The Friends Mythology Has Come Full Circle Megan Garber This article contains light spoilers for Friends: The Reunion. The nostalgia will be monetized. Friends: The Reunion premieres today on HBO Max. The long-awaited special is not a reboot—not another sitcom refurbished and resold, old characters living new stories—but instead a splashy gathering of the original show’s cast. It features a dizzying hodgepodge of interviews, cameos, and talking-head testimonials, many of them earnestly telethonic in tone. The reunion turns Friends’ fictions into a reality show. It celebrates a sitcom, yes. More specifically, however, it celebrates that sitcom’s enduring popularity.