ABC has formally ordered the pilot the Matthew Perry comedy “Mr. Sunshine” in which the former “Friends” star confronts his looming middle age.

Perry plays the manager of an aging local sports stadium in San Diego who realizes on his 40th birthday that he cannot just get by on his charming, funny, noncommittal ways anymore.

He wrote the script with Alex Barnow and Marc Firek. The project sparked a bidding frenzy when it hit the marketplace in October and landed at ABC with one of the richest commitments this development season.

Alison Janney reported to play opposite Matthew.

I’ve added screencaps from season 8 of friends for episodes 08.01 – 08.06. Check them out below!

08.01 – TOA “I Do”

08.02 – TOW the Red Sweater

08.03 – TOW Rachel Tells Ross

08.04 – TOW the Videotape

08.05 – TOW Rachel’s Date

08.06 – TOW the Halloween Party

A host of celebrities will take part in the 2009 Celebrity Pro-Am To End MS tennis event this weekend.

Stars such as Matthew Perry, Gavin Rossdale, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Brody Jenner, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Alan Thicke, Linda Thompson, Matthew Lillard, and Wayne Bryan will join professional tennis players such as Tracy Austin, Pam Shriver, Derek Rostagno, Bill Scanlon, Katrina Adams, Taylor Dent, Michael Chang, Elliot Teltscher, Chuck Adams, Vijay Amritraj, Scott Davis and more at the event, which aims to raise money for the Southern California Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The event takes place on Saturday, November 14, at the Jack Kramer Club, 11 Montecillo Drive, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274 (30 minutes south of Santa Monica).

Is ABC getting Friend-lier or what? Matthew Perry has signed a deal with the network that airs Courteney Cox’s Cougar Town to star in, executive produce, and co-write a potential comedy series about a self-consumed 40-year-old manager of a second-rate sports arena who’s reluctantly learning to be a nicer guy. “We’re trying to do a show that’s really, really funny and can slow down and play some heartfelt moments,” Perry tells EW.com. “All of this stuff originally came from watching a lot of Alan Partridge and the British Office, and just wanting to go be funny again.” As for the setting? “The idea of where the guy works I ripped off from a 1981 Burt Reynolds movie, Paternity,” he cracks. “He ran Madison Square Garden. I was like, “It’s an okay movie, but what a cool job he had.’ [An arena] is a place where a lot of crazy things can come through.”

Not unlike his character on NBC’s 2006-2007 showbiz dramedy Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (Perry’s last regular TV gig), he’s playing the role of script writer in real life; he’s penning the pilot with Alex Barnow and Mark Firek (Family Guy, ‘Til Death). “I was curious what the process of sitting down and facing the page would be like and was really relieved that I liked the challenge of it,” Perry says. “And it gives me something to do when I can’t sleep at 3 o’clock in the morning.”

Although his last two TV series aired on NBC, Perry chose ABC for this project. “[ABC Entertainment president] Steve McPherson is a very smart dude and he has obviously shown this year that he can launch comedy, so it seemed like a smart place to do the show,” he says. “Clearly, they were the right choice alphabetically as well.”

Asked if the inventive Seinfeld reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm has made him more interested in a Friends reunion of some kind, Perry quips: “Someone who executive produced or who starred in the show needs to be on a hilarious cable show for about eight years and then bring us all on and we’ll do it…. I think it’s much more fun to see them on screen that way than if we just did some Thanksgiving reunion like, “Hey, Monica! How ya been?”

Slowly but surely, ABC is adding to its collection of vagabond “Friends” alumni. The Hollywood Reporter said the network had acquired a new comedy series created by and set to star Matthew Perry, who played the more-sarcastic-than-thou roommate Chandler on “Friends.” In the new show, which does not yet have a title, Mr. Perry would play the manager of a sports arena who takes stock of his life after he turns 40. (Mr. Perry himself reached this milestone on Aug. 19.) Among the other bidders for the series, The Hollywood Reporter said, was NBC, which broadcast “Friends” from 1994 to 2004. ABC is also home to the Courteney Cox sitcom “Cougar Town,” which was recently picked up for a full season. Matt LeBlanc is committed to a new series of his own for Showtime and the BBC, but Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and the actor who played Gunther the coffee-shop barista are still up for grabs.

Actor Matthew Perry arrives on the red carpet at “The Invention of Lying” premiere held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on September 21, 2009 in Hollywood, California.

In an alternate reality, lying — even the concept of a lie — does not even exist. Everyone — from politicians to advertisers to the man and woman on the street — speaks the truth and nothing but the truth with no thought of the consequences. But when a down-on-his-luck loser named Mark suddenly develops the ability to lie, he finds that dishonesty has its rewards. In a world where every word is assumed to be the absolute truth, Mark easily lies his way to fame and fortune. But lies have a way of spreading, and Mark begins to realize that things are getting a little out of control when some of his tallest tales are being taken as, well, gospel. With the entire world now hanging on his every word, there is only one thing Mark has not been able to lie his way into: the heart of the woman he loves.

“The Invention of Lying,” starring Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Garner,” opens in theaters on Oct. 2.

2 images added to gallery

I believe that there have been rumors in the past. But this is the latest and I will be glad to confirm once I see it in Matthew’s page on IMDB.

The cast of Friends is reuniting to bring the hit TV show to the big screen, according to actor James Michael Tyler.

The series came to an end in 2004 after 10 seasons, but the cast has been dogged by rumours of a possible big screen adaptation ever since.

David Schwimmer denied reports last year that the six core cast members – himself, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry – were planning on starring in a movie.

He said, “There’s never been any talk of a Friends film, at least as far as I know.”

But Tyler – who played coffee shop worker Gunther in the show – has confirmed the actors are in negotiations to star in a film adaption, set to hit theatres in summer 2011.

He tells Britain’s News of the World newspaper, “Friends: The Movie is definitely on. I still keep in touch with a lot of the cast and they say that they are really keen. I am definitely on board to do the film.

“I really loved my time on the show and I am looking forward to meeting up with the old gang again. I just hope we can do justice to the show in a film.”

The show’s original creators, David Crane and Marta Kauffman, have reportedly been drafted in to write and produce the movie.

A source tells the publication, “Everyone knew the story had to be right and well written. Getting the creators on board was a massive step forward for the project. The show did lose a lot of its shine in the last few seasons, but with the actors all in the forties it would be a real interest to see how their characters have developed.” »

LA Times – June 2, 2009

Here’s a hot tip for the “reporters” of “TMZ”: The star quotient will be unusually high June 15 outside West Hollywood’s Largo at the Coronet Theatre. That’s because celebrities like Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Perry, Carrie Fisher, Craig Bierko and others will be performing the stage comedy “Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words” for a one-night-only engagement.

The play, which satirizes the profitable literary genre known as the Hollywood autobiography, is a bicoastal theatrical hit, with a version currently playing at New York’s Triad theater on the Upper West Side with a rotating cast. That production recently won a 2009 Drama Desk Award for unique theatrical experience.

In addition to the above-mentioned performers, the L.A. one-night event will also include Fred Willard, Tracee Ellis, Kevin Pollak, Bruce Vilanch, Leslie Ann Warren, Laraine Newman and the show’s creator, Eugene Pack. The performance will benefit the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.

“Celebrity Autobiography” originated in L.A. and was later filmed for broadcast on the Bravo cable channel. The show features readings from a rotating roster of real celebrity autobiographies, including those by Sylvester Stallone, Madonna, Elizabeth Taylor, Britney Spears, Mr. T and Ivana Trump.

Alright so here is the first episode that Matthew Perry was in on The West Wing. Two more episodes will follow shortly.

The West Wing 04.20 – Evidence of Things Not Seen