Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Curse of the Friends

We'll be successful forever. Right? Right?Forget the Seinfeld curse, that’s so early 2000s. The question now, is there a Friends curse?

We already know that Jennifer Aniston’s post-Friends, post-Brad film career is on a steady, downward spiral.

And of course there was the laugh-free Friends spin-off Joey, which has less chance of returning to air than Arrested Development. New episodes are about to air, but on Tuesday’s opposite American Idol. It’s as good as gone.

Aniston’s TV paramour, Ross (David Schwimmer), has all but disappeared. He did some voice work for Madagascar and, umm, that’s it really.

Lisa Kudrow, the only one with any acting chops, tried a comeback in the unfortunately named Comeback, which wasn’t. It’s already been cancelled.

That leaves Matthew Perry and Courtney Cox. The former TV couple both have new shows in the works. Perry will play a writer on Aaron Sorkin's new NBC drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. The show centers on the behind-the-scenes action on the set of a fictional SNL-style sketch comedy show. It’s got a shot with Sorkin, the creator of The West Wing and Sports Night, on board. I’ll reserve judgment.

Cox is going the if you can’t beat ‘em, taunt ‘em route. She will play a celebrity tabloid editor in Dirt. I expect a fair and evenhanded take on the subject. It’s on the FX cable channel and a drama, so maybe there will be lots of swearing and nudity. Who knows.

But if there is truly a Friends curse it’s that they are all out working so soon after the end of their 10-season sitcom. Isn’t it still on in daily reruns? Weren’t they making $1 million each per episode in the last season? Why the hell are they working at all? Are they already out of cash?

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