It's been nine long years since our beloved Friends departed our screens for good. But any fans disappointed by the continued denials of a big-screen reunion will be at least slightly buoyed up with the news that Matt Le Blanc - who played eternal bachelor Joey Tribianni in the long-running sitcom - will be joining forces with former co-star Lisa Kudrow for an episode of the actress's comedy series Web Therapy.
Kudrow - who played eccentric masseuse Phoebe Buffay - has enjoyed success with her current series in which she plays self-interested therapist Fiona Wallace who conducts her patients' one-on-one three-minute sessions over Skype. Web Therapy's creator Dan Bucatinsky confirmed the news of LeBlanc's appearance, stating, "[It's the] first time Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc will be on screen together again since Friends.
"He plays a gambler and she becomes one, too," he told E! News. "That's how good of a therapist she is. She helps him with addiction by becoming a gambler, too. It's awesome."
But this is not the first time the cast of Friends has reunited on-screen. In the years since Central Perk closed its doors, the gang have cropped up in each other's new projects on a number of occasions...
Courteney Cox - best known for playing high-maintenance chef Monica Gellar - has also made an appearance on Web Therapy. During the first series she turned up as troubled psychic Serena Duvall who loses her ability to interpret her dreams and contacts Fiona for advice. Check her out in this trailer:
And Cox isn't the only Friend to brave Fiona's Skype sessions. David Schwimmer played Newell Miller - another patient who dared to face the straight-talking therapist in series two. If Ross Geller was adorably awkward, Schwimmer's Web Therapy character is borderline creepy as he recalls witnessing his father's affair with Wallace and its scarring effects on his sex life...
Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry combined to play one of TV's best-loved couples as friends-turned-lovers Monica and Chandler. To the delight of their fans, the pair joined forces recently for an episode of the Perry's comedy series Go On. The actor's latest venture sees him play Chandler's antithesis - slick-talking sports talk radio host Ryan King who is trying to move on with his life after his wife Janie is killed in a car accident. His former co-star arrived on screen earlier this month, playing a potential love interest who is set up on a date with Ryan...
Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston are known to be as friendly off-screen as they were playing Monica and Rachel so it came as no surprise when Aniston appeared on not one but two of Cox's TV series. But they got closer than ever before when Jennifer played Tina Harrod, a gay editor of a competing gossip magazine to Cox's character Lucy Spiller's in Dirt, sharing a blink-and-you'll-miss it smacker on the lips:
And Aniston guest-stars again in her best friend's current series Cougar Town as Glenn, a therapist who Cox's highly-strung character Jules visits for advice...
But Jen isn't the only Friend to reunite with Courteney in Cougar Town... Lisa Kudrow has also cropped up in Cox's sitcom, this time channelling her darker side when she appeared as a dermatologist with a mean streak on series one of the Florida-based series. Here she is cutting Cox's character Jules down to size in the waiting room:
And last, but by no means least, we have Gunther, the dorky bleach-haired coffee shop owner who spent ten series pining for Rachel and glaring menacingly at Ross. Actor James Michael Tyler guest-starred in Matt Le Blanc's Episodes - a British/American sitcom that sees him play an obnoxious version of himself in the lead role of a new television series. After being tasked with recuiting one of his former Friends co-stars to appear, the character embarks upon a series of awkward phonecalls, only to discover that he has offended all five actors who now refuse to work with him. But it is Gunther who saves his bacon, agreeing to guest-star as an ice hockey coach in their place...