Is HBO Max Already Screwing Up The Friends Reunion?

Despite being off the air for almost two decades, Friends is still one of the most popular shows in the history of television. There isn’t a place you can go where someone in the bunch doesn’t like the show. Airing in September 1994 and running through May 2004, Friends became the cultural phenomenon that people still talk about to this day. Re-runs still fill large gaps throughout the day to this day. Its streaming popularity was huge for previous streamer Netflix and is surely the reason some people subscribed to HBO Max.

Since its such a huge hit it was only a matter of time before the show got some sort of reunion. Rumored for years, HBO Max finally pulled the trigger on one in hopes of gaining ground in the streaming wars. Unfortunately for fans of the show, they’re probably not getting the reunion they expected. Instead of going with a true reunion special where the cast reprises their role in an extended episode or even a small budget, made for streaming movie. Nope, the Friends reunion will be an unscripted special with the cast and crew that will eventually leave fans wanting something they may never get, more.

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Maybe people still care about 15+ year-old stories about what the cast and crew went through to create those characters. It’s possible to even get some behind the scenes looks or deleted scenes we never got to see. They might even throw in a couple of good laughs, but in the end, most fans want to see a more where are they now approach to the characters, not the celebrities that played them.

That’s not to say people won’t want to see the special, but so far it looks like it will fall well short of expectations. An unscripted special more than likely is a sit-down interview with cast members and for die-hard fans, will it really be any more information than they knew to go into it?

Hopefully, the Friends reunion is more than that. It’ll be a hard sell for HBO Max to draw fans into future endeavors or reunion specials if something almost two years in the making falls flat. Between ponying up for a Snyder Cut of Justice League and a Friends reunion, HBO Max seems like they’re giving fans what they demand. Without executing perfectly, don’t expect the streaming giant to gain any ground as a streaming juggernaut.