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‘Friends’ Writer Reveals How David Schwimmer Made Her Feel Seen on Set on August 29, 2023 at 11:00 am Us Weekly

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David Schwimmer stars as Ross Geller in NBC’s comedy series ‘Friends’ Warner Bros. Television/Getty Images

Working on Friends wasn’t all fun and games for TV writer Patty Lin — but David Schwimmer’s on-set demeanor did ease her stress.

Lin — who was part of the Friends writing team during season 7 — recalled Schwimmer’s kind gesture in her new memoir, End Credits: How I Broke Up With Hollywood.

“I escaped from the dreaded huddle and stepped onto the set, joining the rowdy mob packed into the hallway,” Lin penned of the time she was an extra during season 7’s “The One With All the Candy,” which aired in 2000. “David Schwimmer, who was directing the episode, came over to give instructions.”

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Lin vividly remembered Schwimmer — who played Ross Geller — telling her, “Patty, can you scooch closer to the door?” She wrote, “I scooched, thrilled that instead of saying, ‘Hey, you,’ Schwimmer addressed me by name.”

Related: David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston’s Cutest Quotes About Each Other

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David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston stole hearts as Ross Geller and Rachel Green, respectively, during their 10 seasons on Friends — but the duo had a bond outside of the series as well. The pair dropped a bombshell on fans during the May 2021 Friends reunion when they revealed that they both had feelings for […]

Despite knowing the actors from table reads and shooting schedules, she explained that it was Schwimmer’s kindness that made her finally feel seen.

“Really, it takes so little for a celebrity to seem like a decent person,” she wrote. “That night was the high point of my Friends experience. For once, I felt like I had something to do with the show.”

Patty Lin Courtesy of Patty Lin/Instagram

Shortly before Lin stepped in as an extra on the episode, she got the stamp of approval for one of her jokes. Lin told readers that the Friends joke huddle was “by far the most stressful part of the job,” especially because she was a drama writer by trade.

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However, while taping “The One With the Candy,” a Christmas episode in which Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) put out holiday treats for the whole building, Lin won over Friends cocreator Marta Kauffman with her one-liner.

Related: TV Stars Who’ve Directed Their Own Shows Over the Years

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Action! Cynthia Nixon, Ian Somerhalder and more TV stars have taken on more than one responsibility while filming their shows. Nixon revealed in October 2021 that she directed an episode of And Just Like That, the Sex and the City revival set to debut on HBO Max later that year. “It’s been a complete dream […]

When Chandler asks Monica why she made candy for the whole apartment, she says, “We can learn their names and get to know our neighbors.” When Chandler’s initial response “did not garner the side splitting laughter required,” according to Lin, she pitched he say, “Wouldn’t it be easier if we just moved?”

Matt Le Blanc, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer in ‘Friends’ Warner Bros. Television/Getty Images

Lin described Kauffman’s response as letting out a “full-throated laugh, which in that moment was the most wonderful sound [she’d] ever heard.”

While Lin enjoyed working under Schwimmer’s direction — and getting a good joke into the episode — she noted that most of the time the actors’ input was not helpful.

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Related: TV Shows and Movies That’ll Give You the Fall Feels: ‘Gilmore Girls,’ More

Sweater weather is upon Us! The leaves are changing colors, pumpkin spice is everywhere and autumn movies are on our must-watch list. While some fans are blasting Taylor Swift’s Folklore album from their cars on their way to the pumpkin patch, others are cozying up with their favorite blanket to watch their go-to fall-inspired TV shows and films. In […]

“They rarely had anything positive to say, and when they brought up problems, they didn’t suggest feasible solutions,” she claimed of the lead stars’ complaints about the scripts from day to day. “Seeing themselves as the characters, they often argued that they would never do or say such-and-such. … The cast behaved as if they weren’t just Big Stars but also Serious Actors — even though Friends was never going to be Citizen Kane.”

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Friends — which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 — starred Schwimmer, 56, Cox, 59, Perry, 54, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc. Lin, for her part, worked on the show for just one season but later wrote for Desperate Housewives and Breaking Bad before retiring from TV writing in 2008.

End Credits: How I Broke Up With Hollywood is on bookshelves now — and available to purchase here.

Working on Friends wasn’t all fun and games for TV writer Patty Lin — but David Schwimmer’s on-set demeanor did ease her stress. Lin — who was part of the Friends writing team during season 7 — recalled Schwimmer’s kind gesture in her new memoir, End Credits: How I Broke Up With Hollywood. “I escaped from 

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What We Can Learn Inside 50 Cent’s Explosive Diddy Documentary: 5 Reasons You Should Watch

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50 Cent’s new Netflix docuseries about Sean “Diddy” Combs is more than a headline-grabbing exposé; it is a meticulous breakdown of how power, celebrity, and silence can collide in the entertainment industry.

Across its episodes, the series traces Diddy’s rise, the allegations that followed him for years, and the shocking footage and testimonies now forcing a wider cultural reckoning.

For viewers, it offers not just drama, but lessons about media literacy, accountability, and how society treats survivors when a superstar is involved.

Rapper 50 Cent pictured in Tup Tup Palace night club with owners James Jukes and Matt LoveDough, Newcastle, UK, 7th November 2015

1. It Chronicles Diddy’s Rise and Fall – And How Power Warps Reality

The docuseries follows Combs from hitmaker and business icon to a figure facing serious criminal conviction and public disgrace, mapping out decades of influence, branding, and behind-the-scenes behavior. Watching that arc shows how money, fame, and industry relationships can shield someone from scrutiny and delay accountability, even as disturbing accusations accumulate.

Rapper 50 Cent pictured in Tup Tup Palace night club with owners James Jukes and Matt LoveDough, Newcastle, UK, 7th November 2015

2. Never-Before-Seen Footage Shows How Narratives Are Managed

Exclusive footage of Diddy in private settings and in the tense days around his legal troubles reveals how carefully celebrity narratives are shaped, even in crisis.

Viewers can learn to question polished statements and recognize that what looks spontaneous in public is often the result of strategy, damage control, and legal calculation.

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3. Survivors’ Stories Highlight Patterns of Abuse and Silence

Interviews with alleged victims, former staff, and industry insiders describe patterns of control, fear, and emotional or physical harm that were long whispered about but rarely aired in this detail. Their stories underline how difficult it is to speak out against a powerful figure, teaching viewers why many survivors delay disclosure and why consistent patterns across multiple accounts matter.

4. 50 Cent’s Approach Shows Storytelling as a Tool for Accountability

As executive producer, 50 Cent uses his reputation and platform to push a project that leans into uncomfortable truths rather than protecting industry relationships. The series demonstrates how documentary storytelling can challenge established power structures, elevate marginalized voices, and pressure institutions to respond when traditional systems have failed.

5. The Cultural Backlash Reveals How Society Handles Celebrity Accountability

Reactions to the doc—ranging from people calling it necessary and brave to others dismissing it as a vendetta or smear campaign—expose how emotionally invested audiences can be in defending or condemning a famous figure. Watching that debate unfold helps viewers see how fandom, nostalgia, and bias influence who is believed, and why conversations about “cancel culture” often mask deeper questions about justice and who is considered too powerful to fall.

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South Park’s Christmas Episode Delivers the Antichrist

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A new Christmas-themed episode of South Park is scheduled to air with a central plot in which Satan is depicted as preparing for the birth of an Antichrist figure. The premise extends a season-long narrative arc that has involved Satan, Donald Trump, and apocalyptic rhetoric, positioning this holiday episode as a culmination of those storylines rather than a stand‑alone concept.

Episode premise and season context

According to published synopses and entertainment coverage, the episode frames the Antichrist as part of a fictional storyline that blends religious symbolism with commentary on politics, media, and cultural fear. This follows earlier Season 28 episodes that introduced ideas about Trump fathering an Antichrist child and tech billionaire Peter Thiel obsessing over prophecy and end‑times narratives. The Christmas setting is presented as a contrast to the darker themes, reflecting the series’ pattern of pairing holiday imagery with controversial subject matter.

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Public and political reactions

Coverage notes that some figures connected to Donald Trump’s political orbit have criticized the season’s portrayal of Trump and his allies, describing the show as relying on shock tactics rather than substantive critique. Commentators highlight that these objections are directed more at the depiction of real political figures and the show’s tone than at the specific theology of the Antichrist storyline.

At the time of reporting, there have not been widely reported, detailed statements from major religious leaders focused solely on this Christmas episode, though religion-focused criticism of South Park in general has a long history.

Media and cultural commentary

Entertainment outlets such as The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, Forbes, Slate, and USA Today describe the Antichrist arc as part of South Park’s ongoing use of Trump-era and tech-world politics as material for satire.

These reports emphasize that the show’s treatment of the Antichrist, Satan, and prophecy is designed as exaggerated commentary rather than doctrinal argument, while also acknowledging that many viewers may see the storyline as offensive or excessive.

Viewer guidance and content advisory

South Park is rated TV‑MA and is intended for adult audiences due to strong language, explicit themes, and frequent use of religious and political satire. Viewers who are sensitive to depictions of Satan, the Antichrist, or parodies involving real political figures may find this episode particularly objectionable, while others may view it as consistent with the show’s long‑running approach to controversial topics. As with previous episodes, individual responses are likely to vary widely, and the episode is best understood as part of an ongoing satirical series rather than a factual or theological statement.

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Sydney Sweeney Finally Confronts the Plastic Surgery Rumors

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Sydney Sweeney has decided she is finished watching strangers on the internet treat her face like a forensic project. After years of side‑by‑side screenshots, “then vs now” TikToks, and long comment threads wondering what work she has supposedly had done, the actor is now addressing the plastic surgery rumors directly—and using them to say something larger about how women are looked at in Hollywood and online.

Sweeney at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival red carpet premiere of Christy

Growing Up on Camera vs. “Before and After” Culture

Sweeney points out that people are often mistaking normal changes for procedures: she grew up on camera, her roles now come with big‑budget glam teams, and her body has shifted as she has trained, aged, and worked nonstop. Yet every new red‑carpet photo gets folded into a narrative that assumes surgeons, not time, are responsible. Rather than walking through a checklist of what is “real,” she emphasizes how bizarre it is that internet detectives comb through pores, noses, and jawlines as if they are owed an explanation for every contour of a woman’s face.

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The Real Problem Isn’t Her Face

By speaking up, Sweeney is redirecting the conversation away from her features and toward the culture that obsesses over them.

She argues that the real issue isn’t whether an actress has had work done, but why audiences feel so entitled to dissect her body as public property in the first place.

For her, the constant speculation is less about curiosity and more about control—another way to tell women what they should look like and punish them when they do not fit. In calling out that dynamic, Sweeney isn’t just defending herself; she is forcing fans and followers to ask why tearing apart someone else’s appearance has become such a popular form of entertainment.


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