Matthew Perry and May sweeps

Mar 13, 2001, 1:28 PM ET2 posts by 2 posters
2 posts
Marita Bakken

Not much of a spoiler, but I'll be on the safe side..

This article was found here: http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/03/13/magazine/SHIS13.htm

"NBC: Matthew Perry will make it to 'Friends' wedding on time

The wedding's on, Friends fans.

Matthew Perry (Chandler) will return from rehab in time to marry Monica (Courteney Cox Arquette) on the season finale, according to an NBC executive who spoke yesterday on condition of anonymity.

NBC was informed last week that Perry, 31, who entered a drug-and-alcohol rehab facility in late February, would be back on the set for production of the hour-long May 17 finale in which he and Arquette tie the knot, the executive says.

Shooting on the wedding episode will begin in about two weeks. Currently on production hiatus, Friends returns to work Tuesday before wrapping its seventh season March 31.

Viewers will be hard-pressed to have even noticed Chandler's absence, however.

March 1 and 8 were repeats. Six of eight original remaining episodes are in the can, and the pre-rehab Perry appears in the first two - to air Thursday and March 29. (March 22 is a repeat.)

Having been released by NBC to work on his big-screen flick Serving Sara, with Elizabeth Hurley, Perry had already shot scenes for several episodes. Including the May 3 segment featuring a lip lock between Jennifer Aniston (Rachel) and guest star Wynona Ryder.

Perry's Chandler is included in the third and fourth of the six already-produced episodes, but his scenes will be inserted sometime before the segments air.

Perry is expected to be on the set for the final two of NBC's 24-ordered episodes. Friends is completing the first season of a two-year renewal.

NBC had no comment other than to wish Perry well."

~Marita [email]
Appy50riderMarita Bakken

This is great news for C and M fans, but I really hope that MP has some strict limitations placed on him. Something like continued counseling, therapy, and maybe even... drug testing... seems not out of line, given the circumstances.

I assume that he'll be finishing his movie after he's done taping Friends- that seems to be where he REALLY needs some supervision. Sounds like he just went wild in Dallas. Something must have just set him off.

This is all so sad in light of the insightful comments that he made only a few months ago about his past behavior.

I read in USA Today that the entire cast skipped the SAG awards Sunday night in support of MP (or maybe to avoid awkward questions on the red carpet.)

Sammi