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What is the Friends reunion? Everything you need to know about the one-off cast special
24 February 2020, 17:47
The cast of Friends have confirmed a reunion is happening 16 years after the final episode.
Friends is set to reunite for a one-off special on HBO Max – but what else do we know about the reunion?
When will the Friends reunion take place?
The episode will air on the HBO Max streaming service, however, the service doesn’t launch until May 2020.
A date for the Friends reunion has yet to be announced.
Will all of the original cast appear in the reunion?
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer have all confirmed they will appear together for the reunion show.
When did Friends air on TV?
Friends aired from 1994 until 2004, with the final show watched by 52.5 million viewers in the US.
This made the episode the most watched on TV of the 2000s.
HBO Max has now secured rights to the show's back catalogue for $425m (£339m).
See more: The full Friends cast finally reunite in selfie for Jennifer Aniston's debut Instagram post
Kevin Reilly, chief content officer for the channel, said: “Guess you could call this the one where they all got back together – we are reuniting with David, Jennifer, Courteney, Matt, Lisa and Matthew for an HBO Max special that will be programmed alongside the entire Friends Library.”
He added the reunion special will capture “the spirit of a time when friends, and audiences – gathered together in real time”.
Who is directing the episode and what else has been revealed?
Lord Robert Winston’s son Ben Winston, who can usually be found working on James Cordon’s Late Late Show, will be directing and producing the special.
He posted to social media: “I couldn’t BE anymore excited, to be directing and producing this friends special for HBO max.
“This is a big one for us at @fulwell73productions but we can’t wait ! (and for those asking - it’s not the sitcom coming back!! It’s a reunion with the cast!).”
Ben’s post confirms it will not be an episode, but more of a look back at previous episodes – hopefully a far cry from the panned reunion for The Inbetweeners cast.
