In October 1997, actor Matthew Perry, who died at the age of 54 this Saturday (28), was invited to host an episode of the 23rd season of the traditional American television program Saturday Night Live.
In that edition, Perry led a sketch that marked his participation, called “Sarcasm 101”, where he distilled the sarcasm that became a personal humorous trademark of his character Chandler Bing, in “Friends”.
The painting shows Perry as a college professor of a “Sarcasm 101” class, with a class that included actors such as Will Ferrel, Tim Meadows, Norm MacDonald and Cheri Oteri. Watch below:
At that time, “Friends” was already in its third season and, with Chandler, Perry turned sarcasm into an institution, giving identity not only to the lovable, world-famous character, but also to the performer.
Born in 1969 in the American state of Massachusetts and raised in Canada, Matthew Perry achieved unusual international recognition with “Friends”, a series that began in 1994 with newcomers or almost unknown actors (with the exception of Courteney Cox) and skyrocketed NBC’s ratings. , redefined sitcoms around the world and made Perry and his co-stars millionaires.
Perry was comical by nature. The first time he was on the cover of People magazine, he sent the magazine to one of his former teachers, who had told him that he would be nobody in life if he joked around all the time.
Directors on set often adopted his jokes and off-the-cuff suggestions into “Friends” episode scripts.
He learned the “Friends” pilot script by heart, as he had been helping a friend who wanted the role, so when he went to the selection process he didn’t read anything – as is usual in these tests.
He was the youngest in the cast and became a star beloved by many. He was a true friend to his co-stars, especially Jennifer Aniston.
The six actors – Perry and the aforementioned Aniston and Cox, along with David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow – traded together to become some of the highest-paid actors on a television series at the time.
They achieved unprecedented fame and wealth never before seen by TV actors. Furthermore, the stars of “Friends” decided as a team that they would not compete for awards as “lead actor/actress”, only as supporting actors.
“Friends” was produced by Warner Bros. Television, which belongs to the controlling company of CNN Warner Bros.
Along with “Seinfeld”, the actors of “Friends” became the epitome of American comedy series of the decade.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
