NBCIt turns out the big Friends reunion planned for NBC's James Burrows special will be one friend short. E! News has confirmed Matthew Perry will not appear alongside famous friends Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc.
The reason? He's in London rehearsing for his play, The End of Longing, which begins previews on Tuesday, Feb. 2. Perry may still be part of the special honoring the legendary sitcom director, but we're told it would be by way of a taped message.
NBC's Robert Greenblatt announced the cast of Friends would reunite to honor Burrows for a taped special set to air at the end of February. Burrows, who recently directed his 1,000th episode of TV, directed 15 Friends episodes. "Hoping that all six of them will be in the same room at the same time, but I'm not sure we can logistically pull that off," Greenblatt told reporters at the 2016 TCA Winter Press Tour.
The Friends cast is just one of many famous sitcom families getting back together. Sean Hayes is executive producing the shindig and he's also reuniting with his Will and Grace costars for the occasion. The casts of Cheers, Taxi, Mary Tyler Moore, The Bob Newhart Show, Frasier, Laverne and Shirley, and The Big Bang Theory will be appearing "to honor the man who was responsible for some of the biggest shows in television history," Hayes wrote on Facebook.
Are you still excited for the Friends reunion sans Perry? The special is set to air Sunday, Feb. 21 on NBC.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)