20 Years Later, Worst 'Friends' Guest Star Still Makes Fans Skip the Arc
The role was deemed worthless by both fans and one of the executive producers.
Summary
- Throughout its run, Friends has attracted more than a few high-profile cameos.
- Some were great, some so-so, and some are remembered as the worst in television history.
- One such cameo from Season 6 made fans skip every scene with this famous actor.
One of the main features of the sitcom genre is of course the cameos. Although popular personalities undoubtedly attract all the attention, in the case of sitcoms it is a great way to draw a larger audience without creating a strong imbalance. Moreover, comedic plots often humorously undermine the established dramatic images of such high-profile cameos, which only serves to benefit the story.
And one of the highest-profile sitcoms with the highest-profile cameos is, of course, Friends: The show debuted on NBC in 1994 and became an instant hit, so it's not surprising that Friends has featured many famous people throughout its run. vThere was Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, Tom Selleck, Julia Roberts, Winona Ryder — it's impossible to list them all, and each of these appearances is considered iconic.
However, among so many guest appearances, there is one that even now is considered the worst cameo in almost all of television history. Let's get to the bottom of who caused so much buzz and why Friends fans are determined to skip scenes with this actor.
Phoebe, Ursula and the Eccentric Hollywood Actor
On November 1, 2001, the sixth season of Friends aired the episode The One with the Halloween Party. In addition to all the main characters, Phoebe's twin sister Ursula came to the apartment. Only she did come alone with her partner Erik, the fiancé she married just three weeks after meeting him.
Eric was played by none other than Hollywood's legendary and incredibly controversial actor. The one who is not afraid to criticize Hollywood and produce poignant documentaries, but at the same time gets involved in scandals and accusations, Sean Penn. Only the role wasn't quite right for him.
Penn also appeared in the following episode, The One With The Stain, where Eric had already broken up with Ursula, but didn't mind trying to get closer to Phoebe — except that he ended up confusing twins again by sleeping with Ursula.
'We've always been fans of his comedy,' David Crane, co-creator of Friends, said in 2001. 'After all, Penn's breakthrough role was a teen stoner in 1982's funny Fast Times at Ridgemont High.'
Penn joined Friends because his children, Dylan and Hopper, loved the show. Furthermore, Sean Penn had been on the production set several times before he was cast as Eric, but he was not given a role as they were looking for the most suitable one for him. Unfortunately, they miscalculated.
A Cameo Disliked by Fans and Showrunners Alike
Fans were mainly outraged by the storyline, as the role did not suit Penn, who was already celebrated as an excellent dramatic actor. However, the main complaint was that a similar storyline had already happened to Phoebe when she dated Ursula's ex-boyfriend Malcolm (David Arquette).
The story with Eric literally echoed the same narrative, as Penn's character also mistook Phoebe for Ursula several times. Therefore, many thought it was just lazy writing created just to get Sean Penn on screen. However, many complained about how ridiculous and even cringe-worthy the scenes with Eric were in general.
It's worth noting, though, that the cameo wasn't just despised by fans, but also by executive producer and director Kevin S. Bright. In 2018, as part of a conversation with Metro.co.uk, he named his least favorite cameo and speculated on why it failed.
'I think the least successful one was Sean Penn on the show,' he shared. 'Just the style of the production wasn't what he was used to, doing a show like that, so there was a little deer in the headlight effect.'
Source: EW, Metro.co.uk.