At least a couple of times a year, there’s a “Friends reunion” rumour, or an outlet will take a quote out of context and get everyone hyped up for a reunion, even though the cast has repeatedly said they are not interested.

And I understand their disinterest. They spent a decade with the characters, and one another. They made enough money for a lifetime (several, actually). The show left the air with a lot of goodwill and is still popular on streaming sites. It’s a blissful 90s/early aughts time capsule that, like Seinfeld, was an apolitical bundle of first world problems (without any of Seinfeld’s acerbic nihilism or normcore wardrobe).

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Matt Leblanc said, “That show was about a finite period in people’s lives, after school and before you get married. That time where your friends are your support system. And once that time’s over, that time’s over.” It’s a sobering take on nostalgia.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in Jennifer Aniston’s newly announced TV show. Everyone is interested in it.

 

 


 
Why? Because because JENNIFER ANISTON BELONGS ON TV. I don’t mean that in a negative way, the way Gwyneth Paltrow did when Jen was dating Brad and G called her “that TV girl.” Some people are simply great on TV, like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tina Fey, Lauren Graham and more recently, Anna Faris. What’s wrong with being great at something that millions of people watch and makes you boatloads of money? Nothing!
 
That’s not even the most exciting part. As Lainey wrote a few months ago, she’s teaming with Reese Witherspoon for a show about morning television. Yes, it’s TV about TV (a personal favourite of mine) and Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV, written by former NYT media reporter Brian Stetler, will provide background material for an original story by Michael Ellenberg (a former executive VP of drama at HBO). Ellenberg, Reese and Jen will co-own and be executive producers so this isn’t a straight-up acting job for either of the women; they are all in.

After a bidding war, Apple has already committed to 2 seasons (20 episodes). That’s a no-brainer. You get America’s TV Sweetheart and America’s Multimedia Mogul Sweetheart together and you can bet Apple backed that Brinks truck up. 
 
And a little about the source material, Top of the Morning. In researching this, I came across a few reviews that said the book is too gossipy (who writes these reviews? How is that possible?). But now imagine Reese mining that for her and Jennifer Aniston and creating a high-powered producer or a neurotic on-air personality. Imagine them as allies or, even better, adversaries. (Lainey: Top Of The Morning is one of Duana’s go-to resources. She references it all the time on Show Your Work.)

There’s no date on when this will drop and The Hollywood Reporter has reported that there are no scripts yet, so we are in for a wait. In the meantime, I will be reading Top of the Morning and taking bets on how long it will take Reese to badger Jen into joining Instagram. 


 
And if we’re very lucky, way down the road, this show could make it to the Emmys. Who do you think would win in a tug-of-war? 


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