Fast Friends, Max’s new Friends-inspired game show, will “very much” honor the late Matthew Perry, the show’s host, Whitney Cummings, tells Us.
In an exclusive interview, the comedian, 42, opened up about how the competition series — which features Friends diehards pivoting between trivia, puzzles and games — will pay tribute to the late actor, who played Chandler Bing throughout the sitcom’s 10 seasons.
“There were a couple of special guests who brought him up, [and] it felt very present,” Cummings told Us. “There’s sort of this bittersweetness there, but such a poignant and deep, deep respect that threads throughout the show of honoring Chandler.”
Perry died at the age of 54 after drowning at his home in Los Angeles in October 2023. His official cause of death was later determined to be the result of “the acute effects of ketamine,” which can be used to treat opioid abuse. (In his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry — who had been vocal about his battle with addiction — opened up about undergoing ketamine therapy.)
Whitney Cummings and Matthew Perry Getty Images (2)
Though Cummings is known for cracking jokes, she made it clear the issue of addiction is no laughing matter. “I do think that a lot of times when there’s a public addiction issue … there’s a lack of empathy,” she said. “[People think], ‘That person was a rock star and that’s what they do, [or] ‘that person’s rich, they couldn’t control themselves.’”
“[Addiction] happens to good people [and] people with huge hearts that have everything,” the “Good for You” podcast host shared, pointing to Perry, who had “money, was on an amazing show [and] had incredible friends, literally and figuratively.”
“This thing really is a disease,” she continued. “It’s not a choice.”
Whitney Cummings Barbara Nitke/Max
According to Cummings, the death of Perry left a lasting impression on many. “Matthew’s passing did feel like a reckoning,” she told Us. “I’ve seen the conversation really change around addiction and around people I know who recreationally use substances — probably more than they should — [say], ‘OK, let me just chill on this.’”
“I hope on some level, [Perry] and his family know a lot of people I know are looking at addiction differently,” she added.
Aside from honoring Perry, Fast Friends gives loyal fans of the sitcom the opportunity to test their knowledge on all things Chandler, Ross, Joey, Rachel, Monica and Phoebe. And as a Friends fan herself (Cummings declares herself a Phoebe “if you just started dating me” and a Janice “if you’ve been with me for a year”), even she was surprised by how difficult some of the challenges were.
Whitney Cummings Barbara Nitke/Max
“I thought I was in the top 1 percent, but when you meet these contestants, you’re like, ‘This is wild, you make good choices,’” Cummings explained. “While I was spending my time reading stupid news that I found out later wasn’t even true, you were just watching Friends. You are so much happier than me and have less gray hairs!”
Serving as the show’s host taught Cummings a few things about herself too — in fact, she found herself having “big life epiphanies” while filming.
“I learned that even when I know the answer, I’ll talk myself out of it, and I do that in life all the time: I second-guess myself, I doubt myself, I assume I’m wrong, I assume I’m stupid,” she continued. “And I was like, ‘No, I knew that [answer].’ Why did I talk myself out of it? I got this knowledge of myself [that] I do that in a lot of places.”
Ultimately, Cummings hopes the show, filmed at The Friends Experience: The One in New York City, becomes an outlet for viewers who tune in. “The most responsible thing you can do at this point is to create content that is an escape,” she added. This show is “pure joy, pure entertainment and competition — in a cool, healthy way.”
Fast Friends premieres Thursday, December 19, on Max.
