Want to hang out in Central Perk? Pose on the orange couch in front of the fountain? Look through the peephole on the purple door with the yellow frame? Or perhaps purchase the picture frame?
You can. There’s still time to catch “The Friends Experience,” an interactive photo-opportunity and retail attraction that has charmed fans in New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Toronto and Washington, D.C. Subtitled “The One in San Francisco,” the attraction based on “Friends,” the still ubiquitous sitcom, is open every day except Christmas through Jan. 2 in a downtown storefront near Union Square.
It’s a haven for geeky fans of the beloved show that ran for 236 episodes on NBC for a decade (1994-2004) and remains a cable TV rerun and streaming staple. Even casual viewers of the pop phenomenon may enjoy the interactive trip down memory lane. For true diehards, there’s a quiz.
“ ‘The Friends Experience’ invites fans to step inside the world of the iconic series, relive their favorite moments and celebrate the show unlike ever before,” said Stacy Moscatelli, an executive with Original X Productions, which is presenting the attraction with Warner Bros.
The attraction has multiple rooms that are facsimiles of the famous set (including the friends’ apartments) where guests can pose for cute photos, while friendly staffers on hand may assist by taking detailed snapshots when selfies won’t do. Visitors also can re-enact the famous “pivot” couch moving scene in a section with a winding staircase.
Though there’s little personal information about Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, who comprised the show’s appealing, and ultimately superstar, acting ensemble, “The Friends Experience” nicely provides outlines of their characters – Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross, respectively.
One huge and amusingly compelling panel with colored bars graphs out who each of the characters dated over the course of the show, including some of the big-time actors (Sean Penn, Julia Roberts, Charlie Sheen, Brooke Shields and Tom Selleck, to name a few) who portrayed the love interests.
Additional fun commentary comes from costume designer Debra McGuire on video. And while it might have been nice to hear from the show’s excellent writers, “Friends” co-creators and executive producers Marta Kaufmann and David Crane, who lived in New York and were a part of a close-knit group of six pals, offer noteworthy background in a statement about the inspiration for “Friends” being “that time in your life where your friends are your family.”
On a panel titled “Making the Show,” they close their remarks with the thought: “Even though we created the show, most of the fans know it better than we do. It was a long time ago! We would definitely lose a ‘Friends’ trivia contest.”
“The Friends Experience” continues at 150 Powell St., San Francisco through Jan. 2. Admission (with timed entry) ranges from about $35-$60. Visit The FRIENDS™ Experience in San Francisco | Info & Tickets (friendstheexperience.com).