Friends: The Reunion

Friends: The Reunion is a 2021 reunion special of the American television sitcom Friends. The special was hosted by James Corden and executive produced by the show's cocreators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, Kevin S. Bright, the show's main cast, and Ben Winston (who also directed the special). 
The special sees the main cast revisit the sets of the original show (such as the Friends' apartments, the Central Perk coffee shop, and the signature water fountain), meet with guests who appeared on the show as well as celebrity guests, do table reads and re-enactments of Friends episodes, and share behind-the-scenes footage. 
This also marked Matthew Perry's final on-screen appearance before his death in October 2023.
== Cast ==
=== Main cast ===
* Jennifer Aniston (who played Rachel Greene)
* Courteney Cox (who played Monica Geller)
* Lisa Kudrow (who played Phoebe Buffay)
* Matt LeBlanc (who played Joey Tribbiani)
* Matthew Perry (who played Chandler Bing)
* David Schwimmer (who played Ross Geller)
=== Original show producers ===
* Kevin S. Bright
* David Crane
* Marta Kauffman
=== Host ===
* James Corden
=== Guest stars ===
* David Beckham
* Justin Bieber (wearing Ross's Spud-nik costume)
* BTS
* Cindy Crawford (wearing Ross's leather pants and buttoned shirt)
* Cara Delevingne (wearing Rachel's maid of honor dress and Ross's Holiday Armadillo costume)
* Soleil Moon Frye (audience guest, who played Katie in "The One with the Girl Who Hits Joey")
* Elliott Gould (audience guest, who played Jack Geller)
* Kit Harington
* Lady Gaga (performing "Smelly Cat" with Kudrow, dressed as Phoebe, and referencing her role in A Star Is Born)
* Larry Hankin (trivia game guest, who played Mr. Heckles)
* Mindy Kaling
* Thomas Lennon (trivia game guest, who played Joey's identical hand twin)
* Christina Pickles (audience guest, who played Judy Geller)
* Tom Selleck (trivia game guest, who played Richard Burke)
* James Michael Tyler (cast interview guest on Zoom, who played Gunther)
* Maggie Wheeler (cast interview guest, who played Janice Litman-Goralnik)
* Reese Witherspoon (who played Jill Greene)
The three actors who portrayed the barbershop quartet in "The One With All the Jealousy" appeared in the trivia game segment. Show guest stars Danny DeVito, Ben Stiller, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Sean Penn were mentioned and shown via archive footage. Actor Paul Rudd briefly appeared in the series finale curtain call. Appearances by director James Burrows were cut from the special and used as bonus clips in the HBO Max release.
== Production ==
The Hollywood Reporter stated on November 12, 2019 that Warner Bros. Television was making the reunion and it would feature everyone back together.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/friends-reunion-special-works-at-hbo-max-1254331The 'unscripted' name did not turn up until February 21, 2020.https://pressroom.warnermediagroup.com/na/media-release/hbo-max/one-where-they-got-back-together
Executive producers for the show would be the entire main cast and creators, as well as Ben Winston, who would direct through Fulwell 73. Warner Brothers Television would also have a role in making it.
=== Filming ===
The episode was taped in LA on the Friends Stage (stage 24) of the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank. The stage had been used since 1995's season 2. Filming went underway in April 2021https://www.instagram.com/friends/?utm_source=ig_embedafter it was delayed twice (March 23, 2020 to August 2020). The iconic fountain from the opening credits is also supposed to appear.https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a36179284/friends-reunion-fountain-set/
=== More Information: ===
* Jennifer Aniston channeled her "Rachel" character during ithttps://www.instyle.com/celebrity/jennifer-aniston/jennifer-aniston-friends-reunion-turtleneck 
* Each one gave advice to their past selves (and agreed they should have done season 11)https://www.instyle.com/celebrity/jennifer-aniston/jennifer-aniston-friends-reunion-turtleneck
*PEOPLE Magazine released an exclusive inside story on the making of the reunion a week prior.https://people.com/tv/friends-reunion-exclusive-go-inside-the-emotional-hbo-max-special-with-the-6-stars/
== Release/Reception ==
The reunion special was originally set to be released with the launch of HBO Max on May 27, 2020, along with the 236 episodes of the original series that were available at launch; this was delayed a year later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2021, a teaser trailer was released announcing that the reunion special was scheduled to be released on May 27, 2021, on HBO Max. The HBO Max release includes five bonus clips that were cut from the special as extras.
The special was also released internationally simultaneously with the U.S. release on Crave in Canada, Sky One and NOW in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy, Foxtel Now and Binge in Australia, TVNZ 2 and TVNZ OnDemand in New Zealand, ZEE5 in India and Pakistan, OSN in the United Arab Emirates, HBO Go and HBO Asia in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong, HBO Nordic in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, HBO España in Spain and HBO Portugal in Portugal.
In China, the special was streamed on iQIYI, Youku and Tencent Video, although the scenes featuring Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and BTS have been removed. LGBTQ references and references to urine in the special were also removed. In Japan, the special was exclusively released on U-NEXT on May 31, 2021.
In Vietnam, the special was streamed on FPT Play and VieOn with Vietnamese subtitles being hardsubbed. In South Africa, the special was aired on MNET(DStv) on May 30, 2021, and was released for streaming on Showmax on May 31, 2021.
===Reception===
On Rotten Tomatoes, the special has an approval rating of 66% based on 44 reviews, with an average score of 6.7/10. The website's critics consensus is, "It may work best for die-hards, but when it cuts out the noise and focuses on the connections Friends: The Reunion is as warm and comforting as a night in the café."https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/friends_the_reunion On Metacritic, the special has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100 indicating "generally favorable reviews" based on 27 critics.https://www.metacritic.com/tv/friends-the-reunion/season-1
==Trailers==
File:Friends- The Reunion - Official Teaser - HBO Max|Official teaser
File:Friends reunion alternate.jpg|The promotional image
File:Friends- The Reunion - Official Trailer - HBO Max|Official trailer
==External Links==
*IMDB
*Wikipedia Article
*Watch (HBO MAX)
==Clips==
Various clips available from the special.
File:‘Friends’ Reunion- An Inside Look
File:Friends Reunion- Jennifer Aniston REACTS to Brad Pitt's Cameo
File:Friends REUNION- Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow Talk EMOTIONAL Return to Set
File:Friends REUNION- Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc Talk Nostalgia and HBO Max Special
File:Friends Reunion- Why the Cast Says They'll NEVER Reunite Again
File:Friends Reunion- Cast Reveals the One Thing They DIDN'T Love About Filming the Show
File:Friends Reunion- Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer Reveal REAL LIFE Crushes on Each Other
File:Friends- The Reunion - Full Episode - HBO Max
File:Friends- The Reunion - Rewatching the Series - HBO Max
File:Friends- The Reunion - Phoebe Finds Out - HBO Max
File:“Friends- The Reunion” Digital Red Carpet
File:Friends- The Reunion - Joey Trips - HBO Max
File:Matthew Perry's 'Friends' Reunion Behaviour
File:Best Moments From 'Friends- The Reunion'
File:See An Exclusive Clip From The ‘Friends’ Reunion
File:See An Exclusive Clip From The ‘Friends’ Reunion
File:4 can't-miss moments from the 'Friends' reunion
==References==
Category:Films
Category:Friends: The Reunion
Category:Friends
Category:Episodes
Category:Friends Episodes