Friends reunion – as it happened: How to watch, reactions, best moments and all the latest on HBO Max special
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, and Matthew Perry reunited for the first time in front of TV cameras
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
The Friends reunion has finally been released. Could we be anymore excited?
The long-awaited programme debuted on 27 May on HBO Max in the US, with UK viewers able to stream it on NOW. The special, titled Friends: The Reunion, also aired on Sky One.
Originally announced in 2020, the special was extensively delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Taping took place in April on the original Friends soundstage at the Warner Bros Studio lot in Burbank, California.
The show, which was hosted by James Corden, marked the first time all six original stars – Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, and Matthew Perry – reunited in front of television cameras.
A number of revelations were made during the episode including that David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston were “crushing” on each other during filming.
Mysteries were solved, such as the one surrounding the overhead beam in Monica’s apartment that suddenly disappears without explanation at some point in the series.
A host of guest stars joined in too, including a special duet performance of “Smelly Cat” by Lady Gaga and Kudrow. Reese Witherspoon, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, and BTS also made appearances, alongside Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Kit Harington, Mindy Kaling, and Malala Yousafzai.
Follow the release of the reunion special as it happened with our live blog:
While the Friends reunion includes a large group of guest stars, one of them isn’t scheduled to make an appearance: Paul Rudd, who brilliantly played Phoebe’s love interest Mike Hannigan in later seasons.
Fans were understandably disappointed to hear the news:
Friends fans are devastated that Paul Rudd isn’t appearing in reunion special
Unscripted HBO Max programme will feature main cast and celebrities such as David Beckham
We didn’t have a Friends-Saw crossover on our 2021 bingo cards, but why not?
If you’re based in the UK, here’s all the info you’ll need to watch the special. Hint: you’ll be able to stream it at the same time as US viewers if you want to, or you can watch it at a later time.
Several beloved guest stars are returning to the Friends set alongside the six protagonists, including James Michael Tyler (who played Gunther), Maggie Wheeler (who played Janice) and Tom Selleck (who played Richard).
Some other key players, however, aren’t scheduled to make an appearance. Here’s who will be missing from the special in the story below:
Who won’t be returning for the Friends reunion special?
Many of the show’s minor cast-members were omitted from the list of announced guests
Did you know Tom Hanks almost guest-starred on Friends?
The actor was offered the role of Sandy, the nanny hired by Ross and Rachel to look after their daughter Emma.
The part eventually went to Freddie Prinze Jr, for reasons explained in the story below:
Tom Hanks missed out on one of the most memorable Friends guest appearances
Actor was apparently unable to get away from a film he was working on
As a reminder, here are all the guest stars currently lined up for the Friends reunion:
Here’s a question many fans must be pondering: throughout the show’s 10-season run, did any of the case date each other?
Matthew Perry recently said that the six actors had a pact about not hooking up with their co-stars. Read all about it here:
Did any of the Friends cast date each other?
Matthew Perry recently claimed there was a ‘no hook-up’ policy in place for the Friends cast. Did they stick to it?
As someone who once ranked all of Friends’s 236 episodes and lived to tell the tale, I know from experience that people still have very strong feelings about the show and its many points of contention (Were Ross and Rachel on a break? Should Phoebe have ended up with David instead of Mike?).
It goes without saying, then, that people seldom agree on who the best friend was out of all six. Allow me, then, to present my highly scientific ranking of all six friends on Friends:
Friends characters ranked, from worst to best
Friends superfan Clémence Michallon once ranked every episode of the long-running sitcom – now it's time for the friends themselves
Stephen Colbert recently revealed he came close to appearing on Friends, but his audition wasn’t successful,
“I got called in, auditioned on the set and everything like that,” he told Lisa Kudrow in a recent interview.
Read all about his unlucky audition in the story below:
Stephen Colbert tells Lisa Kudrow he was rejected after an audition for Friends
Comments come ahead of the show’s highly anticipated reunion special next week
Let’s chat money! According to The Hollywood Reporter, each cast member will be paid between $2.5m (£1.77m) and $3m (£2.1m) for the hour-long special. But do you know how much each actor is worth?
Here’s the answer right here:
What are Friends stars’ net worth and how much are they getting paid for the reunion?
Each cast member will be paid between $2.5m and $3m for the hour-long special
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies