Friends Reunion: HBO Max Delays Special Yet Again

When they said “no one told you life was gonna be this way,” were they specifically talking about the pandemic? Since things started to shut down back in March, many productions have been put on hold, including the long-awaited Friends reunion. We knew back in April that the special wouldn’t be a part of HBO Max’s launch, but it was revealed last month that they would shoot in August. Unfortunately, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news today that the reunion has been put on hold yet again.

Due to the pandemic, filming has been postponed, but no new date has been set. “You’re asking me to extrapolate what the conditions in L.A. are going to be in August, and that’s a fool’s errand,” Sarah Aubrey, HBO Max’s head of original content, told The Hollywood Reporter back in June.

Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay on the hit sitcom, also spoke to THR about the special and explained why it won’t be on Zoom like so many other reunions we’ve seen lately. “We haven’t all been in the same room in front of people — I mean, we have privately once many years ago but that’s it. The whole point of this is to be in the same room. That hasn’t changed. And HBO Max is being phenomenally patient and understanding,” Kudrow explained.

Kudrow will be joined by Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and Matthew Perry for the special along with series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman. The actors reveal that a “live-audience component” is in the cards for the special, but considering current standards for filming shows in California, it’s unclear when they’ll be able to assemble the cast of Friends and an audience to watch.

LeBlanc previously appeared on an episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show (filmed prior to the production shutdown) and opened up about the project referring to it as “the six of us together talking about the good old days.” The actor also said “we got the band back together without the instruments.”

Earlier this summer it was revealed that Cox was actually a motivating factor for her co-stars to sign on for the special with the entire cast meeting at her Malibu beach house to hash it all out. The supposed reunion dinner was probably supposed to be a night for reminiscing, but things quickly took shape. WarnerMedia executives had discussed the plans with Cox earlier that day. Once they laid out their vision for the service, they let the cozy atmosphere and the power of nostalgia do the rest.

All 236 episodes of Friends are available now on HBO Max.