RIP A Pair Of Sitcom Stars

A relative's dog died and then someone else told me about an elderly neighbor dying. I was like "Okay is someone ELSE going to die today?" 

The emphasis on "else" perhaps was a warning. It turns out Matthew Perry, best known as Chandler on Friends died as well. Fans will know that Chandler (at least early in the series before the character began to mature) had a silly emphasis thing. Perry at an early age found it amusing.  

The NYT obit (which dubiously relies on IMBD at one point) references a previous article (updated on Christmas Day!) talking about young fans of the show. There were multiple fans of Chandler, both sexes. 

Sadly, none of the people liked Monica the best.  I am totally Team Monica/Chandler. You just knew, at least in hindsight, they were meant to be together. Just think of the first season episode when Ross' son was born. They did wound up together, before 40, and even had twins! 

I did not watch Friends consistently in the 1990s. I stopped watching after the two-parter involving Chandler and Monica's engagement. As I recall, I thought it was badly handled. I still don't like the concept. Monica's old boyfriend coming back is forced and he's not as free and easy as he was originally. And, the whole "I'll trick her into thinking I'm not into marriage" thing was lame stupid Three's Company stuff an early episode joked about.

As I have noted in the past, I started watching it much more around five years ago and saw all the episodes on DVD, including stuff cut from the final episode and extras/commentary. Friends is on multiple channels, including hours of it each night on Nickelodeon (I have eastern and western feeds, so get double!).  I still enjoy some of the episodes.

The show is comfort food. I know the usual criticisms and some are valid. The first and last seasons particularly leave something to be desired. Still, it has various complexities, including Ross multiple times having non-white girlfriends (it is still bothersome to me that Phoebe, the supposed free-spirited hippie type, did not have more diverse boyfriends). 

It has some very funny stuff and some good serious moments too. I do wish it had the courage to be a bit more deep, but hey, it's a sitcom. Still, why not let Chandler find his peace in the end with Janice? If he can accept the maturity to have a child, he can accept Janice, who once (very touchingly; I stanned that relationship too) was his true love.  

(Chandler is also the character I most associate with, though again, there are differences. For instance, my parents are both run-of-the-mill types.)

Matthew Perry's other performances are more mixed and he particularly had problems finding success after Friends. He did play Oscar Madison for a few years in a reboot that I didn't like. He had a mixed record in films, but I enjoyed him in The Whole Nine Yards and the silly historical satire, Almost Heroes. At the time, but not when I saw it years later, Three To Tango also was pleasant enough. A good bit on West Wing. 

I skimmed his autobiography. He honestly spoke about his problems with drugs and relationships. He had some "Chandler" in him, including his relationship with his mother (his father, who played the father of Rachel's boyfriend Joshua in one episode, was not a trans person though!). It is worth a read. I also saw that a few days ago, he posted a picture of the hot tub he was found dead in. I think Matthew Perry would appreciate that.

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Richard Moll, Bull on Night Court, died at 80 recently as well. This is less surprising than someone like Perry dying in his mid-50s though he has had health issues. BJ Colangelo wrote a nice obituary. She explains he had a diverse career, including as an "ex-gay" in But I'm A Cheerleader.

She's a horror movie fan. I first read her years back at her Day of the Woman blog, named after a movie better known as I Spit On Your Grave. Like me, she was not a big fan of the remake.  She knows her films and is quite a character as people who follow her on social media know. Also, she is tough, including fighting cancer in her 20s.  

I was a fan of Night Court during the 1980s. I wanted to like the reboot, but like multiple ones (many don't like Frasier), it left something to be desired. Richard Moll had issues with the person guy who played the judge and wanted to get passed the role. The one remaining cast member of Gilligan's Island, Ginger, didn't take part in the movies.

["Roz" was in the season finale of the first season of the reboot.]

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Time marches on. For instance, I also grew up watching Married ... with Children and am a big fan of Kelly Bundy. She's just not a slut, you know! The later episodes suggest it very well might have been interesting to see how Kelly Bundy turned out. 

Christiana Applegate had two great appearances on Friends as Rachel's sister. She's dealing with MS now. She's easy to root for, including her down-to-earth, plain-spoken social media comments. She was bemused when she found out her Twitter/X account was hacked.