Matt LeBlanc’s ‘Friends’ Reunion Appearance Became An Oddly Specific Meme On Twitter

HBO Max won big on its Friends reunion, getting huge ratings and a lot of attention from the streaming audience over the last week. But despite all its star power — both in the six cast members and various appearances from Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and others — the special initially failed to capture the internet’s attention in a major way: it failed to spark a significant meme.

That changed this weekend, however, as a still image from the special and one of the former Friends got a lot of attention on social media. In a very, very specific way. The Friend in question is Joey, or more specifically Matt LeBlanc. Many online couldn’t help but notice a particular position he took while sitting on the couch in some scenes, including when the group was back in a recreation of the original set playing a trivia game.

For many, he seemed like an adult at a family party. More specifically for a large group, an Irish uncle at a family gathering. Which is why that image was soon used as a meme on social media, with people adding “Irish uncle” sayings and phrases to make a very specific meme format go viral.

https://twitter.com/lyonsteafan/status/1398573236909133824

There were a lot of dads and uncles described here.

https://twitter.com/spiceslag/status/1398550637026197504

A lot of other people, many who do not have Irish uncles, also found the photo very relatable.

It was a very loving meme, all things considered. And after watching him for years on TV, who wouldn’t want LeBlanc to be part of the family?