As sitcoms go, it's hard to get much bigger than Friends. The series became one of the most successful sitcoms of all-time, with legions of fans still devoted to the series and the lives of Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Monica (Courteney Cox), Ross (David Schwimmer), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), and Joey (Matt LeBlanc). As many classic TV shows have gotten the revival treatment over the past few years, there has been much demand for the return of Friends, but the cast and crew have largely remained united in not wanting that to happen; in fact, at the recent 25th Anniversary Panel in New York, series co-creator Marta Kauffman said, "We will not being doing a reunion show. We will not be doing a reboot. The reason is this is a show about that time in your life where your friends are your family. Once you start having a family, that changes. So it wouldn’t be what’s at the heart of the show anymore. The other reason is, it’s not going to beat what we did." However, it would seem that something is in the works after all.
THR has reported that HBO Max is currently in talks with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer, as well as series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman, for a unscripted reunion special. During an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show last month, Aniston plainly stated that there would be no Friends reboot, but did tease, "We would love for there to be something, but we don't know what that something is. So we're just trying. We're working on something." It would appear that this is that something. Before you start getting overly excited, THR's sources say that this deal is far from complete and agreements with the cast and creators will need to be worked out, not to mention getting everyone's schedules to align. As for why this potential reunion special is even being talked about, I would imagine that WarnerMedia wants something to really pump up the launch of HBO Max, their upcoming streaming service. The company paid over $400 million in order to land the streaming rights for all ten seasons of Friends for the next five years, and brand-new Friends content would certainly get people excited when HBO Max launches next year.