HBO Max released the teaser of the reunion special episode of Friends, the popular American sitcom, on Thursday. The episode, titled, The One Where They Get Back Together, will premiere on May 27.
The 40-second-long teaser stars Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc, who will be reprising their roles from Friends.
According to a press release by the streaming service, the reunion special will premiere on the one-year anniversary of HBO Max’s launch, and the actors will be returning to the show’s original soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank in USA, for a “real-life unscripted celebration” of the show.
The episode will also feature special guests like David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin, Mindy Kaling, Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon (who earlier appeared as Aniston’s sister in Friends) and Malala Yousafzai.
The special will be directed by Ben Winston. He will also serve as executive producer of the episode along with Friends executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane. The reunion special will be backed by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Warner Horizon, Fulwell 73 Productions, Bright, Kauffman, and Crane.
The Friends actors will also serve as executive producers of the special along with Emma Conway, James Longman, and Stacey Thomas-Muir as co-executive producers.
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The Friends reunion special was among the several Hollywood productions which were hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The one-off unscripted special, which was announced by the streaming service in February 2020, was supposed to premiere in May that year. However, the filming was repeatedly delayed due to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown that halted several projects. In November 2020, Perry who plays Chandler Bing in the series announced that the filming will commence in March 2021. Subsequently, the shooting commenced in early April.
Friends aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The sitcom lasted 10 seasons and the series finale was watched by around 52.5 million viewers in the US, making it the fifth most-watched series finale in television history, and the most-watched television episode of the 2000s. The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards and won the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002 for season eight.
While HBO Max is not available in India, all 10 seasons of Friends are currently streaming on Netflix.
