David Farnor | On 22, May 2021

Friends: The Reunion officially has a UK TV air date, with Sky and NOW becoming the UK home for the one-off special.

The series, which followed six 20-somethings hanging out in a New York coffee house (Chandler, Monica, Joey, Phoebe, Rachel and Ross), has enthralled viewers for decades since it first debuted back in 1994. After it went off air in 2004, fans have clamoured for a chance to see Matthew Perry, Courtney Cox, Matt Le Blanc, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer together again, but the cast and creators repeatedly refused that a scripted revival would ever take place – although a mini-reunion did take place in 2016 with five of the six stars (excluding Perry) participating in a look back at the work of NBC director and producer James Burrows.

Now, however, Warner is bringing the gang back together again for an exclusive for its subscription service HBO Max. That’s all well and good for viewers in the US, but now, UK audiences have got a way to watch the reunion, with Sky One set to air the special on Thursday 27th May, the same day as its US broadcast.

Friends: The Reunion will air at 8pm on Sky One on Thursday 27th May – and will be available on-demand from 8.02am on that day.

Don’t have Sky? You can also stream it live and on-demand legally on NOW, which currently costs £9.99 a month with no contract and a 7-day free trial. To watch the original series Friends, meanwhile, you’ll need Netflix UK, which costs £9.99 a month for its standard plan – and, for Sky customers, is also available together with Sky TV for £25 a month.

The anniversary will see all six stars return to the iconic comedy’s original soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros Studio lot in Burbank for a real-life unscripted celebration of the beloved show. Special guests will include 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 and Malala Yousafzai.

Ben Winston directed the special and executive produced along with “Friends” executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane. 

 

Friends: The Reunion is available on Sky One from 27th May. Don’t have Sky? You can also stream it on NOW, for £9.99 a month with no contract. For the latest Sky TV packages and prices, click the button below.

 

Teaser: HBO Max unveils guest line-up for Friends: The Reunion

14th May 202

Friends: The Reunion is actually happening, with HBO Max officially confirming the details for its new special episode, aka. the one where they got back together again.

The series, which followed six 20-somethings hanging out in a New York coffee house (Chandler, Monica, Joey, Phoebe, Rachel and Ross), has enthralled viewers for decades since it first debuted back in 1994. After it went off air in 2004, fans have clamoured for a chance to see Matthew Perry, Courtney Cox, Matt Le Blanc, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer together again, but the cast and creators repeatedly refused that a scripted revival would ever take place – although a mini-reunion did take place in 2016 with five of the six stars (excluding Perry) participating in a look back at the work of NBC director and producer James Burrows.

When Warner launched HBO Max in the USA, though, that all changed, with the new streaming service keen to leverage any exclusive titles it had – last year, for example, it streamed a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion. The Friends reunion was intended to be a launch title for HBO Max, but after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted plans, the special will instead debut on the one-year anniversary of HBO Max’s US launch: Thursday 27th May.

The anniversary will see all six stars return to the iconic comedy’s original soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros Studio lot in Burbank for a real-life unscripted celebration of the beloved show. Special guests will include 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 and Malala Yousafzai.

Ben Winston directed the special and executive produced along with Friends executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane. The cast negotiated together during the show’s original run to earn $1 million per episode. They took the same approach again this time, reportedly earning between $2.5 million and $3 million for the special.

The main questions fans now have, however, is when the special will be available in the UK – if ever. In the case of French Prince’s reunion, that’s now available on BBC iPlayer and Sky Comedy, which both acquired the rights to the programme last year. In the case of the Parks and Recreation reunion, that’s on NBC’s US streaming service Peacock but never did arrive on UK screens.

Friends, at present, is available on Netflix in the UK, which means it could even end up there in the near future. For now, it’s the one where we have to wait and see. Watch this space for confirmation as soon as we have it.

 

Friends reunion officially happening for HBO Max

22nd February 2020

The much-mooted and long-awaited Friends finally has the go-ahead, with the project officially on the works at HBO Max.

The one with the six 20-somethings hanging out in a New York coffee house – Chandler, Monica, Joey, Phoebe, Rachel and Ross – has enthralled viewers for decades since it first debuted back in 1994. Since it went off air in 2004, fans have clamoured for a chance to see Matthew Perry, Courtney Cox, Matt Le Blanc, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer together again, but The One Where The Cast Of Friends Get Back Together has remained an elusive idea.

The cast and creators repeatedly refused that a scripted revival would ever take place, although a mini-reunion took place in 2016 with five of the six stars (excluding Perry) participating in a look back at the work of NBC director and producer James Burrows. Now, after THR reported talks were underway last year, the project is officially a go.

The news comes at a time when Friends has been generating a number of headlines, not only for celebrating its 25th anniversary last year but also because the series left Netflix US at the end of 2019 – a move prompted by Warner keeping the rights to itself so it can offer it as an exclusive on HBO Max, its new streaming service that launched in May.

It is no coincidence, then, as HBO Max looks to compete with Netflix, NBC’s Peacock, Disney+ and more, that Warner has given the green light to the reunion, and convinced the rest of the team to take part. The six stars, plus creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman, will all be present at the one-off special, which will be filmed on Stage 24 of the Warner lot, where the show was filmed. It will, crucially, be unscripted.

“Guess you could call this the one where they all got back together — we are reuniting with David, Jennifer, Courteney, Matt, Lisa and Matthew for an HBO Max special that will be programmed alongside the entire Friends library,” said Kevin Reilly, chief content officer at HBO Max and president, TBS, TNT and truTV, in a statement. “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.”

The cast negotiated together during the show’s original run to earn $1 million per episode. They took the same approach again this time, reportedly earning between $2.5 million and $3 million for the special. Ben Winston will direct the special and exec-produce alongside Friends veterans Kevin Bright, Kauffman and Crane. Warner Bros. Unscripted & Alternative TV are producing, alongside Fulwell 73 Productions. All six stars will also exec produce, with Emma Conway and James Longman on board as co-exec producers.

The result will be a high-profile TV event for HBO Max, echoing the strategy taken by Disney to launch Disney+ with Star Wars series The Mandalorian, a new and exclusive original based on a much-loved franchise.

With Warner and Sky – including HBO – recently extending and deepening their partnership, and with Sky recently launching Sky Comedy as a home for US comedy from NBC (also owned by Sky’s parent company Comcast) and others, the odds on Sky becoming HBO Max’s arm in the UK are high. Nonetheless, stay tuned for official confirmation where the Friends reunion will be available in the UK.

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