Friends reunion announced for HBO Max: The break is over

Friends HBO Max
(Image credit: NBC)

Did you hear that? It’s the sound of the internet exploding — as it just became official that the cast of Friends is getting back together.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer have all signed on as part of the launch of HBO Max, the new streaming service that is launching in May.

If you hadn’t heard, AT&T spent more than $400 million to yank Friends off of Netflix for its own service, which will include all 236 episodes for your streaming pleasure.

According to the press release, the untitled and unscripted Friends special will return to stage 24 in Burbank for the reunion special. 

Ben Winston will direct the special and will executive produce along with Friends executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane. Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc, Perry, and Schwimmer will also executive produce the special.

So what are you going to do between now and then? Watch more Friends, of course! TBS will be airing every episode of Friends over the next four weeks on TBS and livestream on the TBS app, weekdays from 10:00am – 4:00pm. 

Overall, HBO Max promises 10,000 hours of “curated premium content” at launch for $14.99 per month. The service will combine HBO, new original series, third-party licensed programs and movies, as well as content from New Line, DC, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, Adult Swim and more.

Mark Spoonauer

Mark Spoonauer is the global editor in chief of Tom's Guide and has covered technology for over 20 years. In addition to overseeing the direction of Tom's Guide, Mark specializes in covering all things mobile, having reviewed dozens of smartphones and other gadgets. He has spoken at key industry events and appears regularly on TV to discuss the latest trends, including Cheddar, Fox Business and other outlets. Mark was previously editor in chief of Laptop Mag, and his work has appeared in Wired, Popular Science and Inc. Follow him on Twitter at @mspoonauer.