'Friends Reunion' To Air On May 27th

The release date for the "Friends" reunion special has been set: Thursday, May 27th. The episode was supposed to premiere on HBO Max in May 2020, but it was postponed due to the pandemic. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it will feature all six original cast members as well as guest stars Malala Yousafzai, Lady Gaga, and BTS.

"Friends" was originally released on Netflix, but HBO paid an eye-watering $425 million for the distribution rights. HBO Max appears to be attempting to establish itself as the go-to subscription service for nostalgia from the 1990s. It's also the online site of shows like "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Friends," as well as films like "The Matrix" and "Pulp Fiction."

HBO previously stated that the show would feature the original cast members reuniting on the show's sets as themselves "to reminisce," emphasizing that "this is not a new, original episode of the series."

David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin, Mindy Kaling, Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon, and Malala Yousafzai will be among the guests, according to HBO.

After years of the cast denying the show would return after it went off the air in 2004, the "Friends" reunion special was first announced in February 2020, with the show's original stars announcing on Instagram: "It's real." The special was initially scheduled to film in late March 2020 and premiere with HBO Max but was postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

HBO Max debuted as yet another high-profile digital channel in the online video streaming industry to compete with Netflix. HBO Max, like Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, and NBCUniversal's Peacock, hopes that its exclusive combination of series, movies, and originals will pique audiences' interest.

For those who were fans of the series, it's common knowledge that each episode of "Friends" starts with "The One." Fittingly, this reunion is named "The One Where They Got Back Together." Check out this teaser video released by HBO Max!