They’ll be there for you… maybe…
Twitter was set alight this morning at the rumours of a FRIENDS reunion special to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show, originally revealed by The Hollywood Reporter. The exclusive piece suggested that all six original stars, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, as well as series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman, were in negotiations with HBO Max (who bought the rights to FRIENDS from Netflix for a whopping $425 million earlier this year) for an unscripted reunion panel – but the article stressed that “a deal is far from done”.
It went on to note that even if a deal could be negotiated with all six of the cast, and the creators, then the next challenge would be working around everyone’s busy schedules. Despite Netflix holding countless films and TV series on their platform, many of them successful Netflix originals, FRIENDS has been the most watched streaming show in the UK for two years running, just proving the lasting popularity and impact of the series.
Reactions to the possible reunion were mixed, as most of the cast have previously stated that a revival of/reunion for the iconic sit-com would only ruin what they, and most viewers, consider to be a perfect ending. Some Twitter users were crying “tears of excitement” over the news, while others told HBO Max to “keep it”. If the recent unscripted Inbetweeners reunion is anything to go by, maybe the FRIENDS cast and creators would be wise to avoid this idea like the plague; on the other hand, maybe this could be what we’ve all been waiting for for fifteen years now. Could this be any more confusing?
Words by James Nash