Matthew Perry has died

[dechayz]

Whether you were a fan or not, I would hardly consider being a star of one of - if not the most - popular shows of the 90's & early 2000's is irrelevant

[cornflakegrl]

By all accounts he was a good guy hounded by his demons. Even with those demons, he truly tried to help others (his sober house for one) and maintained friendships for years.

By his own account, his friends have been there for him. He calls out Jennifer as someone who always checked on him and supported him but others as well. So a decent human dies, is mourned by friends and fans and that's weird?

I loved that show. I was in my early twenties when it aired and although it wasn't highbrow or artsy television, it entertained me. I also loved him on West Wing. I didn't know the man but by all accounts he was a generally nice, funny, smart man. It's fucking sad he died at this age.

It's hard to watch a decent human struggle and lose.

[notoriousmkg]

Greysfang's reaction to the show reminded me of a funny dispute that happened while the show was on. Apparently, someone from "Friends" (1994) accused Drew Carey of ripping off the premise of their show with his show, "The Drew Carey Show" (1995). And then Drew Carey replied, "No, 'Friends' ripped off 'Living Single' (1993)!"

[ravenna]

I hated Friends and never saw Matthew Perry in anything else so his death isn't meaningful for me on a personal level, but I still find it really sad.  I immediately thought of his appearance on Bill Maher's show last season, talking about how he had almost died and Bill said "I'm glad you're still here."  And now, he is not.  And it hasn't even been a year.  I would have liked to see him win the struggle and have a much longer life than this.

[notoriousmkg]

Watching what Perry went through and seeing how public it was reminded me a lot of what RDJ and George Michael went through for what seemed like a 5-10-year period. RDJ REALLY looked touch and go - actually in jail, and needing important friends to bail him out and give him chances in movies, etc. And somehow, he came out the other side and seems to be idolized, with people almost forgetting what a hot mess he was for a long time. You could argue Bowie even went through the same thing from like 1975 to 1982 - and coming out almost completely unscathed.

George Michael seems to be more like Perry - never fully able to extricate himself from the addiction and succumbing to it. I would bet on a bad toxicology report. But his health looked really, REALLY fragile and I don't think it would have taken much to cause catastrophic results.

[Cartermrc]

I thought his health looked concerning for years, all his addiction issues took a real physical toll. I watched his short lived show The Odd Couple thinking he would be great in that and I was rather disappointed. He looked bad there too.

[palta]

i had completely forgot that he was in 'Go on', a sitcom about a a guy forced to join group therapy. i remember it was funny but i could be mistaken.
i liked him in 'Studio 60' too. that show was great.

[shellee]

Oct 31, 2023 18:06:32 GMT greysfang said:

Yeah, I hated that show and just don't care about Perry.

Never watched one episode. I was a Seinfeld girl myself.

[loftybike]

I've never seen more than 5 minutes of that Friends show, but I've followed his addiction "journey" through (social) media and I was rooting for him. Too bad that he probably ruined his body with alcohol leading to his untimely death. He was unwell for a long time.

[notoriousmkg]

I'll give any show a try, and I think I probably watched the first 3 seasons of "Friends". The relative ages are right in the range of Mrs Mo and me. Except we were settled, while the Friends characters were dating, living in apartments, etc. But like a lot of shows, I felt like it "jumped the shark" with the constant Ross and Rachel thing. Her ignoring his unrequited attraction. Her finally being interested but then he shows up with a British wife after coming back from an overseas assignment. At that point, it seemed like it was just revolving around two characters. I did like that Perry's character got together with Monica. I like when two different personalities attract.

But the NBC Thursday night slate was just a juggernaut - over the decades, you had Cosby, Cheers, Friends, Seinfeld, Family Ties, ER, Wings, St. Elsewhere. I could always settle in for about 2-3 hours of programming....

[holly]

Nov 2, 2023 15:42:06 GMT notoriousmkg said:

But the NBC Thursday night slate was just a juggernaut - over the decades, you had Cosby, Cheers, Friends, Seinfeld, Family Ties, ER, Wings, St. Elsewhere. I could always settle in for about 2-3 hours of programming....

It really was, for decades! "Must See TV!" 

[czb]

i never watched the show when it was on in real time, i thought it was dumb. however, i will admit i sometimes watch it now. if nothing else is on, i will run it in the background while i am knitting since the show doesn't require any attention. but that's about it.

[firebrat1229]

I was never a big Friends fan but I will say that Perry and his character were the best part of the show. I'm sure that's subjective, but his comedic timing seemed perfect to me.

We are literally the same age - it always hits a little different when someone the same age as us dies, at least in my opinion.

[coppercatseye]

I liked Friends. I was 18-28 when it ran, so I was right in the demographic that enjoyed it. The only plot line that I thought was really stupid was Rachel/Joey. Rachel was pregnant on the show the same time that I was pregnant with my son.

[HWBL]

^I was the wrong demographic; about the same age as Courtney Cox, but I still liked it because it was simple and I like to laugh. It was a welcome release from stressful times both private and professionally.