‘Friends’ co-creator gives update on planned reunion episode

"We all want it to happen; we just have to wait until it is safe"

Marta Kauffman, co-creator of Friends, has given an update about the show’s planned reunion episode.

An upcoming one-off special episode which was to reunite all the original cast members was originally planned for a May release. After filming was shut down through coronavirus, a new filming date of August 17 was later confirmed.

However, the episode was pushed back again due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Kauffman gave a further update saying: “We all want it to happen; we just have to wait until it is safe.”

She continued: “This is a show that is not scripted, but this is the way the show works – we are going to need a live audience.

“Even if we socially distance that live audience, it really is a huge part of what Friends is… We can not do it without them. Everyone is all in and we are just waiting for that time when it feels connected to bring in a live audience.”

Friends
‘Friends’ cast. CREDIT: Warner Bros. Television

Earlier this month (August 8), Jennifer Aniston also confirmed that the filming of the one-off reunion episode, provisionally titled The One Where They Got Back Together – had been pushed back again.

Speaking to Deadline, Aniston said: “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.”

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She continued: “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.

“Unfortunately it’s very sad that we had to move it again. It was, ‘How do we do this with live audiences?’ This is not a safe time. Period. That’s the bottom line. It’s not a safe time to do it.”

The Hollywood Reporter reported earlier this year that the cast are set to “earn more than double their former per-episode fee for the reunion and be paid between $2.5 million and $3 million for the special.”

Friends ran for 10 seasons between 1994 and 2004. In the UK, it was the most streamed TV show for two years running between 2018-2019.

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