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The much-awaited Friends reunion is almost here! After years and years of waiting, the roster of 6 iconic characters is once again heading to our mini-screens. Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming reunion.
Friends ended back in 2004, the next 17 years were filled with petitions, rumors, requests, and everything else trying to get the iconic characters on one screen again. But all of these attempts were to no avail. Then came along the 25th Anniversary!
Road To Reunion
Fans were over the moon after it was announced that there was going to be a reunion special at long last! Every single cast member announced it with the same picture on their respective Instagram handles. March 23rd, 2020 was the date marked for filming, but a villain showed up, Covid-19. The pandemic put a halt to everything and anything. The only option left was an online meetup, fans and producers were against this idea as a virtual reunion would be a waste of an iconic moment. We waited over a decade for this to happen, what’s a few more months.
Then came news from Entertainment Weekly that the Friends reunion had been postponed indefinitely, a term in show biz that no one likes to hear. But because the factor behind the postponing was the dreaded pandemic, no one could do anything but wait patiently. The actors confirmed through multiple interviews with the Hollywood Reporter and other sources about the postponing and why it had to be done. They wanted this iconic moment to be done in the safest way possible and in the presence of a live studio audience as that is the true essence of a Friends show.
Now after another year of waiting, Covid finally started to let down in the United States. Seizing the opportunity, shooting began in April 2021.
The Friends Are Coming
On April 11, the official Instagram page of the sitcom announced that filming was done! There is no release date as of yet, but it won’t be too long now, it will be available on HBO Max upon release. All of the six Friends, Courtney Cox, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matt Le Blanc, Mathew Perry, and Lisa Kudrow are part of the reunion, Ben Winston will be directing it. Marta Kauffman and other producers who played a huge part in the sitcom back in the day will also be taking part.
From multiple interviews and such we were able to get a grip on what the reunion will be like. First of all, it is not an episode of Friends, they won’t be playing the characters but will be appearing as themselves. There will be a ton of things to look forward to like never before seen behind the scenes, surprises, revisiting the set, interactions with each other, and so on. David Schwimmer stated in an interview with Graham Norton that there is a segment where all of the cast members read something, which could be anything. We hope it would be them reading iconic scenes from the original script.
To Keep Us Busy
With no official release date as of yet, there are plenty of things to keep us busy until we wait for the reunion. A mini-reunion of sorts took place in the 2020 Emmy’s when the cast of Friends, Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow made an appearance together via video call. Jimmy Kimmel, the host, was making a call to Jennifer at her house, and suddenly Courtney and Lisa pop in playing a bit where they say the trio has been living together since 1994. Jason Bateman also makes a cameo in the same call.
Back in 2016, a lot of stars gathered for an all-out tribute to TV director James Burrows who had at the time completed directing over 1000 episodes. Among those stars were five of our iconic Friends characters, excluding Chandler (Mathew Perry).
The six of them got on stage and sat on a couch, just like old times, and talked about their experience with the director. It isn’t the Friends reunion we were hoping for, there weren’t any scripted jokes or fun moments, just the cast sharing their experiences. Laughs or not, the die-hard Friends fans in all of us were filled with emotion from just seeing five of the six people who filled our youth with laughter together once again.
Right now you can head on down to HBO Max to watch all of the seasons of Friends. This might be the perfect time to watch the whole thing once more, who are we kidding, we’re going to be watching friends again and again even if a reunion wasn’t happening.
All in all, we just can’t wait to see our favorite Friends make a comeback and it seems like they can’t as well! The main cast of Friends like Jennifer Aniston, and Lisa Kudrow have taken to interviews and social members to express the excitement and happiness to once again be a part of something that made them who they are today. Are you excited to watch these beloved characters come together once again? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below and make sure to follow The Nerd Stash for any updates!