'Friends' Reunion Trailer: Trivia, Tom Selleck And Other Celebrity Guests Return For Epic Event

May 20, 2021 by apost team

Fans of the hit American sitcom “Friends” have something to be excited about again after the show’s departure over 17 years ago in 2004. On May 27, HBO Max will premiere “Friends: The Reunion: The One Where They Get Back Together,” an unscripted special that sees the main cast reunite on set to reminisce about the show together, test their knowledge of the show with a trivia game, sit down in an interview with James Corden and re-read their lines more than a decade after the show’s finale.

As one of the most popular television shows of all time, “Friends” won countless awards, accolades and fans over the show’s 10-year run from 1994 to 2004. On paper, the show might seem rather ordinary. As its name suggests, the show revolves around a group of six friends — Rachel Green (Jennifer Anniston), Monica Geller (Courtney Cox), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) and Ross Geller (David Schimmer) — as they live life as young adults in New York City. The show follows the ensemble cast as they date each other, move in together and further their careers in Manhattan.

The NBC show also saw its fair share of guest appearances from stars like Tom Selleck, Reese Witherspoon, Maggie Wheeler and Thomas Lennon, who will also appear on Thursday’s reunion special. Given the show’s incredible success and long-lasting legacy, the reunion, which was originally set to air in 2020, is sure to come as a pleasant surprise for fans of the show. After all, this is the first time most “Friends” fanatics will be able to see this group of six all together in more than a decade.

Not only is “Friends” the highest-rated television show of all time, but it also aired one of the most-watched television episodes in history: the series finale, which attracted 52.5 million viewers. To say the least, that means that the NBC show has its fair share of fans. And at the end of May, those fans are likely going to be very, very happy.

The May 27 reunion special is going to feature all six cast members for the first time in years as they revisit a recreated “Friends” set on Stage 24 at Warner Bros. Studios, including Monica and Rachel’s apartment, the Central Perk cafe and Joey and Chandler’s pad.

"I was flooded with 10 years of irreplaceable memories," a 56-year-old Cox told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview ahead of the show’s premiere.

HBO Max released an official trailer (below) of the reunion special on Wednesday, which shows never-before-seen moments from Thursday’s premiere. We see the cast participate in a trivia game (harkening back to an episode from season 4), reunite in front of the fountain featured in the show’s opening credits and open up to interviewer James Corden.

According to Rolling Stone, the show will also include a number of celebrity superfans and special guests, from musical acts like BTS and Justin Bieber to actors like Kit Harington and Mindy Kaling.

“Guess you could call this the one where they all got back together — we are reuniting with David, Jennifer, Courteney, Matt, Lisa, and Matthew for an HBO Max special that will be programmed alongside the entire 'Friends' library,” Kevin Reilly, HBO Max’s chief content officer, announced in a statement.

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“I became aware of ‘Friends’ when it was in the very early stages of development and then had the opportunity to work on the series many years later and have delighted in seeing it catch on with viewers generation after generation,” he added. “It taps into an era when friends — and audiences — gathered together in real-time and we think this reunion special will capture that spirit, uniting original and new fans.”

HBO Max planned to film and air the reunion special earlier, but the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way, according to an August 2020 report Deadline. At that time, the special’s filming date was still up in the air, as Hollywood was nearly completely shut down due to the pandemic. In April 2020, the cast auctioned off a handful of tickets to the reunion’s live taping to raise money for COVID relief.

But this month, nearly a year later, fans will finally get what they’ve been waiting for — even more “Friends” magic.

"It was a character-driven funny, not timely funny," said Perry in an interview with PEOPLE of why the show has been so successful. "They didn't make timely jokes. They didn't make jokes about O.J. Simpson. They made character-driven jokes about people — and people are going to come back time and time again and watch that."

For “Friends” fanatics who want to binge a few episodes before the premiere, TBS announced that it will air all 236 episodes as part of a marathon titled “Friends: From The Beginning,” which will run until June 4.

Will you watch the reunion special? Do you have a favorite moment from the show? Let us know, and be sure to pass this news on to your friends and family members.