For those for whom it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, there’s good news! The long-awaited and highly-anticipated “Friends” reunion special is hitting HBO Max (where all 236 episodes of the hit series are currently available for streaming) on Thursday, May 27! (Barcalounger chairs to enhance viewing pleasure are purely optional.) Hosted by James Corden, the episode marks the first time all six cast members will be sharing a screen in the 17 years since the show wrapped! As People magazine states in its recent cover story detailing the production, “Could we be any more excited?!”
A slew of the sitcom’s best-loved guest stars will be popping by to join in the fun, as well, including Reese Witherspoon, Tom Selleck and Maggie Wheeler (cue the “Oh my Gods!”). Justin Bieber, who was a wee six months old when the pilot aired, is also (inexplicably) making an appearance. Fans can further expect a revisit of the many locations made famous by the series, like the fountain where the opening credits were shot and the original soundstage where the cast and crew reported to work each day.
Though set in New York, “Friends” was lensed in Los Angeles, with many Big Apple establishing shots thrown in to help fake the East Coast backdrop. Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the vast majority of filming took place on a soundstage at Warner Bros. Studio, the lot that served as the show’s home throughout the course of its ten-year run. Several of the facility’s exterior sets and streetscapes were also utilized for outside shots.
In honor of “Friends: The Reunion’s” landmark debut, Dirt has gathered together a round-up of some of the most iconic sites featured on the Must-See TV behemoth.