Courteney Cox has promised that the upcoming Friends reunion will be “fantastic” in a new interview about the special.
After literal years of specualtion, it was finally confirmed last week that the cast would be getting back together for for an unscripted episode to celebrate the launch of the HBO Max streaming service later this year.
Speaking with comedian Kevin Nealon on his Hiking With Kevin webseries, Courteney teased what fans can expect from the special.
She said: “So the exciting thing is that we’re all going to get together for the first time, in a room, and actually talk about the show, and it’s going to be on HBO Max, and I’m so excited. We’re going to have the best time. It’s going to be great.”
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The cast of Friends
NBC via Getty Images
Courteney continued: “We really haven’t all done that and actually sat there and talked about and reminisced about this incredible experience that we had. It’s gonna be fantastic.”
The reunion special will take place on the show’s original stage at Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California.
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Courteney Cox
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Confirmation of the episode followed a particularly intense few months of rumours, after all six of the cast reunited for a dinner last year, causing Jennifer Aniston’s Instagram to crash when she posted a picture of them altogether.
Courteney described the occasion as her “ideal” reunion, saying: “I don’t know how many years it was, maybe 15 years – and we finally all got together and had dinner.
“And when we get together, which is never – it only happened… it just doesn’t happen very often, like twice since we ended the show – it’s just the most fun. We laugh so hard.”
The upcoming special – dubbed a “celebration of Friends” – will be available to stream in May, alongside all 10 series of the show, which HBO Max has acquired the US streaming rights to.
HBO Max chief Kevin Reilly said: “It taps into an era when friends – and audiences – gathered together in real time and we think this reunion special will capture that spirit, uniting original and new fans.”
However, while British fans were initially thrilled at the news, many noted that because HBO Max isn’t launching in the UK there may be a chance we will not get to see it. There is still no official confirmation as to when – or indeed if – it will air here.
Old episodes of Friends currently air on Netflix, Comedy Central and Channel 5 in the UK, while Channel 4 and Sky screened the show’s original run.
11 Minor Friends Characters We Wish We'd Seen More Of
Jack and Judy Geller (Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles)(01 of11)
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Whether they're being wildly sexually inappropriate, insensitive to their daughter or putting everybody in their place, the arrival of Monica and Ross's parents always guarantees an eventful episode.
While Jack and Judy are the recurring characters with the most guest appearances (20, if you're interested), we'd still like to have seen them a little more often. (credit:Warner Bros via friends.wikia.com)
Susan Bunch (Jessica Hecht)(02 of11)
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Sadly, Susan was never seen past the sixth series of Friends, which is a real shame as we loved her long-standing frosty relationship with Ross.
We particularly enjoyed her blasé putdowns, which she managed to deliver with an iciness we aspire to. (credit:Warner Bros)
Bonnie (Christine Taylor)(03 of11)
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A woman who will shave her head in the middle of a beach holiday just because someone planted the mere suggestion in her mind. Amazing.
We know Rachel wouldn't have been thrilled by the prospect, but we definitely wouldn't have minded Bonnie sticking around for more than two episodes. (credit:Warner Bros)
Eddie Menuek (Adam Goldberg)(04 of11)
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As Chandler's brief time living with Eddie grew to a close, he became an even more odd creation, but it would have been great if the writers had cranked things up another notch with his strangeness, or at the very least showed us what happened when he was shown the door.
Where did he go? Who does he live with now? How is his cherished pet, the goldfish cracker? These are the questions we need answers to. (credit:Warner Bros)
Amy Greene (Christina Applegate)(05 of11)
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It's always great when one of the characters' family members arrive, because they remind you of how they used to be – and that's never more true than when Rachel's sister Amy arrives on the scene.
Amy is even more spoilt, and cares less about other people's feelings, than Season One Rachel, though with slightly less iconic hair. (No offence to Christina Applegate, of course). (credit:Warner Bros via friends.wikia.com)
Frank Buffay Jr and Alice Knight Buffay (Giovanni Ribisi and Debra Jo Rupp)(06 of11)
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Joey was the character who went on to end up with his own spin-off, but we think it definitely should have been Frank and Alice.
Who honestly wouldn't want to watch a show about a man who marries his home-economics teacher, then raises triplets – that his sister gives birth to – with her? It would have been an Emmys shoo-in. (credit:Warner Bros via friends.wikia.com)
Amanda Buffamonteezi (Jennifer Coolidge)(07 of11)
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Phoebe and Monica made the unwise decision to "cut out" Amanda, but frankly we'd have happily seen her stay until the finale, for the dancing alone. (credit:Warner Bros)
Mr Heckles (Larry Hankin)(08 of11)
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The great thing about Mr Heckles, especially watching earlier series back, is that it reminds you just how young the characters were – and what a nightmare that group of twenty-somethings would have been if you lived near them... (credit:Warner Bros)
Erica (Anna Faris)(09 of11)
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...conversely, by the time Erica arrives in the tenth season, her youthful naivety proves just how far the six principal characters have come.
We can't help but feel the fabulous and funny Anna Faris was criminally underused, and it would have been nice to see her stay around exploring New York for a while longer, rather than her few fleeting appearances. (credit:Warner Bros via friends.wikia.com)
Gunther (James Michael Tyler)(10 of11)
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True, Gunther did feature in quite a lot of episodes, but how much do we know about the man behind the fluorescent hair?What does he do at night? Where does he live? What are his hopes? His dreams? His fears?Actually, it's probably best not to know... (credit:Warner Bros)
Marcel (Katie the Monkey)(11 of11)
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Just because. (credit:Warner Bros via friends.wikia.com)