Friends reunion: People are worried the unscripted special will be like the Inbetweeners disaster

After months of speculation, a Friends reunion special has finally been confirmed – but now fans are worried that it could be as disastrous as the unscripted Inbetweeners comeback, which was widely panned in 2019.

The Inbetweeners: Fwends Reunited aired on New Year’s Day last year, and was met with such overwhelmingly negative responses that series star James Buckley apologised to fans in an emotional message.

Jimmy Carr hosted the two-hour special, which wasn’t a new episode as many thought, but instead adhered to a chat show format. Many fans took issue with the format, as well as criticising Carr’s overbearing presenting technique and saying it looked as though Buckley, Blake Harrison, Joe Thomas and Simon Bird didn’t want to be there at all.

The Friends reunion special has a similar format planned, with all six cast members returning to Stage 24, the sitcom’s original WarnerBros soundstage, to reminisce on the show. It is being produced by the company behind The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Inbetweeners star Harrison was one of those to compare the two on Twitter, quipping: “What could possibly go wrong?”

Another user commented on the Friends announcement, saying: “They did it with The Inbetweeners only a few months ago and everyone did the 'this is going to be amazing - oh no that sucked it wasn't even an episode'. How soon they forget.”

While a third wrote: “I hope the #Friends reunion is as bad as the Inbetweeners one so y'all can finally learn your damn lesson and stop asking for this s***.”

See the best of the rest of the reactions, below.

The Friends reunion special will be available when HBO Max launches in May.