Truth be told, I don't need Netflix to remind me how much I'm obsessed with Friends. I don't even need top-10 lists to tell me which episodes to watch. Any die-hard fan knows the truth: They were all amazing in their own way. (OK, so maybe the last couple of seasons weren't as top-notch, but whatever.) That's why the best part of interviewing the cast now is hearing never-before-told stories about life at Central Perk.
At Monday night's Showtime party to celebrate the new season of Episodes, the always delightful Matt LeBlanc teased the juicy story line that will unfold in season four and why it's so eerily relatable to Joey on Friends.
Glamour: Needless to say, things get off to a rocky start for Matt this season on Episodes.
Matt LeBlanc: It's kind of a sh-t storm for him this year—like, big serious problems. He has a sort of financial catastrophe and loses half his money. Millions and millions of dollars. Sean and Beverly, in consoling me over that, it forces them to think of their financial future and their nest egg that they don't have. My dad is back this year. We meet my mother also. That was great. Merc is back, and Andrea Savage is doing a great job as the network president, and she and Carol have an interesting story.
Glamour: So what does Matt have to do in order to survive this financial catastrophe?
Matt: He has to sell things. He has to get rid of the plane, liquidate the car collection. He has to maybe sell the beach house. He has to rearrange his financial priorities.
Glamour: In real life, I'm sure people must remark that you're set for life because of the salary you made on Friends. But even so...
Matt: Well, I don't have a plane!
Glamour: OK, so that's a good start!
Glamour: So, the other week, I'm in my car and I pass an actual store called I Love Lucite! Remember that's where Joey got his furniture when he came into all that soap-opera money on Friends and Ross yelled at him for it?
Matt: Lucite...oh yeah! I Love Lucite!
Glamour: Well, that's an actual store! I just about died.
Matt: Oh my gosh, one of the writers must have seen it [back then].
Glamour: But did it exist before Friends or did it come about because of Friends? I thought about this for quite some time.
Matt: I went into a store called Italy2000 [in Sherman Oaks, California] to buy some bar chairs for my house in the Valley, and when I went in there, the owner says, "Oh my God, you know the white dog on your show? We leased that to [the show] for 10 years!" I said, "You leased it to them for 10 years? Who's the idiot that didn't just buy the stupid thing?! How much could that have cost?!" They probably spent so much money renting that thing for 10 years!
Glamour: No kidding! I think Warner Bros. could afford it! But in all seriousness, as soon as I saw I Love Lucite, I thought, "Don't go in there! That was Joey's downfall!"
Matt: [Laughs] That is hilarious.__
__Episodes returns to Showtime Sunday night, January 11, at 10:30 P.M. ET/PT. Will you be watching?
