Friends followers will need to have made the Vacation Armadillo’s good checklist this yr, as a result of that reunion particular we have been clamoring for through the years is lastly, formally occurring. TV Information couldn’t be any extra excited to verify that each one six stars of the hit NBC sitcom — Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc — will probably be becoming a member of forces for an unscripted occasion at HBO Max, the brand new WarnerMedia streaming service that may characteristic the sequence on its library.
HBO Max confirmed the news on Friday, with chief content material officer Kevin Reilly saying in a press release, “Guess you would name this the one the place all of them bought again collectively — we’re reuniting with David, Jennifer, Courteney, Matt, Lisa, and Matthew for an HBO Max particular that will probably be programmed alongside your entire Mates library. I grew to become conscious of Mates when it was within the very early levels of improvement after which had the chance to work on the sequence a few years later and have delighted in seeing it catch on with viewers era after era. It faucets into an period when buddies – and audiences – gathered collectively in actual time and we expect this reunion particular will seize that spirit, uniting unique and new followers.”
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The particular will probably be filmed on the unique soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros. lot and will probably be directed by Ben Winston with Mates government producers Kevin Vivid, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane returning to government produce the particular. All six stars are additionally government producers on the particular, and Emma Conway and James Longman are additionally co-executive producers.
HBO Max will make the particular accessible to subscribers, alongside all 236 episodes of the sequence, when the streaming service launches in Might. To have fun, TBS can be airing each episode of Mates on the community weekdays from 10 a.m. to Four p.m. and livestreaming on the TBS app. They’ve additionally created an expertise providing one of the best of the sequence on their digital platforms.
The forged additionally introduced the particular on their social media pages Friday.
The occasion was first rumored to be in the works back in November 2019. In January, Reilly clarified to reporters that it was still a “maybe” at that time, however in February, the six stars of Friends were reported to have reached a deal with the WarnerMedia streaming service to star within the reunion particular. They may reportedly earn round $3-Four million apiece for his or her look. Now, to paraphrase a line from Joey Tribbiani, all of the secrecy is over, and the Mates reunion particular is so a go. Let’s get bamboozled, folks! Check out our wishlist for the reunion special right here.
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Mates will probably be a marquee component of HBO Max’s library when it launches in Might. The streaming service nabbed the rights to host the hit NBC sitcom in July 2019, thereby ending its five-year streaming run at Netflix. Netflix beforehand forked over $100 million to maintain the present on its service for one more yr, after its unique deal expired on the finish of 2018.
HBO Max’s occasion will mark the primary time all six stars of Mates have reunited on display because the sitcom’s 1994-2004 run on NBC. They’ve, nonetheless, crossed paths in different types because the present went off the air. Upon becoming a member of Instagram in 2019, Jennifer Aniston shared a rare photo of the Central Perk crew all together again, which was the primary time followers had seen all of them collectively in years. In 2016, five of the cast members joined forces to have fun James Burrows, who directed the pilot and a number of other different Mates episodes and helped to shape the mood and themes of the present on the outset. Nevertheless, Matthew Perry was unavailable for that occasion, which saved it from being an entire forged reunion.
A number of of the celebs have additionally appeared on each other’s post-Friends projects, and some of them even bought collectively for discuss present mini-revivals on Ellen and Jimmy Kimmel Live. However this long-anticipated reunion brings all of them again collectively on display eventually.
Mates and the unscripted forged reunion particular will probably be accessible to stream on HBO Max when the service launches in Might.
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David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, and Lisa Kudrow, Mates