Friends fans are panicking because it’s disappeared from Netflix US

Sitcom will not be available to stream in America for six months

Friends fans are panicking after the beloved sitcom disappeared from Netflix US on New Year’s Day.

The show will not be available to stream in America until it reappears on HBO Max in May.

The sitcom’s stay on Netflix was extended to the end of 2019 in a one-year, non-exclusive extension worth at least $100m (£765,000).

WarnerMedia then acquired exclusive streaming rights to Friends for HBO Max in a $425m (£322m) agreement.

Fans of the show have bemoaned its removal from Netflix US, calling the move the “rudest way to start the new year” and saying it was “a really bad start to 2020”.

“Why would you do this to us?” one fan asked.

Check out the best of the reactions below.

HBO Max will cost $15 a month when it launches in May.

The Office is the next major exit from Netflix. The sitcom will leave the platform on 1 January 2021 before heading to Peacock, which NBCUniversal will launch next April.