Matthew Perry appreciates similarities in roles on “Friends” and “Go On”

That's what Matthew Perry thought when he read the script for “Go On,” and the similar elements of both characters have made them appealing to portray for the actor.

“I think it's sort of a wearing-his-heart-on-his-sleeve kind of people that I've played a lot, and I think people can sort of relate to that journey, maybe not that openness about it, but that journey.

“I like to play people that say things that normally people don't say, that they're sort of feeling or thinking but that they wouldn¹t say. And I think both Chandler and Ryan King have that aspect.”

Perry, 43, shared his thoughts on his role and the new comedy “Go On” during a recent media conference call, including the challenge of making a comedy about people in grief therapy. “Go On” airs at 8 p.m. Tuesdays on NBC.

“That's the very interesting tonal challenge of this show, and nobody knew whether it was going to work. Nobody knew really whether people were going to laugh at these sad situations. But, that's Scott (Silveri, creator/executive producer) in the pilot ... just did that tone thing perfectly, so there was a lot of funny things, but at the base of it, is a very sad story,” Perry said.

“And, then I think it was the third episode when ... I had said that it's hard to tell people that my wife has passed away. I should just get vanity plates that say it, and then everybody sort of starts pitching on what those vanity plates could say. You know, like 'dead wife' or 'no mo wife' and things like that. And, that was a really risky scene, and people loved it.