At the 2024 Emmy Awards earlier this week, casts from incredible TV shows, including Martin, Grey’s Anatomy and Ally McBeal, reunited onstage for the first time in years. The reunions, which undoubtedly made the hearts of loyal fans flutter, also made for some hilarious and memorable moments.
And while we enjoyed watching each of them, there was one cast reunion many fans were eager to see that didn’t end up happening: a Friends reunion. After all, the awards show marked the first Emmys since Matthew Perry‘s unexpected passing in October.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, executive producers of the show Jesse Collins and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay opened up about the possibility, and shared it was an idea that just didn’t take off. “It’s still very fresh for them,” Rouzan-Clay told the outlet, noting that an invitation was never extended to the cast (a.k.a. Lisa Kudrow, Matt Leblanc, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston).
“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,” Collins echoed. “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.”
And while the Friends reunion wasn’t a part of the conversation for very long, Collins and Rouzan-Clay still wanted to make the In Memoriam segment special given Perry’s passing along with so many others.
“There were lots of ideas on how to bring that together,” Collins said. “Once we had Charlie [Puth] and The War and Treaty doing the theme, we knew that that was a great base, and then it just became about recognizing 44 people. Yes, Norman Lear and Matthew Perry, you have to give some special attention to, but you don’t want anyone to feel slighted. Everybody’s contribution was significant, and this is their moment inside this package.”
During the segment, the musicians first sang Puth’s 2015 hit “See You Again” before transitioning into the Friends theme song, “I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts.
“We always wanted to do something with All in the Family, and that wound up being the perfect setup: starting with Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers onstage and having Matthew Perry be the last picture,” Collins concluded.
Safe to say the moment was quite memorable, reunions aside.
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrities we’ve lost this year.
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