So no-one told you life was- no we’re not going there, however this is some seriously good news though for all the Friends fans out there.
Those of us who grew up in the 90s remember the theme song better than almost any other and watching the gang of 20-somethings go about their lives in New York is probably responsible for most of our dreams about going to the city.
When you were growing up, nothing in the world seemed quite like the prospect of heading to Central Perk and grabbing a coffee from a massive cup (which, I’m sorry, might as well have nipples on them).
Well now you might get the chance of doing just that, with an event dedicated to the seminal TV series heading to the UK once again this year.
After the success of last year’s festival, rumours began circulating about the potential for a return to the UK for the hugely popular event.
Except this time, there’s a new addition to the festival – a full scale set of Ross’ apartment, in which you can scream ‘PIVOT’ to your heart’s content, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Alongside this, fans of Friends will get to go to Monica’s apartment, Joey and Chandler’s across the hall, as well as Ross and Rachel’s Vegas Wedding Chapel.
The festival is coming in the form of a huge UK tour, taking place over July and August. It’ll feature a host of Friends-themed food and drinks straight from the 90’s.
The introduction of the famous ‘PIVOT’ scene arose after Comedy Central UK viewers voted it as the ultimate Friends scene.
For those who really want to get into character, there’ll be enough costumes for you to dress as Joey in all of Chandler’s clothes.
All this will happen while classic episodes air on huge screens in the background, to really get you in the Friends mood.
Tickets for the festival go on sale Thursday, March 29, from the Friendsfest site.
However, there are a certain group of millennials who certainly won’t be attending Friendsfest, because they find the entire show ‘offensive’.
This isn’t the first wave of post-Friends criticism – back in 2015, Slate slated the homophobia of Chandler Bing, saying:
In retrospect, the entire show’s treatment of LGBTQ issues is awful, a fault pointedly illustrated by the exhaustive clip-compilation ‘Homophobic Friends.’ But Chandler’s treatment of his gay father, a Vegas drag queen played by Kathleen Turner, is especially appalling and it’s not clear the show knows it.
It’s one thing for Chandler to recall being embarrassed as a kid, but he’s actively resentful and mocking of his loving, involved father, right up until his own wedding (to which his father is initially not invited!).
Even a line like ‘Hi, Dad’ is delivered with vicious sarcasm. Monica eventually cajoles him into a grudging reconciliation, which the show treats as an acceptably warm conclusion. But his continuing discomfort now reads as jarringly out-of-place for a supposedly hip New York thirty-something — let alone a supposedly good person, period.
Despite these criticisms, the show remains incredibly popular to this day, so you can expect Friendsfest to sell out pretty quickly, so get on it fast.
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