From http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/eo/20010323/en/perry_returns_to_his_quot_friend s_quot__1.html
Entertainment - E! Online - updated 8:22 PM ET Mar 23
Friday March 23 08:22 PM EST
Perry Returns to His "Friends"
Get out the tissues. It looks like Chandler and Monica's wedding is on.
Nearly a month after Matthew Perry abruptly entered rehab at the advice
of his
doctors, the smirking funnyguy has returned to the set of Friends--in
time for his
much-anticipated May sweeps wedding episode with Courteney Cox
Arquette. Rumors had been circulating for weeks that Perry would be back in time
to shoot the
one-hour May 17 finale. But sources tell E! Online Perry returned to
work Tuesday,
after checking himself into the Daniel Freeman Hospital in Marina del
Rey,
California, on February 23. Reps for the 31-year-old actor never disclosed why Perry was back in
rehab, saying
only that "Matthew has every intention of completing his treatment so
that he can
continue his dream of entertaining people and making them laugh." Us
Weekly
magazine, meanwhile, later reported that Perry had been "riding a
pharmaceutical
roller coaster," which included Vicodin, methadone and speed. The decision marked another step in Perry's ongoing battle with
addiction, and
alongside Robert Downey Jr.'s recent drug problems, prompted more
hand-wringing
within Hollywood over how it treats (and/or overworks) its troubled
stars. As for the work itself, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Gail Shister
reported last
week that prior to rehab, Perry had already shot scenes for several
upcoming
episodes of the NBC sitcom, including a May 3 installment featuring a
smooch
between Rachel ( Jennifer Aniston) and guest star Winona Ryder. Another
upcoming
episode will guest star Denise Richards as Ross and Monica's cousin,
and shooting on
Friends' seventh season was expected to wrap March 31. No word on
whether that
date was pushed back to accommodate Perry's return. Meanwhile, there's also no word on how Perry's return will affect
shooting on
Servicing Sara, his film costarring Elizabeth Hurley that had been
shooting in Dallas
and Los Angeles. Prior to his return to rehab, the actor had been
juggling work on
both Friends and the Paramount Pictures project.