It looks like Sex and the City has started another Hollywood trend: dusting off slightly old TV shows for movie adaptations. Some of these modern classics, like Arrested Development, just might lend themselves well to the big screen. But when it comes to these rumors about a Friends movie, all I have to say is, could this be any worse of an idea?

Don’t get me wrong. I was never one of those people who hated on Friends just because it was popular. While I can’t say I was glued to my TV set every Thursday night at 8:00 for all ten seasons, I did enjoy the show whenever I did tune in. I even once asked my hairdresser to give me “The Rachel.” And I think most of the show’s humor holds up when I catch those syndicated repeats. But that doesn’t mean I have any desire to spend any more time in the company of Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe.

Here are three reasons a Friends movie wouldn’t work:

1.) I don’t want any more drama.
In order to translate to the big screen, SATC sacrificed its comedic tone and focused on the most melodramatic aspects of its characters lives. Friends would be forced to do the same. The film version would inevitably focus on a wedding between Ross and Rachel. Their contrived breakups and make-ups grew increasingly tiresome as the series wore on. Can’t Warner Brothers let us keep on believing they lived happily ever after with their daughter, Emma? And while we’re at it, we don’t need to see Chandler freak out over the demands of family life and cheat on his pushy wife Monica, a la SATC’s Steve and Miranda.

2.) It just wouldn’t be the same without the apartment.
We last saw our friends at a bittersweet moment in their lives. Monica and Chandler packed up their apartment, and their day-old adopted twins, to move to a new house in upstate New York. The events of an unfortunate spin-off sent Joey to L.A. to focus on his acting career. Ross and Rachel were getting their relationship back on track, and Phoebe was happily married to Paul Rudd. Let’s face it: these friends probably don’t hang out together that much anymore. And it would just feel weird to see them wasting time anywhere else but in Monica’s apartment or on the couch at Central Perk. Warner Brothers may still have that couch hanging around their studios (I can confirm that they do; I happily had my picture taken on it when I went on their studio tour last year), but what storyline could they possibly cook up to get those six famous butts back on it?

3.) I’d actually kind of miss the laugh track.
Friends was one of the last of the great old-school, multi-camera sitcoms shot on a soundstage with a laugh track. Switching to a single camera format and ditching the canned laughter would result in a product very different from what we watched on TV for ten years. And wasn’t a major part of this show’s appeal its familiarity?

Given the cynical, edgier tone to today’s hit sitcoms like The Office and 30 Rock, I can see why people miss the classic humor and warmth of Friends. I have to agree it hasn’t felt like Thanksgiving without them for the last few years. But classic TV shows rarely make classic movies. This was a show about six people who spent the majority of their time drinking coffee and joking about each other’s love lives. Do you really think these characters would be happy about doing all the hard work that goes into making a movie? I, for one, am perfectly happy allowing them to keep on slacking off in TV heaven.

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us