When HBO announced that the Friends Reunion cast will reunite for a special episode in 2020, fans went crazy. It had been sixteen years since we last saw the likes of Ross, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, and Chandler and we were all eager to see how our favorite group of friends Reunion had moved on with our lives.
With the cast notoriously difficult to get a hold of, how did this special become a reality?
The show’s cast reuniting for a special was always on the cards for quite some time but the streaming wars that started in 2019 put this momentum into hyperdrive. HBO, in competition with Netflix and Amazon, wanted to launch its own streaming service and thus, the company thought that a Friends Reunion special would be a perfect product to launch the new streamer. However, the coronavirus pandemic put a stop to all such plans and HBOmax launched in late 2020 without the Friends Reunion special anyway.
As covid subsided, taping of the special started in secret in early 2021. This special episode, titled ‘Friends: The Reunion’ finally premiered on HBOmax on 27 May 2021 and can best be described as an interesting experiment that balances fan expectations with script limitations. The entire episode is basically a 100-minute interview with the cast with a bit of fun and games thrown into the mix for added entertainment.
Most of the runtime is taken by the host James Corden asking the cast several questions that ranged from funny to cringy. Some famous members of the supporting cast of the show; showed up as well to add flavor to the interviews. Amongst these are fan-favorite Janice, Monica’s old flame Richard and Ross’s parents. Gunther, the owner of the coffee shop, also returns via video link.
Other than this, there is footage of the cast rediscovering the original set of the show, noting easter eggs as well as pieces of trivia in the process that will enthrall die-hard fans of the show.
Which celebrities make a cameo in this television special?
In addition, celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Cara Delevigne, and BTS appear as well. One of the most well-known celebrity cameos is that of Lady Gaga singing the iconic ‘Smelly Cat’ song with Lisa Kudrow. Kit Harrington shows up as well to explain his favorite episode of Friends Reunion as does English footballer David Beckham.
Fans of the classic show may be disappointed that instead of a proper episode where the cast played their original characters, we got a 100-minute interview with celebrity cameos. Nevertheless, it was great to see the original cast back together again after so long. Even though this television special falls short in capturing the magic of the 10 seasons of Friends, it can be best viewed as an epilogue to the iconic show that lets us witness how Ross, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey and Chandler were doing after twenty years.