Development

In November 2019, Warner Bros. Television was developing a Friends reunion special for their new streaming service, HBO Max. The special would feature the whole cast and co-stars.^[4] In February 2020, an unscripted Friends was commissioned with all original cast and co-creators returning.^[5][6][7]

The special was executive produced by the show's co-creators, Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, and the show's main cast, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer. Ben Winston directed and executive produced through Fulwell 73. Warner Bros. Unscripted & Alternative Television (later Warner Horizon Unscripted Television) was also involved in the production of the special.^[5]

Filming

The special was filmed in Burbank, California, at Stage 24, also known as "The Friends Stage" at Warner Bros. Studios, where Friends had been filmed since its second season.^[6][8] The filming of the reunion began in April 2021. Filming of the special was delayed twice, first in March 2020,^[9] and second in August 2020.

The trivia game and talk show segments of the special, hosted by James Corden, were filmed in front of a live audience of "mostly union extras”. Representatives for Perry clarified that he had an emergency dental surgery prior to filming when viewers were concerned about his appearance.

In an episode of Rob Lowe's podcast released in January 2021, Kudrow said she had only seen the rebuilt Central Perk set and filmed "a little something" which eventually became Lady Gaga's appearance recorded in November 2020. Director and producer Ben Winston stated the cast trivia game segment was being planned out in March 2021 while producing The Late Late Show and the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Main cast

• Jennifer Aniston
• Courteney Cox
• Lisa Kudrow
• Matt LeBlanc
• Matthew Perry
• David Schwimmer

Original show producers

• Kevin S. Bright
• David Crane
• Marta Kauffman

Host

• James Corden

Guest stars

The four 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 and comedian Bob Newhart were cut from the special and used as bonus clips in the HBO Max release.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of 57 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "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."^[25] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the special a score of 65 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[26]

Ratings and viewership

According to a TV analytics provider TVision, Friends: The Reunion was watched by an estimated 29% of U.S. streaming households on May 27.^[27] It also revealed that a significant part of its audience were people between the ages of 35 and 54 (50%) and female (55.4%).^[27] According to the analytics company Antenna, the special also drove more subscription to HBO Max in its opening weekend in the U.S. than any of Warner Bros.' new movies in 2021.^[28] In the United Kingdom, Friends: The Reunion aired on Sky One and became the channel's most watched programme in its history, with 5.3 million viewers tuning in.^[29]

Accolades