They’ll be here for viewers — and they finally have a date for when, exactly.
The long-delayed reunion show for “Friends” has finally announced a release date, a full year after its initial one that was pushed back as a result of the pandemic.
Actor Matthew Perry had previously said it would debut in March, but HBO Max announced in a Thursday press release that it will premiere “Friends: The Reunion” on May 27, the one-year anniversary of the network’s launch.
An official teaser trailer for the much-anticipated reunion of the hit sitcom’s cast was also released Thursday, and it’s much more teaser than trailer. In the 40-second clip, the series’ stars slowly walk away from the camera to a slowed-down version of the theme song before fading to a card reading, “The One Where They Get Back Together.”
The new episode was shot on the comedy’s original Burbank Warner Bros. Studio lot soundstage, Stage 24, and will offer “a real-life unscripted celebration of the beloved show,” which ran from 1994 to 2004.
In addition to show stars — Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer — a host of special guests will also be featured on the new installment. Famous faces include David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin, Mindy Kaling, Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon and Malala Yousafzai.
The special will be directed by Ben Winston and produced by “Friends” executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane
The episode’s format will be as a sit-down interview with the actors, who will be playing themselves, not their characters. “Nothing is scripted, and we are not in character,” Schwimmer said on “The Graham Norton Show” last month. “We are all ourselves, although there is one section of it that I don’t want to give away, but we all read something.”
