It’s the comeback of the decade (yes, we’re only three months in), so what’s in store for the Friends reunion?
The special’s on… but what happens next?
We love a big Instagram reveal – but six simultaneous posts released to announce the biggest telly comeback of our lifetime is unprecedented. Unsurprisingly, the world had a collective coronary last week, after the Friends cast made our wishes come true and confirmed that they would be reuniting.
Posting on social media, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross and Joey (OK, the lesser-known alter-egos of the actors who play them) shared a classic photo of the gang (apart from Matt Le Blanc, who jokingly posted the wrong pic) alongside the immortal line, “It’s happening.” Soon enough, HBO announced that the six stars will be reuniting for an unscripted special in May. Cue mass hysteria.
But while the news was met with all the fanfare of a national holiday – not least because it proved that the world’s most famous on-screen besties were still as united as ever – we’re told that there’s still a bit of apprehension behind the scenes. Apparently, each actor had their own reservations about signing up and, even though they’re all on board, there’s still some lingering tension. And that’s before they even get talking about what to do after the special has aired.
“The one-off show is on, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is up for a full reboot,” says an HBO insider. “This is basically a trial run. A few of them are keen for an entire series, but the others are anxious. Lisa [Kudrow] has been pushing for this for years and Jen [Aniston] and Courteney [Cox] are all for it, too, even though they don’t need the money. But Matt Perry and David [Schwimmer] needed convincing, and Matt
Leblanc in particular is worried about getting typecast again. Ultimately, the money’s too much to resist, plus the opportunity to give the fans what they want. At this point, everyone’s cautiously optimistic.”
It’s been 16 years since the Friends finale aired – which makes it precisely 16 years since fans started praying for a reunion. For a long time, it seemed our hopes would never be realised, but last October, the rumour mill went into overdrive, after Jennifer joined Instagram and subsequently broke the internet by posting a photo of the big six together, alongside the caption, “And now we’re Instagram FRIENDS too.” Since then, the gang have been continuously teasing us with various snaps of mini-reunions – before hitting the nuclear button last week with their ground-breaking reveal. According to insiders, each actor is set to make £2million each for the one-off special, which is just a taster of what they could rake in if they decide on a full-on reboot. Whether that happens or not is still up for debate, but needless to say, we couldn’t be more excited. ■