'Friends' Creator Marta Kauffman Pours Cold Water on Hopes of Scripted Reunion

The reunion that everyone is talking about is starting to look less and less hopeful. It wasn't [...]

The reunion that everyone is talking about is starting to look less and less hopeful. It wasn't long ago that HBO Max revealed a Friends reunion was in the plans when the new streaming service has its launch this year. Lately, however, each report that comes out about the possibility is making the likelihood seem less and less.

Marta Kauffman, one of the series' creator, spoke with reporters at the Producer Guild Awards and spoke about the potential reunion. It turns out, it's not going to be a true reboot if it does happen. Kauffman said it not be "nothing scripted," which means there will not be any reprisals of the iconic six characters' role.

"If it was the right thing, if it were the six of them together reflecting, talking about their experiences, and the episodes, then I'm totally behind it... We will not do anything scripted," she shared.

Three days ago, it was revealed by Deadline that the reunion appeared to be unlikely after financial disputes had caused quite the riff between producers and the cast.

"There is interest all around and yet we can't get the interests all alighted to push the button on it," HBO Max's Chief Creative Officer Kevin Reilly said while discussing the show at the Television Critics Association winter press tour tour. "Today it's just maybe."

This comes after an announcement in December suggested the gang would be getting together as HBO was in serious talks about bringing it back in some capacity.

"And all I will say is, 'We're talking about it,'" stated the platform's chief executive, Bob Greenblatt. "We've been drilling down on what it could be and trying to see if everybody's really on board and interested. And if so, can we make the right deals for everybody. We're starting it as a special. It's possible there could be something ongoing, but it would be in steps. We're far from that."

Friends has seen a tremendous rebirth over the past few years thanks to its illustrious run on Netflix. The series' run on the streaming service came to an end at the end of 2019 as its rights moved to HBO Max.

When Netflix announced that the series would be off its service, fans were none too pleased. When it was revealed, the service sent out a brief statement.

"We're sorry to see Friends go to Warner's steaming service at the beginning of 2020 (in The US). Thanks for the memories, gang," Netflix stated.

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