Seth Rogen Mocks 'Friends' Trope, Teases Platonic Co-Star Romance

In a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Seth Rogen, the star and executive producer of the Apple TV+ comedy Platonic, addressed the fan fixation on a potential romantic relationship between him and his co-star Rose Byrne. Rogen acknowledged that viewers are "very fixated on this idea that we will one day get together," which he understands due to the "precedent" set by shows like the seminal sitcom Friends, where the main characters often ended up in relationships with each other.

Rogen went on to criticize the Friends trope, joking that "every friend f -- ed every other friend" and that even the show's capuchin monkey, Marcel, probably had a romantic backstory. The actor-writer concluded that the '90s-era NBC comedy "ruined it for everybody" when it came to depicting platonic friendships on television.

Platonic, co-created, directed and co-written by Nick Stoller and Francesca Delbanco, follows a pair of collegiate best friends who reconnect as adults (Rogen and Byrne). The show's co-creator, Delbanco, emphasized that the series aims to represent the possibility that "men and women can be friends with each other and those friendships can provide something friendships with your own gender can't provide -- or something extra."