When the pilot show
was approved by the network, and a series commissioned,
the entirecast was sent on a free trip to Las Vegas. In
TOW Everyone Finds Out, Phoebe sees Monica and Chandler
through the window, their lines were: Chandler: Look,
we have to talk. Your shirt is really bugging me. Monica:
Wow, that's so weird, 'cause pants are really bugging
me. Chandler: Well, let's make each other happy and get
rid of them. Joey's pin number is 5639 which if you look
at the letters in a telephone numbers actually spell out
JOEY.
The characters of Ross's
ex-wife Carol and her girlfriend Susan are based on
the godmothers to Kauffman's daughter. The one and only
time they took the Central Perk set down was in TOI
Vegas, in which they needed it for The Caesar's Palace
Central Perk, is based
on the Manhattan Cafe in New Yorks West Village. Joey
hurting his arm (falling of his bed in TOW The Jam)
was not part of the storyboard, it was just thrown in
as Matt dislocated his shoulder on the set. Courteney
Cox originally read to play the part of Rachel.
Other titles considered
for the series included "Once upon a time in the
West Village", "Insomnia Cafe" and "Across
the Hall". The original title "Friends Like
Us" was shortened to the current one-worder. A
break up scene was written for Ross and Julie, but the
writters decided to skip it, because everyone's hearts
would be with Ross and Julie if they kept it in, instead
of with Ross and Rachel.
It took Matt LeBlanc twelve
times to open Phoebe's blouse correctly in TOW Everyone
Finds Out The opening footage of the cast dancing around
a fountain was filmed on the Warner Bros. lot in LA
at five o'clock in the morning.
The golden frame around
the peephole on the door was originally a mirror which
one of the crew accidentally smashed. But because it
still looked good they decided to leave it there. Helen Baxendale, who played Emily,
was pregnant while filming the part. This is why they
decided that Ross should get divorce. If you noticed,
they only showed her from the shoulders up when she
was in London telling Ross never to see Rachel again.
Some of the writers on
Friends have guest-stared on the show. Michael Curtis
was a police officer in TOW Heckels Dies and was on
Wheel of Fortune as the guy who couldn't guess Mount
Rushmore. Various writers appeared in the teaser for
TOW the Princess Leia Fantasy, Ira Ungerleider appeared
as the noisy, upstairs neighbor in TOW Chandler Can't
Remember which Sister,Wil Calhoun was "Freak"
in the coffeehouse whose order was too complicated for
Rachel,and Greg Malins was a priest in the museum when
Rachel and Ross wake up in the diorama.
When Ursula is on the show,
Lisa Kudrow's sister doubles for the shoulder shots
At the end of TOW Five Steaks And An Eggplant, Joey
was supposed to pick up the phone and say 'Bob here'
but it was so funny that they left it like that. The
same happenned with the pillow dropped in TOW George
Setphanopoulos. Does the Friends set look familiar??
Well, its where the popular ABC show Full House was
taped.
The fist line of dialogue
in the very first, pilot episode of Friends was: "There's
nothing to tell." The whole cast huddles together
before each episode to wish each other luck. This made
frequent guest star Tom Selleck feel a bit left out.
The cast apparently gets
on as well in real life as they do on screen. They play
poker and Scrabble together, and the girls often shop
with each other. The rumour that they had made a pact
never to sleep together is untrue. Monica and Chandler's
relationship was going to last a couple of episodes
but when the writters saw how big of a hit they were,
they decieded to keep them together longer.
The day he auditioned for
Friends, Matt LeBlanc had a big scab on his nose and
forehead after falling down drunk on a bender the night
before. And was down to his last $11. When David Schwimmer
first met Matt LeBlanc he was sceptical. Matt was wearing
leather jeans, and Schwimmer thought he was "Joe
Cool Stud" and hated him on sight. David Schwimmer
accused the handlers of his on-screen pal Marcel the
monkey of being "too possessive". He claims
he was never allowed to bond with the creature.
Marcel's trainer, Nerissa
Pulitzer, said of her charge: "If Monkey were human,
she'd be Meryl Streep." To direct Marcel he had
to be yelled at which drove everyone crazy. The shot
of Marcel dancing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
is a loop. Matthew's father John Bennett Perry appeared
in the 4th season episode "TOW Rachel's New Dress".
The fridge at Monica's apartment actually works, the
one at Joey's doesn't.
Robin Williams and Billy
Cristal's appearence wasn't prepared, they just happened
to be in the building and joined them. The show's producers
admit that the characters could never afford the rents
on the apartments they live in on the show. Matthew
Perry's wit is so legendary that the scriptwriter has
often incorporated his gags into the show. According
to Aniston, her famous "Rachel" hairdo was
created by accident when her "friend" Chris
cur her hair with a razor. Bruce Willis donated the
money he made for his appearence. Matthew Perry dated
Julia Roberts after her appearance on the show. A 30
second commercial during the break in the show in America
costs advertisers around £500,000 The reason that
the black chairs were stolen actually was that they
were like BLACK HOLES for light on the set. Our DP made
us make the change. They didn't use a stunt guy for
the actual filming of "The One With Chandler In
A Box" that was actually Matthew Perry in the box.
