Friends reunion delayed to 2021, says star Matthew Perry

HBO Max’s unscripted special has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic

A planned Friends reunion special has been delayed to 2021, according to Matthew Perry.

The actor, who portrayed Chandler Bing throughout the sitcom’s 10 seasons, made the announcement on Twitter on Thursday.

“Friends reunion being rescheduled for the beginning of March,” he wrote. “Looks like we have a busy year coming up. And that's the way I like it!”

The Independent has contacted HBO Max for more information.

The Friends reunion, an unscripted special, was announced in February this year and was originally supposed to be available at the launch of HBO Max in May.

However, the coronavirus pandemic has delayed production on the episode, which had been pushed back indefinitely. 

The special will mark the first time that all six stars – Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and Perry, are reunited in front of the cameras.

A partial reunion took place in 2016 without Perry.

In May this year, Bob Greenblatt, the chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment (HBO Max’s parent company), made the case against a virtual reunion, highlighting the “value” of having “a big, raucous live audience to experience these six great friends coming back together”.

According to the plans unveiled in February by HBO Max, the Friends reunion special is set to tape on the show’s original soundstage on the Warner Bros Studio lot in Burbank, California.

Friends aired from 1994 to 2004 on NBC for a total of 236 episodes.