Friends has captured the hearts of so many since it aired in the early 90’s. It’s safe to say most people have seen every season a million times and could pretty much recite every line from their favorite episodes. In 10 seasons and 236 episodes, the world went head over heels for the amazing friendship that Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross shared. Everyone thinks they know everything there is to know about Friends, but are you certain you know it all? Here are 38 facts that you might not have known about Friends:
1. Monica + Joey = Perfect Match!–Monica and Joey were originally intended to be love interests.
2. The actor that plays Joshua’s father is actually Matthew Perry’s father in real life.
3. “The One Where No One’s Ready” takes place entirely in Monica and Rachel’s apartment because the show was on a budget and they didn’t have enough money for additional sets or guest stars at the time.
4. James Michael Taylor scored the role of Gunther because he was the only extra that was able to operate the espresso machine and didn’t have a line until the 33rd episode–his line was ‘yeah’.
5. In “The One with The Dollhouse” they had to make six different versions because they kept setting them on fire while filming.
6. Ellen DeGeneres turned down the offer to play Phoebe.
7. Lisa Kudrow played Ursula on “Mad About You” two years before Friends aired, so the producers made that her twin sister to create a cross-over between the two shows.
8. When Rachel is trying to find someone to officiate Chandler and Monica’s wedding, she is seen outside of the Anastassakis wedding, which is Aniston’s family name.
9. Both refrigerators in the girl’s and boy’s apartments actually worked and that is why so many scenes start off with someone going in the fridge.
10. Phoebe’s brother, Frank Jr., actually appears a few seasons before his character is created, throwing a condom into her guitar case while she is playing outside of Central Perk.
11. An average episode of Friends took about five hours to film and David Schwimmer directed 10 episodes himself.
12. Joey, also known as Dr. Drake Ramoray, plays a fictional character in NBC’s soap opera Days of Our Lives, and in real life, Aniston’s father (John Aniston) plays Victor Kiriakis on the actual soap opera.
13. Every episode was filmed in front of a live studio audience, except for cliffhangers.
14. In the pilot, Monica forgot the name of the guy she slept with the night before and producers were worried this would give off the wrong impression so they asked the studio audience in a survey if they should change it, but they didn’t think so.
15. Joey and Chandler’s big white dog actually belonged to Jennifer Aniston–it was a good-luck gift from a friend from when the show first started.
16. Phoebe and Chandler were originally meant to be supporting characters.
17. If you notice, the numbers on the apartments changed from 5 and 4 to 20 and 19 because the writers thought that it wouldn’t make sense since they were meant to live on the fifth floor, considering their balcony and view from the window.
18. Friends was almost called a number of different things, but the writers had it down to either Friends or Insomnia Cafe.
19. The cast would huddle before each show for good luck.
20. Ross and Rachel’s relationship wasn’t meant to be the central relationship of the series, but the two simply displayed such obvious chemistry, that it just sort of happened.
21. Joey wasn’t intended to be portrayed as dumb, Matt LeBlanc suggested it.
22. Courteney had to film the episode where Rachel has a baby right after having a miscarriage.
23. The actress who played Estelle Leonard, Joey’s agent, also played the nurse in the episode where Ben is born in season one.
24. The role of Ross was created, intending for it to be made for David Schwimmer and he was the first member to be cast on the show, while Jennifer Aniston was the last of the six to be casted.
25. Marcel was played by two monkeys, Katie and Monkey.
26. Ross stayed 29 for three years.
27. Producers asked Courteney Cox to play Rachel, but she wanted to play Monica because she loved how strong of a character she was.
28. The orange couch was found in the basement of the Warner Bros. Studio.
29. Phoebe’s pregnancy, having her brother’s triplets, was written into the show because she was pregnant in real life however, Courteney’s pregnancy was not.
30. Bruce Willis appeared on the show for free after losing a bet to Matthew Perry.
31. David the scientist auditioned for the role of Joey twice before the show was set for production.
32. Kudrow wasn’t a fan of the duck or playing the guitar at first.
33. Chandler was written in as a guy who was awkward around women because Matthew Perry told them he was himself.
34. The Friends cast was the first cast in history to come forward as a group to negotiate an increase in salary–they went from $22,000 in the first season, to receiving $100,000 per episode.
35. Aniston almost didn’t return for the final season.
36. When the series ended each cast member was given a piece of the sidewalk outside Central Perk as a keepsake.
37. In the last episode they say that everyone has lived in Monica’s apartment, but actually they all have lived in Joey’s apartment.
38. When the series ended, Jennifer Aniston and husband at the time, Brad Pitt, had a dinner party to celebrate and they drank bottles of wine that were saved from when the show first aired.
BREAK TIME 