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'Friends' Reunion Special Hopeful to Film by the End of Summer, According to WarnerMedia Exec

By Mae Harrington O'Neill

WarnerMedia exec says 'Friends' reunion special hopeful to film by the end of the summer.
WarnerMedia exec says 'Friends' reunion special hopeful to film by the end of the summer. / Getty Images/Getty Images

It was announced in November that the original six cast members of Friends—Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer—as well as series co-creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman, would film an unscripted reunion special for HBO Max. The special was set to premiere alongside the launch of the streaming service in May, with the platform also to be the exclusive service for all 10 seasons of the series.

However, it was then confirmed in April that the special would not be available when the service debuts, with filming being suspended due to safety concerns around the coronavirus pandemic. The special was set to film on the original Friends soundstage on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, CA. Could we be any more bummed at the delay?! Well, there is now some hope on the horizon.

According to Variety, taping of the show could be completed as early as this summer! WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer chairman Bob Greenblatt explained:

"At first we thought, shows will be delayed for a month or two at the most, and now it seems like it’s going to be far longer than that. We’re holding out for being able to get this special done hopefully by the end of the summer, if the stars align and hopefully we can get back into production. We do think there’s a value to having a big, raucous live audience to experience these six great friends coming back together and we didn’t want to just suddenly do it on a web call with, you know, six squares and people shooting from their kitchens and bedrooms."

Greenblatt added that the special could "go more to a virtual route" if stay-at-home conditions persist. "But at the moment, we’re trying to look to the future and get this thing done in a more conventional way, and I think it’s worth waiting for," he said. After more than a decade off the air, I'm more than happy to wait a few more months to see the Friends cast reunite and reminisce about a show that still has a huge impact!