So, no one told us life was going to be this way in 2020, and sure enough, the Friends reunion has been postponed again due to coronavirus.
Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), Courteney Cox (Monica), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe), Matt LeBlanc (Joey), Matthew Perry (Chandler) and David Schwimmer (Ross) were originally due to reunite for a long-rumoured reunion special in March.
The unscripted special was then pushed back to "at least May" as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. Now Aniston has confirmed that it's been delayed again – and at present, a new shoot date has yet to be arranged.
"Unfortunately it's very sad that we had to move it again,” Aniston told Deadline, revealing that the stumbling block is the cast's desire to shoot the special in front of a live audience.
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"This is not a safe time. Period. That’s the bottom line. It’s not a safe time to do it," she added.
The special, which will air on US streaming service HBO Max, is due to be filmed on the same L.A. soundstage where all 236 episodes of the sitcom so beloved by millennials were made between 1994 and 2004.
The six main cast members – who have not been seen together on screen since the final episode in 2004 – are executive-producing the special alongside the show's co-creators Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane.
"It’s going to be super. You know what? This has also given us more time to make it even more exciting and more fun than it would have been," Aniston added optimistically.
"So I choose to see it as the glass is half-full that it got postponed. Look, we’re not going anywhere. You’re never going to get rid of Friends, sorry. You’re stuck with us for life, guys."
Well, that's something at least. And in the meantime, there's a mere 236 regular episodes to revisit.
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