Will Virtual Reunions for Beloved Shows Like Friends and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Get Emmy Love?
One of the first times I left my house during quarantine last year was a rare drive to the office to record a virtual panel. But this one was extra special: a reunion of the cast of Community, along with creator Dan Harmon. I knew the shows fans were eager to see the gang from Greendale  including Donald Glover, who never does these things anymore  table-read an episode and answer questions about the shows legacy (and if the long-rumored movie would ever happen). And I didnt want to let my janky internet connection interrupt something that so many people, stuck at home in the middle of a pandemic, wanted to see. It was a treat, and stirred the internet as we had hoped. It also came at the start of a yearlong nostalgia binge, as the casts and producers of shows both big and obscure came together, mostly over Zoom, to reminisce and give all of us a little much-needed pick-me-up. Perhaps the most ambitious was Stars in the House, a daily show from Sirius XM host Seth Rudetsky and his husband, James Wesley, which has raised around $1 million for The Actors Fund and other charities through cast reunions of Frasier, Thirtysomething, Scandal, Family Ties, L.A. Law, Melrose Place, Desperate Housewives and countless films and Broadway shows. As our COVID year wore on, the reunions got more sophisticated  and polished. HBO Max, in particular, has three in the running for Emmy variety special (pre-recorded) consideration: A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion and the long-delayed but finally here Friends: The Reunion.  The West Wing special included a theatrical stage reading of the Season 3 episode Hartsfields Landing, meant to raise awareness of the nonprofit organization When We All Vote, which is co-chaired by Michelle Obama. The Fresh Prince reunion was joyful, but also had a touching tribute to late co-star James Avery. And it featured what may be the most stunning moment from any of these reunions  a brutally honest conversation between Will Smith and Janet Hubert, the actor who was fired from the show after originating the role of Aunt Viv. By the time Friends: The Reunion came last month, executive producer Ben Winston knew the reunion space had been saturated  and that he had to deliver something special. I thought they were all really different and really original, he tells me. I saw the West Wing one and I saw the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air one, and if anything, I just felt pressure because I knew that we were going after them and theyd set such a high bar. But I think the cast and the creators and myself, we were like, Were going to do it when the times right.  Of course, theres the need in this crowded marketplace to get attention  and when you bring back a brand and a show that people loved at a simpler time in their lives, its easier to create noise about it, Winston says. But he also notes that reunions like Friends, especially over the past year, take us back to a time in our lives that we all loved. A show where people talk to each other, where people werent buried in their cellphones.  Now, well see if Emmy voters are a wistful bunch.