Yesterday in What Else?, I wrote that in Canada there wasn’t word yet on whether or not we’d be getting the Friends reunion. Today, super fresh, Crave has confirmed it: the Friends reunion will stream exclusively day and date a week from today on Thursday May 27th.
Friends was one of the major headlines yesterday with PEOPLE’s exclusive cover story featuring new photos and interviews with the cast leading up to the special, one of the most high profile releases for HBO Max. A trailer for the reunion also dropped, as it was revealed that James Corden is hosting part of the show, and a few guest appearances too.
Last week, when I posted about the reunion following the announcement of the guests who’d be showing up, I wondered how long the show would be, and whether or not those guests would take away from the time the audience would get with the OG6 because, really, individually they’re already headliners unto themselves (Jennifer Aniston in particular) and the six of them being together, given that it’s so rare, is such a big deal for so many people, I’m not sure you need any extras. And as you see, the trailer really does focus on the Friends – and their environment. They’ve recreated several sets from the series, like Monica and Rachel’s apartment, of course, and Chandler and Joey’s apartment, and the Central Perk. In these particular scenes, it seems as though it’s just the Friends who are present, without distractions, and this is definitely where I would weight it if I was producing. I quite enjoyed Lisa Kudrow recreating the scene where Phoebe finds out about Chandler and Monica. And I always enjoy a quiz.
As for the PEOPLE interview, I don’t know that there’s really anything all that noteworthy here – this is more a reach-out to exactly the demographic they want to connect with, given what must be overlap between the PEOPLE subscriber-base and those who came of age during the Friends era. And it’s not like they would drop anything all that exclusive since they just spent however long filming a special where they’re supposed to be putting it all out there. That said, I did appreciate Lisa Kudrow once again for letting us know that she’s the kind of person who saves her security pass and brings them to the reunion because I’m the same, I save all my lanyards, going back 15 years now. Practically every single credential I’ve ever had is stored in a box because I like playing a game where I try to take the photo in exactly the same pose with the same expression. It’s fun to look back on them and compare.
Just had a thought: can you imagine if Brad Pitt shows up? Tom Selleck and Maggie Wheeler who played Janice make appearances but they had recurring roles. Brad Pitt was a one episode and done situation. Still, it’s exactly the kind of thing I would keep secret so that social media explodes when the episode starts streaming and other people rush to join the party.
Anyway, I’m curious as to how many of you will be watching the Friends reunion next week and how much of a priority it is. Like will you get on it right away? Or will you wait until some time on the weekend? Basically, selfishly, I’m trying to decide when I have to write about it – immediately next Friday? Or can it wait? Let me know, thanks!
