Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

TV & Film

Someone Has Recreated the Entire ‘Friends’ Intro Using Only Stock Footage – and it’s Pretty Cool

Matthew Highton has created a small following on YouTube by doing one very specific thing…

Matthew Highton has created a small following on YouTube by doing one very specific thing...

Matthew Highton has created a small following on YouTube by doing one very specific thing: recreating famous TV intros using only stock footage. He currently has less than 200 subscribers (small numbers in the world of pop culture Youtubers), but one of his videos has amassed over 12,000 views and for good reason. Possibly the most famous TV show opening credits of all time, Highton has recreated the beloved intro to Friends.

Stock photos have long been the laughing stock (pun intended) of the internet, and are the source of a number of famous memes (see: Distracted Boyfriend Meme). Using stock footage, however, is a more unusual approach to internet humour and in doing so Highton has created an entertaining addition to the growing numbers of Friends recreations. 

Other highlights of this genre include Youtuber Chi with a C’s hilarious recreation of an entire episode of Friends (in which she does some uncanny impressions) and the highly relevant intro which reimagines Friends as Covid-19 by Youtube account Pipsta:

Another unmissable Friends parody comes in the form of a music video: Moonlight, by Jay-Z, was paired with an extended video which reimagined Friends as six young Black people. This video was widely discussed and praised for the points it made about double standards within the television industry surrounding race. It featured a number of brilliant actors, including Atlanta‘s Lakeith Stanfield, Insecure‘s Issa Rae, Tessa Thompson of Thor Ragnarok, comedienne Tiffany Hadish and even a cameo from Hannibal Buress. The video is directed by Emmy award-winning Alan Yang, and is less of a tribute to Friends than a critique of the industry, but is certainly unmissable nonetheless. 

Image from Jay-Z / Youtube

Clearly, Friends is far too iconic to remain untouched by pop culture for long, and it seems we all will continue to enjoy new reincarnations of the show for some time to come. 

Featured image from NBC / NBCU Photo Bank

Written By

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Support Real Ones. Fund the Future.

If you read this far, you get it: young voices matter. At TRILL, every story is written by emerging writers telling the truth in a media landscape that too often silences them.

We run ads, yeah. But they don’t run us. We’re independent, mission-driven, and powered by people who believe young storytellers deserve more than just “exposure.”

Your donation goes straight to mentorship, editorial support, and launching the next wave of Gen Z writers into media careers that matter.

If that matters to you, chip in. Even $5 helps keep TRILL free, fearless, and independent.

Donate Now →

You May Also Like

TV & Film

Season 2 of the anime My Happy Marriage concluded last April on Netflix after the final two episodes were delayed. The wait was well...

Entertainment

This year’s Women’s March Madness basketball tournament may have wrapped up just a little over a month ago, but the story doesn’t stop there. ...

TV & Film

10 coming-of-age movies that will help Gen-Z graduating high school and college feel less stressed about what the future will hold.

Music

April has brought us many new and exciting albums. Here are my top picks.