Matthew Perry won’t attend ‘Friends’ reunion

Matthew Perry arrives at a summer Television Critics Association event... — Matthew Perry arrives at a summer Television Critics Association event on Aug. 10, 2015, in West Hollywood, Calif. Credit: Invision / AP / Rich Fury

By Frank LoveceSpecial to NewsdayJanuary 14, 2016

A TV special NBC touted Wednesday as a quasi-“Friends” reunion will not be quite that.

Matthew Perry who played Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom, will not join his old castmates for a Feb. 21 special honoring legendary comedy director James Burrows.

A spokeswoman for Perry, 46, said Thursday that he “is in London in rehearsals for his play, ‘The End of Longing,’ which begins previews on Feb. 2 at the Playhouse Theatre. NBC executives were aware of this prior to their . . . announcement” at the Television Critics Association’s press tour in Pasadena, California. “Matthew may tape something for the tribute. In other words, this is not the reunion people have been hoping for.”