand has lived on.

[JasonB]

Wasn’t the original font in the first few intros handwritten? In the remasters that style is replaced with the series 6-10 version of the font.

[VMPhil]

Wasn’t the original font in the first few intros handwritten? In the remasters that style is replaced with the series 6-10 version of the font.

The captions in the intro were handwritten from seasons 1-5. Then after Courteney Cox changed her name to add Arquette, a new font in the style of the handwritten captions was introduced from season 6.

The HD remaster doesn’t use the original handwritten captions in season 1, annoyingly. But it does use them for seasons 2-5. (Except for the “created by” credits at the end, which is always in the later font).

Don’t get me started on when the on-screen credits that appear after the title sequence are handwritten or use the font, we’ll be here all night.

[JasonB]

Wasn’t the original font in the first few intros handwritten? In the remasters that style is replaced with the series 6-10 version of the font.

The captions in the intro were handwritten from seasons 1-5. Then after Courteney Cox changed her name to add Arquette, a new font in the style of the handwritten captions was introduced from season 6.

The HD remaster doesn’t use the original handwritten captions in season 1, annoyingly. But it does use them for seasons 2-5. (Except for the “created by” credits at the end, which is always in the later font).

Don’t get me started on when the on-screen credits that appear after the title sequence are handwritten or use the font, we’ll be here all night.

I’ve also noticed in the opening titles on remasters that some shots of the cast have been replaced or they use the same shot from a different angle.

[Brekkie]

Additional footage filmed for the Late Late Show has now been released.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB60P7ybtP8