LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In the wake of Matthew Perry’s untimely death on Saturday, October 28, the image of an empty chair from the immensely popular NBC sitcom ‘FRIENDS’ has become one of the most poignant symbols of mourning.
The image where Matt LeBlanc’s character Joey Tribbiani is looking glumly at an empty recliner sofa chair beside him has gained much traction on the Internet.
The image is from Season 2 of the series where Joey decides to live in a separate apartment after earning a considerable amount from his acting gigs, per Daily Mail.
Joey used to share an apartment with Perry’s character Chandler Bing, which in turn strengthened their friendship.
Thus, Joey looking forlorn at Chandler’s empty space became one of the most affecting symbols in the plethora of tributes made to the ‘17 Again’ actor.
'The One With The Empty Chair'
One of the fans tweeted, "RIP Matthew Perry. He was much more than Friends and will hopefully see his wish that he be remembered for the things he did to help people, but many people are thinking about the empty chair today."
"Such sad news, that empty chair image will forever be iconic now," said another fan.
Someone else remembered, "The empty chair is a beautiful tribute and hopefully yes his addiction work will be remembered through his struggles with that horror."
"This empty chair photo is so poignant. Watching #Friends will surely not be the same. Rest in peace, #MatthewPerry," a user said.
"The One With The Empty Chair #Friends #ChandlerBing@MatthewPerry," mourned another ardent 'FRIENDS' fan.
Someone else commented poignantly, "We've been there, we've lost a friend. Sad times for a life lost when still so young. And of all the pictures, an empty chair seems to hit hardest. Rest well."
"Very poignant picture. The "empty chair" remains a constant. however, long time passes. Family, friends and fans can only feel robbed of times ahead they might otherwise have expected. Glad #matthewperry got to tell his story before his passing," said a fan.
Another fan of 'FRIENDS' remarked, "It was beautiful. A lot of people shared a still picture from "Friends" today of Joey sitting in his chair in their apartment, and he is looking next to him at the empty chair where Chandler always used to sit. That one really got to me too."
Matthew Perry once said chairs were 'stupid'
Though not the same pair of chairs, Perry and LeBlanc shared anecdotes regarding a similar set of chairs during ‘The Reunion’ episode of the series in 2021.
When the chairs were first introduced, Perry wasn’t very receptive to the idea of the plot device.
Perry and LeBlanc shared during the reunion episode that in episode 15 of season two titled, ‘The One Where Ross and Rachel...You Know’, Joey bought a flat-screen TV and two black Barcalounger chairs for himself and Chandler.
The script had it that the pair would kick back in the new chairs in an ebullient fashion and will stick to their seats despite being repeatedly convinced by the other friends to move.
During the reunion episode, sitting on replica sofas, LeBlanc asked Perry, "Do you remember the beginning of the week after the table draft? You came to me and you go, 'It's so stupid!'" before adding, "And I was like, 'Yeah, but that's the brilliance,'" per Screen Rant.
LeBlanc also said that when Perry saw the episode’s potential, he liked it, and subsequently one of the most iconic episodes formed.
He reminded Perry, "You were like, 'Oh, maybe we can have fun with this.'" Perry finally loved the outcome.
