The One About Matthew Perry is a new three-part documentary, with the title styled in the same way as each episode of Friends, which was great for the first few seasons, before it tailed off a bit. But then no long-running TV show can last forever, and when there’s relationships all around, it’s not long before the characters are subjected to weddings and having babies.
Told by the friends and family of Matthew Perry, as well as the man, himself, the timing of this comes one day prior to Perry’s death, three years ago, following an overdose of ketamine, but this opens with more positive times, including an unaired pilot I’d not heard before, LAX2194, a sci-fi show about baggage handlers in the year 2194 at LAX airport.
But then he received the first Friends script, and felt the role of Chandler was exactly him. Success was also helped by the show starting off with a great timeslot, inbetween Mad About You and Seinfeld, both of which were hugely popular sitcoms.
Most of Perry’s observations on everything come from clips in an chat with actor friend Kevin Pollak, but also his sister, Mia, and former girlfriends and associates, including Marjorie, and how they were involved in a car crash. Both surivived fine, but it called time on their relationship.
However, I thought at the time how it was unfortunate he couldn’t really translate it into a separate career after the heady days, though. I quite enjoyed 1997’s Fools Rush In, but nothing quite translated into a big success on his own, and he stopped altogether after 2017.
That said, there’s an in-depth look at his post-Friends career, starting around halfway through Part 2, when he wanted to do more serious output, but still relied on some sitcoms that just didn’t meet the moment.
Part II of this documentary is also when Perry’s drink and drug issues come in, and he’s come out from rehab at the time they begin filming Season 4. Weight loss followed, due to his condition, leading to Friends having to be filmed around him.
Sadly, after a life of ups and downs – even including him being in a coma in 2018 – we know how Matthew Perry’s story ends, and the final episode is very tough to watch.
All that said, what’s REALLY curious is… where are Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer? They’re NOWHERE to be seen!
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
The One About Matthew Perry is on Netflix from today.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Check out the trailer below:
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 55-65 minutes per episode (3 episodes)
Release date: October 27th 2026
Studio: Netflix
Format: 1.78:1
Director: Mary Robertson
Producer: Jessica Call
Music: Ian Hultquist
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.