Matthew Perry won't appear alongside his 'Friends' co-stars during reunion

LONDON, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Matthew Perry confirmed he will not appear as expected alongside his former Friends co-stars for an upcoming NBC tribute to director James Burrows.

Perry's publicist Lisa Kasteler told Us Weekly Thursday that the actor will be rehearsing for his London play The End of Longing at the time the Burrows TV special will be taped.

"It's not the reunion everyone is hoping for. They are celebrating Jim Burrows, who was a director of Friends," Perry further explained on Britain's The Graham Norton Show on Friday night.

"The other five are going to be on this special and I am going to introduce them from London," he added. "I'm doing the play here, so I can't be there."

Perry, who is now the co-star of the U.S. sitcom The Odd Couple, also played a Friends trivia game during his visit to Norton's chat show.

Starring Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, the New York-set comedy Friends ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004.

"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," NBC's Robert Greenblatt said Wednesday when he announced plans for the Burrows special at the 2016 Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena.

Fans and reporters frequently pester the Friends veterans about the possibility of a reunion movie or limited television revival, but the stars have said for years that is very unlikely to happen. Cox, Aniston and Kudrow did, however, reunite for a one-off Friends sketch on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2014.