TVSquad

There are many Thanksgiving traditions we all enjoy: the turkey, the stuffing, watching football, fighting over the drumstick to see whose wish comes true, and putting up with family members you avoid 363 days of the year (you see them at Christmas too).

There's another tradition, this one TV-oriented: Friends!

Thanks to the success of the Sex and the City movie -- and talk of more to come -- the rumor mill has been bubbling with other TV shows making the leap to the big screen. In the case of Arrested Development, it sure sounds like the truth.

However, the Friends feature is a rumor that has no legs. Warners owns the property and on July 4th, even though all U.S. offices were closed for the holiday, denied the rumors via the London office.

Jayne Trotman, Warner's director of publicity, said of the Friends movie, "(There's) no truth in the story."

Just to be sure, Matthew Perry's press rep also denied the rumor. She told the BBC that nothing is happening and the rumor is just that, a shred of news with no value attached to it.

If there is one rumor that never dies it's the one about the possibility of a Friends reunion. Since the series finale aired in May 2004, rumors about a reunion popped up here, there and everywhere. Sometimes the rumor takes the form of "there will be another spinoff" (remember Joey?) but most of the time it's a "there are talks about a movie but one of the stars doesn't want to commit." This week's revival of the rumor is of the latter kind.

The former Friends cast member will be heading up the Los Angeles-set parts of the new HBO s comedy show Little Britain.The show is the U.S. counterpart to the BBC sketch show of the same name. The series will focus on the hijinx of British comedians Matt Lucas and David Walliams (stars from the BBC show) here stateside. They are currently filming in North Carolina. Schwimmer will be directing the studio segments of the six-part HBO series here in California. Guests for his segments include Rosie O'Donnell and Sting.

This isn't the first time Schwimmer will be directing or showing his love of all things British. He directed a few episodes of Friends. And this past year, made his feature directorial debut with Run Fat Boy Run The film starred Simon Pegg as a non-committal cad who has a change of heart toward the mother of his child and enters a marathon to prove his love.

(S02E05) "Saving The Environment While Maintaining Profitability." - Greenzo's slogan for NBC's Green Week

I really don't know how I feel about all of these guest stars this season. On the one hand, they've all worked. It was natural to have Jerry Seinfeld on the season opener (even if he was on just to plug that damn movie) because he was an old NBC star. Carrie Fisher worked because she wasn't hyping anything and is a great character actress. And now in this episode we have both David Schwimmer and Al Gore. They were OK too, mostly because the show around them was so strong, but I can really see this show tipping too far over the line with needless celeb cameos. I really hope that doesn't happen.

What can I say about Friends that hasn't already been said? You either like the show or you don't. I think a lot of people look at the show as "just another sitcom" about friends who hang out somewhere, one that was overhyped and one where the stars where overpaid. The hype I can't argue with and the pay, well, more power to them if they could get it. But I also happen to think that for a while there, several seasons in the middle of the show's 10 year run, it was one of the best sitcoms of all-time. It was remarkably well-written, clever, and at the same time had at its core a really big heart that all the copycats that followed couldn't recreate.

But what about this DVD set? Should you go out and buy the complete set?

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today: on TV Squad Daily:

• Melanie Brown loves to talk about her recent ice-cube proposal.
  
• Drew Barrymore is dating the "I'm a Mac" guy?
  
• David Schwimmer won't be part of any Friends reunion. And I finally realized what he reminds me of.
  

The video's embedded below, or you can subscribe to this podcast via our feed. Plus, you can also download the file directly.

Since the last episode of the hit series Friends aired in May 2004, rumors have been flying around as to if and when a reunion would happen. Over the years, there have been reports that some of the actors didn't want to be part of a reunion, at least, not for a while. None of these reports were properly confirmed. However, this week comes the confirmation that David Schwimmer, who played the character of Ross, will not take part in a Friends reunion if there ever is one.

To support Greg Grunberg's Pediatric Epilepsy Project, the cast of Heroes has each drawn his or her own character for an online auction. Bidding has begun and will conclude in approximately twenty days. I have to say that Hayden Panettiere gets extra points for using more than one colored marker in her rendering of Claire Bennet and Milo Ventimiglia managed to add a little perspective to his drawing of Peter Petrelli.

This isn't the first time television stars have contributed their handiwork to the Pediatric Epilepsy Project, which directly supports UCLA's Pediatric Neurology Department. You can also purchase hand-painted cards by such celebrities as Jennifer Garner, David Schwimmer, Ryan Seacrest, Teri Hatcher, Sean Hayes and Sarah Jessica Parker.

I guess this holiday season will be the season of the complete set. First The West Wing, then Alias, now comes word that a DVD set containing all of the Friends episodes will be released on November 14.

Note to family: you probably won't be getting any gifts from me this year.

Not only will the set include all 10 season sets from the show, there will be tons of extras, including 25 commentaries, 25 documentaries, a gag reel, and trivia. In this special set will also be a 60 page collector's book with the history of the show, photos, and the original pitch the creators made to the network.

Like most sets, it will go for around $300, but Amazon and other places will have it for much less.

(S01E04) Since I started watching this show (I had never seen an episode before), I've been doing my best to avoid reading about the episodes on fan websites and places like IMDb. For whatever reason though, I went ahead and read something on this particular episode. That was stupid because I would have much rather preferred that the ending were a surprise. Some shows I don't care if I know stuff in advance but I like to be in the dark with NYPD Blue.

So here goes. David Schwimmer's guest stint has come to an end. Josh "4B" Goldstein was gunned down as he tried to stop some thug from stealing a lady's purse on the subway. Kelly made it to the hospital just in time to see 4B take his last breath. It was actually kind of sad. Schwimmer wasn't half bad in the dramatic role and it's too bad we probably won't see that side of him again now that he's typecast as that bumbling schmuck from Friends. Anyway, that's how the episode ended but there was plenty more in between.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of your favorite shows, in order, every week.

(S01E02) David Schwimmer is still around. I love it! Even better is that Kelly refuses to call Schwimmer by his character's name. Rather he keeps referring to the guy as his apartment number, 4B. Hilarious.

Back to the story though, we pick up right where the pilot episode left off. Sipowicz is in the hospital, but he's talking and seems to be recovering quite well. The only problem is that he has no recollection of who shot him. At least that's what he tells Kelly and Fancy. It becomes clear pretty quickly that Sipowicz wants Giardella for himself, so he's keeping his mouth shut.

One of the things I'm loving about this show are all the great cop show stereotypes that NYPD Blue adheres to. Good cop, bad cop. Seasoned veteran who's seen it all and the balanced partner. The compassionate hard-ass of a lieutenant. This show follows all the rules and then goes ahead and breaks them. It's interesting to watch though. It's like seeing a child being born because you can see things that have influenced other shows in the years that followed.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of your favorite shows, in order, every week.

(S01E01) Ahh, the glory days. When men were men, gas was cheap(er), and David Caruso wasn't aging like a raisin while patrolling the beaches of Miami. Of course, I'm talking about NYPD Blue when Caruso (as Detective John Kelly) was scouring the streets of Manhattan with the best bad New York accent I've ever heard. The year was 1993 and Steven Bochco and David Milch's new ABC cop drama would ensure that television would never be the same. It was, after all, dubbed the first ever "R-Rated" TV series.

Last night, Jonathan wrote about a report that claimed the six main actors from Friends were going to reunite for a series of one-hour specials.  It also mentioned that the three male leads -- Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer -- were going to star in a spin-off. Readers responded by either getting their hopes up or cursing NBC for digging up the corpse of a series that died a year and a half ago.

Well, we've got more news for you: It ain't gonna happen, at least according to NBC.

Here's the update from Jonathan:

"Consider this rumor dead as most of us wisely assumed from the get go. Access Hollywood had this to say earlier today, with a direct quote from Jeff Zucker (CEO of NBC Universal's TV Group) squashing the rumors.

Also, many thanks to TV Squad's own Ryan j Budke, who spent numerous hours on the phone this morning with NBC's Media Relations Department, who had this to say: 'There are currently no plans to have any follow-up to Friends other than Joey, which is still a major part of our comedy line-up and we whole-heartedly support. The rumors started this weekend are just that; rumors. We wish the rest of the cast of Friends continued success in their careers, and would welcome them back at any time, but there are currently no plans for them to appear in their Friends roles.' "

Well I suppose this had to happen sooner or later... I was just expecting it to be later. Much later. But I figure a failed and unfunny spin-off (sorry Joey fans... if there are any of you) will get the gears in motion faster. Okay, here goes: just a little over a year and half since the airing of the series finale, all six principle cast members of the NBC hit sitcom Friends have agreed to star in four one hour specials. Wait, that's like eight regular episodes... I rule at math.

Writers are already blasting out the scripts and we can expect them to air sometime in 2007. So we've got a bit of a wait but in the meantime we can also continue to salivate at this: the potential for another Friends spin-off. This time, Perry, Schwimmer... and yes, LeBlanc would star in a new sitcom tentatively titled It's a Guy Thing. Executives have hinted at it, but nothing is set in stone. Can't say that I blame them though. With the nose dive NBC took this season, I'd be milking the Friends teat for all it's worth too. Granted, this could all be bogus because you never know with a story like this but fingers are crossed so take it for what it's worth.

[Thanks so much to Dave for bringing this to our attention.]

UPDATE (1/23): Consider this rumor dead as most of us wisely assumed from the get go. Access Hollywood had this to say earlier today, with a direct quote from Jeff Zucker (CEO of NBC Universal's TV Group) squashing the rumors.

Also, many thanks to TV Squad's own Ryan j Budke who spent numerous hours on the phone this morning with NBC's Media Relations Department, who had this to say: "There are currently no plans to have any follow-up to Friends other than Joey, which is still a major part of our comedy line-up and we whole-heartedly support. The rumors started this weekend are just that; rumors. We wish the rest of the cast of Friends continued success in their careers, and would welcome them back at any time, but there are currently no plans for them to appear in their Friends roles."

So there ya go folks. Sorry if we got your hopes up.