Friends came to an end over a decade ago, but that doesn’t mean that the bond between its main cast ended too, and they have worked together again a couple of times after the show ended. The 1990s saw the arrival of a lot of successful sitcoms, but none can compare to the phenomenon that Friends was. Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, Friends premiered on NBC in 1994 and came to an end in 2004 after 10 seasons and a lot of memorable jokes and moments. The series has kept its place as one of the greatest TV shows of all time, and its arrival to the world of streaming thanks to HBO Max has expanded its fanbase.
Friends followed a group of six young adults living in New York City and doing their best to juggle their social, personal, and professional lives, along with whatever adulthood threw their way. Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Rachel, and Ross won the audience over with their personalities and quirks, and they left a lot of unforgettable one-liners that fans continue to quote. Friends became so important to a number of viewers around the world that they have been waiting for a reunion, new season, or special episode for years, and it’s finally becoming a reality thanks to HBO Max.
Following the steps of many other TV shows, a reunion special, simply titled Friends: The Reunion (or “The One Where They Get Back Together”), will bring the main cast back for an unscripted episode where they will revisit the sets of the original show, meet with various guests, and do table reads and re-enactments of some of the show’s most famous scenes. While this will be the reunion fans have been waiting for, this isn’t the first time they have worked together after Friends came to an end, as they found a way to make their old castmates part of some of their projects. Here’s every time the main cast of Friends acted together after the show ended.
Dirt
Dirt premiered on FX in 2007 and came to an end in 2008 after only two seasons. It starred Courteney Cox as Lucy Spiller, the editor-in-chief of the “glossy tabloid” magazine DirtNow. Lucy was a workaholic with a great eye for a story but didn’t care much about who she might have hurt with her work. The season finale of the first season of Dirt welcomed Jennifer Aniston, who played Tina Harrod, the editor at a rival publication with whom Lucy had a complicated past, as they were friends and even lovers at some point when they were younger. Dirt had a shortened second season due to the 2007 WGA strike, and it wasn’t renewed for a third season.
Cougar Town
Cougar Town was a sitcom that aired from 2009 to 2015 on ABC and TBS. It followed Jules Cobb (Courteney Cox), a recently divorced woman in her 40s facing humorous challenges, pitfalls, and rewards of life’s next chapter alongside her teenage son, her ex-husband, and her friends, forming a dysfunctional but supportive extended family. The series was set in the fictional town of Gulfhaven, Florida, nicknamed “Cougar Town” due to its high school team mascot being a cougar. Cougar Town saw another Monica and Rachel reunion, but first, there was a Monica and Phoebe meet up. Lisa Kudrow played Dr. Amy Evans, a dermatologist who dated Jules’ ex-husband in season 1. Aniston arrived in season 2 as Glenn, Jules’ therapist, and later on Matthew Perry played Sam, a man Jules went out with. Cougar Town came to an end after six seasons.
Episodes
Episodes was a British-American sitcom created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik and which premiered on Showtime and BBC Two in 2011. When a British husband-and-wife comedy writing team travels to Hollywood to remake their successful British TV series, and after being pressured by the network, they cast Matt LeBlanc in the lead role, even though he wasn’t suitable for it. LeBlanc played a fictionalized version of himself and this was his most successful TV role after the failure of the Friends spinoff series Joey. Season 4 of Episodes saw David Schwimmer portraying himself and exchanging anecdotes with his Friends co-star.
Web Therapy
Web Therapy was a comedy series created by Lisa Kudrow, Don Roos, and Dan Bucatinsky and based on the web series of the same name. It followed Fiona Wallice (Kudrow), a therapist who developed a new form (or, as she called it, “modality”) of therapy: the title “web therapy”, in hopes that a shorter session time would give results more quickly. Web Therapy almost had all the main cast of Friends as guests, as Courteney Cox played psychic Serena Duvall in season 1, David Schwimmer played a client obsessed with Fiona in season 2, Matt LeBlanc played a client with a gambling addiction in season 3, and Matthew Perry played a compulsive lying lawyer in season 4.
Go On
Go On was a sitcom that premiered on NBC in 2012 and came to an end the following year after just one season. It followed Ryan King (Perry), a sports talk radio host who joins a support group in an effort to move on from his wife’s death. Go On counted on the presence of Courteney Cox, who played Talia, one of Ryan’s group mates. When another group member, Anne, tried to set them up, Talia revealed she was interested in both, so they competed for her affection.