The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum / Friends star Matthew Perry dead at 54

**Posted by Paul Jeffries** October 28, 2023 9:00 pm

Early reports indicate that it was an apparent drowning.

https://www.tmz.com/2023/10/28/friends-star-matthew-perry-dead-dies-drowning/

PJ

**Posted by MJ Vancouver** October 28, 2023 9:13 pm

Although Matthew Perry was American by birth he spent much of his formative years in Ottawa. His mother was press secretary to Pierre Trudeau, and she married Keith Morrison after divorcing Matthew’s father. Matthew went to the same elementary school as Justin Trudeau as well; he was a couple years older than Justin but they likely knew each other.

Last edited by MJ Vancouver (October 28, 2023 9:16 pm)

**Posted by Hansa** October 28, 2023 9:18 pm

According to Perry's memoir he not only knew Justin but beat him up because he resented the time his mother spent on her job.

**Posted by paterson1** October 29, 2023 5:37 pm

Steve Paikin did a nice interview with his younger brother Jeff who became a pal of Matthew years ago in Los Angeles. Some interesting stories.

This aired earlier today on AM 640 on Toronto This Weekend. ..https://globalnews.ca/radio/640toronto/shows/

**Posted by RadioActive** October 29, 2023 7:09 pm

paterson1 wrote:
Steve Paikin did a nice interview with his younger brother Jeff who became a pal of Matthew years ago in Los Angeles. Some interesting stories.

This aired earlier today on AM 640 on Toronto This Weekend. ..https://globalnews.ca/radio/640toronto/shows/

Yes, it was a pretty interesting interview, and boy, did they get a lot of mileage out of it. Not only did it go out live during the first part of the weekend morning show, they replayed part of it in the final hour of Paikin's fill-in. (With Paikin mentioning on-air that P.D. Mike Bendixen suggested the second run.)

And then several hours later, Roy Green rerolled almost all of it in the final half-hour of his show. It would not surprise me if part of it turns up again on Greg Brady's morning show on Monday.

**Posted by RadioActive** October 29, 2023 7:17 pm

Speaking of Matthew Perry's passing, both ABC and NBC's nightly news shows led with the story over the Israel-Hamas war.

But I can't fathom what they were thinking on Global. They started their 6 PM newscast with anchor Mark Carcasole doing copy about the passing of Perry, calling the tragedy "their top story" with more to come, only to shift immediately ("but first...") to the terrible war in the Middle East.

And that's fine.

But then, they didn't get back to the Matthew Perry story until 6:27 PM - the final yarn in the entire newscast. I'm familiar with teasers but this was ridiculous! You don't lead with a story, call it your top item, and then get back to it as your very final piece.

I'd love to know what the producer who lined up this show was thinking. That's just insane.

**Posted by RadioActive** October 30, 2023 2:52 pm

RadioActive wrote:
paterson1 wrote:
Steve Paikin did a nice interview with his younger brother Jeff who became a pal of Matthew years ago in Los Angeles. Some interesting stories.

This aired earlier today on AM 640 on Toronto This Weekend. ..https://globalnews.ca/radio/640toronto/shows/
Yes, it was a pretty interesting interview, and boy, did they get a lot of mileage out of it. Not only did it go out live during the first part of the weekend morning show, they replayed part of it in the final hour of Paikin's fill-in. (With Paikin mentioning on-air that P.D. Mike Bendixen suggested the second run.)

And then several hours later, Roy Green rerolled almost all of it in the final half-hour of his show. It would not surprise me if part of it turns up again on Greg Brady's morning show on Monday.

And it was rerun again on Paikin's fill in show Monday afternoon. That makes four airings of the same interview in less than 24 hours.

**Posted by ED1** October 30, 2023 2:54 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Speaking of Matthew Perry's passing, both ABC and NBC's nightly news shows led with the story over the Israel-Hamas war.

But I can't fathom what they were thinking on Global. They started their 6 PM newscast with anchor Mark Carcasole doing copy about the passing of Perry, calling the tragedy "their top story" with more to come, only to shift immediately ("but first...") to the terrible war in the Middle East.

And that's fine.

But then, they didn't get back to the Matthew Perry story until 6:27 PM - the final yarn in the entire newscast. I'm familiar with teasers but this was ridiculous! You don't lead with a story, call it your top item, and then get back to it as your very final piece.

I'd love to know what the producer who lined up this show was thinking. That's just insane.

That would have probably kept me tuned in to the whole newscast to be honest...

**Posted by RadioActive** October 30, 2023 3:02 pm

ED1 wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
Speaking of Matthew Perry's passing, both ABC and NBC's nightly news shows led with the story over the Israel-Hamas war.

But I can't fathom what they were thinking on Global. They started their 6 PM newscast with anchor Mark Carcasole doing copy about the passing of Perry, calling the tragedy "their top story" with more to come, only to shift immediately ("but first...") to the terrible war in the Middle East.

And that's fine.

But then, they didn't get back to the Matthew Perry story until 6:27 PM - the final yarn in the entire newscast. I'm familiar with teasers but this was ridiculous! You don't lead with a story, call it your top item, and then get back to it as your very final piece.

I'd love to know what the producer who lined up this show was thinking. That's just insane.
That would have probably kept me tuned in to the whole newscast to be honest...

Which, I'm guessing, was the point. But you don't put your lede on at the end of the show for any reason. You could always air it and then promote more to come to encourage hours tuned. Otherwise it's a real disservice to your viewers. I don't think I've ever seen any other newscast do this.

**Posted by BowmanvilleBob** October 30, 2023 4:16 pm

My guess is that they were waiting from an AP News or ABC News video story on Perry's death from one of their newsfeeds, which either didn't show up or some sort of technical error kept from getting on their air. They probably just had time to have someone hastily slap together a copy story.

**Posted by RadioActive** October 30, 2023 4:37 pm

Anything's possible. But the news had been out the day before and everyone else had it hours and hours and hours earlier. All the competition ran it in their first pack or first block. Plus, it was a Global reporter VO on the story when it finally ran, not some network piece that would have required a feed.

So, my guess is it wasn't that - they likely just thought they could keep viewers tuned in. If that's the case, fine. But don't promote it as your lead story and then run it two minutes before the closing credits. That's just crazy.

I worked in TV news for over 30 years and yeah, there were some SOTS that never made it to air at the scheduled time. But I've never, ever seen anyone do what Global did on Sunday.

**Posted by Walter** October 30, 2023 4:41 pm

RadioActive wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
paterson1 wrote:
Steve Paikin did a nice interview with his younger brother Jeff who became a pal of Matthew years ago in Los Angeles. Some interesting stories.

This aired earlier today on AM 640 on Toronto This Weekend. ..https://globalnews.ca/radio/640toronto/shows/
Yes, it was a pretty interesting interview, and boy, did they get a lot of mileage out of it. Not only did it go out live during the first part of the weekend morning show, they replayed part of it in the final hour of Paikin's fill-in. (With Paikin mentioning on-air that P.D. Mike Bendixen suggested the second run.)

And then several hours later, Roy Green rerolled almost all of it in the final half-hour of his show. It would not surprise me if part of it turns up again on Greg Brady's morning show on Monday.
And it was rerun again on Paikin's fill in show Monday afternoon. That makes four airings of the same interview in less than 24 hours.

I heard that 'interview' with Paikin's hockey-playing brother so often, I swear I was part of the team with him, Perry and Kiefer Sutherland. Enough, already.

**Posted by paterson1** October 30, 2023 4:50 pm

CNN had Tom Power from Q on this morning and ran some clips of his excellent interview with Matthew from November last year. It was in front of a studio audience and apparently is getting a lot of views on CBC's site and Youtube. The National ran about 10 minutes of the interview last night, and here is the whole thing..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrZsyBhmMro

**Posted by RadioActive** August 15, 2024 1:25 pm

A major update in this story has five people arrested for allegedly helping to supply Canadian actor and Friends star Matthew Perry with the ketamine that killed him. Among those charged: his own assistant and two doctors.

"U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada announced the charges Thursday, saying the doctors supplied Perry with a large amount of ketamine and even wondered in a text message how much the former “Friends” star would be willing to pay.

“These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong,” Estrada said.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

More here.

**Posted by newsguy1** August 15, 2024 7:00 pm

I saw on Youtube that one of his enablers emailed another to say he wondered how much money "this moron" will be willing to pay for the drugs.
Apparently for one supply it was 55 thousand dollars.

**Posted by RadioActive** July 23, 2025 2:10 pm

The doctor who gave the fatal dose of ketamine to Friends' star Matthew Perry has pled guilty to supplying the drug. He could face 10 years in jail but for now, he's out on bail and will voluntarily surrender his medical licence.

In the words of Chandler Bing, "Could he BE more guilty?"

Doctor charged in Matthew Perry ketamine death case pleads guilty to supplying drug