‘Friends’ Reunion Special for HBO Max Likely to Film at End of Summer
Taping of the “Friends” reunion special for HBO Max, which had been delayed indefinitely due to the coronavirus-induced shutdown of all television and film production, will potentially be completed by the end of the summer, said WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer chairman Bob Greenblatt during the NAB Show Executive Leadership Summit, produced in partnership with the Variety Streaming Room. The hotly anticipated reunion of the six “Friends” cast members was originally slated to be available on the WarnerMedia-backed streaming service at launch on May 27.
“At first we thought, shows will be delayed for a month or two at the most, and now it seems like it’s going to be far longer than that,” Greenblatt told Variety‘s Cynthia Littleton on Monday. “We’re holding out for being able to get this special done hopefully by the end of the summer, if the stars align and hopefully we can get back into production. We do think there’s a value to having a big, raucous live audience to experience these six great friends coming back together and we didn’t want to just suddenly do it on a web call with, you know, six squares and people shooting from their kitchens and bedrooms.”
But Greenblatt did say that if the current stay-at-home conditions continue indefinitely, that the reunion “may go more to a virtual route, if it is delayed too long.”
“But at the moment, we’re trying to look to the future and get this thing done in a more conventional way, and I think it’s worth waiting for,” he said. “We would have loved to have had it on [HBO Max on] Day One, but at the same time, if we can get it launched in the fall, I think it’ll be something that we can have the audience really looking forward to as well.”
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer were all scheduled to reunite for the unscripted reunion. The special was set to film on Stage 24, the original “Friends” soundstage on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 49 | May 22, 2020 2:55 PM
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Whew! Could we BE anymore relieved?
by Anonymous | reply 1 | May 11, 2020 9:09 PM
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I think it’s insane that they’re being paid $2 million dollars each for this. What are we going to learn that we don’t already know? Are we going to hear about the time that James Burrows took them all to Vegas? Or when they got mobbed by the paparazzi after the Entertainment Weekly photo shoot? Maybe about how Jennifer Aniston ordered the same salad every day?
They should’ve just made it a stand-alone reunion episode of them meeting up for the first time in a while. How many retrospectives have they done already?
by Anonymous | reply 2 | May 11, 2020 9:10 PM
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Most. Overrated. Show. Ever.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | May 11, 2020 9:12 PM
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They should have done it quarantine style, via Zoom.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | May 11, 2020 9:45 PM
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It's a show I'll watch if it's on, and it's entertaining enough, but the rabid fandom I just don't get. It was apparently worth $100 million for Netflix to have it for one year.
This is sweet, though.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 5 | May 19, 2020 9:58 PM
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What this show needs is a Kim Cattrall.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | May 19, 2020 10:02 PM
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R5 the show brings in over $1 billion a year for WB, still. The cast gets paid $20 million a year off of residuals.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | May 19, 2020 10:04 PM
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Friends sells great outside of the US because everyone outside of the US wants to be cool Americans.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | May 19, 2020 10:06 PM
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Millions of people love Friends and will tune in to this reunion show. Of course the actors should benefit financially just like the producers and network will benefit financially.
I'd be interested in a no-holds-barred tell-all story of the behind the scenes action including the tension associated with their salary negotiations. Apparently, some really dirty shit went down but everyone is staying quiet about it--for now.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | May 19, 2020 10:07 PM
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R7 I totally believe that, it's just NUTS
by Anonymous | reply 10 | May 19, 2020 10:07 PM
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There is not a single hour on this planet that Friends is not in TV somewhere. It’s the most successful American TV series ever outside of the states.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | May 19, 2020 10:09 PM
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The UK is the #1 market for Friends. They’ll make shitloads there with this. In the US it’ll be a minor hit.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | May 19, 2020 10:18 PM
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[quote] Millions of people love Friends and will tune in to this reunion show.
You need to be an HBO Max subscriber, dear. It remains to be seen if anyone will be willing to pay $15 dollars a month for it.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | May 19, 2020 10:19 PM
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[quote]It’s the most successful American TV series ever outside of the states.
Define "successful" "American" "series" and "outside of the states."
When Will & Grace do a tribute show for Friends, then we'll talk.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | May 19, 2020 10:25 PM
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[quote]I'd be interested in a no-holds-barred tell-all story of the behind the scenes action including the tension associated with their salary negotiations. Apparently, some really dirty shit went down but everyone is staying quiet about it--for now.
Are you kidding? NBC Legal has their mouths sewn shut permanently. Their NDAs are tighter than Matt Bomer's ass.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | May 19, 2020 10:28 PM
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It’s the most watched American show in the world ever. No other show brings in $1 billion annually 20 years later. That is unheard of.
I read recently that How I Met Your Mother is huge in foreign markets also and brings in crazy money from its foreign market.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | May 19, 2020 10:31 PM
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They leave it any longer and it'll probably be "The Matthew Perry Memorial Show".
by Anonymous | reply 17 | May 19, 2020 10:32 PM
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I remember when NBC threatened to fire Matt Leblanc because he gained weight during one of the earlier or mid seasons. They put it in his contract he had to stay under a certain weight lol
by Anonymous | reply 18 | May 19, 2020 10:36 PM
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“What this show needs is a Kim Cattrall.”
I can offer that same vibe — but I’d be swinging the penis Samantha always acted like she had.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | May 19, 2020 10:41 PM
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[quote]I remember when NBC threatened to fire Matt Leblanc because he gained weight during one of the earlier or mid seasons. They put it in his contract he had to stay under a certain weight lol
And yet Matthew Perry was so fat you wondered who he was hiding under his clothes.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | May 19, 2020 10:45 PM
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R20 Perry’s character wasn’t supposed to be a ladies man. That is why. Joey always gets women and sleeps around. No one is gonna believe a fat Joey is pulling beautiful women left and right.
Chandler is the opposite
by Anonymous | reply 21 | May 19, 2020 10:47 PM
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How much is Perry's colostomy bag getting paid?
by Anonymous | reply 22 | May 19, 2020 10:56 PM
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Nothing will be filming until we have a vaccine. Sorry, ladies.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | May 19, 2020 10:56 PM
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I wish this would have happened a few years ago when both Matts were looking better, now both are them are ehhh
by Anonymous | reply 24 | May 20, 2020 1:20 PM
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This will be a disaster or at best a sad shadow of the original show. The actors don’t look the same, their voices won’t quite all sound the same (age), the cute things that a 35 year old could do at the end of the show, won’t be cute in a 50 something year old actor. Gilmore Girls was a prime example of this. Time reveals one’s flaws. Fan should just let this go instead of setting themselves up for disappointment.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | May 20, 2020 1:36 PM
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I could be the wacky downstairs neighbor. With cats.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | May 20, 2020 1:52 PM
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[quote] No other show brings in $1 billion annually 20 years later.
It makes millions not billion and The Simpsons makes more.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | May 20, 2020 2:01 PM
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Maybe they'll talk about all their interesting film projects - Scream 5, She's Still The One, Fools Continue To Rush In, Ed: Going Bananas, Romy & Michelle's College Reunion
by Anonymous | reply 28 | May 20, 2020 2:30 PM
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R25 they wont be in character, its just the cast talking about the show and stuff
by Anonymous | reply 29 | May 20, 2020 2:39 PM
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R27 it brings in $1 billion annually.
The Simpsons doesn’t bring in more. It’s barely even played on syndication anymore
by Anonymous | reply 30 | May 20, 2020 2:58 PM
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Family Guy and American Dad are bigger than The Simpsons now
by Anonymous | reply 32 | May 20, 2020 4:14 PM
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I’m sure everyone involved with the Simpsons are fine with that. The creator is absolutely loaded. The voice actors hit a goldmine that still gives them work today.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | May 20, 2020 6:03 PM
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[quote] [R27] it brings in $1 billion annually. The Simpsons doesn’t bring in more. It’s barely even played on syndication anymore
Link and The Simpsons is everywhere. You’re on crack.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | May 20, 2020 7:21 PM
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[quote] Family Guy and American Dad are bigger than The Simpsons now
lol, honey, sit the fuck down. You’re too stupid for words. No one is watching those shows. One of them was thrown onto TBS. The Simpsons has 30 years worth of episodes and a legacy that is unsurpassed. You must be posting from 2006, the last time either of those shows were popular or even talked about.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | May 20, 2020 7:23 PM
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The Simpsons is a $20 billion dollar franchise. Congratulations to Friends though. Europeans sure do love crap.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | May 20, 2020 7:28 PM
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The Simpsons was the fifth most profitable show still currently on; Family Guy #9.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 37 | May 20, 2020 7:30 PM
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Seinfeld is the most profitable television show in history.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 38 | May 20, 2020 7:31 PM
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R38 Seinfeld is not huge overseas.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | May 20, 2020 7:35 PM
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It will do very well when it comes out. It will remind people of a time before the virus, when "Friends" biggest problem was whether the gang would find out Monica and Chandler sleeping together.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | May 20, 2020 7:49 PM
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In 2015 the most watched American series still on the air in ...
South Korea was “Scandal”
South Africa was “Modern Family”
Romania was “CSI: NY”
Hungary was “The Mentalist”
Russia was “Game of Thrones”
Spain was “The Flash”
Canada was “The Big Bang Theory”
Italy was “The Bold and the Beautiful”
United Kingdom was “Humans”
Germany was “CSI”
Brazil was “The Blacklist”
Poland was “ The Book of Negroes”
Sweden was “Mr. Robot”
Argentina was “The Simpsons”
France was “Forever”, a series canceled in the states by the end of season 1, but was huge in France.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | May 20, 2020 8:00 PM
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The Simpsons, Seinfeld and Friends are cash cows. It is true that Friends is huge overseas, arguably more popular than in the US. The Brits are especially obsessed with the show. Which of the three shows has brought the most revenue after all these years is anyone’s guess, especially when you take into consideration merchandise.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | May 20, 2020 11:56 PM
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I just remember the "meltdown" when it wa announced it was leaving Netflix. If you love it that much, people...
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 47 | May 21, 2020 12:30 AM
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My Target sells the entire series on DVD for $50
by Anonymous | reply 48 | May 21, 2020 12:33 AM
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I bought it when it left Netflix. I’m not doing the bullshit of chasing the show down to whatever doomed streaming service has it every few years. And I’m certainly not playing fifteen dollars a month for fucking HBO Max.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | May 22, 2020 2:55 PM
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