Warner Bros.Could we be any more worried? The long-awaited Friends reunion special probably won’t be available to watch in the UK.
Last night, February 21, the news Central Perk addicts have been waiting for finally arrived: all six cast members are reuniting for a special (albeit unscripted) episode.
However, for fans of the iconic sitcom across the pond, the upcoming reunion will be tricky to watch as it’s only available on HBO Max, a new streaming service exclusive to the US.
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry are all signed on, with Deadline‘s sources estimating each of them – who will also serve as executive producers – will be paid somewhere between $3-4 million for the show.
However, the special is designed to boost the launch of HBO Max, which is dropping in the US in May this year equipped with all 236 episodes of the Emmy-winning series. The new platform paid a whopping $425 million for the rights to the sitcom, which was one of Netflix’s most-watched assets.
Warner Bros. Without the assistance of a VPN (which isn’t always a guaranteed way in, often due to the requirement for a US-based payment method for subscriptions), UK viewers will struggle to watch the reunion due to HBO’s agreement with Sky.
Back in October 2019, the titanic TV service renewed a ‘multi-year programming partnership’ with HBO and Warner Bros., which sees its programming portioned out to the likes of Sky Atlantic and Now TV (for example Chernobyl and Game of Thrones).
However, it’s not necessarily been confirmed whether UK viewers will be entirely locked out from the Friends reunion – there could still be an announcement of it broadcasting on Sky Atlantic in the pipeline. However, HBO Max in the UK is a very unlikely prospect.
I want to know if the Friends Reunion will air in the Uk 🤷🏻♀️🤔❤️ pic.twitter.com/PHswGTpB4y
— Jenny Met Seb Stan (@Jenzzyuk) February 22, 2020
It’s safe to say, fans aren’t impressed. One user wrote: ‘I hope us in the UK get to see it since we don’t get HBO Max. They can’t not show it over here! Helloooo it’s where Ross got married…. the second time!’
A further concerned fan wrote: ‘So excited but at the same time want to know which channel or how to watch in the UK, as not sure HBO Max will be coming here. But I so need to see this episode!’
also, HBO have already confirmed they have no plans to launch HBO Max in the UK. So it probably won’t be available here, because, as you say, it’s purely a *very* expensive ad for the new service.
— Robin Edds (@robinedds) February 22, 2020
Some have speculated over where the special would broadcast if it were to be shown in the UK. While its ties to HBO Max would hint at a Sky Atlantic broadcast, episodes of the sitcom are regularly broadcast on Comedy Central.
It would be ridiculous to fly to the US just to watch the special… unless…?
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.