There has long been speculation that sitcom "Friends" will return to airwaves with cast members consistently asked about whether they'd reunite. Rumours of a return to the Central Perk universe surfaced again this month, when several social media users made posts claiming a reboot was on its way alongside a photo of the supposed new cast. This is false. No reboot has been announced and the photo shows the cast of the Amazon Prime drama "The Boys."
The posts are on and on . They both bear the text "Friends Reboot: CONFIRMED!!" and show an image of 10 actors sitting before a bright yellow backdrop and a brick wall.
Pasted over the image is the logo that was used to brand the "Friends" television show, when it aired between 1994 and 2004. The words "the next generation" have been added to the logo.
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the photo used in the social media posts was taken by Aaron Richter at Comic-Con on July 20, 2019 in the Pizza Hut lounge.
Richter, a New York- and Philadelphia-based photographer, confirmed in an email that the photo is of the cast of "The Boys," a Toronto-shot satirical superhero show, and was meant to promote their program, not a "Friends" reboot.
The clothes worn by actors in the image posted to social media are the same items they were seen in during a 2019 Comic-Con to promote "The Boys," which was about to launch at the time.
The cast appeared in the same outfits with the Los Angeles Times about the then-forthcoming debut of "The Boys," also at the same Comic-Con in San Diego.
The show
HBO Max announced a four-part game show inspired by "Friends" last month, but the original show's creators rebuffed any idea that they'd reboot their hit program.
“We get that a lot,” co-creator and executive producer Marta Kauffman . “I get emails about it all the time. Everybody has a great idea, and the great idea is their kids, grown up, doing a 'Friends' show.”
“Oh, no. No, no, no,” fellow co-creator and executive producer David Crane added of the possibility of a reboot.
Nancy Josephson, an agent IMDB listed as representing Kauffman and Crane, did not respond to a request for comment on the latest reboot rumour posts.
Warner Bros., which produced the original show, also did not respond to request for comment, but has not released any announcements of a reboot.
The meme
While reports of a reboot have cropped up on several social media sites from different accounts, one post from Oct. 4 on a received more than 33,000 comments and was shared more than 20,000 times as of publication.
While many commenters caught on to the joke, several were fooled, with one commenter criticizing the need for a reboot: "Friends was amazing! Don’t shatter that legacy by creating a reboot, please!"
A description for the Facebook page, which mostly posts memes, says it "is a marketing company/media outlet specializing in all things fun, nerdy and current."
Asked to share information bolstering its claims about a "Friends" reboot, PartyNerdz responded in a Facebook direct message with an automated message thanking ϳԹ for reaching out but offering no further details supporting its post.
This isn't the first time a photo of "The Boys" cast was misleadingly paired with the "Friends" logo and promises of a reboot.
An image from the same Comic-Con photo shoot was forum dedicated to "The Boys" on Sept. 16, 2020, with the "Friends" logo across the top and the headline: "Friends reboot looks good."
An Instagram account related to the PartyNerdz Facebook account posted the same image on , adding "Friends reboot confirmed!" along the bottom.
The producers
The creators, cast and crew behind "Friends" have often been asked about whether they'd reunite, but have frequently shot down the idea.
in 2019 that Kauffman said during a 25th anniversary panel at the Tribeca TV Festival in Lower Manhattan, “We will not be doing a reunion show, we will not be doing a reboot."
Crane also brushed off any suggestion a reboot would come, saying, “We did the show we wanted to do. We got it right, and we put a bow on it.”
However, Kauffman and Crane got the "Friends" cast back together in 2021 for an HBO Max special, where they all reflected on filming the show.
Sources
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"The Boys" at Comic-Con 2019 ()
"The Boys" at Comic-Con 2019 ()
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with the "Friends" creators, from Sept. 20, 2024 (, )
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