Friends: Kudrow and Aniston Return to Central Perk and Talk Reunion

Five years ago, NBC and television viewers said goodbye to Friends after 10 seasons and 236 episodes. Before the TV show’s last episode even aired, rumors began swirling about possible reunions. While the public would generally like to see one, the castmembers haven’t exactly expressed excitement about returning to Central Perk.

The ladies and gents seem to be pretty divided on their willingness to revive their sitcom characters. The men essentially don’t have any interest while the ladies are open to doing one if the venue and script feels right.

David Schwimmer has said outright that he doesn’t have interest in doing a Friends reunion. Matthew Perry thinks it’s unlikely to happen any time soon, no sooner than 10 or 20 years. Matt LeBlanc’s Joey spin-off was skewered by critics and was cancelled after two seasons. He now concentrates on his own production company, Fort Hill Productions, and hasn’t appeared onscreen since 2006.

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Courteney Cox Arquette and Jennifer Aniston have each talked about the idea of doing a Friends reunion based around a Thanksgiving gathering, essentially doing another episode of the show. Arquette once said, “I think [the characters] see each other every year.” Lisa Kudrow said that she’d certainly like to do a reunion but feels that it would be very tricky to do the project well.

While it looks like we’ll have to wait for a full-blown reunion, both Kudrow and Aniston recently revisited Central Perk. The famous coffee house set was rebuilt, using the original props and furniture, for the Warner Bros. studio tour in Burbank, CA.

The return visits took place courtesy of Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The host is a longtime fan of the sitcom and has made a point of asking castmates about the possibility of a reunion.

Kudrow and DeGeneres opened the October 16, 2008 show, sitting together on the familiar orange couch and chatting about their old sitcoms.

As a surprise for Aniston’s upcoming 40th birthday, DeGeneres brought her to the coffeehouse set. The former Friend was quite moved to be on the set and seemed to be hit with a flood of memories. To cap off the event DeGeneres presented Aniston with a big cake and sang Happy Birthday.

While chatting with DeGeneres, both actresses confirmed that they’d be willing to do a reunion if the circumstances were right. Aniston scoffed at the idea of doing a movie but still likes the idea of doing an intimate Thanksgiving special.

Though we may have to wait awhile for the rest of the group to join them, it’s certainly nice to see two Friends drop by Central Perk for a quick visit.