by The Cowl Editor on March 5, 2020
Arts & Entertainment
by: Madison Palmieri ’22 A&E Staff
As the hit sitcom Friends experiences a resurgence in popularity thanks to the rise of streaming services such as Netflix, one question consistently plagues the mind of its fans: will the show ever have a reunion?
In an era of reboots and remakes of beloved shows, it is only natural to wonder if the cast of such an iconic series will ever be reunited. In the past, when asked about the possibility of a reunion, the six main cast members responded with a variety of answers.
In a 2018 interview, Jennifer Aniston optimistically suggested that “anything is a possibility.” On the other hand, in 2017, Matthew Perry stated, “I have this nightmare that we do Friends again and nobody cares. We do a whole series, we come back, and nobody cares about it. So if anybody asks me, I’m gonna say no. The thing is: we ended on such a high. We can’t beat it. Why would we go and do it again?”
Thus, the possibility of a reunion of any sort, whether it be a new series or a one-time special, was always uncertain—until last week.
On Friday, February 21, the main cast members took to Instagram to share the news that a reunion would, indeed, be coming soon. Featuring the caption “It’s happening,” most of the cast posted a throwback picture from the series’ original run, tagging their fellow castmates as well as HBO Max, the new service that will stream the reunion.
The special, as well as the entire series, will be available to viewers once the service debuts and is set to be filmed on Stage 24 in the Warner Bros. Studio lot, also known as the Friends soundstage.
In a statement released last week, HBO Max’s chief content officer, Kevin Reilly, remarked, “You could call this the one where they all got back together.” He continued, saying, “I became aware of Friends when it was in the very early stages of development and then had the opportunity to work on the series many years later and have delighted in seeing it catch on with viewers generation after generation. It taps into an era when friends—and audiences—gathered together in real time, and we think this reunion special will capture that spirit, uniting original and new fans.”
Indeed, fans are already enthusiastic about what is surely one of the most highly anticipated entertainment events of the year. “I’m really excited for it! I can’t wait to see what happens since it’s unscripted,” exclaimed Caroline Cahill ‘22. “I haven’t watched Friends a lot since it left Netflix, and this reunion is definitely long overdue.”
Since HBO Max is set to launch in May of 2020, there is not too long of a wait in store and with it will come an unforgettable experience for Friends fans everywhere.