Friends: The Reunion Special On HBO Max May 27th
For the first time since the series wrapped 17 years ago, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow are back onscreen together for Friends: The Reunion.
It’s been a while since we last saw Friends characters Rachel, Ross, Joey, Chandler, Monica and Phoebe all together in the same room.
“The One Where They Get Back Together After 17 Years” is all set to stream on HBO Max, on May 27th.
The one-hour special takes place on Stage 24 of the Warner Bros. Studio, the exact stage where the show was shot for 10 years.
The bulk of the special features the main cast reuniting, touring the set and sharing behind-the-scenes footage. They will not be appearing as their beloved characters.
“In order to avoid any misunderstanding about what this special is, we want to make it very clear that this is not a new, original episode of the series. The cast will be appearing as themselves,” HBO Max said in a statement.
Jennifer Aniston posted a teaser Thursday to her Instagram, racking up more than 4.5 million views in just an hour. “It’s official!” she wrote, adding, “Could we BE anymore excited?!”
There’s not all that much to see in the teaser — just the cast members, arm in arm, walking super slo-mo through the twilight while a slowed-down version of the show’s theme song, “I’ll Be There for You,” plays in the background.
The full list of guest stars was announced, with a host of A-listers joining the original cast for the unscripted special.
Among those are Tom Selleck, the Golden Globe winner who starred briefly as Dr. Richard Burke, Monica’s older boyfriend, from 1996 to 2000.
However, having had time to digest the full list of guest stars, Friends devotees can’t help but notice one very disappointing omission.
Paul Rudd, who played the lovable Mike Hannigan from 2002 to 2004, a love interest for Lisa Kudrow’s character, Phoebe Buffay, is not among the star guests taking part in the unscripted special.
Fans on Twitter have shared how upset they are, and clearly, they’re going to miss the actor.
After a 10-year run, “Friends” wrapped in 2004. But the sitcom has never gone away, thriving for years in syndication before becoming one of the most-watched shows ever on Netflix and now reemerging on HBO Max.
The reunion special was originally set to film in 2020 but was delayed for more than a year following the coronavirus pandemic.
The sitcom consisted of 236 episodes from 1994 to 2004. The NBC comedy was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards (winning four), 10 Golden Globe Awards (winning one), 14 Screen Actors Guild Awards (winning two) and 11 People’s Choice Awards (winning 11).
“It was really emotional, and watching it again … I got emotional all over again,” Kudrow, 57, said in an interview earlier this month about filming the reunion. “It’s also really just so thrilling. We got to be together and LeBlanc tells a story like no one else, he is so great. I laugh a lot, that’s my contribution.”
Its popularity is legendary, which is why WarnerMedia reportedly paid $425 million for the streaming rights for the next five years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Don’t miss the Friends reunion special when it hits HBO Max on May 27.