‘Friends’ fans vent frustration over James Corden’s role in reunion
They’re no “Friends” of his.
Some TV fans have taken to social media to vent their frustration with the fact that James Corden is hosting the much-vaunted “Friends” reunion special airing on HBO later this month.
“All these people could’ve been a part of the friends reunion but Warner Bros chose Justin Bieber and James Corden,” one Twitter user griped alongside a picture of notable guest stars from the show’s run, including Brad Pitt and Paul Rudd.
“James Corden adding the ‘Friends’ reunion to the list of things he’s ruined with his mere presence,” another opined.
“Don’t get me wrong I’ve been wanting a ‘Friends’ reunion since 2004 but if someone told me James Corden would be in it I’d have told them not to bother,” read one tweet summing up the tenor of the reactions.
Meanwhile, UK singer-songwriter Grace Petri quipped, “James Corden in the ‘Friends’ reunion makes sense to me … It’s straight people’s turn to get their culture ruined.”
Proving that interest in “Friends” — and, perhaps, scorn for Corden — is truly international, the, uh, Northern Independence Party — a “new political party demanding independence for the North of England” — wrote, “‘This is good, but it would be better with James Corden in it,'” before huffily attributing the line to “someone with a brain parasite.”
The presence of Corden, 42, in the reunion does seem odd given that the host’s “Late Late Show” airs on CBS, while “Friends” was a linchpin of rival NBC’s programming for years. (ABC late-night man Jimmy Kimmel did, however, host the last “Friends” reunion, albeit a partial one, in 2014.)
But Corden’s presence is hardly the least shocking bit of “Friends” news circulating this week. Fans were alarmed when troubled cast member Matthew Perry appeared in the teaser for the reunion slurring his words and sporting a distinctly haunted look.
Perry has admitted to struggling with addiction in the past, revealing that he doesn’t remember filming entire seasons of the show.